The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 328: what you’re looking at

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

THE STRANGLER 299 With that water he refreshed himself, but he still remained sitting there, pondering most despondingly his forlorn and desolate condition. Every now and then he awoke, as it were, with a kind of start from his reverie, and flung his anxious looks around, with the dread lest the Strangler were creeping stealthily toward him. He however beheld no one, and after awhile he resolved to continue his way once more. He was pursuing his path along a rough, un- even ground, always taking care to avoid the vicinity of trees as much as possible, and likewise to avoid the long grass, when he was suddenly startled by a rustling amongst some shrubs at a little distance, and the next moment he beheld a black animal, considerably larger than a cat, rush forth in pursuit of some smaller prey. It was a panther of diminutive size, but the instant it caught sight of the Burker it bounded toward him. The man turned to fly, for the green eyes of the panther gleamed at him with a terrible fierceness, but all in a moment a strange cry or yell of agony reached his ears, and glancing back, he observed that the panther had been seized upon by a cobra di capello of considerable size, — the largest, indeed, that the Burker had as yet seen since first he set foot upon the soil of India. He remained not, however, to witness the result of the conflict between the animal and the reptile, but he sped on with all the swiftness that he could command. With- out at first perceiving it, he was retracing his way toward the cave, but he did not become aware of the fact until he reached the rock from whose side the crystal spring was sushing forth. Almost maddened by the sense of this last peril which he had escaped, once again embracing the hope that by means of piteous entreaty he might induce the gossoons to guide him out of the jungle, and too reckless of life not to seek their presence once more, even though he should perish by the sharp blade which they had used against their own persons, the Burker resolved to go back to the cavern. It was now by no means difficult for him to find his way thither, but when he came in sight of the eminence in the bowels of which it was hollowed, he beheld nothing of the gossoons. Nor as he drew near its entrance did he behold the corpse of the deceased on the spot where he had last seen it. It struck him that the gossoons had probably buried it, and CORE Oe <S (S©)