The Man in Possession — page 48: what you’re looking at

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

THE MAN IN POSSESSION. 43 say frankly ; ‘‘ surely I may claim the right of friend- ship.” sometimes he met with suspicion, sometimes with insult ; but on the whole his cheery voice and frank good-will won him friends, despite the disadvantage of his wealth. He certaimly did his best to make them forget ‘haf when he went among them, open- ing reading-rooms, and starting clubs,” helping their wives and daughters to get work, and endeav- ouring to prove to the men themselves that wages produced more comfort if laid out on the home instead of going to swell the gains ofthe publican. If these pursuits and efforts did not prove him a friend—well, one could only say they were obstinately prejudiced. .The very fact of his taking Fletcher’s place on this memorable Christmas Eve was owing to his unfail- ing good nature. The man’s daughter had been injured while at work in his mother’s house. Not content with seeing her safely established at the hospital, he started off to find her father at her request. The situation that arose from these proceedings at ' first offered him that interest of ‘‘ novelty” which he loved above all others. It was complicated by the discovery that the girl, whose house he had unwit- tingly entered, was no other than the beautiful dam- sel of the railway station, whom he had seen a week previously. His first impulse had been to disguise his own personality, for fear of hurting her feelings. He had soon seen, however, that she was too troubled and too absorbed to bestow any keen observance on him, and that, however vivid a memory she had COMicloe (Si C(O)