Dering answered that he had had to shoot or be killed. The man who had gone into the river had all but put a knife in him.

© SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum…
© SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
Dering answered that he had had to shoot or be killed. The man who had gone into the river had all but put a knife in him.
© SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not for reproduction or publication.

Dering answered that he had had to shoot or be killed. The man who had gone into the river had all but put a knife in him.

Date1927
Artist (American illustrator, 1871–1953)
Illustration Citation"Natchez," by Joseph Hergesheimer, in The Saturday Evening Post, May 21, 1927
MediumGraphite and ink on illustration board
Dimensionssheet: 11 9/16 × 16 3/8 in. (29.4 × 41.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Frederic R. Gruger, Jr., 1982
Object number1982-72
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextThe rakish character smoking in the foreground is informing a Natchez gambling contact that he has tired of his underworld activities and plans to go straight. Frederic Gruger was one of the most prolific and expert artists in black and white media, which he mastered early in his career as a newspaper illustrator.