The Opposite House: A Novel — page 201: what you’re looking at

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

196 The Opposite Flouse. whose almost gloomy bias made him appear several years older. A series of misfortunes and the loss of the woman whom he loved had embittered his youth and prematurely ripened him to manhood, frequently rendering life a necessity hard to endure. His features were pale, finely-chiseled, and marked with the lines of fate. He was a quiet, thoughtful man, whose frequent melancholy formed a strange contrast to his companions’ gay spirits, and which doubly attracted him to Gerrald, whose reserve touched a sympathetic chord. Their friendship was a slow growth, but it was a bond formed for hfe, which made the young men as intimate as brothers. Haldern was a man of brilliant intellect, whose talents and knowledge were gladly recog- nized and appreciated. He served his country better with his brains than with his blade, whose keenness he had not yet had an opportunity to test. Compared with his excitable friend, he possessed a calm, reflective character, quietly repaired many an error which the hot-headed Gerrald committed, and yet bestowed upon the young officer, though so much his junior, his warmest admiration and friend- ship. His passionate longing for conflict and peril impressed him ; the daring boldness with which he made his reconnoitering expeditions affected him as much as it won the admiration of his comrades; and the success which frequently attended his ComicboOoks.c©