Ay, something out of the usual had happened to Doctor Gardiner.
As his handsome brougham turned into Canal Street, the doctor, in looking from the window, noticed a young girl hurrying along the street.
There was something about the symmetrical figure that caused the doctor to look a second time.
He said to himself that she must be young; and a feeling of pity thrilled his heart to see one so young threading the streets at that hour of the night.
So many people were making their way through the streets that the driver was only able to proceed slowly. And thus the young girl, who had quite unconsciously attracted the doctor's attention, kept pace with the vehicle.
Once, as Jay Gardiner caught sight of her face, he felt as though an electric shock had suddenly passed through him. For a moment he was almost spell-bound. Where had he seen that face? Then suddenly it occurred to him that it was the fac-simile of the picture he had bought abroad.
And as he gazed with spell-bound attention, much to his disgust he saw the young woman stop in front of a wine-room and peer in at one of the windows. This action disgusted the young doctor immeasurably.
"How sad that one so fair as she should have gone wrong in the morning of life," he thought.
Suddenly she turned and attempted to dart across the street. But in that moment her foot slipped, and she was precipitated directly under the horses' hoofs.
A cry broke from the lips of the doctor, and was echoed by the man on the box.