Beadle's Dime Novels No. 33: Maum Guinea and Her Plantation Children — page 140: what you’re looking at

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

130 MAUM GUINEA. route; but their flight might be already discovered, and the light be a snaré to draw attention upon them. So they pressed forward, stumbling, crawling, runuing, as they could, through the thick darkness. After many hours of such jour- neying, they were rejoiced by coming suddenly upon the banks of the lake; they heard its soft ripple, and saw its waters fiash back the evanescent gleam of beclouded stars. It would be in vain to search for the secret opening to the cave in such a night as surrounded them. Weary, and hold- ing in their panting breath to listen for the dreaded sounds of pursuit, they rested upon a decaying log, waiting for the first gray light—they kneéw it could not be far distant. An owl in a tree overhead hooted dismally, as if in derision of their hopes and fears; at every cry of his, or the least twitter of birds in their nest, or the snapping of a twig beneath the light foot of some passing animal, Rose would cling to her lover, and his arm would tighten its grasp about her. The wind grew more chilly toward morning, and, despite her shawl, she shivered with the cold; for she was but a tropical plant, house-reared at that, tender and easily blighted. Maum Guinea drew her knees up to her chin, and rocked herself to and fro to keep warm, and perhaps to keep down thought! Foolish fugitives! trembling in the cold and dark- ness. For what had they fled from comfort and plenty, from fire, food, kind masters, and easy service? Reckless, ungrate- ful, improvident creatures! Hyperion had spent his whole life on the Fairfax plantation; he had always been petted, done little work, and had especial indulgence. How had his masters wronged him, that he should repay them thus, by betaking himself off, at a loss to them of eighteen or twenty hundred dollars. The man had his own thoughts, as he sat there one long hcur of that winter night. He had not studied Master Philip’s mirror ixi vain. He knew that he looked as ~ * comniclooolks.comn