Old Specie, the Treasury Detective; or, The Harbor Lights of New York — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

26 OLD SPECIE. To accomplish a result that would count he must destroy the body of the tree, the roots that supphed the life to it all. The men he followed dropped into a boat that was fastened at the end of the pier. Then they rowed away down the river. Seeing by the lght reflected from the bridge another boat lying in the same place, the detective instantly resolved to follow. He knew the risk he ran in doing so, and what a small margin of hope there was of discovering any- thing, but Old Specie was like a good player on the base-ball field to-day—he accepted every chance, no matter whether he had a sure thing or not. The worst he could do was to fail. Then he had the other string to his bow, and could > realize on that. @uick as a flash he dropped into the seccnd boat, and feeling around, discovered that it had oars lying across the thwarts. To untie the painter would lose him time—some- thing he could not afford. Out came a pocket-knife, and one slash set the boat at liberty. As he pushed out from behind the pier he could see the other boat ahead. The many electric lights along the shores of the East River light up its surface to a considerable ex- tent on a dark night. These are the harbor lights that mark the haven of belated Jack, coming up the bay with a flood tide. Then the bridge arch, and the great electric torch in the hand of Liberty heskor him on. _ Jack believes he has buffeted the dangers of the deep, and is safe in harbor at last. cComichooks.co