Geoffrey's Victory by Mrs Georgie Sheldon — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

18 THE LITTLE STRANGER ADOPTED. could have forced this beautiful and gifted woman te abandon her child thus at the very beginning of its life. CHAPTER III. THE LITTLE STRANGER ADOPTED. The next morning there appeared an advertisement in the Boston 7rauscript, offering five hundred doilars te suitable parties who would adopt a female infant, and stating that applications were to be made by letter, ad- dressed to the office otf the paper. Of course a great Many answers were received, for there were hosis of people who would agree to almost anything for five hundred dollars, while there were others who were really anxious to adopt the little baby girl that was to be so strangely thrown upon the world. One alone out of these many epistles pleased Mrs. Marston. it was written in a clear, elegant hand, signed “ August and Alice Damon.” It was from a young couple, and stated that only a month previous they hai lost their own little daughter —a babe of wfew weeks—and their hearts were so sore over their loss, their home so lonely and sad, that they would gladly take a little one to fill, as far as might be possibile, the place of their lost darling, andif the child in question pleased them and there was nothing cbjec- tionable connected with her birth or antecedents, they would gladly adopt her without the payment of the premium that had been offered. Mrs. Marston, after reading this communication, imme- diately dashed off a note asking the young people to call upon her at their earliest convenience—in case they were at liberty to do so, the next morning at ten o’clock; she would reserve that hour for them. Promptly at that time a young gentleman and lady of prepossessing appearance were ushered into Mrs. Mars- ton’s private parlor, and one glance into their kind and intelligent faces convinced her that she had found the right parties to whom to intr ust her child. “Mr. and Mrs. Damon,” Mrs. Marston said, graciously receiving them, and glancing at the cards that had been sent up before them to announce their arrival, “iam very much pleased to meet you.” comiclooolks CO