The Wrong Man — page 30: what you’re looking at

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

83 THE WROXG MAN. = showed their yellow leaves between girdled and blackened trees, which still spread their naked arms over the soil their foli had long ceased toshade, The pillars of a rude portico in froit — of the cabin were wreathed, and its roof almost covered, by a trumpet-honeysuckle yine, whose delicious fragrance perfum- | ed all the surrounding air. A small, neatly-inclosed garden extended a short way down the southern declivity of the bluff, — and exhibited in its clean, graveled walks, in the order and ar- rangement of its plants, and in the tasteful disposition of its — gay with a thousand hues, the attention of woman's delicate _ and. | The features of thisscene seemed too familiar to Charles Dad- ‘ey to elicit more than a passing glance. Stepping quickly to the cabin, he tapped lightly on the dcor, and, without waiting to be invited, raised the latch and entercd the rustic abode. | The principal apartment bore traces of refinement calculated to vonfirm the favorable impressions created by the exterior. On one side, a case of hanging shelves suppo a small collec- tion of well-chosen volumes; on the other, two portraits, evi- dently from the pencil of noinferior artist, were suspended from the rough-hewn wall, which had been whitewashed till its hue rivaled that of new-fallensnow. Bouquets of flowers, tastefully — arranged in earthen jars upon the chimney-shelf, Ciffused their odors throughout the room, and a few exotics, too delicate to bear the autumnal temperature of the atmosphere, occupied a bench near a half-raised window, through which the morni sun shone pleasantly. An air of the most perfect taste pery the apartment, giving to it an appearance of comfort which more stately and sumptuously furnished dweilings might envy. Even the ordinary household utensils, arranged on the shelves of a triangular closet in one corner, were polished till they shone like silver. _ The occupants of the room were a male anda female. The former was a tall, spare man, slightly bowed by age, which had also thinned his gray locks, and planted deep wrinkles on his ‘ brow. A glance from his face to that of the male portrait could not have failed to detect a resemblance between them; though one could hardly have turned from contemplating the flashed check and bright eye of five-and-twenty, as imaged on the canvas, ta the faded features of the original, without a sigh for the hayoe Which the intervening years e. His companion was a female, whose slender form was just rounding into womanhood, and whose sweet countenance ex- _ hibited a happy expression of blended innocence and intelligence, 4 ~ guch as Correggio loved to study and portray. The peach-like = 7 . comichooks:com et ¥ iy