The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 179: what you’re looking at

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

176 THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. Mrs. Jenkins, without any disrespect to you, and fully giving you. credit for the best motives, I ask you, as a favor, to excuse me.” The countenance of Mrs. Jenkins fell, and she gave a groan, as she said: ‘‘Then, I ain’t to know after all.” ‘* Yes,” said Mabel; ‘after all, you shall know; but not now. Do not ask me now for a confidence that would distress me much in the process of giving it.” | The case was hopeless. Mrs. Jenkins gave it up in despair as regarded Mabel; but she followed the officer to the door and said, in a very confidential sort of tone: ‘‘My dear Mr. Long, what has she done ?” ‘‘Done—done? Why, what made you think she had done anything ? She is not accused of doing anything.” ‘© Well, but—but——” ‘*But what ?” ‘““Why, you know, Mr. Long, that there is some dreadful mys- tery in the whole affair. I knew there was from the very first, and I might just as well know it as not.” ‘* Well, then——”. . “* Yes—yes, Mr. Long.” ‘*You must know, then, Mrs. Jenkins, as regards her, I mcan the young lady in the parlor, she minds her own business, and it would bea good thing if every one else did the same. So good- morning, ma'am, good-morning.” Away walked the officer, leaving poor Mrs, Jenkins in a per- fect fever of indiguation and impatience. ‘What!’ she exclaimed—‘‘ what! will nobody tell me any- thing about anybody? Am I to endure all this in my own house? Am I to be made certain that something is going on that’s, perhaps, absolutely terrific, and not know anything about it? No—no—n--o—TI’ll put on my shawl and bonnet, and go to my mother’s, and ask her what she would do.under such dread- ful circumstances. Ill warrant she would not put up with it a moment, not she. She’s a clever woman, and kept a lodging- house for thirty years.” With this resolve—certataly a valorous one—Mrs. Jenkins re- tired to her own tiring-room, and, to the great relief of Mabel, she soon after sallied forth, to go to her mother, who was one of those regular old female sharks who had been for thirty years ‘taking in,”—so the phrase goes—“ and doing for,” the male population of London. Mabel, now, instead of finding the perils and the troubles which surrounded her diminishing, found them daily increasing. The silence and the non-appearance of Captain Morton, or some, at least, of the Morton family, was to her one of the most inexplicable things in the whole world. Time enough had now elapsed to cover all accidental delays on the road from Morton Hall to the metropolis, and she could only now fall back upon what had been suggested by the officer, namely, that some cir- cumstances must have happened to induce the Morton family to leave the Hall. comicbooks. com