Thrice Wedded, but Only Once a Wife — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

THRICE WEDDED. : i3 | “And is your father’s name Robert Ellerton, too, young man?” “Yes, sir,” replied the boy, still regarding him with sur- rise, , : «And your mother—tell me quick,” he continued, hastily, and almost sternly. “My mother is dead, sir. Shedied when I was born, and Aunt Nannie has always taken care of me.” Dead! Oh, Heaven, dead! Jessie dead!’ muttered the old man, pressing his hand to his side, and staggering back upon the seat from which he had. just arisen. Great beads of perspiration stood upon his brow, and his hands shook as if with palsy, as he took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them off. “Oh, Jessie,” he wailed, “thou wert lost to me before, but T did not think that thou hadst gone so long to the regions of the unknown. | . Say, boy,” he added, and he clutched Robert almost fiercely by the arm, “‘was you father kind to her? Did she love him?” “Of course he was kind to her—of course she loved him,” replied Robert, indignantly, but wondering still more at the man’s strange behavior. : “Come, Dora,” he added, ‘‘we will go home; we won’t stay here any longer.” He again took Dora’s hand, which he had dropped in his astonishment, and started to ieave the place. “Stay,” said Squire Moulton, quickly, and a wicked ex- pression swept away the agony that had been on his white — face a moment before, while the devilish look came back to his evil eyes, though he tried to control it, and render his manner pleasant and affable. ‘Stay, my young friends, you shall have your wish. I will marry you. J used to know your mother, young man, and — hearing that she was dead took me by surprise. Yes, I will _ marry you, certainly,” he continued, gleefully rubbing his ~ hands together; ‘‘only tell me first who this young lady is. Is her papa rich like your father?” “No, sir, ’ replied Dora, promptly, her anger vanishing at the squire’s pleasant manner. ‘‘Poor papa is dead; he was a doctor; and my name is Dora, and mamma lives in a lit- tle cottage: but that is no matter, for Robbie will be rich, so it doesn’t make any difference.” Eomicbooks.com