Beadle's Dime Novels No. 97: The Doomed Hunter — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

48 THE DOOMED HUNTER. retaining his knife. Then he felt of the musket, but it was broken beyond all repair. What should he do next? This was a serious question. He already had taken hu- man life as an incipient step, and having gone thus far it was impossible to recede. He knew the door to be fastened, con- sequently he must seek other means of escape. But one plan seemed to give any promise—that was, to dig out, beneath the foundations of the cabin. The structure had no floor but the smoothly-trodden ground, and rested upon four beams of timber placed prone upon the earth. Though the operation of tunneling out would require some time, it seemed the only mode practicable, and Ralph: set about it without any unnecessary delay. By dint of contin- ued exertion, he soon created an opening sufficiently large to admit of his passage to the outer world; though in so doing he completely ruined the knife, the only WESpOn, as well as the only tool he could procure. This done, he satisfied himself that the way was clear without, before venturing from the cabin. No one seemed stirring—a universal quiet. reigned over the willage. A light, _ drizzling rain was setting in, which was certainly in his favor, as he had no firearms to suffer from the dampness, and even Indians would be less likely to prowl about upon such a night. There was the disadvantage, however, that he had not even the pale stars as guides, and was liable to wander from a direct course, or even to lose the proper direction al- together, Yet his heart was te no means faint, and after passing through a portion of the village, he struck off into the track- less forest. Morning could not be far distant, and until that time he would trust to chance and his natural skill as a hunter. Filled with hope, and buoyed up by the natural vigor of his spirits, Ralph nee me, regardless of the many obstacles in his way. “a = my 3 Comicbooks.com {.