The King's Talisman — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

_ THE KING'S TALISMAN. 75 it, he kept on toward the extreme western part of the city, until he entered a small defile which lost itself at the dis- tance of only a few rods in the darkness beyond. Back from this the way was arched by the solid rock overhead, until at length it gradually dwindled down to a narrow pas- sage, through which, for a distance of ten yards, the old man was forced to crawl upon his hands and knees. ‘The bottom of the pass was comparatively smooth, and gave evidence of having at some former time been the passage for no inconsiderable stream of water, but the sides and the top were jagged and rough, and he must be well acquainted with its peculiarities who would venture its exploration. At length the old man came to a place where the way grew wider and higher, and to the left, through a chink in the stone, twinkled a starlike gleam, seeming only a single ray of light, which might have been caught from the sun and shut up in this rocky dungeon. Toward this spot the dervise moved with a quicker step, and having uttered a low, shrill cry, he waited, asif for an answer. Soon the glim- mering spark began to multiply its rays, until at length it spread to a broad sheet of light, which came streaming through an aperture large enough to admit a man with ease. Abdah Nazor stepped into the cavern beyond, where burned a large torch, and by the light of which sat an old woman, engaged in picking in pieces a sort of reed, from the bark of which she was making wicks for the torch that lighted up her rocky abode. From the side of her stool hung one end of a small chain, the other end of which was bolted into the rock that formed the bottom of the cavern. She remained in the same posture, without looking up or evincing any interest in his entrance. Finding at length that she noticed him not, the old man, advancing nearer to her, exclaimed, in rather an excited tone, ‘“Woman, I would have you consult my stars!” , Gomicbooks (Elo)