Paddling under Palmettos — page 239: what you’re looking at

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

232 Paddling Under Palmettos. a’coon. The animal sat upon a limb looking down with complacency at his foes upon the ground. Now Tom’s ax came into play, and the tree, be- ing a small one, soon came crashing to the ground. Then the dogs sprang in among the branches; there was a short but fierce struggle, and poor ‘“’coony’’ was tossed to the feet of the dogs’ master, void of life, while the intelligent animals looked up at him expectantly, as though waiting for further orders. The hunt was resumed. Before long there came once more the signal barks from the dogs. A little light upon the sub- ject showed that a queer combination existed. The dogs had scared a ’coon up one tree, while an op- possum occupied another. Here was fun. “Keep your eyes on Mr. ’Coon, Archie,” cried Dick, as he seized the ax. “What are you going to do?” “Cut down the ’possum first.” The sturdy blows of the ax resounded through the dark forest. Soon the tree upon which the opossum had taken refuge came crashing down. (E@MMUICELOOKOL KES (E(0)