Paddling under Palmettos — page 89: what you’re looking at

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

82. ~—«~Paddiling Under Palmettos. The feeble beating of the surf, that hollow, muf- fled sound, told them the tide was going out, for when the flood came in the waves sounded doubly sonorous. They soon found themselves in a swamp, and had to pick their way along in a very careful manner. Splashes here and there told of some reptile drop- ping down from cypress hummock into the water at their approach. Archie watched his companion nervously. There was no wavering on Dick’s part—he was an old woodsman; and, although he had never been here before, he had watched the flight of the great birds at sundown and knew from infallible signs just where the “roost” must be located. Presently the swamp seemed to end, or else they had come to an oasis in the heart of it, for the ground appeared, and with it some timber other than the everlasting mangroves. a “We're nearly there,’ said Dick, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them. “Glad to hear it,”’ returned Archie, heartily. The skipper of the Bet was right—they were close upon the roost. Gomicbooks Go