At a Girl's Mercy, or, The Fortunes of War — page 73: what you’re looking at

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

SIE oi. ed poe i. * i s3 . , % - & : " 62 | AT A GIRLS MERCY. to be free. Yes, Nina should go; Jim told her to tell no one, but Nina was different; and if she told Nina, why not the others, and give them the chance with her? They would accept—they must accept; and if they did not—weli, she could not go and leave them without giving them the chance. And then sleep stole upon her, mingling in her dreams thoughts of her lover and her mother, and the opening of the new life; and dangers and ter- rors which she had never thought of came to her then; and with the first gleams of daylight she awoke, cold with horror and trembling lest it be true. But after awhile, with a prayer for strength, she took up her daily duties, and no one guessed from her manner that anything unusual would hap- pen. | CHAPTER VI. WAITING FOR DEATH. Nina was crossing the hall when Lola stopped her with a gesture. It was at the lower end of the hall “near a window overlooking the James, and in the farther distance the moving figures of the camp and the glitter of sunlight now and then flashing on sword and bayonet. Lola’s finger was on her lip, and Nina waited sitently for her to speak. ‘‘l’se a-goin’ ’way from hyar to-morrow, Nina,” Lola said, her voice so low the other had to watch her lips to understand. ‘‘Keep still fo’ yo’ life. Ef enyone should kno’——”’ she paused for a moment, glancing behind, but the younger girl knew full ’ well her meaning; her eyes grew wide with an un- known terror; she knew nothing of hope, ‘‘I’se comicbooks.co