Encounter in the dark: Frontispiece from 1915's "Pals First"

This is the gloom-shrouded frontispiece from the 1915 novel Pals First, which was written by Francis Perry Elliott and published by Grosset & Dunlap. Despite the dark illustration, the novel is described as "A romance of love and comradery." It has 29 chapters, with titles such as:

• The Crooked Road
• By the Flare of a Match
• A Telephone Call
• "You Are Not the Dick I Knew"
• What the Safe Held
• What the Portrait Showed Me
• The Way of a Man with a Maid
• Danny's Moon-Madness
• The Turning of the Worm
• Danny Puts His Foot in It
• The Victor's Gate

The illustration refers to a moment in Chapter II (By the Flare of the Match). There are many uses of the exclamation "Lawsie!" as the surprise encounter takes place in the dark.

Author Elliott (1861-1924) wrote a number of books, including The Haunted Pajamas. Here's a fun 1917 advertisement (found online) from The Bookman Advertiser for another of Elliott's books.