Beadle's Dime Novels No. 215: The White Hermit — page 36: what you’re looking at

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

af 88 THE WHITE HERMIT. had moved aside so easily rested upon a pivot, so arranged that | a child might swing it, when the spring upon the inside was set. Perdita entered first, Captain Austen followed, assisting the!chief, and the old man came last, closed the stone, and set the spring. ‘The path over which they passed was worn smooth and hard by much use, and led after three paces to a flight of earthen steps, leading upward. Reaching the top, Austen fougd him- = self in a small room, perhaps twelve feet each way, dug by the hand of man out of the heart of the hill, Upon the other side was an opening which showed another room of about the “Come and see how we get the air,” said Perdita, as the chief sunk down upon a pile of skins in one corner. The cap- tain followed her into the next room, and she removed three stones of different sizes from the wall, and showed him that -_ apon this side the wall was not much more than a foot thick and was strengthened by saplings forced into the earth above | and below. ‘The roof was formed of the same material placed ve more closely together. a From the epenings formed when the earth was removed A they could look in three different directions and see the shore. ; The only part which was hidden was the long stretch of __- -water behind the island, The position was admirably chosen and showed a master mind in its construction. | Ae « Ts this your work, sir ?” said the captain. — “ Gall me Marstowe,” replied the hermit, “ That is a name by which Ihave been known. Yes, this is my work, with much ae else which I will show you when the right time comes to ef. avert the coming storm. lt seems strange to you that a man like me, with a beautiful child like this, and with gray hair, ae should make myself a home in the wilderness—shoyld become o hermit and recluse. Enough that I have done it, and noth- ng but a stern necessity could have forced this banishment from society upon me. Here, apart from the world, I hoped ____ Thad left behind my enemies. But, they will not let me rest eee My God, they will not let me rest!” Sse ‘ « Father, father,” moaned Perdita, throwing herself into his meet arms. “Tam with you; I will be true to you for my life im) = Scomicbooks.com ~ - ‘ e ~wGs s “ 3 ar 3 » ‘s