The Rajah's Fortress — page 204: what you’re looking at

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

THE RAJAH’S FORTRESS. 193 rice matting. A lightshone through the crevices, telling plainly that its occupant was at home. The necessity of procuring water had blinded Guy to the extreme peril. Repressing his fear of snakes, he dropped into the long grass, and ser- pent-like crawled toward the spring, which, from the bubbling sound, seemed to rise close by the wall of the house. It was brief work to reach it, and, as he came perilously near the dwelling, he made the alarming discovery that the spring lay before the open en- trance, and was lit up by the blaze of light from the interior. Cautiously he crept forward till he gained the shelter of a big rock, and, as he poked his head over the top, he saw a sight inside that caused him to utterly forget his errand. A solitary figure was toasting a bit of meat over a slow fire in the corner of the hut. The floor was spread with palm leaves, and along the walls were ranged a rude bed, and a table partly filled with earthenware vessels. The man wore a dingy linen blouse and trousers, and his feet were thrust into a pair of sandals. A dacoit, Guy, supposed of course, for his arms and ankles were dark; but as he turned partly round to reach a dish from the table he revealed to Guy’s amazed view a face that could belong to no dacoit, bronzed and swarthy indeed, but lit up 18 - COLUM 1OOO SS co