Beadle's Dime Novels No. 14 — page 93: what you’re looking at

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

DID IE PAINT A PICTURE? ~ 91 “Tt is about six o’clock of Wednesday, P. m.” “ Qnly four hours since I left this house,” murmured Pen- non,—“ it was all an hallucination then. Doctor, I want to ta with you to-morrow, when you call.” The next day, Pennon and the physician had a long con- versation, at nearly the close of which the former exclaimed : “ Confound that tragic necklace! it was that, after all !” “T am convinced that it was !” “You think it possible that a poison, once violent encugh to produce instant death; then, when weakened by age, paralysis; might, on some constitutions, produce such effects as I have suffered from the past week ?” “T do. It has acted upon you something as opium or hasheesh might. Your housekeeper avers that you have be- haved ‘curiously’ all the time. Moreover, I must infer, since the young lady of whom you speak was so palpable and per- sistent a part of your visions, that she had previously been very much in your thoughts”—and the doctor smiled. Pennon smiled also, and his color heightened. “You are not mistaken,” he answered frankly. “T should like to see the necklace——it must be a curi- , osity.” “ You shall,_—and the portrait which I painted, also—that @s, if I really painted one. I have not been in my chamber yet, the housekeeper forbade my leaving this room until you gave orders.” “Tt will do you no harm to stir about a little now. I could hardly tear myself from the house until I knew whether you actually worked during your extraordinary illusion, or only fancied your labors.” ) The two gentlemen went together to the chamber. “Tt seems to me almost as if the perfume of her garments lingered here,” murmured Pennon, stepping in, as if the place were sacred. . = The chair which the imaginary sitter had occupied stood in its proper place, the easel, which was turned toward the light, the pallet, just as he had hastily set down, was there, the paints dried on; they advanced eagerly to the front of the “Good heavens! I don’t think you need te regret being comiclbooks.com