Beadle's Dime Novels No. 38: The Wrong Man — page 67: what you’re looking at

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

THE WEDDING POSTPONED. 69 “ Not to-night—not to-night!” exclaimed Lucy. “No, no Charlies,” continued she, in answer to the glance of her lover, “ to-morrow —or the next day—or some other time; but not to-night.” “Pt dear Lucy,” whispered Dudley, “why not put our union oeyond the reach of villainy to prevent ?—why not give me that title to watch over and protect you, which, had it been earlier given, might have prevented the occurrences of this night? Let us leave nothing to uncertainty—nothing to chance, dearest Lucy.” But the fervid entreaties of Dudley were on this occasion ineffectual to move the maiden from her resolve. Her limbs were fatigued, she said—her heart heavy, her mind harassed 2 and not in a proper frame to enter upon the deeply-important engagements he urged her to. Lucy’s countenance corrobo- rated her words. It was pale, and its expression denoted trouble and fatigue; her large blue eyes floated in dewy mois- ture, as if the lids were filled with tears, which were only restrained by a strong effort of the will from gushing forth ; and her whole appearance was indicative of a degree of suffer- ing which gave irresistible force to her objections. : The missionary departed, and soon after the inmates of the retired to their several apartments. The house for more than an hour had been wrapped in profound stillness, when a door in the rear of the dwelling was slowly opened, and the figure of a man stole softly out. An angle of the building threw a deep shadow on the ground in the direction of his path, along which he trod with a stealthy step, till he disappeared behind a row of trees that skirted an avenue communicating with the outhouses. In a few minutes after, the same person reappeared from the stable, leading a horse, which he mounted and rode into the woods. conmicloooks. conn