Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 58 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Description This is a page of running prose from Chapter VI, titled "Stalking a Ghost." The text describes two boys investigating a mysterious incident involving a dead redcoat, only to find the trail obscured by cattle. The narrative then shifts to Tom returning home to find Mrs. Anderson (apparently his grandmother) ill, with a doctor in attendance. Through dialogue between Tom and his sister Dare, hints emerge that the grandmother may be delirious or "out of her head," as she has apparently sent an urgent message requesting to speak to someone—likely Tom's father. The passage suggests an atmosphere of concern and mystery around the grandmother's condition and the father's whereabouts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CHAPTER VI STALKING A GHOST By daybreak next morning, the two boys, Virginian and Cherokee, were prowling about the spot where the redcoat had been shot down. To his dismay, Tom found that for miles the highway had been trampled by a drove of beeves on their way to the Charlottesville slaughter-pens. The snow, now deep, was poached by hundreds of cattle. No chance to trail the dead! Unaka, up with the morning star, had traversed all the neighboring fields and thickets — to no purpose. “Never heard of anything so mysterious! Is there nothing we can do?”’ “Look. Listen,’’ answered the Cherokee tongue. When he got home from Charlottesville, in the late afternoon, bad news awaited Tom. Mrs. Anderson was ill. Dr. Pratt had been sent for. He had charged them all to keep the house quiet. On no account must his patient be excited. “Surely Pratt did n’t think her very sick, Dare?” “He didn’t say,’ tremulously, “only —he asked if we'd heard from papa, if we knew where his command was. And they stood eye to eye. “And — and Dilsey would n’t let me in grandmother’s room! Said ‘there’s too much talkin’ round Miss Sa’ah.’ ”’ ** Dilsey’s too deuced smart, sometimes!”’ “Well, honey, she helped razse us. When I got there, the door was open a tiny bit, and before she could shut it, I heard madam say to her, ‘Wench, tell your master I desire to speak to him.’ ”’ ‘““What!— do you mean she’s out of her head, Dare?” ‘““[— I’m afraid so. Diulsey bolted the door then.” Dare forbore to tell her brother quite all. Child as she was, she esteemed forbearance. But how heavily the ECONMMICOOOKS sO m