Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1910-10-06
A FACE IN
the CROWD,
The Story of a Pretty Little Love
Romance.
by KEITH GORDON.

after awhile she came to look for
him when the train stopped at the Fir
ty-fhird street station in the morning
aggressive chin and determined mouth
She felt vaguely disappointed when
-sh,, did not see him.
Il.sensiby he became the touch of
romance in the dreary monotony of her
days. five and half out of seven of
which were spent in Wall street. a
place. where the advantages of being II
woman are not glaringly apparent.
Ofien during the tagging afternoons
of summer. when business was dull
and the hands of the clock approached
X bsjf slowly. she would sit resting on
her face on her hands and wondering
about him. Who was he: What was
ne? Was he married or single?
The noise of the street below. duled
by distance until ii was as dreamy as
the cumming of bees at MONDAY.
tlr6,ed softly in her ears Il sort Of liv-
ing melody. and her thoughts defied
oflcs, hours and went far aiied in IL
fantastic search for the reality about
him among the crowd Of possibilities.
Over and over she gave him local
flalbitation and name, but these
changed always with her mood. No
name that she could hit upon seemed
to express his personality. and she
finally discarded them all and thought
of BIN only as The Man.
The weeks melted into months. but
her iMterest in him did not flag. Rath-
eer il became deeper rs time went on,
sCurIousiy enough 1t was what might
be termed the nonessentials that baf-
fles, iaer About the man himself-his
character and what he would do in
any given emergency-she felt the
same assurance that she did about her
self.
She mad decided that he was law.
yer. though precisely why she thought
sd she could not have told. Then one
day she saw him with a child. a girl
of ten. who bore certain tleeting re-.
seNblance to him.
He was married. then! An almost
fmpcrceptible sigh escaped her. Then.
as tie absurdity of the matter dawned
upon her. she laughed softly to her
self. What difference? Josephine and
Marie Louise had never dampened her
affection for Napoleon. She even be-
gar TO feel mild interest in the lady
Sometimes. for two or three weeks
at II stretch. they would not encounter
eacia other. 1t was after one of these
breaks that. watching him as he en-
faction at seeing him again shone all
nDc1nsciously in her face, and his
glance was arrested by 1t.
As the faint color touched her cheeks
under his gaze he looked casually
away For moment he had thought
her some half forgotten acquaintance
frofs the welcome that be had sur
prfsed in her eyes. but her quick an
noyance as she returned to her reading
forbade that idea.
Size did not look toward him again
bur more than once his keen blue eyes
rested upon her as she sat there. slim
and straight. with masses Of pale
brown hair piled upon her small head
After this he. too. began to watch OF
Il S,orning. habit is very easily
formed.
Then for weeks he disappeared. The
girl wondered anxiously what had be-
.cnnie of him. Had he gone abroad
Nlayhap he was ill--or dead. At the
Thought she shrank like one hurt. fol-
ne had become. in whimsical way
a rs,rt Of her life. He had become as
near and dear as only ideals can be.
Wken he did appear one morning
towering above a crowd of lesser men
like a god. there was n new gravity in
ilis face which held her attention even
fsefore she noticed that he was in
snOuraing
That. then. was what these weeks
aDf absence from business meant-Sick-
tlefss and suffering and death. His
wife undoubtedly. from the sorrow and
oppression that he showed. The quick
sympathy that she felt lowered in her
soft. wide eyes as they rested briefly
upon his face, And he. reading that
loOk. felt curious thrill.
long since he had begun to regard
,iIei' aith sort of tacit. silent friend
ship. 'the little girl with her soul in
her face" as he once described her to Il
frj,sSod, shaking bis head deprecatingly
Ii a-he thought Of n woman like her
barring to wrestle with the world. She
seemed to him too exquisite for the
faI5c and downs Of such life.
BE watched her surreptitiously now