Ivan the Terrible; or, Dark Deeds of Night — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

IVAN THE particularly cautious to proceed quietly in case he might alarm the whole palace and arouse the unsuspecting guards, - This could have been very easily done, for the court-yard was just underneath, and even as they proceeded, though quietly as cats, they could plainly hear the footfalls of sentries on duty, and by peeping through an open lattice could per- ceive the glistening of sundry soldiers’ bayonets. They had now penetrated through several large apartments that formed the entire suite of that wing of the palace, and had found all in total darkness, Dreadnought crept towards a door that led into another room, and as he approached close to it, he stopped and whispered, “‘ Listen to the words that I shall utter, my men.” “We do,” was the reply, madein smothered accents ; “ we do, and will obey your commands to the letter.” “Then follow me,” he added, “and you will have strong, powerful, and a complete appreciation of the dread importance of this night’s work, and will not hesitate a single second to remove all and every obstacle that may lie in your way that threatens to disappoint the accomplishment of our designs.” ‘“‘ We will obey, if even you led us to the brink of perdi- tion,’ growled one with savage oaths, This was repeated by several. _ Then, now’s the hour of our triumph,” said Dreadnought. “Go back, two of you, and whisper but a single word to Ivan, and he will follow you; but let one of you remain behind to take his place in guarding the prisoners.” This was no sooner said than done. Two of the band glided away like phantoms in the dark- ness, and as mysteriously and quietly, soon Ivan the Terrible appeared, striding like a giant towards the old man, CHAPTER XXIII, NAT FATHOM ESCAPES—THE FLIGHT OF RED JACKET AND FRIENDS—THE ‘‘ EEL’? MAKES IMPORTANT REVELATIONS— THE ‘*COAL HOLE’? MYSTERY—THE ANCIENT MINE AND ITS TREASURES—THE UNKNOWN VOICE, THE tumult and noise among the officers around Aaron, the slopseller’s house, when the body of the unfortunate Jew was thrown out among them by Nat Fathom, cannot be described, Nat Fathom himself, however, who was a dark, remorseless villain, seemed to rejoice at the awful deed he had just com- mitted, and brandished his blood-stained knife before the astonished officers like an infuriated demon. His eyes shot forth flames of revenge as he glared at his pursuers, and looked as if he were possessed by ten thousand demons. Tis true that few villains that ever breathed were more resolute, cool-headed, and revengeful than he; for it wasa maxim with him, that if any one once attempted to betray him, he never forgave them, but resolved on their destruction by fair means or foul, Aaron, the slopseller, knew well the character of his desperate customer ; bu#as a very large reward was offered for his cap- ture, the Jew had resolved upon betraying him. When, therefore, he had slammed down the window, he darted through the room, and went bounding down stairs with the noise and ferocity of an enraged tiger. Red Jacket and his companions for a moment knew not what to do; the officers had already broken in the door, and were rushing about the house in various directions ere they began to think of personal escape. “What shall we do?” asked one. “Iam not up to this house, and its various ins and outs, and the officers are already upon us,” _ ‘Well, I know what Ishall do,” said the “ Eel,” very coolly sipping some brandy, “I shall very quietly go into the ‘ fly,’” “Into the fly ?” asked one, “ Why, what’s that ?”’ “Come, follow me, gentlemen,” said “ Eel,” “ one good turn deserves another ; you may put me up toa thing ortwo one of these days,” : TERRIBLE. 45 So saying, he led the way into a small room, about six feet square, that had no windows, Having closed the door— “This is what we call the ‘fly,’”’ hesaid, very coolly, ‘Old Aaron got up this idea, and a capital one it is, as you'll find, Here we go!” At that moment the “ Eel” closed the door of this little room, turned the key in the lock, and immediately the room seemed to descend. “Hullo! what’s this?” said Red Jacket; “where are we going to? I never heard of this affair before.” “Nor I,” said Handsome Ned. “Well, be quiet for a moment or two, and you’ll see,” said the ‘‘ Eel.” “But how did vow find this out?” asked Red Jacket, in wonder, as the moveable room quietly and noiselessly de- scended, ' “Very easily,’ said the “ Hel,’ with a chuckle. “I knew some time ago that old Aaron had determined to deliver up some youngsters to the constables, and had very good reason to suppose that Z was going to be one of them. So when we were all taking supper together, old Aaron rushes into the room. ‘Qh! the constables are here, lads,’ said he, and blew the lights out. “* Now,’ I thinks to myself, ‘old Aaron won’t be present when they gets into the room. So, as he must escape somehow, so will Z.’ So directly he says ‘The constables are in the house with search warrants, and are coming up stairs,’ I bolts into this little snuggery, which the old ’un used to call the ‘ Coal Hole.’ Presently, in the confusion, while the other lads were rushing about, getting out of windows and fighting with the constables in the dark, I feels old Aaron come into the ‘ Coal Hole,’ shut the door, and then I feels it going down, just as it does now. When we gets to the bottom, I keeps very silent. Old Aaron opens the door, and steps out. I watches him, of course, with the eyes of a hawk, and what I sees would ‘astonish the devil, I do believe.” “Why, what was it?” asked Red Jacket. ‘“You shall see, my fine fellows,” said the “ Eel ;” for at that moment the moveable chamber ceased to descend. The “'Eel” opened the door. All was total darkness ; rot a spark of light could be seen. “Where are we?” asked Ned, with an angry oath; “this smells like a mouldy vault.” “Or a dead house,”’ said another. ‘‘ Perhaps like an old coal pit, eh?” laughed the “ Eel,” and at that moment struck a light. ; “A coal pit !” said Red Jacket ; ‘“ why, I don’t see any.” “No, but you shall, and more to, if you promise me never to reveal this to any one,” “Oh ! on honor, of course,” said all in chorus. ‘As you say, gentlemen, this place is a vault; but look here,” said the “‘ Eel,” “ this is what Z mean,” At that moment he lifted a trap door, while Red Jacket held a lamp, and all saw yawning at their feet the mouth of a very old mine ! Round the edges wild grass and moss had grown, and from it there came a damp rank odour. ‘* And did Aaron descend this ?”’ asked one, “Yes ; don’t you see this windlass and its long coil of rope above your heagls? Well, old Aaron descended this, but as yet, [have not.” “You have not?” ‘No, but I have much inclination to do so, for I believe it communicates very far under ground.” “ Yes, truly, and may contain much hidden wealth.’ “Well, then, we will all descend,’”’ said Handsome Ned : “but are we safe from all pursuit above ?” “Safe |” asked the “ Eel,” with looks of great incredulity ; ‘“‘safe as houses, my boys, for the ‘ Coal Hole’ is, at least, twenty-five feet below the surface of the street,” “And how many feet is the mine?” ‘“‘Ah! that we have yet to see,” said the “ Kel.” Without more ado, Red Jacket, Handsome Ned, the “ Eel,” and others prepared at once to make the descent and explora- tion, but while thus engaged, the sound of a yoice was heard shouting up the deep and dismal shaft } CORNICE OOOKS,. CORN