A Silver Brand — page 184: what you’re looking at

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

“17% SCA SELVER BRAND. named her,” said Nat, indignantly. ‘‘Don’t allow your- self to be troubled by anything she has suid or done. It is no wrong of yours, but much shame to her, Miss Penelope. Come, let-me go down with you to White’s, and do you stay there quietly, and try to obtain rest and sleep,” he added, coaxingly. 7 Penelope passively yielded to his guidance. He saw her safely into White’s care, and managed to make them understand that she was not to be allowed to leave until - he saw her again, and then once more returned to his lonely cabin, and thoroughly exhausted alike in mind and body, he threw himself upon the bed. Sleep, however, would not come. While he was lying motionless, and silent, with his mind intensely and nervously awake, there-came to him the sound of a slow and cautious step without his door. Never stirring, but with every faculty alert, he listened, and made sure that a hand was on the door, softly and carefully trying the latch. Still he kept motion- _ less and silent. He was not sure whether he had slipped the - bolt or not, when he came in, but fancied that it was still unfastened, for he had thrown himself on the bed, dressed, and intending to rise again shortly. The slow cautious opening of the door proved the cor- _rectness of this conjecture. The bed on which he lay was. in the little room whose door opened almost exactly oppo- site the outside one, and the former being wide open, and the moonlight pouring in, he was able to see distinctly. The first thought which occurred to him was that Pe- ~nelope Foss, restless and nervous with her fears, had come back to him for comfort. Then a glad hope throbbed at his heart. It might be Stephano come back to explain all, He did not lift his head, nor give the slightest indication of his wakefulness, not even when a dark figure stepped in with noiseless tread, and stood a moment listening for any sound of discovery. . For what semed to his suspense an interminable age the : intruder waited motionless, and so also did Nat. “Iwill not speak, even if it is Stephano,” thought the latter. “Iwill learn the object of this midnight intru- sion. Cautiously, with a cat-like tread, the figure crossed the httle room, and came‘on toward the bedroom, more cau- tiously still when evidently the reclining figure upon the bed was perceptible. Nat drew the long, regular breathing of sound slumber, — yet through his half-closed eyes noted every movement, ~comicbooks