Beadle's Dime Novels No. 14 — page 80: what you’re looking at

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

viet THE EMERALD NECKLACE. and that he was thousands of years older still than that, and was eating opium in some eastern garden of roses—a garden however, in which occasional serpents struck out their pangs from the foliage of the choicest roses. He felt as if danger — menaced him, and yet as if a fatal indolence oppressed him— a delicious languor against which it was in vain to struggle. Thus, for a couple of hours, he reclined on the rustic bench, staring.at the golden flowers and silver fountain. Then, with an effort, he stretched himself, arose, walked tyfice or thrice rapidly up and down the walk, and seating himself again, called himself back to the present reality of things, by a glance at the news-items of his paper. He read the market report - as staidly as a produce-merchant; and ascertained, to his great enlightenment, that iron was firm, and lead was heayy, that cheese was inactive, and hogs were dull; that flour was rising, and hops were active, that milch-cows were steady, and calves were depressed, that pigs were falling, and lard was irregular. Having attempted to digest these interesting items, his eye glanced over into another column, where it fell upon a curious Statement of a recent occurrence in Paris, which had, at that hour and time, a powerful fascination for Pennon, The ex- tract read thus: “ All visitors to Paris will have noticed the shops of bric-a- brac, or objects of curiosity and vertu, so numerous and temp- ting in that capital. At one of these establishments, in the rue St. Honore, a gentleman was engaged a few days ago, in _ examining an ancient ring for sale there, when he accidentally gave himself a slight scratch in the hand with a sharp part of it. He continued talking with the dealer for a short time when he felt an indescribable numbness and torpor taking possession of his faculties, and soon became so ill that the people of the shop hastened to call in a physician. The doc- tor immediately declared that the gentleman had been poisoned by some mineral substance, applied strong antidotes, - and was fortunate enough to relieve the symptoms which had created so much alarm. The ring was then examined by the medical man, who had spent some time in Venice, and who found that this old jewel was what is there called a “Death ring,” a class of ornaments in frequent use in Italy during the seventeenth ceatury, when the habit of poisoning was almost - comiclsooks.com