Beadle's Dime Novels No. 142: The Sagamore of Saco — page 107: what you’re looking at

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

THE PANTHER. — to slide, and then stopped ose to the edge of the cliff. Harvey red cautiously up— it was bright © moonlight now—and raised his rifle, expecting every minute to see the glaring eyeballs of an Indian looking down upon themfrom that hight. Tie noise , and that had scented out, with his horrid instinct, the presence 0 men, came looming out in the pale ped moonlight. “My.” muttered Harvey, and then without a moment's hesita- tion, he fired. A roar, a yell, and thena bound, roclaimed that the savage beast Nad fallen, or made a spring at Harvey instinctively drew back to clutch his knife. The smoke of the gun prevented his seeing any thing at first, and then he beheld the panther, which, wounded and bewildered for an pe fallen into the river, preparing for another spring. The fierce, untamed brute, the only approach to lion or tiger on the American continent, glared muy Harvey, and hung out iis horrid tongue, tas he pre- pared for the ran ect The shuddered, and dropping wat his lone with his back tothe his long, keen hunting-kuife _ presented at the beas' the e pies age ong . api ve alow w wagged its ta and advanced its paws outo the of the niche. moment was fatal, for at same instant a dark, shiny {3 41° would have eat meupslick. Well, you're off again, are you? You take it quiet I expect. I don’t. I mean to have that skm—it’s a beauty.” na taking only his knife, Har- vey descendéd onto the ledge, and b groping his way down the fu ly, which was a little more ight than in the evening, under the influence of the moon’s pale, f cold, and quivering rays, that drop- here and there through the open space between trees and boughs. He advanced the whole length of the gully before he saw any sign of the unfortunate brute ; but re at the mouth of the ravine it lay by the bank, motion- less, still, quite dead. The tre- mendous force of the woodman’s ax, wielded by such an arm, had caused death to be instantanconus. “It's a mighty tall brute,” said Harvey, who now was arude trap- r—‘*a mighty tall brute. I ex- pect that skin will make a fine rug for Miss Jane—so, lest the wolves should tear it, which wud bea pity, I’li just skin it on the spot.” And he did. He drew it ashore, and there, regardless of danger, laughing at the wolves, forgetting his own lesson to Cusialoga, for- getting that the lop and mur- erous Indians were about, he sat down, and never stopped until the skin was quite clear of the car- cass. Then, and only then, he started on his way upward to the niche, carrying his prize in tri- nore e laid it up safely, and then, somewhat tired of his strange oecupation, he wentsoon tosleep, and slept so heavily, that noting disturbed an Be even the how!- ing of the wolves, as they fought go themselves over th y of the dead panther. CHAPTER ‘VI. m FROG’S HOLE. ’ events were else- where taking place, w are s0 w essentially necessary to the proper comic loool ks. conn