Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-15
CHAPTER xII.
into the Depths.

Into the Depths.
Through the restless silence OF ~
slumbering f1athouse district, Brock
took his way eastward ) far as
Broadway: And there Pearl, follow
ing him unobserved. saw him turn
south and vanish under the hood Of
the Subway entrance. Still. ~irresolute
whether to speak to him or not, she
looked down quickly. the foul air,
stirred by passing express train,
blowing up into her face like the
fetid breath Of some greet under.
ground monster.
Allen was taking thu, descent In .
%leisure1y fashion. for there was no To-
cal in sight. and she watched him
~nervously as he bought his ticket, and
strolled out toward the platform.
Then she fumbled in her purse, and
taking a MICKEY from among the few
preaching rumbleJ OF the next south
bound train. As she leaned against
the rail the whole performance SEEM
&c like a >dream-like a mad night
mare>such as she had often had in the
old days when the thought OF sevenge
was still hot upon her; before it had
become a habit of mind, and was still
active from hurt and anger. What
exactly she intended doing to Brock,
she scarcely knew, only that her
blood surged with the desire, intense
and burning, to in1ict upon him some
degree of the suffering he had caused
her. 10 kill him outright had been
her first impulse, but she had only her
bare hands, and it seemed, on second
consideration, too mercifully swift a
revenge with results too dire to her
self For there was Adam, now, to
be considered. Nothing must be done
which would bring disgrace and trou-
Bile upon him. Yet Adam, too, hated
Breck. and perhaps she would render
MIN a service If she caused something
to happen to Allen. But swift death
was too good for him. He ought to
oe&mzde to suffer in some prolonged
mauner, even as she had. That any
spiritual injury could be inflicted up
on him seemed unlikely, yet even he
must have a vulnerable spot, II only
it could be found. . . some weakness
or vanity, avarice or lust. -;
II she could only discover its ma
ture she could get him through
and she could think what to do, she
must not lose sight Of him. She must
follow him. and learn where he lived,
where he might most easily be found,
for h would not now dare to question
Adam further for fear Of arousing
suspicion. Adam!Y Who cared SO
deeply for someone else! Yet, that
someone refused him admittance, the
while she f1irted with Breckenridge!
That at least was 3 bitter satisfaction!
From below came the muffled thun-
der of the approaching train.
Running swiftly down the stairs,
Pearl slid her coin into the little
sentry box and, waiting until Brock
started to enter the train, followed
him into the same car. finding a seat
at the opposite end from him, and
keeping her handkerchief to her face
whenever he turned his head in her
direction. The guard pulled a lever
with an unintelligible cry, the steel
doors swung to with q crash, and the
train plunged downtown through the
bowels of the city. It was still quite
early in the evening and there was a
scattering Of people lin the car. An
elderly. home-bound couple, mar and
wife who were talking loudly Of the
grandchildren they had just been to
see; a messenger boy with coat un-
buttoned and Idly drumming heels,
star-gazing at a stocking advertise
ment; an odd laborer or two; a few
young men callers: and a couple Of
4D1CA6A "OIlOu, all
wrapped in mpenetrable silence
amidst the roaring envelope of sourd
which the swaying train evoked. The
pitiless glare of the lights showed up
the dirt on the floor, the ford posters
overhead, the faces of the people,
cruelty, unspeakably. Even though
one shut ones eyes, one could not but
see the lights and imagine the rest.
Station after station shot by, blatant
~ p~retentious Of hygiene, with their
tiled walls and dirty floors, like ILL.,
kept bathrooms.
Brock had taken out a little note
book and become absorbed in the tot-
ting down Of figures. He held the
pencil in his gloved hand, and the
notebook was a slim and small affair
which had hardly the appearance Of
an important ledger. Yet, so great
was his interest In it, that after a lit
tie Pearl found that. she could observe
him without fear of detection. There
was a slight trown between his hand
some brows that were so like, yet so
utterly unlike Adams; and the result
OF his calculations, whatever they
were. appeared to be far from salts
factory. He went over and over
them, each time the trouble on his
face deepening.
Since she last saw him he had
changed little in appearance, she
thought. A trife heavier perhaps,
the years had filled out his face
thickened his neck, destroying
the boyish look. But he had still the
same sleek air, the polish, the fresh
color that h remembered so we'll.
The slight mustache above the too
1ull red mouth was new to her. but it
scarcely altered him beyond adding a
certain foppishness to his makeup.
Hls thin serge suit was, as usual. per-
fection. Even now she experienced
q faint echo Of the old charm his per-
lection OF grooming had always had
How far away he seemed. after all.
though he sat SO close! Once he had
been so near, ever though miles sep
arated them. And now he sat there,
down the aisle, where she could have
touched him by taking half a dozen
steps, and he was o removed than
the veriest stranger! Yet, If he had
forgotten, she had not! And surely
there wal some weak spot behind that
wait! $500
At seventy-second street a girl got
IN and took q neatly calculated seat
directly opposite to Allen. Her dead
white face beneath its extreme hat of
black. bore a rouGed mouth that WAS
like a wound; the black satin Of her
gown wrapped her warmly rounded
figure like b binding. Pearl
recognized her. -envied her clothes,
and s~huddered. It was al, though she
had un%wittingly touched something
steal q look at the girl out Of the cor
ner Of his eye. That look which she
had seen there before, boring the
Mcentiousness Of his soul, while not q