Beautiful but Poor — page 112: what you’re looking at

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

BEAUTIFUL BUT POOR. 103 by your consenting to the adoption which I had the honor to propose through Mr. W——.’’ “Gratefully, Mr. Legare, I have declined that proposition in an interview held with Mr. W—— at my boarding-house last evening.”’ “Yet, my good young friend, you have never met the lady who would take you to her home and heart. She is one of the purest, noblest women on earth. ‘The sister of my dear, dead wife. I have known her these long, long years, and | never met her equal. Her heart is full of sweet sympathies, pure charities, and ennobling thoughts.’’ ‘““T do not doubt her goodness, sir. Her offer, through you, proves it. The poor working A thanks her from the bottom of her heart. But this adoption cannot be. Alone I have toiled on for al- most three *long, to me, very long years. Alone I must continue to tread life’s pathway. JI am con- tented. Why, then, ask me to change? There are thousands upon thousands just as worthy as I, and more needy, upon whom such a noble boon can be conferred. Let your good sister-in-law look for. such a one.”’ Hattie Butler spoke so earnestly that the two gen- tlemen deeply felt her appeal. They knew that she alone had the right to choose. But Mr. Legare did not yet despair of carrying his point. He had yet another angle of attack. “ T have received your portfolio of drawings, am. delighted with them, and shall take them at your own price,”’ he continued. “T set no value on them. They surely are worth but little more than the paper they are drawn on. They are the result of lazy moments, not spent at work or in study.’’ ial A) u iF gi Piet ar a : — ee <= f “Wy bu 2 ae (2 A 4 - bh ¢ “ Ss | | Ais page ee “comicboo