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In the Depths of the Dark Continent: or, The Vengeance of Van Vincent
In the Depths of the Dark Continent; or, The Vengeance of Van Vincent
CHAPTER I.
MURDER!
The little village of Edgewater was covered by the inky pall of night.
The big clock on the steeple of the town hall had just tolled the hour of twelve.
Ever since night set in the clouds had been heavy and threatening, and as the midnight hour arrived the storm burst forth in all its fury.
The wind arose to a perfect hurricane, and the rain came down in torrents.
Van Vincent, a bright, handsome youth of eighteen years, who is to figure as the hero of this story, was awakened from his slumber by the creaking of the beams and timbers in the old-fashioned house he called his home.
Van was an orphan, as far as he knew, and lived with an uncle, who was reported as being very wealthy, though the house he lived in and his everyday appearance would not lead anyone to think so.
The last Van had ever heard of his father he had gone to Africa with an exploring party.
That was fifteen years before, and up to this time none of the party had ever returned.
Ralph Vincent, the uncle of Van, had given the boy a good education, and obtained for him the situation of bookkeeper in the largest store in Edgewater.
Consequently Van loved and respected his uncle, who had often declared that the boy should inherit what little he possessed in earthly goods.