A Servant of Satan: Romantic Career of Prado the Assassin — page 30: what you’re looking at

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

22. A SERVANT OF SATAN. ‘‘Good morning, Beppo; what brings you out of bed at this unearthly hour of the morning? This is rather un- usual, is it not?” ‘It is, indeed, Sig. Franz. It isa young fellow outside there who actually insists on seeing his excellency at once.” On hearing this Franz, who was the general’s confiden- tial valet, took a cursory glance at the stranger, and sud- denly seizing the pompous porter by the shoulder, caused him to wheel round with such violence as to almost de- stroy his equilibrium. ‘‘Open, you fool! It is the young count! What do you mean by keeping him waiting out in the road? Are you bereft of your senses?” Snatching the keys from the hands of the astonished Italian he brushed past him, threw open the gates and ad- mitted Frederick, for it was he. «Herr Graf, Her Graf, what an unexpected pleasure i is this. How delighted his excellency will be!” ‘‘T don’t know so much about that, Franz, but I want to speak to my father at once. Let him know that I am here, and ask him to receive me as soon as possible.” After conducting Frederick to a room on the first floor of the villa and attending to his wants the old servant left him to notify the general of his son's arrival. The young man had meanwhile dragged a low arm-chair to the open window, and sat gazing with a tired and troubled expression at the magnificent landscape stretched out before him. Four days had elapsed since the exciting scene described in the last chapter. The violence of the blow inflicted by Frederick had caused the colonel to fall heavily against the brass corner of a ponderous writing-table, cutting a deep gash across his forehead, and the blood trickled freely from the wound as he lay unconscious on the ground. ‘The comicbooks . / +h co nm - ‘ ai = 4 (oa! 2.