The Illegal Marriage — page 145: what you’re looking at

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

THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE. 137 had to make a long detour in order to avoid the cattle, and to keep under cover of the woods. Standing at the end of the bridge, he started to the right, pushing his way through the thick growth of the swamp for twenty-five paces. The blazed cypress was in his way, and a little to the right a narrow path, above which the boughs formed a natural arbor. He crouched low to enter this nar- row path, and crept along it until the fallen cotton- wood obstructed the path. It was intensely dark, and only now and then the feeble light of the stars fell through the dense foliage of the swamp. Sitting upon the cotton-wood to rest, Alfred saw that he was in an open space, completely surrounded by a thick swampy growth. On the left arose a hill, above the tops of the bushes, - and, just where the rise began, was a huge pile of fallen trees. To save his life, Alfred could go no farther into that swamp, and even now his heart was fast sink- ing. The dismal sounds of the night, the lonely crv of the whip-poor-will, the hoot of an owl, or the quick rustle of the bushes at his feet where some moccasin had been disturbed, were terrors that he could not long endure. He gave a signal, receiving.no response, but after repeating it a few times heard a feeble cry. A deep groan followed, making Guerry’s hair rise beneath his hat from fright. “Hawks!” he called, softly. “Where are you?” “Here. Come this way—oh !” A long groan interrupted the voice, but Alfred walked in its direction. “Climb over the logs,” again groaned old Hawks; and, crawling upon his hands and knees, Alfred made his way until a wider space disclosed the faint glimmer of a candle. Guided by the voice within, he let himself down between the logs, and pushed open a narrow door, letting him into a dimly- lighted cabin. Partly formed by an excavation into the sand-hill, partly by the pile of fallen trees, was a room some eight feet long, in which were two or three pieces “S (Ele) GComicboo