The ranks opened covertly to avoid the corpse. The invulnerable dead man forced a way for himself. The youth looked keenly at the ashen face. The wind raised the tawny beard. It moved as if a hand were stroking it. He vaguely desired to walk around and around the body and stare; the impulse of the living to try to read in dead eyes the answer to the Question.

Greco-Turkish War
Despite contentment in Jacksonville and the need for rest after his ordeal Crane became restless. Meanwhile Crane's affair with Taylor quickly blossomed. Portrayed favorably and heroically by the press Crane emerged from the ordeal with his reputation enhanced if not restored after the battering he received during the Dora Clark affair.

Prolific throughout his short life he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. Having little interest in university studies he left school in 1891 and began work as a reporter and writer.