Beadle's Dime Novels No. 38: The Wrong Man — page 110: what you’re looking at

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

5 a THE WRONG MAN. the oping of the crowd fell on the stiffened features of a corpse. A black boy who had that moment joined the group now . broke through the ring, and falling on his knees beside the body, took its cold hand in his own, and wept aloud. There was something touching in the faithful negro’s grief, and the crowd for some moments did not interrupt the simple but heart-warm expressions in which he gave utterance to it. At length a murmur ran from one to another, and the necessity of removing the body began to be spoken of. This conversa- tion seemed to recall the negro’s mind from the depths of affliction to the consideration of other circumstances. Several persons, each emulous to show himself more active than the rest, had left the group with the purpose of procuring rails or some other materials for constructing a temporary bier. The black also rose to his feet, and casting one long and earnest look upon the body, turned and glided from the crowd. We left Lucy and Dudley at the moment when their ears were stunned by the loud and near sound of the explosion. The cause of the occurrence had been soon explained to them by Cato, who, soon after the shock, came rattling along the bank of the ravine to join them. The plan of blowing up the block-house had been devised by him with the purpose of concealing the flight of Dudley. He was aware, it seems, that a quantity of powder, deposited in the vault of that building at a time when an irruptien of the Indians was apprehended, had never been removed. ‘The idea struck him that if he could possess himself of the body of Overton, dress it in the clothes of our hero, and deposit it in the block-house, fragments of it would probably be found after*the explosion, and léad to a belief that Dudley had perished—perhaps in an attempt to escape by setting fire to the building—and that thus all dan- ger of pursuit would be avoided. The plan was not without ingenuity, nor was it altogether unsuccessful; though in sey- eral respects r Cato had been sadly disappointed. The lor Aness of tiie detonation had terrified him exceedingly ; and when, scared as much as those who without knowing any thing of his plans had been meant to be principally benefited by them, he scampered down to the boat, it was in the full eonfidence that he should meet his master there, as well] es the er