Richard Forrest, Bachelor — page 202: what you’re looking at

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

GOH Is T CANNOTIA ET. CANNOT, |” 193 he had been on the railroad so much of late, that his friends at the Villa Mignonne had seen but little of him. If any reason was ascribed by them to his frequent absences they had the good taste to make no mention of it. So, obeying his first impulse, he decided to stop at his apartments just long enough to change his clothes and dine and then ride over for a little visit with them. Ceesar, who had been on the lookout for his master for several hours, soon put him into shape, and then, after fortifying himself with a cutlet, Milanaise, and a demi- tasse at the London House, he mounted his horse and was soon trotting along the water’s edge in the direction of his friend’s home. It was yet early on a quiet, peaceful evening, and the heavens were bright with stars. The thickly wooded hills, rising abruptly out of his pathway, looked dark and mys- terious, as though they might still be the hiding-place of some pirate king or refugee from justice. At his feet the water broke in sobbing ripples on the narrow strip of beach. An odor of seaweed, mingled with the scent of dew-wet leaves, greeted his nostrils. In the shadowy distance a ship with its tall, slender sails spread in the breeze, looked like a phantom. Alone on the most romantic road in Europe, is it surprising that Dick felt at peace with all the world and gradually fell into a delightful reverie? His thoughts kept pace with the rapid motion of the hoof-beats, and as his hand came in contact with the warm neck of his horse, he urged him into a faster pace, which he did not slacken until he beheld the lamps at the gates of the villa and bade ‘(Bon soir’’ to the aged porter who peered curiously at him as he entered the long avenue of chestnuts. The Villa Mignonne occupied one of the most desirable ECoOmichbooks (CO)