Geoffrey's Victory by Mrs Georgie Sheldon — page 37: what you’re looking at

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

A GRAVE CONSULTATION. 33 ply, and thus his identity remained a profound mystery. Meantime, the object of these inquiries was so docile and tractable, so affectionate in his manner toward every member of the. household: he was so trustful, appearing to recognize instinctively that they were kind friends; he was so exceptionally nice about his person and habits, and so gentle in his manner, that they all be- came greatly attached to him, and they felt more and more convinced that he belonged to some family of good blocd and high position, in spite of the very com- mon clothing which he wore, and his imbecile condi- tion. There was nothing about him to give the least clew to his identity. Every article he had on was thoroughly examined to try to find some name; every pocket was searched with the same purpose, and at last Mr. Huntress began to believe that he must have been brought froma distance to New York by some person or persons, and there willfully deserted for some secret reason, with the hope, perhaps, that the authorities would care for him and have him sent to some institution for weak- minded people. This view of the affair made him very indignant toward the supposed perpetrators of the deed, and tenfold more tender toward the unfortunate victim of such an in- human transaction, and one day, upon returning from his business in New York, he was accompanied by one of the most skillful physicians in the city. ‘ To him the pitiable but interesting innocent was sub- mitted for examination. The noted M. D. at once became absorbed in and enthus- iastic over the peculiar case. “He would be a remarkable boy but for the torpidity of his intellect,” he asserted. “He was not born so. Hig present condition was caused either by some acute dis- ease of the brain, or by some injury to it—the latter, most probably.” ‘“Possibly a great wrong has been perpetrated, and he has been deserted in this mysterious way to conceal the deed,” suggested Mr. Huntress, gravely. “T should not be at all surprised,” returned the phvysi- cian. ‘‘He may be the heir to some large property, and jealousy has brought him to this pass. Everything about him. save his idiocy, betrays that he came of a refined parentage. His physical condition is sound, although he is not fully developed as he should be, but that is owing Gomicbooksse 3