Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1914-03-25
CHAPTER ~.
The Face in the Crowd.

4
turbation lat sight OF the yelled LADY,
be taken into account, neither had the
mornings queer events borne any
especial Significance whatsoever.
But here. in the twinkling of an eye.
was tragedy stark and grim. Only a
minute or two ago and this man was
pulsing with the perfect vitality OF
young. vigorous manhood; now the
spark OF life was flown-extinguished
| as one might pun out the flame OF a
candle
| Both were profoundly sobered by
the shocking end of their brief chase,
and even Van Vechten's more active
mentality was slow to accept realiza-
ton. AS for Tom Phinney, he merely
stood gaping at the still form. his
brain for the time being utterly be-
numbed.
The spell OF horror was in a meas
ure broken by policeman's belated
arrival. He stopped and turned up the
| mans face, and a thin crimson line
could be seen staining the left temple
The features were composed, as il
J death had been kind and mercifully
swift
"Slugged," was the officers senten-
tious conclusion. Standing upright, he
shot glance round the crowd who
saw this done?" he roughly demanded
Nobody replied; only an uneasy stir
ring undulated through the small gath
ering, which promptly settled again in
to silent immobility; and the blue-coat.
as usually happens in such cases,
sought TO cover with rudeness his in
competency to handle the situation.
1t was at about this juncture, Van
Vechten forever afterwards remem-
bered, that he first became aware of
| the face. He was standing behind
Tom, bit to his left, and opposite the
alley mouth. His entire attention, nat
| urally enough, up to this time had
been absorbed by the ugly scene at his
feet 1t was all the more strange,
therefore, that his mind should have
been attracted and held elsewhere,
even temporarily. But nevertheless,
all at once he experienced an indefin-
able, irresistible impulse to glance up
ward at certain point in the ring OF
onlookers. And his regard came TO rest
| upon particular face.
Straightway he became sensible of
| an unfamiliar thrill, an abrupt quick
ening OF the pulse, for which he could
| cot in the least account.
Perhaps he would have looked away
| again at once had there not come to
| him, as instantaneously as had the
impulse to glance upward. a convic-
| ton that the face signified something
| far out of the ordinary. The present
circumstances might in a measure ac-
| count for the horror mirrored there.
but not for the despair, the terror.
which seemed gradually to be chilling
the faces owner into a statue of ice
The face, Van Vechten told himself.
was rejecting emotions of depth and
potency for which the mans death
alone was wholly inadequate to ac-
count; the fixed stare was directed at
something beyond and behind the life.
less figure
II was girls face. II was refined
and delicate Of contour, and was
framed In a nimbus of wavy midnight
hair. II was. moreover, a strikingIy
| beautiful face-even hauntingly beau
tiful, for it was a face which the be.
l
many and many a day Van Vechten
knew that ne had never seen the girl
before; still there was something
/ about her that leased aud perplexed
him
lie knew dimly. later, that she must
nave been slender and not very tall
/ Tor she vas standing In the paved al
/ ley, on the crowds outward edge. and
( It was only an accident Of relative DO
sitions that afforded her an uninter.
rupted view.
what terrible, gripping horror was
II That seemed to be paralyzing all her
iancies? What did this mans death
SIGNIFY to her more than IL did to any
| one else here present?
To one such as Van Vechten. accus.
| toned TO reading the all but lnpercept
ibie indices OF schooled features. this
vision was like a naked human eoul
error and despair parted the delicate
/ pink lips and widened the mstrous
dark eyes they blanched her cbeelte
and held her GREATNESS. utterly Oh
IiWious Of aught else save the dead
man
AND nov he discoveries suddenly
that he was not the only person inter.
eSted IN the agitated girl His atten.
tlon was somehow drawn 10 a man
standing a half dozen or so feet from
heri tall. rawboned fellow with
powerful frame and a surIen cast Of
c"Vntenance-a countenance Just now
scratched and bruised. as II SIS owner
mad recently met with severe acct.
dent OF some kind.
hls man was staring angrily at the
girl. He too seemed to be obliyiona .,