Beadle's Dime Novels, No. 11 — page 72: what you’re looking at

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

70 THE PRISONER OF LA VINTRESSE. “Yes, yes,” cried Minerva, eagerly; he turned, astonished, glancing at her narrowly, looked at the small, white hand, now ungloved, smiled as he gave another scrutinizing gaze at the eldish bonnet and the odd face, and clasped the little fingers in his, locking his lips together. His eyes shone sus- piciously, his lips trembled as he said, “ Are you all ready ?” “ All ready,” she replied, 1ow and brokenly. “Then come,” he drew her arm in his, as tenderly as if he had been twenty-one, and she a bride, assisted her into the wagon, and drove off at a brisk pace. The hunted fawn was free, at least for the present. CHAPTER XII. _TWO ARRIVALS, TeN minutes had not elapsed, when a lumbering carryall, drawn by an impatient, high, black horse, drove als oup to the grocér’s store. A man dressed in a farmer's suit of gray, with long hair, that dangled beneath his hat in glittering skeins, keen, dark eyes, encased by horn spectacles, and a hand singularly small and well gloved, sprang out and entered the store. “Ts there a lady waiting here to go in the country ?” he in- quired, hastily, after a quick scrutiny. “You're too late, old gentleman,” said the grocer, speaking very slowly, as he always did when he was busy ; “she’s gone with the t'other old man, maybe he was your brother.” “How long has she been gone?’ queried the man, with short imperative words. His manner offended the grocer. “ Well, it may be half-an-hour, it might be five minutes; I don’t keep the run of all the people who go out of my shop, the run of their custom is all I care about,” he replied, slower “So much for the cursed breakage,” muttered the man, as he walked to the door, and scanned first up and down the street. “Tf the rotten shaft had held good, just twenty minutes comclbooks.com