Mrs. Bob: A Novel — page 262: what you’re looking at

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

254 WHICH WILL WIN? ineet a pair that thrill him. The gentleman seated there, a grave looking man, smiles. Again the curtain descends, after a very brief act. When it rises once more it will be upon the last act of the mimic play. This is fortunate, as it gives those who are so deeply interested a chance to talk. ‘‘Yohn,’’ says the serious gentleman on his left, “vou wronged me years ago. I have waited for the time to come when I could defend myself. It is here, and I am prepared with proofs to establish my entire innocence—to show you that I did not even see your wife at the time in question. Do you feel as bitter as ever, John ?”’ ‘“Time has healed my wounds to some extent, Henry, and even if I believed you guilty I would for- give. But, I rejoice to hear you declare your inno- cence—doubly rejoice, because it clears the shadow from er name.’’ John is sincere; he proves it by holding out his hand and clasping that of the old friend,whom He once believed had ruined his home. ‘You never discovered the truth, then?’’ asks the other. BONG Vere ‘‘T learned later on that the man with whom Ruth went aboard the steamer was her own brother.” ‘What! Colonel Cornelius had a hand in the affair, too? I might have suspected it, since he was his father’s willing tool at the time, and wished for noth- ing better than a chance to injure his sister and those she loved. I rejoice in this because it clears Ruth’s Gomichooksscom