In Search of an Unknown Race — page 216: what you’re looking at

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

202 VAN. Joshua—he fell in with his own uncle that we've always thought was lost in a shipwreck years ago. And Dick Briscoe, who used to be a sweetheart of mine, had been living there all this time, and got married. And when our Van was ready to leave, Mr. Briscoe got him to take charge of his daughter, who he’s sent to the States for an education, with a foreign waiting maid, a colored man servant, and a young fellow that Mr. Briscoe was guardian of. On the way back, poor Van was shot by some wild Indians, as nigh as I can find out. It nigh broke my heart when [heard of it. But if God has seen fitto take away our adopted boy, he’s brought some one to take his place, so far as any human can. And now I'l tell you how it all came about. Six weeks ago to-night a depot carriage stopped at the door. There wasa colored man sitting with the driver, dressed as though he was just out of a band-box. And you might have knocked me down with a feather when he handed out of the carriage—first a foreign looking ser- vant woman, and then the handsomest looking girl I ever set eyes on in all my days. ‘‘Well, this was Dick Briscoe’s daughter I mentioned in the beginning of the letter. Her mother is dead, . and her father wants her to have the best kind of an education, such as it seems there isn’t a chance for where she was brought up. Dick sent a long letter to me by Ninada—isn’t it an odd, pretty name? There's lots in it that I don’t rightly understand. But he wants me to take Ninada under my wing. She is to live with us and all, as long as is necessary, and the board for her and her maid will be a great help, especially since GOMIiGchbooks (E(o)