Richard Forrest, Bachelor — page 145: what you’re looking at

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

136 MISS CAMERON, THE MAGNET. Once Gertrude ventured to suggest to her husband that she had concluded that ‘‘Mr. Dick,’’ as she called him, was becoming decidedly interested in Miss Cameron, but her remark was greeted with a derisive laugh. ‘‘Good heavens, my child! put that notion out of your head for once and all,’’ he exclaimed, ‘‘Thatis simply Dick’s abominable way; he never was, never could be seri- ous about any woman. You don’t know what men of the world are as well as I do.’’ ‘‘And yet,’’ she returned, calmly, ‘‘I have been told that you were one. But I suppose,’’ with a smile, ‘‘that was dif- ferent, of course.’’ | In early November they went to Vienna, which they found cold and cheerless, an early winter having set in, so they decided to lose no time in departing for warmer climes. Accordingly they boarded the Oriental Express, and after forty long, tedious hours of travel through a con- tinuous stretch of as barren and desolate a country as there is upon the face of the earth, with a shriek of the engine, they rounded a curve and came suddenly upon the bright smooth waters of the Sea of Marmora. They were nearing Constantinople, and for the first time since they had left Austria evidences of thrift spread themselves on every side. Strings of camels, marching in single file, made their slow way through the sandy waste; odd-looking craft manned by swarthy sailors, floated about on the water, and patient little donkeys, with big loads, were urged to a smarter gait by well-aimed blows and ceaseless invectives. Once inside the old city walls, the train slackened its speed until it drew up at the station. Here all was bustle and confusion, drivers yelled, hotel agents persuaded, nay, almost took bodily possession of each passenger as he im Gomichbooks.co