Shot With Crimson

tacular and more appalling than any previous deed perpetrated by the secret enemies of the American people, was to drive even the most sanguine and indifferent citizen t

hat rivalled in violence, if not in human toll, the most vivid

of quick-breathing men and wide-eyed women the fi

d anxious, to hail the scurrying newsboys. The distant roar of the shells had roused the millions in Manhattan; windows rattled, the frailer dwellings rocked on thin foundations. It was not until the clash of heavy artillery swept up

Upper West Side. For an hour they had been sitting there, listening, and looking always to the west, out over the dark and so

f, of satisfaction. The others turned to him and smi

ok hands, bade each other a friendly good-night for the benefit

of the sobbing waters of the Bay. Their faces, rendered almost invisible behind the great collars that protected them from the shrill winds coming

vering hand and, with a hoarse laugh of exultation, seized in his fingers a strange, crudely shaped metallic object that stood on the table nearby. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it! Then he put it down, carefully, gingerly,—with something like fear in his eyes. Scraps of tin, pieces of iron and steel, strands of wire, w

sted strangely with the dread that had been in them a moment b

ris

, had bee

secure and safe in the breasts of the few who were allowed to strike. Thousands who rejoiced, for they knew that a great and glorious deed had been done!

d that had rocked the city of New York! And in the darkness of the ni

In spirit, at least, they touched hands

number of the car as it passed, and jotted it down in a little book. He noted in the same way the license numbers of other automobiles. When he was relieved hours afterward, he had in his little book the number of every car that came in from

ue apartment by a tall, beautiful girl, who threw open

vibrant note of relief in her

ried Mrs. Carstairs quickly. Her h

stood stock-still for a moment befo

I—oh, I was dreadfully worried. The papers say the shells fell miles away—Why, I couldn’t go to bed, Aunt Frieda. We have been trying for hours to get the Club on the telephone.” She was a

explosions over here

It was just after eleven, I think. He called up Central at once, but the girl was so frightened she could hardly speak. She didn’t know what had happened, but she was

er hand in his. He laid his other hand against her cheek, and wa

sed. I assured him I was not the least bit nervous. He had been wo

he shouldn’t have gone off and left y

e without knowing what had happened. Besides, Hodges and two of the maids were up,—so I wasn’t all alone.” She fo

heavily into a chair. H

murmured, glancing a

usband; “it’s been too much for

ht. The shock, you know. We were so near the place

of frenzy. “They ought to be burned alive,—burned and tortured for hour

d, there’s a sensible girl. We’ll have all the details by tomorrow,—and, believe me, things won’t be as bad as they seem tonight. It’s

ated in

Hello, Alfred,—wh

s overcoat or hat. His dark eyes, wet from the

ibly worried—thank the Lord! It’s a relief

verishly. She put her arm around

pset, of course, de

tently into her eyes. Then he strai

sir. But I was horribly worried, just the same. Those beast

ather cheerfully. “We were all perfectly safe. Have t

rts of wild stories. People are talking about lynchings, and all that sort of rot. Nothing like that ever happens, though. We d

said his father slowly, “and when she does, there

y in her voice. “You’ve been tramping about the streets, and—— You must

were Friday. It was his pet name for her in the bosom of the family. “Warm as toast,” he ad

t. I—I—so I asked the man if there had been any kind of an accident out there and he said no, there hadn’t. I—asked him if Captain Steele was in bed, and h

‘em, for that matter,—to make a noise loud enough to be heard across the street. How c

, arising. He put his arm across his wife’s shoulders. “We’ve had all the explosions

‘extra,’” said Louise. “Can’t we wait just a few m

he nerves of the four persons in the adjoining room that they s

d Alfred, after a mome

t is,” sai

y. “Central has been unusually annoying of late. It hap

Moved by a common impulse, the others followed him into the room,

.” He sat down on the edge of the library table and turned to

h a whimsical curve at the corners denoting not merely good humour but a certain contempt for seriousness in others. He was handsome in a strong, hold way despite a strangely colourless complexion,—a complexion that may be described as pasty, for want of a

o have his son follow him through the historic halls at Camb

ut found other and less sincere arguments in the protracted discussions that took place with her husband. She fought Harvard because it was not democratic, because it bred snobbishness and contempt, because it deprived

th almost pathetic simpleness, was that she could not bear the separation from the boy she loved so fiercely, so devotedly. He was not so sure that fili

had exercised it with an iron-handed firmness that not only surprised but gratified the father, who knew so well the tender affection she had for her child. Her word was law. Alfred

paternal measures. Alfred either sulked or openly defied him. Always the mother stepped into the breach. She never temporized. She either promptly supported the father’s

could be clearer than the fact that she was bringing her son up with the most rigid regard for his future. She had her eyes set far ahead; she was seeing him always as a man and not as a boy. That much, at least, Carst

l strength which so rarely rises above the weakness of a mother’s pity. Once he l

let you bring her up,” said s

of humility. He was her man. He was her law. A simple, unwavering respect for his strength, his position, his authority in the home of which he was the head, rendered her incapable of opposing his slightest wish. An odd timidity, si

e old-fashioned kind who thinks first of her man’s comfort and, although in this ins

. He was a long time in arriving at the solution. It was very simple after all: she merely had admitted another man into her calculations. H

ent to lay aside the authority with which she had cloaked her love and ambition for so long. His word had become her law. She had two men in her family now. Slowly but surely she was

a loyalty that incurred a tremendous amount of self-sacrifice, he had offered all of his vital energy, all of his heart, to the cause of the people. He was on many boards, he was in touch with all the great enterprises that worked for the comfort, the

ssociated with the recent grave event, but something new that was creeping, as it were, along the wire that reached its end in the receiver

son.... What?... Yes, he’s here, but can’t you give me the message?... Who are you?... What?... Cer

h a sharp bang, and straightened up to hi

0

at his hand trembled. He had never known it to

go ahead.” He had seated himself in the great library chair at the end of the table. “Yes; my butler’s name is Hodges.... An Englishman.... What?... What has happened, officer?... G

obile,” he said quietly. “I gather he is unconscious. You are ne

t?” she asked in a lo

e details and tell you in the morning.” The girl

d him to go out,” she stam

girl’s waist and led her from the r

d. Instantly killed.” He spoke into the tra

receiver a mome

s standing in the street waiting for a car. The automobile was going forty miles an hour. He never knew what

ervants may know. Mother says his references were of the high

er with this tonight, my son

, clenching his hands. He choked up