Paddling under Palmettos — page 173: what you’re looking at

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

166 Paddling Under Palmettos. gleaming orbs in the bristling mass of hair and real- ize that it was a wounded wildcat, when again Ned's rifle rang out. The animal was blown from the deck of the ca- noe into the water, where it gave a few last spas- modic kicks. Ned drew it to him with his paddle and laid it on his deck. “T’ve ruined the skin, for which I’m sorry, as I would have been glad to have kept it,” he said, apologetically. Wildcats and panthers are to be met in the woods of Florida. They generally frequent dark ravines in the daytime, while the deer are in the open woods. In times past bear have been very plenty. They are hunted in the spring, as it is easier to get them then. One of Captain Richards’ neighbors explained to Archie their manner of lying for bruin. It seems that the black bear has a great weak- ness for turtle eggs, just as in other countries he has for honey. During the spring, at the time the green and loggerhead turtles come up on the beach to deposit their eggs, the hunter secretes himself in Gomicbooks (E(0)