The Destroying Angel
By Louis Joseph Vance
Greyerson was right in his surmise regarding Hugh Whitaker’s emotions. His soul still numb with shock, his mind was preoccupied with petulant resentment of the unfairness of it all; on the surface of the stunning knowledge that he might count on no more than six months of life floated this thin film of sensation of personal grievance. He had done nothing to deserve this. The sheer brutality of it…
He felt very shaky indeed.
He stood for a long time—how long he never knew—bareheaded on a corner, just as he had left Greyerson’s office, scowling at nothing, considering the enormity of the wrong that had been put upon him. Later, realizing that people were staring, he clapped on his hat to satisfy them and strode aimlessly down Sixth Avenue. It was five o’clock in the afternoon of a day late in April—a raw, chilly, dark, unseasonable brute of a day. He found himself walking fast, instinctively, to keep his blood in warm circulation, and this struck him as so inconsistent that presently he stopped short and snarled at himself:
“You blithering fool, what difference does it make whether you’re warm or cold? Don’t you understand you’re going to die within half a year?”
He strove manfully to grapple with this hideous fact. He felt so well, so strong and efficient, yet he walked in the black shadow of death, a shadow from which there was no escape for him.
He thought it the damnedest sensation imaginable!
On top of this reflection came the third clause of Greyerson’s analysis: he made the discovery that he wanted a drink—a lot of drinks—more than he had ever had before, enough to make him forget.
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Louis Joseph Vance
Louis Joseph Vance (September 19, 1879 – December 16, 1933) was an American novelist, screenwriter and film producer. He created the popular character Michael Lanyard, a criminal-turned-detective known as The Lone Wolf.
Biography
Louis Joseph Vance was born September 19, 1879, in Washington, D. C., the only child of Wilson J. Vance, a Medal of Honor recipient, and Lillian Beall. He was educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. Vance was married to Anne Elizabeth Hodges on February 19, 1898. Their son, Wilson Beall Vance, was born in 1900.
He wrote short stories and verses after 1901 and then composed many popular novels. His character Michael Lanyard, known as The Lone Wolf, was featured in eight books and 24 films between 1914 and 1949 and also appeared in radio and television series.
Vance moved to Los Angeles to work with Universal Pictures on films based on his work, including The Trey o’ Hearts (1914) and a serial and film series (1914–1916) based on his Terence O’Rourke stories. In 1915, he founded Fiction Pictures, Inc., a motion picture production company whose films were distributed by Paramount Pictures. Its first release was The Spanish Jade (1915), with a screenplay by Vance based on his stage adaptation of a novel by Maurice Hewlett. Vance was president and general manager of the company; other principals were Wilfred Lucas (director-general), Gilbert Warrenton (cinematographer), and Bess Meredyth (scenario editor). Fiction Pictures operated in Glendale until a new studio in Hollywood was completed in April 1915. The studio was sold to Famous Players in June when Fiction Pictures went out of business.
Vance died alone in his New York City apartment on December 16, 1933, in a fire that resulted from his falling asleep with a lighted cigarette. His death was ruled accidental. A simple funeral took place December 20, 1933, at St. George’s Protestant Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, with honorary pallbearers including Marc Connelly, Will Irwin, and Samuel Merwin.[5] Vance’s widow received an estate of less than $10,000.
Louis Joseph Vance
