The Maid of the Mountain — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

THE SILENT HUNTER. CHAPTER XXII. THE VISITORS AND THE DEN. ALL was hushed and stil] in the tavern of the Frog’s Hole; the mistress of the house had retired to rest, the aged negress who wait- ed during the ones within her cell, Lowenoun inne . or fill his pipe, which he "ever ke fling at with all the « Dutchasan or a pasha. “Tis ey cold to-night— ha! ha!” M&F said, as heshivered in the pale moohlight; “‘ and the whisky does seem weak to-nigh’, awful weak! . Whata time the yi is; the moon’s been up ever so long. It’s mae private opinion it’s to-tnorrow. ell! if the bottle ain‘tempty! Let's have another, old fellow—plenty more where that come from ; let us be jolly! ttf it ti Es H sat himself cosily in his arm-chair, held up his band, and turned the neck of the bottle toward his glass. He then took up the bum- per, and seemed very much sur- to find the contents of his of a very watery nature, which was the less extraordinary, as, in his present sagacious mood, the jolly landlord had omitted to draw the cork. | ** Weill, Inever—did,”’ muttered Ralph. ‘“* Whisky—I say, whis- ky—mind you, whisky ygrows— I believe that it—grows weaker— every—day. The worst of it is, old boy, water don’t «grow. any stronger. IL should say the world’s coming to an end !”’ After this speech, which was di- rected to the bottle, Ralph re- mained musing for some time, his eyes fixed vacantly on the whisky, trying all the time, he declared, to explain to himself how it came about that the stuff was so weak, when he suddenly saw the bottle move, as by human ageney, and fill to overtlowing, with raw spirit, the ou which he had emptied, “ 4 !’ he exclaimed, ** who is that Ach laugh was the only ockling reyiph Regie k tohihn. | ” ,* Regin looked across the table, and in a chair, si in an an odd kind of man, too. He wore a red, pointed ps ham cloak, and had a pointed anda pale face, and —_ like glow-worms in a gun- barrel, and saw-like teeth. oad a, pot fellow,” said stranger, na y, hot voice, a Y’ i“ “Pye no glass,” replied * What do you wan , eh ?”’ chuckled the man, knocking off the neck of the boitle, swallowing the at a dengny you forget me,” said Ralph, with all the eagerness of the sot. ‘“« Plenty more where that came from,” continued the other. commcbooks.com