At a Girl's Mercy, or, The Fortunes of War — page 114: what you’re looking at

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

+ Ly ‘a <: er AT A GIRI’S MERCY. 103 “I just simply cannot wait for papa to come that I may tell him!” she said, happily. She slapped the ear nearest her with an affectionate stroke. ‘‘You blessed old Carlo, I’m going to keep on telling you until he does come.’’ There was no keeping down her light heart. Her eyes were brilliant with pleasure. She tossed her head, and the yellow curls went aflutter over her graceful shoulders. still there was no sound of wheels along the road turning in at the wide gate. Strain her eyes as she would for the first glimpse of the carriage rolling slowly along behind the lazy horses, she caught no such sight. The dust lay undisturbed along the level road. There was no scattering of the noisy sparrows in the trees at the entrance, roused by the rumbling wheels. They chirped and chattered, and screamed their shrill ‘‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ to their hearts’ content; nothing came to hush their cries or send them from their cool nesting. By and by the lightness died from the eager face bending above the dog. A small pucker of thought appeared on the smooth brow. An anxious look came into the wide, frank eyes watching the gate- way for the first stir of the birds that would herald the approach of any carriage. ‘It’s strange,’’ she said presently, to the quiet dog. “It’s awully strange papa doesn’t come. It can’t be that what we have dreaded for so long has come just now when I have such good news for him of mamma’s condition. It can’t be that the dreaded rlot——’’” She could not bring herself to utter the thought that must bring such terror to any one knowing what animals the men were who would rouse the city Gomicboo cS (E(0) m a 2)