The Yankee Champion — page 165: what you’re looking at

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

158 THE YANKEE CHAMPION. seen his face a shade of strange doubt and misgiv- ing would have been found resting upon it. When Walter Nixon ascended the stairs, he went | directly toward the room where Gideon had slept, and entered the apartment, the door of which was open. The floor was covered with frozen pools and gouts of blood. Walter knew by the size of the bed, and by a few articles of clothing that hung up in the room, that it was where the patriot boy had slept. For some moments his brain was in a painful whirl of chaotic excitement, and:with starting eye-balls he gazed upon the gore-laden floor. ‘‘Here’s been a murder most foul; but is there a fiend on earth that could have killed that boy? I cannot believe it, and yet this is his chamber, and perhaps this is his blood !’’ , Walter leaned upon the bed, and sat for some mo- ments in thought. ‘‘As I live,”’ he uttered to himself starting up from the bedside, “‘I believe that man below is Silas Ryan! He looks the very villain in every feature. But they cannot deceive me so easily. That was a miserable, abortive attempt to palm themselves off as strangers to this place. Come forth, my faithful pistols. They shall give me the answer for this. They are cowards—miserable cowards. ’Tis Silas Ryan —I know it.”’ Walter carefully examined his pistols as he ceased —poured out the old priming and put in fresh, and then carefully cocking them both, he took the lamp between his thumb and finger, and descended to the © room below, where he found Dow sitting alone by the table. “‘Ah, where is your siispanion?? i inquired Walter mee CS age ore ene ae Se tre “ae 2 = o comicbooks.com | | TM rea oe)