The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 42: what you’re looking at

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

THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. 39 Morton’s, and the only wonder is, that the wife takes to her in the way shedoes. They tell me that Captain Morton brought the child home to the hall all of a sudden, and nobody knew anything about it but himself and Rafferty Brolickbones.” ** Who may he be >?” ‘¢An Irishman who was in the war with Captain Morton—not a bad fellow in the main, and about as good a customer as I’ve got hereabouts. A discreet man too—never takes a drop too much; indeed, I have my doubts if any quantity at all that he could hold would be too much for him.” - Indeed! And this Captain Morton, has he children of his own? ‘¢He has not. There’s Charles, his brother, lives with them, and Miss Mabel, as they call her, as sweet a young creature, too, she is, as ever the eves of man looked on. Of course she is no customer of mine, so I can’t be prejudiced in her favor, you know; but she is quite a young angel, that she is.” _ Thave seen her. The girl is pretty; there can be no two opinions upon that head. Can I sleep here to-night ?” “Sleep? Oh, why—we have beds.” ‘Pho! bother your beds. Anything will dofor me. A bun- dle of straw in an empty room I prefer.” ‘Then we can easily accommodate you with that,” said Toggs, with a feeling of relief that so very unpromising a looking cus- tomer did not contemplate getting between the sheets of the beds of the Morton Arms. ** Be it so, then. I will remain here to-night; and remember, landlord, Iam not what I seem.” ‘* Are you not?” ‘No. Now, what do you take meto be? Answer candidly; I shall not be offended. You don’t know but what I am playing a part, and would like to be complimented upon my appearing in it. What do you take me to be?” Toggs looked posed. *“‘ Pray, excuse me.” ‘‘ No, no, no.” ‘‘ Well, then, my friend, if you wil] have it—mind I don’t say you are-—but you seem to me, mind you, to be the dirtiest and most outrageous blackguard that I ever saw.” ‘Thank you.” ‘“‘“You would make me tell, you know.” ‘*Very good—very good. That’s just the character I wished to assume, ITassure you.” ' ‘* Well, then, you do it so well, that any one would swear it came quite naturally.” ‘‘ Clever,” said the stranger—“ clever! You are a wag—quite a wag, I can assure you.” At this moment the sound of horses’ feet pausing at the door of the public house, met the landlord’s ears, and he rushed out to the porch, in the hope of receiving under his roof a more en- gaging looking customer than the mendicant who was in the tap-room, and with whom, for want of something better to do, he had been amusing himself in gossip, comicbooks. com