Page:Doughty--Mirrikh or A woman from Mars.djvu/11

 not far distant, and by good fortune the consul was my most valued friend. If I could contrive to get this man to the consulate he was safe for the time being at least.

“This way,” said I, without an instant’s hesitation, pointing toward a street leading off on our right. The next moment we were running side by side with the shouts of the  mob ringing in our ears.

“Where are you taking me?” he demanded in excellent English.

“To the American consulate. It is but a few steps.”

“Good! I shall be safe there. It was only an accident, and I am sure no one can regret it more than I do.”

“What happened?” I asked, eyeing him curiously.

For a moment he made no answer but turned a pair of deep set, black eyes upon me with a persistence of gaze  positively painful. In vain I tried to withdraw my own eyes from his, but it was quite impossible. I had heard of men who could fascinate by a look. Was I face to face with such a person now? Be that true or false, the face before me was certainly a puzzle—a wonder if it was natural,  which I could scarcely credit then.

The line of demarcation was wavy, running just below the ears, half way toward the nose, and then striking obliquely  downward to the corner of the mouth, being the same on  both sides. Above the line the skin was yellowish white, lighter about the forehead than lower down; below the line  the darkness suddenly became an intense black; this included the lower lip and chin, part of each cheek and the  throat. I wondered if it extended to the body, but the fact that the hands were of the same shade of color as the forehead seemed to indicate that such could not be the case. Altogether the face was an enigma; yet there was nothing repulsive about it. Nothing could make that face repulsive, for the features were singularly perfect and beneath the  heavy eyebrows beamed the intelligence of those peculiar  eyes. Have I mentioned that the hair was long, straight and intensely black?

A moment passed and he removed his gaze, to my great relief.

“I have a defect of sight,” he said calmly. “In crossing the street back there I accidentally stumbled over a little girl  whom I did not see. I fancy she was not much hurt, but as I stooped down to help her up two fellows set upon me