Penny Blood Serial Cover — page 80: what you’re looking at

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

72 ALFRED DE ROSANN. daughter “ Who had been at the house during her absence?”’ ‘ _ My dear mother, something very extraordinary has happened,”? began Felicité, drawing her parent aside, and speaking in a whisper. -6 Ah! what is it, my child ?” “Have you not often spoken of uncle Thomas, who’s gone as a soldier ?”’ “ Certainly child: proceed !’’ “You know the fowls you left me to roast ?” “ They are cooked by this time—eh ?”’ ‘“O yes—and gone, too.”’ “Gone ! whither are they gone ?”’ -~“Tnto uncle Thomas’s pockets.” | “Uncle Thomas ! has he been here ?”’ “And a bottle of that wine,’’ continued Felicite, “ which stands in the corner of the cellar next the stairs, and into which we put the logwood and brandy last month, you know.”’ : “The girl’s mad ! What has all this to do with uncle Thomas ?”’ “ Only that the wine’s gone along with the fowls.’’ During this brief discourse, Felicite cast many - knowing looks towards Belle-Rose, who made the most horrible grimaces, with a thousand shakes of the head and warnings of the hands, intended as signs to induce the girl to silence. She, however, mistook them for expressions of gratitude, and persisted in returning all that dumb show with sundry significant winks, while Belle-Rose was determined not to pay for the fowls, whatever might be the result, and Champignon watched the extraordinary pantomine with eyes of the most stupid astonishment, being quite decided in his own mind that their ignorance how to cook some dish was the cause of the whole. “Why didn’t uncle Thomas stay to take some soup — with us, Felicité ?’? inquired the mother, still in a whisper. “So I dare say he will, if the Gendarmes allow him,’’ was the prompt reply. CORNICE OOOKS.COml