Stella Rosevelt — page 250: what you’re looking at

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

244 AN INTERESTING STORY. tender, faithful mother, and very much beloved by every one who knew her. ‘‘That was forty years ago, Star, and for thirty I have not heard one word concerning either her or her family; but I have lived my life out alone; I could never take any one to my broken heart; and perhaps, if your belief is true, my child, and I can. ever be made clearly to see it, I may find my lost love somewhere in the great future; but I do not need to tell you that my past has been one long season of longing and regret, of sadness and loneliness.”’ His voice broke, his lips quivered painfully, and it seemed fora moment as if he must break down utterly. Star softly slipped one of her small hands into his, and the sympathetic little act comforted him greatly. His closed over it in a strong, yet tender clasp. | ‘“You pity the old man’s weakness, don’t you, dear?” he said, with a sad smile; ‘‘but it is not easy to open the secret chambers of one’s heart when they have been closed for forty years. ‘‘When I first saw you,” he continued, after a moment, ‘‘there was something in your face that touched me—a light in your eye, a sheen on your hair, that somehow smote a familiar chord in my heart. I watched you, although you were not aware of it, and felt sorry for you during that dreadful storm at sea; for your white face and great, startled eyes ap- pealed to me as nothing had done for many a year. But I would not yield toit. Ihad shut my heart to every one; I had -vowed that I would never love any one again, and I mistrusted every one who sought to win me toa better mood. But when that lurch of the boat threw you directly into my arms, and you clung to me in such a helpless way, I could not resist you, and some good angel prompted me to gather you close to me and make you rest upon me. When you told me your name, the shock nearly unmanned me—‘Star Rosevelt Gladstone,’ you comicbooks (Elo)