Darke Darrell, the Boy Detective — page 119: what you’re looking at

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

110 DARKE DARRELL. ‘“ Yes, answered both parents in concert. ‘She told you so?” a hushed look in the mother’s face. ‘““No. It was a mere inference. Is this her picture?” handing Mrs. Cassandra the ivory-type. ‘“ Yes, yes!” she cried, histerically kissing the portrait. “Tt is studded with pearls.” ‘She gave it to me,” Darke said. Mrs. Cassandra’s eyes seemed to burn into his face. “You must have been intimate?” her tone faintly inter- rogative. pa “IT did her a favor,” explained Dark. ‘She isimpulsive, — she is demonstrative in her friendships. I cannot tell you the story here nor now.” ‘Of course not,” agreed Mr. Cassandra. ‘‘ Here is my card, Call on me at your earliest leisure. I shall employ you to find our child. I am rich enough to fully com- pensate you.” “I shall call on you,” Darke said, putting the card into his pocket. 7 “Is not Pedro Cassandra the man you were looking for? The leading spirit of the gang?” asked the officer who had sent for Darke. : ‘This is not the gentleman,” was Darke’s reply. ‘* Pedro Cassandra, the counterfeiter, was killed in a railroad ac- cident yesterday.” Mr. and Mrs. Cassandra looked up in surprise. Just then a wagon containing a coffin drove up; then he | stopped, because impeded by the crowd. Darke saw Mr. Wilson seated beside the driver. ““The body of your namesake is in that coffin,” Darke announced, witha glance at Mr. Cassandra. The latter saw fresh cause for excitement. - Could I get to see the corpse?” he nervously asked. ‘It might enlighten me as to who my—my—enemy was.” comicbooks.com