Roanoke of Roanoke Hall: A Romance — page 128: what you’re looking at

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

122 Roanoke of Roanoke Hall. *¢He shall not thwart me,” burst out John o’ Compton. ‘‘ No young changeling of them all shall come between me and my destina- tion.” , **No, no, John; of course not,” said Ste- phen Ashland, relieving the strain of his en- forced sympathy by rubbing his hands to- gether gleefully beneath the shelter of the table ; ‘‘of course not. John o’ Compton’s well-laid plans overset and brought to naught by a chit of a pale-faced, trembling brat of a boy! that would be a rare sight indeed.” “Curse thy prating,” growled he. ‘I be- lieve thou would’st so regard it.” - ““No, John; no, no, no. But what will you do, John?—what will you do? ‘Tell me that.” “Do! What would you do if you saw an adder in your path?” “Crush it, John; crush it, crush it. Smash its head and grind out its life,” cried the old man, with fiendish ferocity, working his heel on the ground the while. “‘ Ah!” said John o’ Compton, in a low, fierce voice; and there was silence for a comichbooks.com