Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. " He would have passed a pleasant life of it in despite of the Devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more pei-plcxity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches pitt together, and that was — n 'woman." — Washington Irvino. eyes and eyes. Popular pre- -L jndice leans towards fine eyes in works of fiction, but as a faithful historian this chronicler must dispassionately state that Philip Ogden's were not such as should appertain to the hero of a love-story. They did not glare fiercely from beneath shaggy brows, like those marvellous deep-set grey ones of a certain school of romance, nor were they in the habit of assuming a cold and inscrutable expression to the world at large, and then "melting dangerously," whatever that may mean, for the especial delectation of one favoured mortal ; neither could they flash, nor burn, nor frighten people with a steady, ominous glow, nor, in short, execute any feats of a pyrotechnic nature. At their best, viewed in the friendliest light, they were ordinary blueeyes, with a sufficiently sensible and agreeable expression, in which, perhaps, lurked a remote suggestion that Mr. Ogden might not need to have the point of a joke explained to him. It may also be said that they were extremely near-sighted, and apt to feel weary and overworked unless used with care. As they were not likely to recover easily from violent shocks, it is evident that Miss Doane's umbrella made an injudicious selection of a victim. In this opinion Mr. Ogden would no doubt have fully concurred. The fair summer morning stole into his room and found him sleeping in serene unconsciousness of coast-storms, pugnacious girls with umbrellas, his disfigured countenance, and all sublunary ills. But the cro...