Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 119 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 119: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a page of running prose from a Victorian penny dreadful titled "Mystery" (page 103). The text depicts a scene involving characters named Tom and Hornbuckle, apparently in a frontier or wilderness setting. Tom has made an oath, and Hornbuckle frees him from restraints using a hunting-knife. The passage includes dialect-heavy dialogue and ends with Tom whispering excitedly to a chipmunk that "the rawhides are off"—apparently referring to his bonds. The overall tone is melodramatic adventure fiction with rough, colloquial language typical of the period's sensational serials.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MysTERY 103 “T swear it!” and Tom sealed his word with the mighty oath of “the Signers,” — ““By The Eternal!” Hornbuckle drew his hunting-knife through the thongs. “Never knowed none er yo’ breed but would do ez they ‘lowed they’d do, er bust!” What could this outlaw know about his Breed! Tom stretched his sore and aching limbs. “Where’s the spring?”’ “Yan way. At the foot of er tre-men-jous linn tree. Out- side thur ‘cedar rough’ 1s thur dead-line.”’ The copper-skinned, tattered object — with puffy blis- ters over his flesh — longed to send a view-halloo through the mountain solitudes. Instead, he whispered in the chip- munk’s ear: “Old fellow, the rawhides are off! Do you hear me? You long-whiskered, pop-eyed goober-thief! ‘The rawhides are off!” CORNICLIOO® eS (C©) mn