Roving Jack, The Pirate Hunter — page 79: what you’re looking at

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

ROVING JACK, THE PIRATE HUNTER. 99 error a self perched on the steeple-top of a neighbouring church,” “Ts it possible ! and did you visit the Tower?” “Yes, by traitor’s gate; they happened to be lowering the portcullis just as my boat was pass- ing under it ; down came the massive grating, and 1t8 great iron spikes cut the boat in half,” “ And how did you escape 2? ‘Why, seeing what was coming, I laid down flat upon my face on the thwarts, right between two of the spikes, and got fixed, and was crushed down to the bottom of the moat. Of course the portcullis was instantly raised, and up I went with it, and there I hung between sky and earth till the bars were filed away and I was liberated; but my face was so masked with mud that it had to be scraped with a spade and a rake, and the spikes made-such furrows under my arm-pits as to bare my ribs; I didn’t get over that accident for nearly a week,” _ At this moment the interesting conversation was interrupted by a little queer-faced fellow, grimed with soot, and carrying a brush in one hand and small shovel in the other, who ran across the road to meet them, He made a most profound bow, “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he ‘said, showing his white teeth with a broad grin, “if I takes the liberty to inquire if you are acquainted with a aoe person as calls himself ‘Roving ac LP) - “Pray what motive can you have for asking such a question?” said Ben Bouncer, haughtily, ‘You look like a sweep.” “Yes, sir ; perfessionally Iam a purifier of the domestic hearth,” said the chummy. ‘But, ah, sir!” he continued, with a burst of enthusiasm, ‘TI am one of lofty haspirations,’’ “And to what do you aspire?” asked Hal, smiling, “‘ Vell, sir, I’m a candidate for fame and glory. I have a soul, sir; a soul.” ‘‘T hope so,” “Yes, sir; a mind as soars above chimbly-pots— cos why? I rides the vinged hoss—I’m of a littleary turn, vel wersed in the classics, and fired with the hambition of becoming a second Halexander! For as the svan of Havon sings so sveetly— *** To be, or not to be, that is the qvestion |’ “But the qvestion vot he couldn’t hanswer I has; for I means to be, and vill be, von of the heroes of Roving Jack’s crew.” “And what is your name, friend?” asked Ben Bouncer.” “Tm proud to say, sir, as I’m the-last repre- sentative of a werry hauspicious fam’ly, My father, sir, vould climb you the highest flues vith the greatest hease ; and my mother vonce danced to the top of a May-pole on a slack rope.” * But your name?” urged Hal. “Tm a Smut, sir ; the last of the hillustrious line —Simon Smut, at your sarvice.” “And you wish to join our crew 7” “Sich is my desire,” returned Mr. Simon, with another profound bow. “I have read the pro- clamation, and, considering as I hanswers to the description given of the sort of men Sir John vants to man his wessel, ‘Smart gallant fellers,’ as the proclamation states, I have wentured to present myself to you, sir, who I believe to be yon of his officers, as a wolunteer.” “Were you ever at sea?” “Yes, sir; I’ve been half sea’s over many a time, returned Sim, with a wink, “and have often sailed the briny hocean in a pleasure-boat.?’ ‘But do you know anything of seamanship ?” “ Modesty is becoming, as the little school-boys writes in their copy-books, I never vas wanity- glorious, and so I vill confess that my knowledge of seamanship is rayther theoretical than practi- cal,” “You don’t know the stem from the stern, I suppose ?” “Oh, yes, I do, sir ; the stem’s at von end of the wessel, and the starn’s at the t’other ; and I could larn the t’other from vich, vith a werry little practice,” “Can you box the compass ?” “There you’ve got it, sir,” returned the gallant Sim, putting down his soot-bag, brush, and shovel, spitting in his hand, and throwing himself into a fighting attitude. “ Bless you, sir, I can box any- thing or anybody, Only the t’other day, sir, I vos set upon by a big ruffin as vonted to nail my per- fessional implements, Says I, ‘ Who and vhat are you?’ He shrieks vith dismay, I follered up my adwantage with a stinger on the conck, and the ruffin fled, none knew vither.”’ “ Did you ever go aloft?” ** Can you ax, sir, ven I vos the fust to climb that tall shaft yonder, the highest chimbly in Ports- mouth,” “You don’t dislike the smell of powder ?”’ ‘Pah! ain’t I been used to the smell of soot and smoke since [ yos a climbing hinfant? On von occasion werry nigh smothered in a crooked flue, in vich I was jammed up for a veek.”’ “Hal not so extraordinary as a case I knew of -one of those poor little climbing beggars,” said Ben Bouncer, gravely. “ What was that ?” “Why, Hal,.the poor little imp got stuck in the chimney much in the same way as our friend de- scribes ; he could neither get up nor down ; he was there for three weeks,” ‘“T wonder he wasn’t starved to death, Ben.” “He would have been, but for adodge 1 hit upon —for this happened in my uncle Major Bouncer’s house, where I was staying.” *‘ What did you do?’” “TI kept frying beef steaks and onions on the fire below him, and the poor little wretch subsisted on the nourishing smell,” ‘And how did you get him out at last ?”’ “You know, Hal, that it is the property of the magnet to attract iron and steel ?” “Certainly ; but what has that to do with the case in question 2?” ‘ Remembering that the young sweep had an iron shovel with him, I obtained a large and powerful magnet, and getting on the roof, I held it over the chimney-pot, telling him to hold fast to the handle of the shovel, The magnet drew up the shovel, and the shovel drew up the chummy, and so I got him out.” ‘“But what do you think of this volunteer, Ben ?” “A very entertaining fellow,” returned Mr. Bouncer, condescendingly. ‘Let him join the marines, a class of men I have a great respect for, and to whom [I like to relate my truthful narra- tives.” “Well, Mr. Smut,” rejoined Hal, ‘I will men- tion your request to Captain Warbold, and use what influence I possess in your favour. At the same time, I can promise nothing, for our captain is very particular in his selection, and, as a general rule, will have none but picked men. However,