Beadle's Dime Novels No. 142: The Sagamore of Saco — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

HONEST EPHRAIM. 67 “That is true. What then?” “Don’t you remember that Hope would whistle up a quail, with that purty cherry mouth of hern? Well, the women used to look. askance at this, and say—I've heard Nancy say it a hundred times—” “ Say what ?” asked the sagamore, for Ephraim had a dim perception of saying something not just what should be said and had stopped. “Well, they used to say, * Whistling gals and crowing hens Always come to bad ends.’ If women don’t keep the right slde of each other, it’s a gone case with ’em, John.” “You think they would have tortured and killed Hope out of spite, and called it religion ?” “TI don’t pretend to be as wise as your sister Nancy, John —la, bless you! I believe the baby s wiser’n its own father ; but I do say they'd a killed her, and it’s better as it is.” “Who would have had the heart to do it?” “ As to that,any of them. My wife Nancy would a helped, she would. You ought to hear her quote Scriptur’ about ' witches and wizards, and necromancers, and Moloch, and familiar sperrits, I’ve sot and heard her till every hair in my head stood on end. I think the women are kind of dis- appointed not to a bad a chance at her.” John Bonyton ground his teeth with fury, and exclaimed : “ They will find a subject in due time, I'll be bound.” “That they will. The way they tell about running pins and needles into the flesh of some poor old thing is awful. I think'the women, not going to war, let their minds run on these kind of torments instead. Now, Nancy is as kind as . the best, but I’ve heard her tell how they'd do. They were in doubt whether they would burn or hang Hope.” John Bonyton shuddered, and ejaculated between his teeth & compound which we will not repeat; but it was “ she-”— sotiething, and 2 term which many & woman has well deserved Ephraim looked aghast at the fierce passion of his friend and droned on again: “You was al’ays violent and kind o’ unreasonable, John Bat ivs nothing here nor there to talk. Howeomever you , C é comichooksscom) | py