Beadle's Dime Novels No. 305: The Girl Scout — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

A GRUMBLER. 23 “Nun ov yer business,” replied the man, in a sulky tone. “You think I ain’t nobody, don’t ye? You kin have yer ~©Wn way all the time, I reckon. What did you hit so hard fur? You've rised a lump on my face as big as*a potato,” “Thad to keep up appearances,” replied Gaston. “Appearances ? Thunder and lightning! Don’t say that ae’in or Vill git mad. You let out at me as though I was your mortail inemy.” “Don’t say any more about that, but step out as quickly as you can. I want to buy up that section at once, for some Ohe might take a fancy to it and get ahead of me.” “Why don’t you hev all our names put in the claim? It don’t seem fair, somehow, and ef you was to play roots on Us we wouldn’t stand no show,” “Shut up; you haven't got the whisky out of your skin yet or I wouldn’t take any nonsense from you about that lit- tle matter. If I played you false, you could let a thousand Men in on my claim in half a day.” “How much do you think there would be left when I— Whar’s that hoss gallopin’ ?” They were within three miles of the village of Hunt’s, and & horseman was galloping upon the outer edge of the piece of timber through which their path led, and before they passed it he had gone over the ridge between them and the village. ITalf an hour later the two men entered the village and made for the “ Land Agent's” office. Fhe Land Agent in a western town is a great man. Gen- erally he is # Capitalist, aud lends small sums to bordermen who can give him his security and twenty per cent bonus. He has land in all unoccupied portions of the State, and is always ready to plant a new setiler somewhere, Tue Agent was in his office, seated at his desk—a spare- Visaged man, with mutton-chop whiskers, iron-gray hair, and & determined-looking moutb. ‘ Six hundred and forty acres at three-fifty,” he muttered, Shuffling some papers on the desk ; “twenty-two hundred-for- ty. Cost me eight hundred. ’Um, umph; good interest enough, The young mau was rather hot to buy, or he might have made a trifle, But, impatience never pays—never— hever, Now here comes another man in a devil of a» hurry. Cconmmicloooks.conn