"I beg your
pardon, ladies. Grady, bring my coat down, sir! Well, my dears, it's a
fine day, and we'll have a jolly lark at----"
He said no more; for here Mrs. Bonner, who had been looking at him
with scared eyes, suddenly shrieked out, "Amory! Amory!" and fell back
screaming and fainting in her chair.
The man, so apostrophized, looked at the woman an instant, and,
rushing up to Blanche, seized her and kissed her. "Yes, Betsy," he
said, "by G--it is me. Mary Bonner knew me. What a fine gal we've
grown! But it's a secret, mind. I'm dead, though I'm your father. Your
poor mother don't know it. What a pretty gal we've grown! Kiss
me--kiss me close, my Betsy! D--it, I love you: I'm your old father."
Betsy or Blanche looked quite bewildered, and began to scream too
--once, twice, thrice; and it was her piercing shrieks which Captain
Costigan heard as he walked the court below.
At the sound of these shrieks the perplexed parent clasped his hands
(his wristbands were open, and on one brawny arm you could see letters
tattooed in blue), and, rushing to his apartment, came back with an
eau de Cologne bottle from his grand silver dressing-case, with the
fragrant contents of which he began liberally to sprinkle Bonner
and Blanche.
Pages:
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659