Roving Jack, The Pirate Hunter — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

98 ROVING JACK, THE PIRATE HUNTER. aes es a OEE eee roar of many voices that soared up from the depths below. He began to descend the stairs. He had not taken many steps, however, before he changed his mind, Remounting the stairs, he entered the room where he had been confined, “Temptation or treachery, perhaps both, await me below. I will not mingle with any of my old pals ; I will get away from this den of infamy —this pest-house—where I first was polluted ; and I will start at once for Portsmouth, and get aboard ‘The Avenger!’ Ha, I like that name.” He took the blankets and sheets from the bed and tore them into strips with his teeth and hands, and then formed aline with them. . He burst open the window, and, creeping out on to a narrow parapet, gazed down from his fearful height with an unquailing eye..- The abutment of a neighbouring house broke the descent, and. crawling along the parapet, he came directly over the lower roof ; he fixed the line round a chimney stack, and let himself down on to the leads below. Not without great danger and difficulty he managed to scramble down on to a high wall adjoining the abutment. He soon run along this, and, clambering down hy an iron gate, reached the street. Turning, he shook his fist and invoked a curse upon his late prison-house. He then walked swiftly away. Finding that his purse, containing a considerable sum of money, had not been taken from his pockets, he entered an ordinary, He ealled for something to eat and drink, and while regaling himself he took up one of the daily newspapers which lay upon the table, Much to his chagrin, he read that the “ Aven- ger” had sailed from Portsmouth that very morning, ‘«<*T5s no matter,’ muttered Sheppard, as he rose and left the house, ‘I will let nothing turn me from my purpose. I will go to sea; but these fine clothes, these jewels—yes, | must get another sort of rig-out, Good, old Isaacs’, the Jew fence, will buy them of me and supply me with something more suitable to my present condition.” CHAPTER XXXIX, BEN BOUNCER’S NARRATIVE OF HIS VISIT TO LONDON—THE CHIMNEY SWEEP WITH ‘‘ LOFTY HASPIRATIONS.”’ “ AND what do you think of London, Ben?” asked Hal Hetherington of Master Bouncer, The pair were strolling arm-in-arm along the quays of Portsmouth harbour, whither they had repaired in order to join our hero and his crew of boy pirate-hunters on board his new and splendid vessel ‘‘ The Avenger.” Ben sagely shook his head. ‘“‘T must confess, Hal,” said he, ‘‘ that its general appearance did not quite come up to my expecta- tions.”’ “ Indeed !” IT did not expect to find its streets paved with gold, nor its houses built of silver and ivory, as I was informed they were by that foolish old Cleats, who has a most ridiculous and annoying habit of exaggerating and perverting facts. For my part, I always like to stick to the truth, and when re- counting my own adventures, some of which are certainly very remarkable, endeavour to state things that never can raise a doubt in the minds of my hearers, even though I may sup- press the mrost striking circumstances connected with them.” “You needn’t be so reserved with me, however,” returned Hal, biting his lips to suppress a smile, “JT dare say you met with some extraordinary adventures while you were in town.” “Tt was not my fortune to meet with many that are likely to interest you very much,” rejoined Ben, with the air of a public lecturer ; ‘but, cer- tainly, one or two strange things did happen to me.” ‘‘ Pray relate them.” ‘Hem! I would rather not, Hal,” said Ben, modestly. ‘Ido not wish you to doubt my vera- city ; and really one or two of the events I could mention were most astonishing.” ‘‘Oh, no doubt! Of course you visited all the ‘lions’ of the place: for instance, the Tower, the Palaces, St. Paul’s, the Monument—” ‘The Monument!” repeated Ben, suddenly stopping in his walk and assuming a very grave look, ‘Yes, I did ascend the Monument.” — ‘‘ And were very much impressed by the magni- ficent prospect you beheld from that commanding site ?”’ ; ‘But more so by the extraordinary manner in which I made my descent from the top of it.” ‘Why ; did you jump off, then ?” ‘‘ You shall hear. You remember the mist that overwhelmed the town about a fortnight ago?” “Very well; it was so dense—” ; ‘That one miserable man, as I heard, in thrust- ing his head out of window, got it stuck 80 tight in the fog that he could not withdraw it, and was forced to remain all night fixed like a poor rogue in the pillory.” ay *‘ How shocking !” “ Well, on the night of the fog, I was on top of the Monument ; I had lingered after sunset from a desire of seeing the great city lit up at night. The fog came on suddenly; I was blinded, and groped my way about with as much difficulty as if I had been wading in a mud bank.” a ‘‘ And did no one come to your rescue ?” “ A man came through the trap, as I afterwards learned, and attempted to shout for me, but the fog completely stopped his utterance ; and though he forced his way round and round the gallery, and must haye passed within an inch of me, I could neither see nor hear him.” | ™ “But didn’t he carry a light?” “Yes, he had a torch in each hand, but they were of no use, as you couldn't see ty blaze at half-arm’s length ; in fact, I had a tnd and amused myself by trying to strike a light, and for aught I could see should never haye known whether or not I had succeeded, if I had not set fire to my sleeve, and burnt my hand terribly; and though I was scorching, I could not see the flames,” “ Phew !” . * At last I grew weary of being confined in that solitary place, half a mile up in the air ; so, to test the strength of the fog, I made a desperate bound upwards, and found I could not get down again, Maddened with alarm at my strange posi ion, I groped, and waded, and struggled, I know not how long ; at last the fog began to clear, and I found — myself gradually sinking, like a small pebble through a quagmire, till I struck against some- thing hard ; I held on for dear life, the fog cleared away as suddenly as it had come on, the sun burst forth, and,:to my utter astonishment, I found my- oO Gomicbooks.con