Ivan the Terrible; or, Dark Deeds of Night — page 225: what you’re looking at

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

IVAN THE Well, then, with muffled oars, pull straich barge, and draw up the boat so as to be nee pit eee those in the boat where the light is,” z # Is it a boat, though 2” nem am sure of it, It left this landing but a few moments “ And are any of Ivan’s men in it ?” “ Only three.” pecctade “ All right, captain, three ain’t man . Arme are, we are good for a dozen or more of tite ene Be snk Speaking thus the six Apprentices who formed the boat’s oan now muffled their oars, and rapidly pulled towards the _ Ina few moments they pulled close to the barge, and being in paceP vanes were not perceived. ey cou istinctly see all that passed i ° boat, and heard their Goria tantson: : PA wpe ans “ Have you got any string?” asked one, “Yes; how much?” “Oh, about a couple of fathoms.” “What do you want string for?” asked the boatman, ‘‘ What’s that to do with you, stupid? Don’t we want to know where the sack is when we toss it Overboard, thick- head ?” said the other, “Well, I shouldn’t throw it overboard until I saw what was 1n it,” said the boatman. “Wouldn’t you? No, I suppose not ; but what do we want to be opening it for, eh? Weren’t we ordered to do as we are going to do with it? You don’t want to look at a dead body, do you, eh?” said one of the ruffians, winking at the other. ‘No, if that’s all it is.” “Well, that is all, I can assure you; it’s the body of one of our fellows who fell in the fight to-night.” “ And what do you want a cork floating over it for?” said the incredulous boatman. ‘As a mark of respect, stupid.” ‘““A mark of respect?” “Yes ; don’t they always have a tombstone over any one they likes ?” “Well, yes,” ‘And that’s the very thing we are doing; we are going to float this large cork over it just for the same reason, and if we changes our mind to raise it up and bury it on land to- morrow or next day, why, then we shall know the identical spot where we dropped him.” This explanation did not at all satisfy the boatman, who still said, ‘‘T’d like to see what it was, and know all about it,” To which the other replied, “Well, as you seem so anxious, we’ll pitch you overboard after it, and then you can examine it as much as you like.” This proposition, however, was anything but pleasing to the boatman, who shook his head, and dissented from it with more than one vulgar oath. Lighting their pipes by the lamp, the two ruffians seemed very well pleased with their work, and said one to the other, with a very serio-comic expression of face, ‘“‘He were a good sort, weren’t he?” ‘‘ Aye, you may say that,” was the doleful answer. ‘‘ There ain’t another such sack o’ goodness in the whole world as is in that sack at the bottom o’ the Thames, poor fellow.” ‘No, that there ain’t,” They both sighed, and smoked their pipes very sorrowfully as their boat pulled away from the spot, and disappeared in the darkness. ( , ‘Suppose we fish it up?” said Will, to his comrades, in a whisper. : ‘ Aoreed,”’ was the unanimous answer of the Apprentices. ‘Pull the boat close ; let us begin, and lose no time,” CHAPTER CVI. WILL WINTER RECOVERS THE FORGERS’ TREASURE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE THAMES, THE boat’sercw of Apprentices felt only too happy at the i TERRIBLE. 921 idea of in any way frustrating the base designs of the ruffanly Forgers, Tiey therefore pulled to the spot indicated by the floating cork, and in the darkness that reigned over the whole river they could not be perceived by any one on either shore. For some few moments they could not find the floating cork, but after a time they discovered it, The small cord was pulled up, and attached to it was a strong rope, This the Apprentices tugged at manfully, and although the weight was great they soon raised the immense sack to the surface, The labour was fatiguing, but Will Winter greatly en- couraged them, and although the boat was more than nearly capsized they at last dragged the sack on board, None of those present could conjecture what it contained. Some supposed it contained a dead body. Others suggested first one thing and then another; but so eager were all to know its contents that several suggested they should pull to their own side of the river and inspect it. To this proposition Will Winter dissented. “No, my lads,” said he ; ‘ whatever the bag contains must for the present remain a mystery. Our business to-night is to go to the ‘ Forge’ and assist our friends of the Council, who, no doubt, are already there. It will be time to examine this sack and its contents when we return.” ~ “ But suppose it contains the body of some one ?” “I cannot suppose anything of the sort,” said Will, “for look her !” As he spoke he pointed to several pieces of gold and silver plate which had bulged out of a small hole, “Tt is gold and silver !” said several. “Yes, so it seems; the proceeds of the great robberies at the bank and elsewhere,” said Will. “What must we do with it?” one asked. “Why, pull round this old barge out of sight and hearing, and then place it on its deck; let it remain there until we return from our expedition to the ‘ Forge,’ and then we can remove it to safer quarters,” “ But is the barge safe ?” ‘Safe? Safe as the bank,” said several. “ This old barge has been anchored here for many a long year, so I’ve heard, for no one ever visits it, for they do say it’s haunted,” Upon further consultation it was resolved to thrust the sack on the deck of the barge, and as the night was intensely dark it was thought a safe place. Their boat was pulled round again, and with great labour on the part of several of the Apprentices the heavy sack was raised on the barge’s deck. While so engaged, however, one of the Apprentices with quicker ears than the rest, thought he heard the sounds of oars. He was right. : ) There were sounds of splashing oars distinctly to be heard approaching, and the Apprentices from their place of conceal- ment could plainly hear several men conversing, ‘‘ Hu-s-sh |”? said Will to his friends, ‘‘they are some of the Forgers. Let us listen to all they say.” “ T think you have missed the spot,”’ said one, “T couldn’t miss it, I tell you,’ was the answer, think I was drunk when I placed it there?” ‘¢ What did you sink it for at all, then ?” “Why, to make the boatmen believe it was a dead body, to be sure. We didn’t want him to know anything of what we had got, did we ?”’ ‘He'd agone and blabbed it among all the Forgers,” said another. “Besides, we wanted all we got for ourselves and particu: lar friends, without any of Andy’s crew knowing anything about it.” “Well where is the spot?” “Somewhere about here,” “Can you find the floating cork?” No ; but it can’t be far off,” ““Why didn’t you bring a lamp with yor?” “A pretty idea you have ESCO micbooksscom “ Do you