Commodore Junk — page 90: what you’re looking at

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

IN DEADLY PERIL 83 where it hardly wanted guiding, for the young man’s imagina- tion had painted all—to a rough opening level with the floor, a hole little larger than might have been made for fowls to pass in and out of a poultry-yard. This done, Bart gave him a thrust which Abel interpreted to mean, * Go on.” Abel responded with another, to indicate, “ No; you go.” Bart gripped him savagely by the arm, and he yielded, crept slowly to the hole, went down upon his breast, and softly thrust his head through into the dank night air, to hear plainly the sighing and croaking of the reptiles in the swamp, and see before him the sparkling scintillations of the myriad fireflies darting from bush to bush. He wormed himself on, and was about to draw forth one hand and arm, but always moving as silently as some nocturnal beast of prey, when it suddenly occurred to him that the glow of one of the fireflies was unusually large ; and before he had well grasped this idea there was the regular tramp of feet, and he knew that it was the lantern of the guard moving across to the prison barrack, and that they must come right past where he lay. He must creep back and wait; and as the steps steadily approached and the tramp grew plainer he began to wriggle himself through, getting his arm well in and his shoulders begin- ning to follow till only his head was outside, and the dull light of the lantern seeming to show it plainly, when to his horror he found that some portion of his garment had caught upon a rough projection and he was fast. He made a tremendous effort, but could not drag it free, for his arms were pressed close to his sides and he was help- less. If Bart had known and passed a hand through, he might have freed him, but he could not explain his position ; and all the time the guard was coming nearer and nearer, the lantern- ¥2 Gomilicbooks —)