At a Girl's Mercy, or, The Fortunes of War — page 104: what you’re looking at

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

AT A GIRDT’S MERCY. 93 cognized fully his utter inability to lay claim to it on any other grounds, but she knew it as thoroughly as though her father had put it in just so many words, and her father knew she did. : ‘He should never have my brave, patriotic little woman,’ he said, laughing softly, as he took her two cold hands in his, and drew her down upon his knee. ‘‘He is not worthy to enter the room with you, and never should he lay claim to closer friendship than you give to the merest passing acquaintance.”’ And Nan knew he would keep to his word. CHAPTER Ix. HOW HE WORKED HIS PLANS. Nan knew that her father would keep to his word in regard to Mr. Blake, but she had such a thorough horror and distrust of the man that she would have feared him, were she capable of fear. As it was, she kept constantly on the watch for some underhand work upon his part to draw the financial net more and more tightly about her father, and in sucha carefully devised manner as to be quite unseen or undreamed of by him. She knew he would never give over any plan of his without fighting for it, too cowardly though he was to enter the army and fight where fighting was needed. It would be no open warfare. He was not brave enough to openly face a man or woman and state his determination to ficht to the death rather than lose his victory. He would follow so closely upon her father’s footsteps that he could do nothing of which he was not aware. That the present state of the city demanded care for self preservation he knew, and would comicbooks:com —