Roxy Hastings — page 173: what you’re looking at

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

164 ROXY HASTINGS. “Whose is the next room, my girl?” he said; “the large one?” “Tt’s Mister Charley’s. sir, when he’s at home, but he’s away now.” “ And who sleeps in these little rooms ?” “Nobody, sir.” ; “Then I shall be quite alone on this floor?” “Ves, sir; Mrs. Lee and her daughter have a bedroom down stairs. So has Major Todd, and I sleep in the attic.” “Oh, yes, I see. I only ask in case I should be sick, and have to wake any one. But I guess I’ll get through the night comfortably, though I may have to get up and go to the window for air, as I often do when I have these faint spells.” “Yes, sir.” “You needn’t mind me if you hear me up, unless I call to you.” “Yes, sir—no, sir.” oO eS CHAPTER XXXII. ROBBERY. We have said that Charles Lee had invested nearly half of his large fortune in government securities, which was both wise and patriotic. But he had done something less wise than this, for the bonds which he had bought, al- though all “coupon bonds” and payable to bearer, he had deposited in a large locked trunk in his sleeping room, without any other precaution than to warn his mother and sister to take especial good care of the trunk in case of fire. Of its immensely valuable contents they knew nothing, and the careless young man had never given thought to the fact that he might as well have left so many bank bills exposed to the hand of the burglar. He had not even had the forethought to make a memorandum of the numbers of his bonds, which might enable him to stop payment of them in case of loss, ; If Mrs. Lee had known what treasures her house con- tained she would have felt safer for the presence of her lodger, whose integrity and courage she considered alike unimpeachable. Perhaps it was with the purpose of obtaining some idea of the premises and property which he had to guard, that the young man, shortly after the servant had withdrawn, Gomicbooks.co m