Beadle's Dime Novels No. 119: Blackeyes — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

A TEMPLE OF THE 8UN. 41 mingled a thicket of undergrowth, so dense and thorny thatit appeared impossible to force a passage through it. The priest, however, soon discovered a narrow and winding path which had been cut. into the chaparral,-along which he led his young companion, until they reached a sort of clearing, where there were but a few large trees, although the ground was thickly covered by the heavy undergrowth that abounded in the grove. : The ride had thus far been quite a silent one, few words, and those few of an unimportant nature, having been spoken by Bent or his conductor; but the young man, unable any longer to repress his curiousity, brought his mule to a halt, and demanded to be informed for what purpose he had been brought into that wilderness, _ “A wilderness, do you call. it?” replied Padre Abrojo, “I must admit that it now appears to be a wilderness, but it was far different when the Children of the Sun were numerous and powerful, To me it. still seems crowded with the great men of the past and their works, although to your eyes it is simply a desolation, If you look closely, you will perceive fragments of what were once wonderful buildings, and. you will soon learn that the destroying hand of time has not. entirely laid them in ruins.” : : . Impressed by the solemn tones and mournful manner of the padre, Bent looked about him, and saw heaps of rubbish here and there, among which could be distinguished a few stones, uncouthly carved, ing out from the dirt and the tangled growth of. vines ee mat Convinced that he was on the site of one of the temples, if not one of the cities that had flourished in the days of the Incas, he-confegsed. liis curiosity, and signified his willingness to proceed, Maree Tar They went on, until they came to a hill of irregular form, thickly overgrown by the luxuriant vegetation peculiar to the country, Here the padre dismounted, and tied his mule. toa tree, requesting Bent to follow, his example... The young man obeyed, and his conductor, putting aside a mass of leafy Vines, led him through a small and dark excavation, into what appear- €d to bea large hall, the low roof of which wag supported by “humerous massive pillars, covered with grotesque carvings. Sy the dim light that prevailed, coming from some. unseen comicbooks.com