The American Marquis by Nick Carter — page 175: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

¥ _*¢ ' « p : é 4 Fie ) ing fun of his idleness.” THE AMERICAN MARQUIS. | Ogg Grace laughed, for the new gardener’s assistant was no- toriously the laziest and poorest workman they had. ‘* Let us go and see what it is, anyhow.” ‘© As you please, my Grace. The man will be glad of an excuse for talking.” ‘“Why do you keep him, Honore? You are always mak- ‘Well, you know, he was recommended to me by that _ poor Mayor of D’Iberri who has gone crazy, and I don’t like to send him away.” ‘‘What a soft-hearted fellow you are, Honore!” ‘¢Oh, I can be positively cruel.” 7 | ‘1 don’t believe it; but here is the man. What is he looking at?” , ‘‘Good-morning, Robert,” said Honore. ‘‘ What is it that seems to interest you so much?” Tete-de-Fer seemed ill at ease with a spade in his hand, and he made a most villainous-looking gardener. He an- swered, awkwardly enough: ‘* It’s an old bit of black satin. Looksas if it might have ~ been a mask once.” a Honore took it and examined it curiously. ‘It isa mask. I wonder how it came here?” Grace became very pale. ‘‘ Perhaps,” Honore went on, ‘‘they had a masked ball here during the life-time of the old marquis, and this is a relic.” The old marquis wasn’t that sort,” answered Tete-de- ee ‘* He was too close-fisted for anything like a masked all.” | ‘‘ Well, it came here, somehow,” said Honore, carelessly; and, to Grace’s relief, he started to move’on. _ ‘Tete-de-Fer, however, seemed anxious to talk, and said, quickly: | Levey | ‘‘It might have come through a masked marriage.” Grace caught Honore by the arm. } He pretended to mistake her meaning. ‘Romantic little woman, you want to hear about a masked marriage, I suppose. I’m afraid they don’t have such things these days, and that mask doesn’t look over a year old.” | He turned to Tete-de-Fer. ** Why do you think of a masked marriage?” *Gomicbooks Eo