A Silver Brand — page 292: what you’re looking at

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

084 z A SILVER BRAND, ~ Sick at heart, shivering as with an ague, poor Penelope turned to go. Then it was that Lina drew away her hands, the hot tears plashing over her cheeks, while her warm, generous heart vindicated itself. _ . “No, no,” she cried, choking and gasping to clear her voice from sobs. ‘‘No, no, no, you must not go. I love you—I have always loved you. Auntie Pen, give me time to be used to the change, and I will be a true and loving child to you.” , Penelope turned, a radiant smile breaking over the wan ace. : “And forgive me, Lina, forgive me for coming and taking away all these grand hopes, and leaving you only a poor broken down, guilty mother.” ‘Yes, yes, if there is anything to forgive. I love you, mother !” | The last word was pronounced tremulously with a little effort, but Penelope uttered an ecstatic cry, and hurrying ~ back caught Lina’s hand and covered that and her very dress with passionate kisses and warm, relieving tears. ~ Nat strode forward and laid his hand on her bowed head. — “Penelope, you were married, you said. -Who was this child’s father—speak, I pray you.” | 3 “Konrad Darn,” answered Penelope. | “Oh, how bitterly I was deceived!” exclaimed Nat. ‘Poor dupe of that wicked man. I challenged, I fought with Konrad Darn, believing that it was my own bride who had thus deceived and cheated. I wounded him, but I had no suspicion it was fatal. To this day, I believe that some ruffian was hired to finish the murder; that it might be a new claim to hold me to that princely villain’s power. It was he who so adroitly fastened suspicion upon poor Darn. It was he who poisoned my kinsman’s mind against me.” ; | | “Whose voice is that? Who speaks?” implored Lady Pauline, springing up and staring into the bronzed, bearded face with deepening, dilating eyes. He turned with a glad, transported smile, and hurrying forward knelt down at her feet. “My angel wife! none the lessan angel thatitis the earth and not the skies, as I thought, which holds her.” ‘Arnold, Arnold! Oh, it is cruel to deceive me,” she implored. — | “ There is no deceit. Iam Arnold Schwarzenberg. They left me to drown and believed that it had happened. But I reached shore. I fled away. I believed my wife false, = comicbooks Eom ©