Octavia's Pride; or, The Missing Witness — page 159: what you’re looking at

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

cep pies a7 Py Ria iéa Hy! he ene ss Nye Ke, "Ig ee sth ats pre a : he i: :. 7 1 _ : - A. a bs ea a, pe wi Mage cf - ae +) re Be ee af a’ " : OCTAVIA’S PRIDE. 149 ca She moved among the little group like a princess born. There were some twenty people present, half of them evening visitors from the neighborhood. Presently, out of f somebody’s sudden inspiration, came the suggestion that “4 there should be impromptu tableaux, and Lord Ronald was Bee prompt to seize upon it. Straightway the younger people y repaired to the music-room, and a stage was presently ar- ih ranged, with a small portable but heavy chandelier, brought ie from the hall to give additional light, suspended above it. : Octavia was seized upon for a Cleopatra, and was stand- a ing on the stage under, the chandelier, posed in the attitude Ss required, while Lord Ronald, as Antony, was approaching to is kneel before her, when there came a sudden wild shriek, oe rather than ery, which made them all turn in horror. Octavia had no time to seek an explanation. A pair of strong arms seized her and leaped across the room. At the same moment there came a crash—the chandelier lay a broken heap upon the floor, the carpet ef which, and the hight articles lying underneath, wore almost instantaneously in a blaze. The hook, upon which the servants had hung the chandelier, was utterly insufficient for the unusual 7 weight. One keen eye had marked its oscillation and sus- a picious wavering; had scen who stood directly under the _ massive combination of bronze and crystal, and acted promptly. For one moment Octavia lay against that shuddering heart and felt its bounding pulsations. Overcome his.love, indeed! She would never again need assurance of the falseness of that imputation. “Oh, Felix!” cried she, softly, while all around was the we wildest confusion, ‘who can tell what you havesaved me from? You are noble and generous, Felix.” a His eyes shone brilliantly with secret joy, but he held aa - himself grave and cold, ci RLS ee SSE WE RV SANETE TREO IN Bald se-ese R Pee MANA AN R ARMD YEE A IE AU Reape RHEL. e253