288 pp. Tan boards with black text and red floral decor on front board. Frontispiece and illustrations by Charles R. Macauley. A whisper went through the Quarter; at first formless, undefinable, and thin. It penetrated the walls of the gambling-houses, siftingly, like dry cold. The men at play lifted their heads - listened; silently pushed their stacks of chips toward the dealers, shoved back their chairs; without a word went out into the street. It crept between the swinging-doors of the saloons like an ugly presence. Men with glass on lips paused, waited, put down their drink untasted - quickly left these places. It permeated the dance-houses; women shivered and paled without knowing why; checked the ravings of the pianos; looked at one another with vague awe, then stealthily barred the windows and doors.
