That Girl of Johnson's — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

32 | THAT GIRL OF JOHNSON’S, She scarcely thought of what would follow; it was for her to do this thing; beyond that she had no plans. As she passed over the mountain and down on the other side the town lay out before her; a thriving town; smoke arose black from the towering chimneys, the whir of machinery, the rattle of wagons and din on every-day life were borne up to her as sounds of a strange land. Life was down there; busy men; work that showed and helped on the world’s work. The sunlight fell across the roof of a school-house; the tall spire of a church pointed to heaven like a steadfast finger; a frame-house, neat and cheery, betokened a friendly feeling. The knowledge began to grow in her mind that the life in the slow little settlement beyond the mountain was too narrow, too shut into itself, too lacking in energy and growth. But this was a new world to her and she shrank from it, not from any foolish feeling of inferiority; sucha thought could hold no room in her mind, but asa wild animal instinctively shrinks back to its natural world. Then the feeling left her; the old thought drove every fear, every other feeling away ; she had come for a purpose and as yet it was not accomplished. She passed steadily down the road looking neither to right nor left; she walked straight up the village street, a- slender figure carrying herself gracefully in spite of a certain air of strangeness. | The court-house was at the farther end of the town; she had heard them say so. A long, low, white building with wide steps and a bell in the tower. The houses were neatly painted, most of them on streets crossing from the main ‘street; some had piazzas and blinds to the windows, and dainty curtains. It was a new world to the girl. On the main street as she passed farther down, the houses gave place to stores. People passed her and — wagons; they were all new to her, and had she not been on her errand she would have felt awkward and strange: fen mae = -comicbooks.co'