The Illegal Marriage — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE. 17 “Carrol!” said he, quickly, “do you know if Sim- mons is at home?” “Yes, sir; that is he was yesterday. He’ll hear of this, I reckon, without sending. One of his boys has a wife at my place, and when he went home this morning told me he seen you riding by at the crack of day. Isuspicioned that Morgan was sick, so rid over and—”— Trippe turned his back to cut short an interminable story, and stood stroking his beard for a moment, then went back to the fatal room. Stannard was again beginning to tell all he knew, when the doctor called him. “Oh, Stannard! One moment, please.” Trippe was bending over the body at this time, the fingers of his left hand in a gaping wound, the note-book in his right, and holding a pencil in his teeth. “T forgot to give you a word of caution,” he said, removing the pencil. “There is no curbing gossip, and we must say nothing about——” A nod toward the opposite chamber completed the remark. Stannard understood him. “By no means, doctor. Thanks! I was going to say the same to you.” “T only feared an inadvertent remark, which a word of caution would prevent.” Stannard went back to complete the story of the murder. That Morgan’s last words were anything but insane ravings he did not believe; but he did believe that his good old friend had been foully murdered by some miscreant who broke in at the window, and hence he now joined heartily in the indignation of his neighbors, Eomicbooks (e(0)