Marion Marlowe's True Heart, or, How a Daughter Forgave — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

24 “I won't read it! I won’t even touch ite ' she thought, indignantly. “How could he write to me, the cowardly fellow !’’’ Then a feeling of shame passed over Mar- ion’s soul. She was condemning this man unheard, which was not like her just nature® “There must be some mistake,” she whis- pered slowly. “Kittie may have found that picture, or perhaps she was still delirious when she told me. After all, why should [ believe so absolutely in a dying girl’s word? Is not the brain sadly clouded and. perhaps entirely irresponsible at such a moment ? No, I will not convict him until I have heard his story! It is only just, and I shall read his letter.” ¢ It was such a pleasant, jolly letter, yet Marion almost shivered as she pas it carefully. It was not until she was putting the letter back in the envelope that she discovered an extra scrap of paper. The doctor’ Had thought of another word to say, apparently, and there was not room to add it to his already overfilled letter. Mar- ion read the slip of paper with dilated eyes. The news it gave her was, to say the least, extraordinary. “By the Way Miss Marlowe,” the post- script read, “a little maid servant of mother’s ran away a couple of weeks or so ago, and both mother and myself have worried consid- erably about her. is simply that the child had been betrayed and we had hoped to help her in her hour of trou- ble. I mention this, knowing that such cases land frequently in ‘Charity,’ so please keep your eyes open for such a young lady. Her name 1s Kittie, and she is about sixteen, and very pretty.” ae Marion passed her hand _ thoughtfully across her brow. She was, if anything, more mystified and astounded than ever. “Tf he is guilty, then no words can describe him,” she said, finally, “for he must be a fiend ‘acarnate if he could wrong the girl and then sit down calmly and write such a letter.” Marion was glad when the hour for duty came. She hurried back to her ward as to a haven of refuge. That night, after sunset, for a walk about the Island. Marion went out She went alone MY QUEEN. The cause of our worry. from preference, as she wished to do some hard thinking. Young Dr. Brookes had said that he would see her the next day, as he had found an ex- cellent excuse for running over to the Island. “What shall I say to him?” Marion asked herself as she stood on the sea-wall and gazed out over the water. A squad of convicts passed near her as she stood there. They were marching with the prison “lockstep,” which was now becoming familiar to Marion. _ The young girl did not turn her eyes, for she dreaded to see them. A look at their rough faces always made her heart ache sadly. As she stood in her simple frock, with her big white apron, she made a picture of beauty such as had never been seen on the Island. ’ : 4 # « ‘Pretty faces and sweet faces had been seen’ — there from time to time, but this willowy girl, with her mass of chestnut hair and her splen- did head set on such graceful shoulders, would have attracted attention from any man in the land, then how much more the atten- tion of these imprisoned unfortunates. Not one convict alone, but a dozen of them glanced at her. There was a sharp command from the guard, followed by a sullen answer. The next second, before Marion realized what was happening, there came a splash in the water. One of the convicts in desperation had leaped into the river. March!” cried a guard, in al- “Forward! most furious tones. The squad moved on toward the peniten- tiary without so much as turning their heads, while one of the guards, rifle in hand, stepped quickly to the wall beside Marion. “Come back, or I'll fire!” he called out, sternly, as a smooth shaven head appeared slowlv above the surface. Marion up grasped the guard’s arm. “Don't! don’t!” she gasped. back; IT am sure of it!” . The man’s gaze never wavered from the head above the water. . “Tf Thad a boat I could reached instinctively and “He will come save him,” ,he said, EOmIcboo! cS com