Under Fire: A Tale of the Shenandoah Valley — page 103: what you’re looking at

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

96 _ THE WOUNDED SOLDIER. He was about to say scoundrel, but checked him- self. ‘Bertha, is this the truth ?”’ Mit is, sir.’ He was as pale as death now. Not only his own hopes, to which he had still clung like a drowning man to a straw, were scattered to the winds, but the woman he loved better than life itself was to be the wife of the meanest villain on earth. It was too much, and he fairly groaned aloud. She saw his agony, and for the first time endured it with an apathetic face. He had -wounded her in a tender place, and for the moment almost despised him. Ah, if she had only known the truth! With an effort, Royal recovered his self-possession. The dream was ended, then? Well, so be it. ‘*Bertha, I congratulate you on your—choice.”’ | Without another word he turned from her, and passed from the room and the house. Mounting his horse, he rode away, followed by the squad that had brought the wounded ranger to the Clymore farm-house. Two hours later, Bertha McVane sat fanning the wounded soldier who lay sleeping quietly. Bertha watched his face, noted the pale, high brow, the straight, rather prominent nose, with its trem- bling nostril, the heavy lashes, and abundant black masses of hair that lay back in waves from his fore- head. The mouth, with its rather full lips, curved like a woman’s—a mouth, gentle and kissable, Bertha — thought—almost a mere boy withal, and such as he in battle, bearing up the flag of the ‘Union. Little did she dream that this young man was one of the terrors of the valley—the invincible ‘Loyal | Gcomicbooks.co