José — page 262: what you’re looking at

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

JOSE. O55 almost as abruptly was carried out of reach by the Indian. I may be superstitious, but so are all un- happy people. To me the appearance of my niece was like a signal that I was on the eve of starting upon my last enterprise, and might then return where long a vacant chair is waiting to receive me. We started, and everything passed off satisfactorily —yet when the finishing stroke was to be executed, when I was ready to accept the rescue of the young woman as the assurance that I had been forgiven— every undertaking failed. The Apache had taken down his wigwam and disappeared—one day sooner and we would have found him fast asleep. We fok lowed his trail—but I am surely yet unworthy to think of home and happiness, for where never I erred before I allowed myself to be deceived bv false sions until we had ample reason to congratulate ourselves upon having succeeded in making our way out of the wilderness and recovering the wagon trail. But I will not yet abandon—” He suddenly paused and looked up. “Did you hear nothing?” he turned to Baumann, who raised his head in surprise at the sudden move- ment. “The report of a gun,” he replied, turning his smiling countenance upon the hunter, as though he were bent on pacifying him. “The chances are that we shall be permitted to enjoy fresh meat after a long time—” At this juncture his words were suddenly cut short by a succession of shots in the distance. Bob sprang to his feet. “That certainly sounds as if it were going into fresh meat,” he cried, while his face resumed its wonted look of fierce energy. “Those shots can only (E(0) Eomichooks