Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-07-23
.Cynthi f-the-Minute
Copyright 1911 By Louis Joseph Vance

1
interminable cigarettes between the
curses. which Cshe guessed) ne induced
i lean purposely to delay. that he might
! aave the more excuse for dawdling.
In the beginning, surmising intuitive-
~ that their lots were not dissimilar.
that he likewise was one of those re-
jected of the city. she had vaguely won
dered about him and tried to reason why
the world had no need for that keen
Intelligence she sometimes saw glowing
In the dark eyes set in his Sark, thin,
finely-featured face He was not dfssi-
pated, she believed-though he did smoke
too many cigarettes: his wine more often
than not was taken from the table I'M
touched. There was something too fine
and open in his expression. something
too STEADY and straightforward in his
eyes and too human in his smile, to
leave ground for belief that he was ad-
dicted to any degrading habit, the VIC
tim OF drug, for instance; as she had
heard men sometimes were. No-she had
concluded-he was merely another like
herself. an incompetent turned out to
night for a living with no weapons aside
from honesty and a good intent.
And with that she had ticketed the
boy and tucked him away in a pigeon
hole of her memory and forgotten him.
save when now and again their eyes
met casually in passing. He had become
to her Just bit of the furnishing Of
suzanne's-even as herself, IL possibly less
i transitory.
As for the Red Man, he was compar-
atively a newcomer. He had first an
peared In Suzanne's within the last ten
days but since that debut had become
ular."
At sight Cynthia had dubbed hin, the
hed Man. because he was red. He was
the reddest human being she had ever
seen His broad, bluntly modelled face
/ was red with the burnt redness of a
DHck' ana so were his thick. strong
neck and big, outstanding ears. In that
sanguine expanse his eyes were like
olue stones, hard, and cold and pene-
tFaung-a blue almost TURQUOISE in flint
and quite. as Opaque. And his hair was
outraseously afiame, a hot reddish
Drown. matching nearly the color Of the
oaggy ready-made coat and trousers
which, apparently he never changed.
/ his shirts were always Cor else il was
always the same shirt barred with Wv
/ ID pink stripes; just as a small bat
wing tie Of crimson satin always nes-
TIED costly up under the incarnadineo
Iolds or his fat chin. Even his high-cut
shoes were OF that deadly russet-red
leather that is as a general thing only
1 70 De seen calling attention to the feet
or the SWEETEST dressed Teller" in some
small inland town. And, finally, one of
/ his huge but chubby red hands was
adorned with garnet ring. and he wore
cun-links set with 'carbuncles. o! de-
cidedly the Red Man OF all red men!
Another thing that made him memoir
able, If anything were needed aside from
his feverish color-scheme, was his seri
BUSINESS. Large, fat, red-faced men are.
IN the popular conception. -humored
| and jolly. But the Red Man of SUI
zanne's never smiled-so far as Cynthia
knew, at least: she had never seen him
save when his features were set and
hard and his eyes cold and calculating.
u Sometimes she had thought his express
sion one Of anxiety, as if he, too, had
grave troubles to contend with; but this
impression was modified by the fact that
he seemed to have plenty of money. He
! ate ferociously and enormously, fire.
quently sending Jean back to the kitch-
en- for double and treble orders of some
dish he fancied; and he drank in proper
tion-always at least one large bottle of
table wine at a meal, and more often
two-but without ever seeming affected
by the quantity of cheap alcohol thus
consumed. And several times she had
| noticed, when he paid his reckoning,
that he drew from his trousers pocket
a great. fat wad of bills with yellow
backs, all rolled up tight and bound to-
gether with a twisted rubber band.
After he had finished luncheon the
Red Man always smoked a very large
and thick and dark cigar with very
large red-and-gold band around it's mid
dle-meanwhile staring impertinently
around the room. fastening his chilly
blue stare on any one patron or an
other and prolonging it until, Cynthia
sometimes thought. it must be unendur-
able. She was relieved that he never
| seemed to think her worth more than
a fugitive glance Thrice she had no.
ticed him rise and. approaching table
occupied by some one he had been star
ing out of countenance, pull out chair,
sit down and begin talking, apparently
| without preface or apology-talking In
a thick. dull rumbling voice that filed
the room like the growl Of some Gagged
animaI-no more ineligible, at dis
| lance of a few feet. Two Of the per-
sons so addressed (they were invaria-
/ bly, men) had listened, at first with in
/ terest, then with diminishing attention,
finally cutting him short by calling to
Jean for the addition. The third Ga
| short burly man who somehow made
II CYNTHIA think of a sailor out of work.
had heard him out to the end and then,
evidently in an asserting humor, gone
away with the Red Man. That event
was two days old; and now that she
1 thought of it, the man with the sea-
faring air had not since then been seen
in Suzanne's, although previously he had
figured as a regular attendant.
So she was interested distantly,- but
not in any way surprised when the Red
Man, after glaring at that boy for
period Of fully five minutes. suddenly
got I'D, numbered heavily over to the
others table and sat down-hrst, as In
other instances she had remarked, push
ing before his victim a piece Of paste
board shaped like a calling caro- put
considerably larger.
A moment later his heavy voice was
n reverberating between the walls, more
than ever reminiscent of the purring Oh
a huge cat. -,.-.-
II She noticed that the boy" (who was
probably three or four years older than
herself) started slightly and then smiled
as his gaze fell on the Red Mans caro-
Thereafter he listened somewhat eager
liz. nodding at times or interfering
quick word. -.
Her interest in this episode was at
the time too remote to hold her regard
more than a moment or two, and pres
entity the Red Mans accents merged IN
TO the roar of the city that insinuated
itself even into this quiet retreat And
in considering what she could do TO
aaadan the irk OF the hopeless hours