y to place it in his memories. Then he spoke
to his daughter.
"Describe him, Harriet."
Harriet paled and flushed.
"About thirty," she said, "--under rather than over that. Six feet or
a little more in height. Slender, but muscular and athletic. Skin and
eyes clear and with a look of health. Complexion naturally rather
fair, but darkened by being outdoors a good deal. Hair dark brown,
straight and parted at the side. Smooth shaven. Eyes blue-gray, with
straight lashes. Eyebrows straight and dark. Forehead smooth, broad
and intelligent. Nose straight and neither short nor long; nostrils
delicate. Mouth straight, with lips neither thin nor full. Chin
neither square nor pointed, and without a cleft. Face and head, in
general, of oval Anglo-American type."
"Go on," said Santoine.
Harriet was breathing quickly. "Hands well shaped, strong but without
sign of manual labor; nails cared for but not polished. Gray business
suit, new, but not made by an American tailor and of a style several
years old. Soft-bosomed shirt of plain design with soft cuffs.
Medium-height turn-down white linen collar. Four-in-hand tie, tied by
himself. Black shoes. No jewelry except watch-chain."
"In general?" Santoine suggested.
"In general, apparently well-educated, well-bred, intelligent young
American. Expression frank. Manner self-controlled and reserved.
Seems sometimes younger than he must be, sometimes older. Something
has happened at some time which has had a great effect and can't be
forgotten."
While she spoke, the blood, rising with her embarrassment, had dyed
Harriet's face; suddenly now she looked away from him and out the
window.
Her feeling seemed to be perceived by Santoine. "Would you rather I
sent for Avery, daughter?" he asked.
"No; no!" She turned again toward Eaton and met his look defiantly.
Eaton merely waited. He was confident that much of this description of
himself had been given Santoine by his daughter before the attack had
been made on him and that she had told him also as fully as she could
the two conversations she had had with Eaton. He could not, somehow,
conceive it possible that Santoine needed to refresh his memory; the
description, therefore, must have been for purposes of comparison.
Santoine, in his blindness, no doubt found it necessary to get
descriptions of the same one thing from several people, in order that
he might check one description against another.
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