Ivan the Terrible; or, Dark Deeds of Night — page 184: what you’re looking at

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IVAN THE 180 filled with a dense white vapour that clouded all within it, when, of a sudden, a space seemed cleared away from the further part of the room, and gradually a vision appeared. It was the picture of a comfortable chamber in a city inn, and beside her bed a girl was seen kneeling in prayer, ‘“Who is it I see?” demanded Dreadnought. ** Leonora,” solemnly answered the unseen one, ‘¢ But her face I perceive not.” ‘But you shall,” was the instant reply. And in a second the head of the vision moved, and Dread: nought was satisfied. “ Enough,” said he, striking the floor with the magic wand, ‘enough, she is in London,” “‘ She is,”’ was the answer, ‘And alone ?”’ iT 3 Yes.”’ “Then she is mine !” ** Not yet, Dreadnought.” “ But soon will be?” “To-night, if you so will it,” answered the voice. “ To-night, say you?” “ Aye, to-night.” “But how ?—is she not guarded ?” “‘ She will not be at a certain hour.” ‘“‘ What mean ye?’ “This, Dreadnought,” was the reply. ‘“ Nat Fathom, and Sharkey his companion, planned her escape.” “Ah! Fathom and Sharkey ?” said the Sorcerer, in tones of rage. ‘ My bitterest hate is with those two, and they shall suffer dearly for attempting to thwart my plans or desires. Well, sprite, let’s hear more.” “He brought her to London, and placed her in the inn, whose sign you know,” An “Yes, and at this moment he and Sharkey are surrounded by scores of officers, and are fighting their way out of the house. See,” said the spirit, In a second a vision appeared of Nat Fathom and Sharkey HeetDE manfully against the officers who had gone to arrest em. ‘“‘Hnough !” said Dreadnought, in tones of triumph, “ I'll see no more. They cannot escape; I will away, and secure Leonora.”’ So saying, old Dreadnought stamped violently upon the floor thrice. : The vision disappeared, and the sorcerer dashed out of the apartment in the greatest passion and fury. / CHAPTER LXXXVIII. NAT FATHOM ESCAPES FROM THE “ GREEN MAN ’’—THE OLD SURGEON’S HOUSE—HORRORS AND DANGERS ACCUMULATE —THE DESPERATION AND FLIGHT OF NAT FATHOM, It will be remembered in a former chapter that when Nat Fathom had cleverly escaped from prison, and had placed Leonora Tempest in a snug place of safety, he himself had gone to the “Green Man,” and when he and his friend Sharkey were congratulating themselves upon being safe be- yond the clutches of the law, a body of officers had suddenly surrounded the house on three sides, so that the famous Nat could not possibly escape. When Sharkey heard the door of the public-house broken in he was more concerned for the safety of Nat than himself. The desperate and determined men who were with him did not for fear themselves very much, but shouted out lustily to Nat to escape, ‘‘ Escape ?” said Nat, jumping out of bed, and arming him- self—-‘ Escape, and leave you here behind to fight out my battles ? No, that must never be |” This bold resolve was much displeasing to his friends, one of whom said, ‘But you must escape, Nat ; it does not much matter if me get taken, for then you can help us out of prison again, but they must not take you, you know, or else Judge Jefferies will hang you up before daylight in the morning,” TERRIBLE. After much persuasion Nat consented to escape if possible, “But don’t you make any resistance to the officers ; let them come in and search, and when they find I am not here they will not, in fact, they cannot, harm any of you.” “But how can you get out of this scrape?” asked several, in great haste. | ; “Leave that to me,” said Nat, who dashed up stairs, and soon got on the roof, As we have said, the officers had surrounded the house on three sides, but the fourth side of the house looked into a small stable-yard, the gate of which, happily for Nat, was locked. The stable-yard was about eight feet broad, and, conse- quently, the distance between the roof of the “Green Man” and the houses on the other side of the entrance to the mews was at least eight feet, if not more. Nat saw this, but knew that even the roof of the ‘Green Man” would be searched, and that, therefore, if he must escape, he must leap from one roof to the other, and be also as quick about it as possible, for day was fast dawning, and the leap would be impossible in broad daylight. The roof of the public-house being higher than that of the neighbouring houses, Nat resolutely stood on the parapet, and with all his strength leaped across the eight feet gulph, and fell with great force into the gutter on the roof of the house — opposite, The shock to his system was very great, but this he did not care much about, for with him it was now a great question of “life or death.” He was so much shaken that he could have groaned aloud, but this he knew was dangerous. : He quickly crawled from the gutter, and approached a garret window near to him, Having looked in, and satisfied himself that the little attic was empty, he partly rose, and had the satisfaction of gliding over the window-sill unseen by the officers below. There was nothing in the room but a small bed and a couple of chairs. Exhausted, almost dispirited, and weak, Nat Fathom sat down upon a chair. But it seemed as though fortune would never cease per- secuting him, for he had not noticed that the chair was minus a leg. The consequence was that when he deposited his, weight upon it he came down upon the floor with considerable violence and noise. In apprehension lest he should have alarmed the inmates of the house, whoever they might be, he rose, and ran to the “window. But the risk of discovery was almost as great if he at- tempted to escape again as if he remained. He drew back, resolved to remain where he was, and, if detected, to endeavour to excite the good-will of the people of the house by some spurious tale. F His senses now became alive to the slightest noise, and once or twice he fancied he heard a creaking sound on the stairs, as though some one were stealthily ascending. Still, as minute after minute passed, and he was left by himself, he almost wished they would come at once, and so release his mind from the rack of suspense on which it was stretched. . Then fears crossed his mind, that perhaps whoever was coming would be armed with a blunderbuss, which might be discharged without the slightest notice full in his face, and 80 unceremoniously finish his career by a death of agony. From the moment this fear began to haunt him he looked ~ about him for some nook or corner in which he might conceal himself until such time as he could learn by their voices the intention of those who might be coming. | Observing a cupboard at one end of the room, he glided cautiously towards it. The door was fastened only by a button, which Nat Fathom turned cautiously. From the pressure of something within it flew open imme- diately, | > A cry of terror burst from his lips as a dead body, frightfully mangled, fell at his feet | COomIicbooks com