Roanoke of Roanoke Hall: A Romance — page 105: what you’re looking at

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

Roanoke of Roanoke Hall. 99 lected in some unexplored cellars beneath the house, which might also account for the slight tremor which I was sure I had felt run through the building on more than one occa- sion. I was awakened by a sharp sound, like the snap of a lock, and looked out in time to see the back of the seeming confessional glide softly into the wall, revealing a glimpse of the outer platform and the gray sea be- yond. A man, in whom I at once recog- nized John o’ Compton by his great size and lengthy arms, appeared in the opening, and having entered closed it behind him. At last I understood how the man of the woods had vanished that December morning, and by what means he arrived and departed so mysteriously : and having learned so much I yearned for more. Thad not long to wait. With an assured step he picked his way along the lumbered floor, and pausing close beneath where I lay, began fumbling among the carved ornament before mentioned. “‘Curse the thing!” he exclaimed, pres- ently. ‘‘My fingers are so numbed with comichbooks.com