Octavia's Pride; or, The Missing Witness — page 241: what you’re looking at

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

SP va. PP mr rita Vie / f cans a ee Le 366 a ie ‘- j ce 4 pee . : OCTAVIAS PRIDE. Mita 3 as curious as the next, and I'll venture to swear you didn’t let the matter rest without trying to ferret it out.” yy Mother Woodstock shook her head, and struck her coarse ‘a hands together angrily. es, ‘««She'was a cunning one, now, I tell you. I did the best , I could, and only found out the ring, and that it was no man.” | | «“No man!” ejaculated the listener, staring at her like one demented. ‘‘ You don’t mean it was a woman?” “ But I do. That much is pretty clear to me.’ “< Let me see the ring,’ > said Mathew Merle. | She thrust her hand into her pocket, drew out a long silk is purse, once gay with steel beads, but rusted now and x frayed; slipped the steel rings away, and brought forth a heavy ring, with an agate stone, on which was carved what seemed a family crest. | The keen black eyes snapped with the old basilisk glitter as he looked at it. ‘« Well,” said he, to himself, ‘‘if the ring came from the Middletons, they are premature in adopting the crest of Wainwaight Slope. It is a high hand somebody 1s carry- ing, that is certain.” ““It was a woman,” persisted Mother Woodstock. ‘‘ You may start on that. Now look at the letters inside the ring.” | Ne The old man held it up, and read the pares traced — Ret characters there: —€ Octavia, from her father.” ‘““Humph!” said he, ‘that is worth taking note of, whether anything comes of it or not.” And then he fell into a deep reverie. But the glad con- sciousness that was overflowing and bubbling up within him, & in almost boyish excitement, soon dispersed the momentary “J gravity. . a well, I am not going to fret over it to- jae But it is - 8 = Seve A y ee Oy ear eny Rens, | EComicbooks:com —