Bonny Jean, and A Severe Threat — page 149: what you’re looking at

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

142 A SEVERE THREAT. ous lightning, which was horrible to witness, followed by a deafening clap of thunder, and a stunning report. A blaze of light, like a lurid ball of fire, darted between the baronet and the prostrate figure upon the floor, and in an in- stant he knew that the house had been struck by lightning. With a wild shriek, as though the very fiends of darkness were let loose upon his track, he fled from the cottage, out into the storm and blackness of the night. CHAPTER VI. WEDDED. ‘«Sir John sends his compliments, and begs you to accept this, Miss Geraldine.” And Ninette, the pretty French maid, laid a velvet casket upon the table near Geraldine Vernon’s side. It was at the Vernons’ town house\in Park Lane, London, and it was the morning of Geraldine’s wedding-day. The hour for the sacri- _ fice was drawing nigh, and according to promise the victim was not wanting. The bride-elect sat in her pretty chamber, surrounded by _ every luxury that wealth can furnish ; but her face, in its frozen despair, was like the face of a corpse, and in her dark eyes there burned the fires of hatred and passion. As Ninette spoke, she turned her head aside with a weary gesture, and made no reply. ‘‘And, oh, Miss Geraldine!” continued the maid, volubly, ‘‘the wedding presents are coming in fast; and—such beau-ti- ful things! Oh, I should think you would like to see them ! There's jewels fit for a princess—emeralds and rubies, and gold and silver plate, and elegant trifles of every description— enough to furnish a house. How happy you ought to be, Miss Geraldine |” : cComicbooks (ele) =)