Beadle's Dime Novels No. 214: The Forest Monster — page 32: what you’re looking at

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

34 THE FOREST MONSTER. ~~ It stood a moment, as if looking steadily at the men, and then resumed its advance. © == | This was too much, and with a howl of terror the three men scattered and were up the nearest saplings in a twinkling. Here they felt a certain degree of safety, as it was hardly probable that such a constructed creature could “climb a tree.” ; “ But if he chooses,” replied Teddy, from his perch in re- ply to this remark, “he kin pull up the traa by its ruts, and k our heads togither.” o Fiding himself master of the situation, the mysterious brute took every thing very quietly. Teddy having fastened the meat to his back, had not removed it upon climbing the tree, so that there was nothing on thé ground for it to devour ; and the trappers were too veteran hunters to fail to carry their weapons with them. The camp-fire had just been heaped up with fuel, and was now roaring and crackling furiously. The brute seemed to contemplate it a few minutes in quiet wonderment, and then he sat down upon his haunches like a bear, and!ooked fixedly at the blaze. — “ Look at the spalpeen !” called out Teddy. “ Did ye ever saa sich impudence. He looks as if he owned the grove and us too,” | “That's jest "bout what he does own,” replied Black Tom, with grim humor, == “He reminds mesilf, whin I used to sit down in the pratie patch at home, tn Tipperary, and think I owned the whole of it, and so I would, if it hadn't been that anuther chap eluined a : During these few minutes, all three of ‘the men had been reloading their guns, as best they could in their cirenmscriled posiiion, When ready it was arranged that they should dis- charge their pieces together, at the head of the mofster. This was done, and incredible as it may seem, without re- sult. Struck it undoubtedly was, for it gaye a sMyht twitch with its head, as a dog will do, when pestered with a fly, but it certainly was no more harmed thar it would have been by such an insect. At so short a distance, with such a plain target, it would have conmniclooolks.cormn