AppleScript returns text with strange characters
===

I have a script to return parts of a text file, but I notice it sometimes returns characters that are not visible when viewing the text file directly. For example, the word:

    breeders

becomes

    breedÂ¬â rs

I tried adding "as Unicode text" to my text return, but that isn't working. Thoughts? Here's my script:

    set some_file to "[...]Words.txt" as alias
    set the_text to read some_file as string
    set the text item delimiters of AppleScript to ", "
    set the_lines to (every text item of the_text)
    return some item of the_lines as Unicode text