Beadle's Dime Novels No. 38: The Wrong Man — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

78 THE WRONG MAN. “T didn’t meet Overton—that is to say, I don’t know that I met him,” replied the peddler, who had mingled with the crowd, and could now have almost bitten his tongue in two for having mentioned any thing about the pursuit he had witnessed. “ Ah, it won’t do now, Nathan,” said the burly man, with & coarse sneer ; “ you are brother Yankees, you know, and must stand by each other. For my part, I prefer believing your lirst story.” “ He has been absent from town all day, I believe,” said the little man in black, in a soft, insinuating voice. “ He had his pistols repaired last Saturday,” said the village smith. “He has received some suspicious-looking letters,” said the landlord and postmaster. “He bought a jack-knife of me no longer ago than day,” said the shopkeeper. In this way the crowd went on, almost every one seemin fixed in his suspicions, and willing to add weight to the cir cumstances which appeared against our hero. We would no have it inferred from this, that Charles Dudley had created no friends during his residence in Adrianopolis. On the contrary his kind, conciliatory manners and disposition had made him rather a general favorite. But it is our duty to record events as they occurred ; leaving it to each reader to reconcile them with his own particular notions of human nature. Probably the very persons who now, in their random bar-room talk, and in the first moments of excitement, seemed willing to confirm the course suspicion was taking, would, were Dudley con- demned, or even apprehended, have exerted themselves in his behalf, and if acquitted, would have cordially rejoicea. There were not wanting some in the assemblage who opposed the suspicions which involved the character of our hero Among these, the peddler was not the least active. But he himself, by reporting what he had seen, with some of those little embellishments which travelers and story-tellers feel privileged to use, had furnished the strongest ground of impu- tation. Finding himself encountered by his own story, which- _ ever way he turned, he at last desisted from argument, dropped sullenly into a corner, and turning a deaf ear to the babble and . COnmcooolkS.corn