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The Country Beyond by James Oliver Curwood
page 84 of 312 (26%)
Indian Tom's swamp.

A thrill of nervousness swept through Jolly Roger. He waited half
an hour, three-quarters, an hour--after the moon had risen. And
Nada did not come. The nervousness grew in him, and he moved out
into the moon-glow, and slowly and watchfully followed the edge of
the rock-shadows until he came to the fringe of cedars and spruce
behind the cabin. Peter, careful not to snap a twig under his
paws, followed closely. They came to the cabin, and there--very
distinctly--Jolly Roger McKay heard the low moaning of a voice.

He edged his way to the window, and looked in.

Crouched beside a chair in the middle of the floor was Jed
Hawkins's woman. She was moaning, and her thin body was rocking
back and forth, and with her hands clasped at her bony breast she
was staring at the open door. With a shock Jolly Roger saw that
except for the strangely crying old woman the cabin was empty.
Sudden fear chilled his blood--a fear that scarcely took form
before he was at the door, and in the cabin. The woman's eyes were
red and wild as she stared at him, and she stopped her moaning,
and her hands unclasped. Jolly Roger went nearer and bent over her
and shivered at the half-mad terror he saw in her face.

"Where is Nada?" he demanded. "Tell me--where is she?"

"Gone, gone, gone," crooned the woman, clutching her hands at her
breast again. "Jed has taken her--taken her to Mooney's shack,
over near the railroad. Oh, my God!--I tried to keep her, but I
couldn't. He dragged her away, and tonight he's sellin' her to
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