José — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

JOSE. PROLOGUE. A warm, sultry, summer night rested upon the Mississippi Valley; the moon, enveloped in a fine mist, was as lifeless as tnough she was fast asleep under the enervating influence of the soft, still air. The forest landscape, like a silvery thread, stretched away in the distance and, in the East, dim gleams of lightning that rent the heavy clouds, gave warning of an approaching storm. A woman was rapidly pacing the highway from Big River to St. Louis. She had reached the eminence which commands a view of the valley, with its cultivated acres and isolated farm-houses, when she paused, turned, and sank upon her knees. She stretched out her hands toward the dwellings, beneath the rough shingles of which peace and prosperity seemed to dwell in happy harmony. Her lips were lightly compressed, and every lineament of her face expressed the bitter pangs of a tortured heart. Suddenly, she clasped her hands over her face, lowered her head, and | burst into a passionate torrent of tears and sobs, e Gomicboo cS =| (E(0)