At a Girl's Mercy, or, The Fortunes of War — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

a AT A GIRU’S MERCY. 23 ingly. “If they had only spared his, Nan. It is bad enough, as it would be if they had taken only that which I had up to send on to help the army, but that they took his, too——”’ “Whose, papa?’ her hand very tender and sooth- ing on his head. ‘“‘Howard Blake’s, child. I drew it from the Na- tional last night for him, and should have taken it to him at once had he been home; but he was not, and now those rascals have it. It is terrible to think how helpless I was, Nan.’’ “Yes, papa dear; but it wasn’t your fault. You drew it according to Mr. Blake’s order; he took the risk when he asked you to draw it. He knew he would be absent from home, and you must keep it over night. Why should you feel it so dreadfully, papa? You can pay it back, you know, if he desires it,’ the girl said, it seeming very simple to her, knowing so little as she did about money, save to spend it. ‘““You can make it good, papa, and it isn’t half so bad as though you had stolen it.’’ She laughed to make him laugh, for he seemed so deeply buried in despair that her heart ached for him, seeing him as she had hitherto seen him, grave al- most to a fault, showing no emotion even when his - gons, the pride of his heart, had donned the blue and marched away it might be never to return. And to see him so crushed by the loss that, to the girl, was only cause for indignation and recovery of the stolen articles if possible, together with a severe punishment for the thieves who were so audacious, was terrible to her. She knew so little about her father’s affairs, or the state of the government treas- ury, and the need there was for all the money it was possible to secure, and the generosity of so many cS Gomichoo (E(0)