"Go where? Do you suppose that if I could have found out where they
have taken her that I would be here now?" demanded John. "I went to
this Mrs. Harlan's apartment as fast as a taxicab could get me there.
Her maid said that Mrs. Harlan had not returned, and was not expected
before late in the following day. The hall boys absolutely denied
having seen her since noon. What was I to do? While I stood there at
the door she may have been standing within six feet of me, laughing at
me, as she did once before to-night. How was I to know? I left there,
and rode downtown to Fenway's rooms, on the chance that he had left
her. They let me go upstairs to his apartment. At the door a servant
tried to stop me, but I threw him aside, and went in. There was a
crowd of half-drunken men and girls there. I asked for him, and they
told me that they hardly expected him to return as he had gone away
with a regular peach! Damn them! They wouldn't tell me where I could
hope to find him, and when I grew excited they laughed at me. By God,
Doctor, I've been laughed at too often to-night. Someone is going to
pay me for it."
"My dear boy," said the Doctor gently, "surely we have enough to bear
now; bringing another tragedy into our lives is not going to do any
good."
"What's the use of talking?" John was quite unnerved by all the
experiences and shocks of the last few hours. "I came here because it
was useless to search any more until daylight. But I am going to find
that man. He can't hide himself from me forever. He may take her away.
He probably will, but I'll go after them. Not to bring her back; I
can't do that. I can't ever, ever think of her again with anything but
pity, but, by God, I can take him out of her life; yes, and I am going
to do it!"
"My dear boy!" Dr. Crossett would have given much to be able to
comfort him, but as he had said, "it wasn't any use to talk, suppose
we sleep over this. We can't do anything for several hours yet, and we
are both tired out. Come!"
"Sleep! Do you expect me to sleep with the thought of Lola and that
mean being together, driving me almost insane? Oh, I was a fool to
come here. I should have kept on hunting for them. I must have known
you wouldn't understand. You don't know what it is to love a girl, and
to lose her; to think of her and some other man living, laughing,
loving one another, without a thought of you."
For a moment the Doctor seemed about to reply, but with only a slight
hesitation he smiled rather sadly to himself, and spoke gently but
with a trace of irony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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