The Rajah's Fortress — page 115: what you’re looking at

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

106 THE RAJAH’S FORTRESS. timorously up the mountain, and once they dis- turbed a tiger cat, sleeping in the shade of a great palm tree, a tawny, spotted animal that growled at them sullenly and then turned tail and disappeared in the forest. About four o’clock in the afternoon they halted at the end of the gorge, further progress blocked by a steep wing of the mountain that had wedged iteelf right across the valley. The dacoits evidently intended scaling it before night, but they were a little weary themselves and sat down for a brief rest by the side of the stream just where it issued from a subterranean cavern in the face of the cliff. With a view to passing the time profitably, they started in to unscrew the pocket flask of brandy, an undertaking which still baffled them, while Melton sat with his back against a tree, and laughed in spite of himself at their clumsy actions. To tell the truth he felt no animosity toward them, for he realized fully that they had really saved his life, though unintentionally on their part. For some reason the cap would not unscrew. Finally one of them discovered the metallic cup that fitted on the end, and under the impression that he had found the way to open it he gleefully turned the flask up and gingerly pulled the cup off only to find the contents as far from reach as ever. His companion uttered an exclamation of disgust, and snatching cup and flask from the other’s hand he hit the cap a sharp blow and broke it clear off. COLUM 1OOO SS co