Richard Forrest, Bachelor — page 212: what you’re looking at

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

“I CANNOT BE YOUR JUDGE.” 203 himself, he hastened to marry his new love. It is the old Story. Finding that he had tired of her and had no inten- tion of keeping his fine promises, the unfortunate child re- turned to her home, heart-broken and dismayed, trusting to find in her sister——-her only living relative—the consola- tion she so sadly needed. But it was a fruitless hope; her stay in town, where life was one incessant search after pleasure and excitement, had spoiled her for a quiet exist- ence, and it was only when nearly driven to desperation that she finally confided her sorrow to her sister. “I will not dwell upon the effect her confession pro- duced. You will understand how impossible it would be to do so, when I tell you that this sister, several years her senior, had brought her up from babyhood and had cared for her as she had cared for no other being on earth. It goes without saying she did all in her power to comfort and soothe her, but she soon realized that her words were of little avail, for the young girl drooped and pined from day today. Atlast—and this is the most pitiful part of my story—one night she disappeared, leaving no trace be- hind. ‘‘Can you imagine the state into which that deserted sister was thrown? No, you cannot, nor can any one on earth. To do so one must understand that she had been brought up in the simplest manner, was a devout Catholic, and had led the most monotonous kind of a life. She awoke, as I say, to find a note from her sister, declaring that she had - found her present conditions unendurable, and was there- fore going away to try to find peace and contentment else- where. ’’ Again she ceased speaking. Dick sat with folded arms and contracted brows. GOmIichbookssco