Smilin’ Through

John has led a solitary life for 30 years since the death of Moonyean Clare. But now Owens, a close friend, insists that he care for his niece, Kathleen, orphaned when her parents were lost at sea. Kathleen is five, but the years pass and now she is a young woman who is the image of Moonyean. Willie wants Kathleen for his wife, but sparks fly when she meets Kenneth Wayne one dark and stormy night. John is horrified, for it was Wayne’s father who shot Moonyean dead on her wedding day and John has never found him or forgiven the family. When Ken goes off to war, John forbids any marriage and Ken agrees, while Kathleen does not. When Ken returns four years later when the war is over, he is crippled. He conceals his condition and makes plans to leave for America.—Tony Fontana