Beadle's Dime Novels No. 126: Old Jupe — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

22 OLD JUPE. one dem willains is dat flashy-lookin’ young man as come here last fall and married Miss Annette!” “ Impossible !” almost screamed Mary. “He must have been mistaken,” said Luke, more calmly. “ Nettie’s husband is in New Orleans. We had a letter from them last week. We could not very well be in two places at a time.” “Dat’s so, and Jupe’s such a fool. He’s allers barkin’ at de moon. Here he comes hisself. Now don’ you breaf I tol’ yer; ’cause he wants all de glory hisself.” . Truly enough, Jupe slowly opened the door, thrusting his Wooly head in, and rolling his eyes all about in a mysterious manner. The family would have paid little attention to his mystifications, had they not possessed the key to his move- ments. As it was, Luke was burning with impatience, and soon had the secret out of him, despite Jupe’s reluctance to give it up so easily. Jupe was a man of unusual Sagacity ; could follow a trail, or keep a secret to the end. When out hunting, several days previous, by permission of hts master, to supply himself with meat, he had chanced upon a slight discovery which had set him to thinking. He had found a single, new, bright, quar- ter dollar, there, in the deepest, darkest part of the forest. He lay down, covered himself over with leaves, and watched for hours. When he was about giving up, two men came slong, dressed as hunters, with game-bags on their. backs and rifles in their hands. Supe did not believe them to be hunters, nor that they had game in their bags. THe allowed them to’ pass on, presently arising to his knees and creeping after them 48 stealthily as an Indian, until he saw them part the tangled bushes and dead vines before the entrance to a cave, and dis- Appear within. Jupe was now highly elated. He carefully marked the bearings of the spot, and stole away. That night, by the dim light of the moon he retraced his steps, and with more courage than any one had ever given him credit for, he crept into the mouth of the cave, and found a band of eleven persons in the act of manufacturing spurious money, and dis- cussing their plans for its circulation. One" of these persons, as he confessed to Bryant, “he was afcard wus his brother-in-law.” connicloooks.conn