Under His Thumb — page 107: what you’re looking at

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

98 UNDER HIS THUMB. Of that which immediately ensued Stella Brandon was only vaguely conscious. The bewilderment ~ caused by her terror was deepened to total insensi- bility under the effect of an anezesthetic. How long she remained unconscious she could only conjecture, for when she recovered, her situa- tion was so unexpected and novel that it seemed she must be dreaming. She was lying upon a luxurious couch, in a hand- somely furnished apartment. The room was large and pleasant, and the furnishings seemed doubly rich under the soft gas-light with which they were flooded. For several moments Stella lay motionless, her eyes wandering about the elegant apartment, a sense of present comfort lulling her senses to drowsiness. But she was soon roused from her apathy by a memory of the occurrences preceding her uncon- sciousness. She thought of the brutal ruffian into whose power she had fallen; then of the tragedy at the printing-house, of her father’s flight, and the pursuit of herself, as she supposed, by the officers. As these recollections flashed through her mind she sprang to a sitting posture, staring about the room. She saw a man standing near her—an elderly man, whom she instantly recognized. ‘“Mr. Blain!’’ she gasped, recoiling under his piercing gaze. ‘“What does this mean, Stella Brandon?’”’ her em- ployer—for the gentleman was no other—sternly de- manded. ‘‘I—I do not know,”’ she returned, alarm added to her bewilderment. | ‘“You do not know, eh?’’ comicbooks.com —