Octavia's Pride; or, The Missing Witness — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

OCTAVIA’S PRIDE. 39 with a seaman’s appreciation of the stiff breeze which was hurrying them away from it. ‘The sailors were exchanging smiling glances, or light jests, in good humor with all the world, because ‘‘this is a spanking breeze, now I tell you, Jack.” ‘And don’t she walk like a beauty? I tell you, my hearty, this is the prettiest craft you ever set foot on, whether you know it or not.” The captain of the Sea Foam, however, though he was seaman enough to appreciate a good sailer and a favor- able wind, had the gravest face on board. He walked backward and forward along the after-deck, with his hands behind him, his eyes downcast, not speaking except. when he had given the necessary orders for the manage- ment of the ship, and then in a voice so lacking its accustomed heartiness, that his officers were quite puzzled, and the old hands among the crew opened their eyes, wondering whatever it could be that had come over the ‘‘smartest, jolliest cap’n that ever a poor tar sailed under.” The truth was, Captain Lo knew that the time was swiftly approaching when he must face his passenger, and the paroxysm, whether of anger, terror, or distress, which would naturally result from his discovery of his extra- ordinary situation. The lad had been lying all this time in a probound sleep. He had roused him twice to give a cup of coffee, hoping it would dispel the lethargy; but though it had been taken eagerly, the eyes scarcely opened, and the head had dropped again heavily. The last time, however, that Captain Lo had looked at him, he saw plainly that the power of the narcotic was passing away, and consciousness returning. He was very positive that his next visit would find his passenger awake and in his right mind. It was the dread of this meeting and the leaden weight of his conscience which destroyed the usual light-hearted €o cComicbooks