Beadle's Dime Novels No. 14 — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

“ 80. : THE EMERALD NECKLACE. Having taken some of the elixir which he took from a tiny gold vial in his medicine chest, and the pain in his arm having somewhat abated, he set about an examination of the neck- lace. After what had occurred, he was not very much sur- prised to find a minute steel claw, similar to the ore spoken of as being upon the old Venetian ring, upon the under side of the clasp of the antique necklace. It was so small, and so cunningly @isposed beneath the filagree work of the clasp, that it would pass unobserved by any one not .purposely searching for it. The curse which that incarnate demon of revenge, Mortimer Monteath, had lain upon the necklace, had been of a very practical character no doubt, the sudden death of the bride to whom he presented it, ages. ago, was caused by the silent fangs of this hidden enemy. Although, by Mrs. Percy’s account, several of her fair ancestors had met their deaths by accidents for which the jewels could in no way be made ac- countable, there were several who must have perished by. this fatal means. The claw was arranged so that a wound would not, of necessity, be the result of wearing the emeralds, but would be very likely to be inflicted, sooner or later. Pennon seized a pair of forceps from his dressing-case, and was about to wrench the dangerous clasp from the jewel ; but, upon second thought, resolved to leave it as it was, until he had an opportunity of exhibiting to Mrs. Percy the deadly secret of the ancestral gems, and returning them to her, freed from the ancestral curse. So he returned them again to their box, which he put away securely and locked up in a drawer of his bureau, for further safety. His arm still remained too painful to permit him te think of painting, although the pain was subsiding, and he perceived no dangerous symptoms. The day was one of glorious fresh- ness and brilliancy, and he spent the afternoon wandering over his estate, enjoying its solitude and beauty. “Tf Clematis were here!” was the perpetual cry of his heart. He little dreamed of the consequences of his rash flight to her. He had feared to agitate her by seeking her presence in her sick-room, yet the’timidity of ‘his love had forbidden him to dread a far mgre fatal agitation as the result ve his deser- tion of his party. . comiicloooks.com