Mezzoni the Brigand — page 50: what you’re looking at

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

42 MEZZONI THE BRIGAND. could have separated me from her interests until I saw her safe again. ‘Yet, young Hammond is every inch a man—that he has more than proven to us already by his gal- lant deed at Capri, when he saved dear Marion’s life at the risk of his own. | ‘“Well, well, I will not reflect upon him. Those who have summoned him home to America have a right to his time, and he is bound to obey them; but still I am a little disappointed to see him depart at such a time.” The fact was, that Colonel Bray had seen so many fine qualities in the young Amercian, and had also observed so plainly that Marion admired him—al- most at first sight—that he had secretly indulged in a little castle-building in his active imagination, wherein he had united, in his anticipations, the lives of these two together. Perhaps the romantic character of the introduc- tion had produced quite as strong an effect upon the old soldier as it had done upon the minds of the par- ties themselves. Having been a brave and gallant soldier himself, he worshiped these qualities in others, and in young Hammond he had found a sort of beau ideal of his imagination. — The acuteness of the colonel’s situation at the present moment no doubt made him more selfish than he would otherwise have been, and therefore his disappointment was but natural. This he would not have acknowledged save to himself, for he was a proud old man at heart. Eomichbooks.co