“What are you going to do next?”
“Talk it over with you and decide.”
The doctor laughed.
“Well here are a few things that occur to me without time for thought.
Talk to the ticket agents, and leave her description with them. Make it
worth their while to be on the lookout, and if she goes anywhere to find
out all they can. They could make an excuse of putting her address on
her ticket envelope, and get it that way. See the baggagemen. Post the
day police on Main Street. There is no chance for her to escape you. A
full-grown woman doesn't vanish. How did she act when she got off the
car? Did she appear familiar?”
“No. She was a stranger. For an instant she looked around as if she
expected some one, then she followed the crowd. There must have been an
automobile waiting or she took a street car. Something whirled her out
of sight in a few seconds.”
“Well we will get her in range again. Now for the most minute
description you can give.”
The Harvester hesitated. He did not care to describe the Dream Girl to
any one, much less the living, suffering face and poorly clad form of
the reality.
“Cut out your scruples,” laughed the doctor. “You have asked me to help
you; how can I if I don't know what kind of a woman to look for?”
“Very tall and slender,” said the Harvester. “Almost as tall as I am.”
“Unusually tall you think?”
“I know!”
“That's a good point for identification. How about her complexion, hair,
and eyes?”
“Very large, dark eyes, and a great mass of black hair.”
The doctor roared.
“The eyes may help,” he said. “All women have masses of hair these days.
I hope----”
“Her hair is fast to her head,” said the Harvester indignantly. “I saw
it at close range, and I know. It went around like a crown.”
The doctor choked down a laugh. He wanted to say that every woman's hair
was like a crown at present, but there were things no man ventured with
David Langston; those who knew him best, least of any. So he suggested,
“And her colouring?”
“She was white and rosy, a lovely thing in the dream,” said the
Harvester, “but something dreadful has happened. That's all wiped out
now. She was very pale when she left the car.”
“Car sick, maybe.”
“Soul sick!” was the grim reply.
Then Doctor Carey appeared so disturbed the Harvester noticed it.
“You needn't think I'd be here prating about her if I wasn't FORCED.
If she had been rosy and well as she was in the dream, I'd have made
my hunt alone and found her, too. But when I saw she was sick and in
trouble, it took all the courage out of me, and I broke for help. She
must be found at once, and when she is you are probably the first man
I'll want. I am going to put up a pretty stiff search myself, and if I
find her I'll send or get her to you if I can. Put her in the best ward
you have and anything money will do----”
The face of the doctor was growing troubled.
“Day coach or Pullman?” he asked.
“Day.”
“How was she dressed?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account