Roving Jack, The Pirate Hunter — page 115: what you’re looking at

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

aaa aaa cen eee ee ROVING JACK, THE PIRATE HUNTER, ——————— — —-+-- - _ ae _ “And now, Joe, let’s get up a roaring stave to drown the noise,”’ “T twig ; strike up, my noble.” And blending their voices, and shouting with all their power of lungs, the two robbers bawled out the following delectable ballad :— “OF Robin Hood, that ontlaw good, Our forest songs may tell ; 4 gentle thief, he once was chief, And bore from all the bell. While Gilderoy was Scotland’s joy; But all must yield, I ween, the field To gallant Claude Duval.” “Silence, you noisy scoundrels!” roared the beadle, thumping at the doors of the cells, ‘All right, governor,” laughed Jack; “you are enjoying yourselves, why shouldn’t we?” ‘“ Why not, dam’me,” responded Blueskin ; “never mind old St. Giles. Pipe up, lad! Chorus, my plummy Jack ! “Oh, rare Duval! Oh, bold Duval ! To rifle was his plan ; Both young and old, of love and gold— The ladies’ highwayman.” ** Ha, ha, ha !” “Silence, you villains! Have you no respect for my place ?’’ spluttered the beadle, in great wrath. The robbers replied only by a burst of derisive laughter, and continued roaring at the top of their voices all manner of doggrel snatches : ‘The round-house, the round-house, The jolly St. Giles’s round-house.” Seeing that remonstrance was useless the beadle uttered a tremendous volley of abuse and condign threats, and returned to the card-table. Meanwhile, Jack had whispered to Blueskin to return him the clasp-knife. That ruffian obeyed and passed it back through the crevice. Jack then mounted a stool. He set to work at the ceiling. He placed his mattress beneath to receive with- out noise whatever fell. Soon he had removed sufficient lath and plaster to lay bare a large patch of the beams and flooring above. Blueskin seconded his confederate’s exertions by dancing about his cell, clanking his fetters, and yelling like a red Indian. Jack had now succeeded in making an opening in the floor above, He clambered up into the top room. The round-house consisted of two stories. The room into which Jack had thus forced an entrance was a square chamber. The light was admitted through a small loop-hole, with an iron grating not large enough to admit of any one forcing their bodies throngh it, The only furniture in the room was an old feather- bed, with a dirty blanket on a crazy truckle, and a high-backed, leather-bottomed chair, in which there was a jug with some water. 7 Jack Sheppard had now cast off his. hopelessness, and was now all animation, all bouyancy, and braced his mind to a desperate attempt to escape with his partner. | His energies, his senses all hurried to his aid. One eagle glance below, akove, around the room, and his resolution was taken—his plan was laid, It would have been easy for him to have removed @ plank of the flooring, and penetrated through the ceiling, to Blueskin’s cell below. But for some time he was almost afraid to ven- turé such a bold stroke, However, Blueskin kept up the same racket as ee — er ee ee 135 before, dancing about in his clanking fetters, and taunting Sheppard with being chicken-hearted, and calling upon him to join chorus in his ribald songs. The goalers and the watchmen were not very orderly in their conduct, for they added to the noise by their loud recriminations as they brawled over their cards. This determined Jack to venture boldly. He soon had torn up a couple of planks, He thrust his head through the aperture. .. He whispered a few hurried words to Blueskin. “‘ All’s bob, my kiddy,” chuckled the robber. Then he shouted, : “Well, Jack! if you are in the sulks, and won’t join me in a lively stave, I suppose I must give you up and go to sleep in digust. Good. night’! my ben cove,” : ‘ With this he stretched himself upon the bed and began to snore as if he had dropped asleep. The quarrel between the gamesters at the card table now grew fiercer and louder. Now was the time, Sheppard helped his partner up through the aperture he had made in the floor. ' Then, once more, he looked about him with a quick, comprehending glance, The walls were massive. To have made a hole through them would have occupied too much time, The roof presented the best point of attack. His first step was with his clasp knife to cut a stretcher or bar from the back of the chair. One end of this he formed into a sharp point. _ He mounted the chair, and commenced proceed- ings. With the sharp point of the bar he soon managed to loosen a considerable quantity of lime and mortar. He then dislodged several of the laths,; and began to remove the tiles by poking at them with his bar, - He had made in this manner a very formidable orifice, when, unfortunately, one of the tiles: rolling off the roof, which was rather slanting, fell on the head of a worthy clergyman who was passing, in deep meditation. Ro Turning sharply round and looking up in, the confusion of his ideas, occasioned by the concussion on his cranium, be began to bellow out, ‘Fire | murder! robbery !” The alarm was distinctly heard by Jack... - < He was aware that, to avoid immediate detection} he had not a minute to lose. oils He made a plunge through the aperture which. he had effected through the rafters. A» With a sort of harlequin’s leap he gained the roof. Blueskin followed as nimbly as he could. This was not managed, however, without removing a great quantity of tiles and rubbish, It was nine o’clock in the evening. The cries of the reverend clergyman, who hap- pened to be Mr. Topping, the rector of St, Giles, soon brought a great mob around him, A thousand questions were asked in a breath, ‘© What is it ?” “ Where is it?” “ Who is it?” “Murder! fire! thieves !” answered the reverend gentleman. “Where? where?” ‘“‘ There—there !| the prisoners are escaping !” * Where? where?” demanded a myriad of voices, Jack saw that, to make his escape, he must ereate @ diversion, ”