The Rajah's Fortress — page 109: what you’re looking at

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

100 THE RAJAH'S FORTRESS CHAPTER XII. A RESCUE AND A STRANGE MEETING. It is now time to go back to that dark night on the Chindwin, when Melton Forbes was felled from the idol by the hand of the treacherous Dalo. It was a hard and cruel blow, and Melton lost all consciousness as he sank under the surface, while the idol passed swiftly over him. But strange as it may seem, there had been wit- nesses to the crime close at hand, much closer than the crafty Indian dreamed possible. In a meager little patch of rushes and mud, but half a dozen yards’ distance, lay two dacoit spies crouched at the water’s edge. Harsh, savage-look- ing fellows they were, half-naked, and armed only with long spears that lay close at their side. What their mission was there it is hard to say. They were most probably keeping a sharp watch on the steamer close below them. Itis pretty cer- tain, at all events, that they were out on no peace- ful errand, for the rude canoe which lay concealed CONMUC WOO SS co