Ivan the Terrible; or, Dark Deeds of Night — page 57: what you’re looking at

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

; ' IVAN THE He left the table soon after, promising to return with the famous Blue Jacket, and, from his sincerity of manner, they firmly believed him. Instead of doing so he returned with some half-dozen of his more intimate friends, and suddenly rushed in upon the astonished and affrighted constables shouting out, “Run! fly! escape! Here is Blue Jacket and the ‘Fly- by-Night’s’ come to murder every one of you.” The scene of riot and confusion that then ensued was deafening. . The lights were put out, officer was seizing officer, one struck another, tables, chairs, punch-bowls, legs of mutton, rounds of beef, 80up-tureens, and all the very numerous festive dishes were tossed over and crushed into a thousand fragments, The alarm, confusion and noise was indescribable, while, in the midst of all, a large number of citizens rushed in, secured the drunken and riotous officials, who were marched off to gaol amid a general street-fight, and accused of gambling, rioting, drunkenness, and of being caught in council while having treasonable correspondence with the arch-villains and traitors of Ivan the Terrible’s well-known band. As soon as Blue Jacket saw his late friends safely in custody for the night, he laughed heartily, and, mounting his horse, went in search of Lizzie Ashton, whom Harry Percy had left sick at the hotel. CHAPTER XXVIII. TIPPLER DRAWS LOTS, AND IS UNLUCKY—THE DUEL— “THE BEST SWORDSMAN IN EUROPE’’—OLD TIPPLER’S SUCCESS WITH ‘“ VILLANOUS MASTER ANDREW” — THE RESULT. . HE dallied with them for a few moments, first taking one piece and then another, as if undecided which to choose, This might have continued for some time, had not Master Andrew said in a tone of command that made Tippler tremble, “ Quick, sir! quick, I say !” Tippler at last took one. “ Do you choose that one, sir?” “ Yes—I—that is—no—the other !” Tippler replied, with wild-looking eyes, “ Well, then, if you so choose it, take the other, it matters nought to me,” said Master Andrew, carelessly. Tippler did take the other, but was horrified to find that his own name was written thereon ! He uttered a deep groan of disappointment, “Which has he drawn?” asked the king, with a troubled countenance, , ‘‘T have drawn my own name, alas !” Tippler sighed, “Oh, sir, what a lucky thing ; what an escape,” gasped the king, in great glee. “ Allow me to compliment you, Tippler ; upon my life, you are amazingly fortunate,” “ Am J ?” grunted Tippler, in disgust. *‘ And all I hope and trust is,” said the king, ‘‘ that he may be—no, I forgot—I meant to say, I hoped that you may be— no, the devil—I wished to say, that I hope that both of you may be—” iy Silence !” said Master Andrew, in tones of command. “ Unbind my Lord Tippler, and give him a sword ! he is about to fight me! I wish to let him have fair play, and be treated like a gentleman.” At the same moment, with a smile of confidence, he pulled off his coat and tucked up his sleeves. ~ pone “Oh ! it’s going to be with swords is it ?” said Tippler. “ Yes, certainly, if that suits you ; anything, in fact, to ac- commodate a gentleman,”’ “Oh, the villain! How very obliging he is all at once,” Tippler sighed. ; - 8 Swords, eh?” grumbled the king, “ that will suit Tippler exactly, for he’s counted one of the best fencers in all England,” ‘Oh, indeed. 1'm glad to hear that, for you see he cannot now say I murdered him in cold blood, you know.” “ No, no,” Tippler interrupted, with a sigh. “ I only know a little—a very little, indeed, I can assure you, Can you fence, sir?” TERRIBLE. 53 “A little only—a mere trifle, upon my word,” coolly answered Master Andrew. A slight smile of satisfaction passed over the countenance of Tippler, for, although, in trnth, he was not the bravest man in the world by any means, there were very few gentlemen who could hold asword with him. He, therefore, thought, “I will try all my skill upon this fellow, and finish him off at once | and then, with a sword in my hand, I can fight my way out of this very unpleasant predicament, ha! ha! I have him now! he fences only a Jittle! and I am always practising with the foils.” ‘“‘Come, sir, are you ready?” said Master Andrew, with much politeness. ‘‘ Hadn’t you better pull off your coat? It might incommode you,” “Oh, it matters not,” Tippler sighed. “TI might as well be killed with it on as off ; besides, a hard button or two is a great help to turnthe edge of a weapon.” , “Well, then, as you are perfectly ready, sir, en garde, monsieur. - “Thank you. You are extremely polite, but I wish to say one word more,” “Say it quick, then, for time flies ; we have none to spare, and besides, I wish to get through this little job as speedily as possible.” ‘‘ You seem to be in ad——d hurry about it, then,” Tippler said, sourly ; ‘but I was about to remark simply, that if I should—if I should happen to, you know—”’ “Qh, certainly. I can fully understand your wishes, they are very right and proper, and Christian like. Oh, yes, of course, I’ll have you buried in the most approved manner. In fact, I'll have your body deposited in the nearest dead-honse, and you shall be interred at the workhouse’s expense, There, that will satisfy you, I hope.” ‘‘ Oh, the black-hearted villain !” Tippler groaned. Before he could utter another word, his opponent's sword was at his breast. Their swords clashed against each other for some moments, and Tippler began to perspire violently. “You fence very well, extremely well, indeed,” Master Andrew remarked, in encouraging tones. ‘“‘ Thank you for nothing,” Tippler replied ; “ but, the truth is, I find out, to my cost, that you fence more than a little !” For some time they fenced on vigorously, and the counte- nance of Tippler turned all manner of colors, as he found that he could not hit his antagonist in any way. Not so with Master Andrew, however. Cool as possible, and with a smile upon his face, he touched Tippler wherever he thought fit, and, it must be confessed, tickled him most uncomfortably in various parts of the body with the point of his weapon, Red, perspiring and bewildered, Tippler felt as if a cold hand had been laid on his heart, for the conviction began to creep over him that he was but a novice in the hands of his opponent, and that his life wasn’t worth the price of two straws, His sight began to grow dim, and his knees shook under him as Master Andrew’s sword for a moment gleamed before his eyes, and he felt it plunge into his breast | With a loud groan, he fell flat to the ground. “Well, Ae is done for,” said Master Andrew, with a tri- umphant grin. “ And now, sir,” he said, addressing the king, ‘“‘T shall have great pleasure in accomodating you next, so at and be quick about it, or I shall be compelled to use orce.” Yet, for a moment, let us leave the duel, and narrate other things of Ivan and the Sorcerer. CHAPTER XXIX, . THE SECRETS AND TREASURES OF THE RED ROOM—THE CASKET, AND WHAT IT CONTAINED—IVAN AND HIS FOL- LOWERS SEARCH FOR THE OLD SECRET CABINET IN A DARK AND DISTANT CHAMBER, For several minutes there was a deadly pause. Not a sound could be heard—not even the breathing of one of those determined men as they stood paces in Be pase e. Comiciooksscoin