Roanoke of Roanoke Hall: A Romance — page 133: what you’re looking at

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

Roanoke of Roanoke Hall. 127 by the terrible arms of John o’ Compton. I struggled weakly for a moment, but he twisted me together like a kitten, causing excruciat- ing pain in my crumpled limbs, and carried me down into the open air. “So, my young eavesdropper,” he said, smiling grimly, “since thou art so fond of searching forbidden secrets, thou shalt e’en have leisure to work thy will.” Without another word he bore me to the corner of the chapel, opened that unlucky door, flung me limp and exhausted upon the steps, and closed the portal, barricading it without so stoutly that all my utmost efforts could not stir it one inch. For a long time I sat without hope, almost without thought, upon the spot on which I had sunk down, when I realized that all escape was debarred, until the black dark- ness weighed upon me like a tangible horror, and I crawled slowly up the stairs, eager for even the dim twilight of the chamber above, and resolved to make a despairing appeal for rescue to Stephen Ashland. “No, my sonnie, no,” he said, in sour an- swer to my passionate pleading. “An you ( 1OOY | © comichbooks.com