A Social Meteor — page 241: what you’re looking at

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

A SUCIAL METECR. 231 For a short time after this speech there was silence between them. Georgie had had no idea that this was to be the point of his story, and now it struck her like a blow. She did not know whether to be pained or amused, whether to cry or to laugh. She could only marvel dumbly at the mysterious workings of fate. Finally Peter spoke again. “Tt is a thousand pities,” said he, sincerely, “that she should have gotten Jack within her clutches, though, for she’ll squeeze him as she would a grape, until she can get no more out of him. ‘Then she’ll sail off some fine day, and he may die in the gutter for all she’ll care. Between her mother and herself, a man must be pretty shrewd to get away with so much as the price of a shave. They certainly believe in making hay while the sun shines, if any two people ever did.” “But the boy, what became of him ?” “Oh, he’s all right. I’ve taken the best of care of him, poor lad; I’ve had to be mother and father both to him. When he was old enough I sent him to school, and now he is at college, where he’s getting along splendidly. Every summer I take him traveling for two or three Gomicbooks (Ele)