The Skeleton Crew; Or, Wildfire Ned — page 103: what you’re looking at

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

—_—$— THE SKELETON CREW; OR, WILDFIRE NED. SLs Les Ls th eo. =z 2 wt A Z A yahagst. Y ©) , ‘A ‘a SSS SESH ~~ ~S \ \ ~~ AN » ’ ey “He whipped up the horses suddenly into a brisk trot, and was silent. ‘He pressed his hat over his eyes, and averted his face; for once in years of my remembrance, two tears were glistening in his eyes. “Tt must have been a fearful struggle between his pride and secret sorrows, to have allowed them to escape ; yet there they were, shining witnesses of human feeling. * We parted, “Templeton went into the north, and for six months corresponded with me. “In answer to enquiries, he stated that he was not at his uncle’s, but in York, “{ judged, from the tone of his last note, that he was sick and pressed for means. “T wrote to him again, but received no answer. A friend of mine was directed to visit him and let him have what money he desired. “ But he had removed his lodgings, and was no- where to be found, “There seemed to hang some mystery around Tom Templeton; some thought he ‘had been crossed in love’ while at college. “Others said that pecuniary difficulties had involved him. No, 13. hi vs 4 f' / Yip / ; City Sf “ify Vit, 8 thi '/ “~~ -—- Se j tj f, Yf, Y) ee / } 4 \ Y IY Via A) V/, Uy / MA f ¢ y | ) 4 YL “Both of these surmises certainly must be in- correct, I thought, for he disclosed all his secrets to me, If Cupid had been in the case, some of us would have known it ; as to money matters, all the college said his uncle was immensely wealthy, and intended to leave him everything. “Mystery there seemed to be of some kind, and I was determined, upon graduating, to sift the matter to the bottom. “JT liked Tom as a brother; his troubles were mine, and, if in difficulty, I was willing to see him through it safely. “When university dons had granted me my parchment with ‘A.M.’ engraved thereon, I re- turned home, and was soon engaged in my father’s extensive transactions, doing what people might term a ‘roaring’ business. “My thoughts would occasionally revert to my lost friend, and while going homeward one evening at dusk, a poorly dressed stranger hurriedly passed me and glided into a back street, as if ashamed to be seen in lighted and thronged thoroughfares. “T followed him. i “He strode through the streets at a rapid pace, side glance I got of him, there could be no