Ruby's Reward — page 317: what you’re looking at

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

so conscious of his own rectitude, he could not but hope that he would be discharged because of insufti- cient evidence against him, in Spite of his conviction that the whole thing was a plot of Edmund Carpen- ter’s to ruin his character. He visited often at Madam Howland’s, for that lady seemed to entertain a strange attachment for him, and urged him to spend every spare eyening with her, He was very glad to avail himself of her invita- tion, for her elegant home was full of choice and in- teresting things, besides books in abundance. These were his especial delight, and frequently he spent an hour or more in reading aloud to madain, who ap- peared to very uch enjoy this way of being enter- tained. One evening, however, she seemed preoccupied and distrait; so much go, that Walter wondered if she were suffering more than usual from hef injuries, which, by the way, were doing wonderfully well, con- sidering how serious they had been. He read ony appearing not to notice her inatten- tion, until she suddenly stopped him by saying: “Walter’—she had adopted the use of his first: name, in a familiar way, as if she had known him for years, when he came back to her after his arrest—‘Walter, put up your book for a while; I want you to talk to ime about yourself, Tell me something of your for- mer history.” “I thought I had told you that long ago,” he said, smiling, “Yes, you have told me how Mr. Carpenter found you, a poor boy, and took you home to educate; I know your story pretty well from that time; but I want you to go farther back than that, and tell me all that you can remember of your early childhood— of your father and mother, and how you ha ppened to be so destitute when your kind friend found you. Walter flushed; he did not relish entering into de- tails, tor there were some things about his early lite that touched his pride very Voor ¥. Amour other things, the fact that his father’s family had diseard- ed him and ignored his very existence Desai GR, abl marriage with a poor girl.