Black Bess; or, the Knight of the Road — page 128: what you’re looking at

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

1500 ——_ cae ~ re a ae he eould scarcely have withstood even had he been on his guard and prepared for it. But, taking him unawares ay it did, he went back as though shot. o q ‘he constable was behind him, and was, if possible, still more taken by surprise—-in fact, before he knew what had happened, or how it had come to pass, he tound bimself lying on his back on the muddy floor of tho cage, with Simon struggling on the top of him. Neither did he know how or by what means the trigger of the blunderbuss was pulled; certainly the weapon exploded with tremendous violence, lighting up for a moment the whole interior ‘of the cage with a vivid glare, and then, with a erashing sound, the various missiles with which it had been loaded went hurtiing through the thatch-covered roof. After that there was silence and darkness. With the same qvick movement, Dick, finding his muse so successful, had daxted to the door, wliich the constable had left ajar, z ‘The key was sti(_ing in the lock. Quick a9 thought, he closed the do-r and turnod the key. The tables were then turned; he was no longer the ~prisoner, but the jailer. The noise made by the repo't of the blunderbuss could not fail, he felt sure, to 1each the ears of the in- mates of the village, and set tiem all on the alert. It was necessary, then, fer him to make his esvape with all speed. Yet, though aware of this, Dick could not resist the temptation of waiting to ascertain what had been the effects of the expiosion of the blunderbuss. Accordinglv he tapped sharply with his knuckles upon the door of .he round-house as he cried ; ‘Mr. Gonstable—Mr. Constable! Simon—Simon !” Fiuaul groans alone responded to him. ‘Speak—speak!” said Dick. ‘ Has the ola thing burst? If so, don’t blame me—I gave you a caution.” There was no reply, and just then Dick, glancing to- wards the village, saw lights moving about in all direc- tions, while simultaneously the shouting of voices wnd trampling ef footsteps came upon his ears. ‘‘Tt would be madness to stay longer,” he muttered— “perfect madness; so I must leave the matter in doubt. Whrre shall I find the horse and cart, I wonder? I sup- pose I must not trouble my head about them. Well, well, it doesn’t matter.” As he spoke, he made his way with great rapidity from the cage, striking right across the country in the direc- tion of his destination. Before going far, however, he paused, for ke found himself on the verge of a large sheet of water. He had made up his mind what to do. As quickly as possible he tore off his disguise, which, it will be remembered, he had put on over his ordinary apparel. He rolled it up into the smallest compass he possibly could, making it into a bundle, in the centre of which he placed a large, heavy stone. Then, with all his might, he flung the parcel away from him, and it fell with a loud splash into the water, and was immediately lost to sight. Dick shook himself, and then gave a long-drawn sigh of relief. “ Ah!” he sacd, ‘I must not despise my disguise, but yet I feel now far more comfortable and like myself. ‘hey will be puzzled to track me now, that’s certain, and the sooner I get to Somefield the better.” As he spoke, he again set himself in motiou, wil as he walked rapidly along there was one subject upon which he did not fail to cougratulate himself most heartily. This was, that he had decisled when he did to part with the gold he had received from old Matthew, other- wise, when taken prisoner by the police, this money would have been found about him, ana consequently have nwakened all their suspicions. Indeed, when he locked back upon wnat he had gone through, he could not avuid a slight shivering feeling, which increased when his thoughts reverted to the stranee manner in which he had witnessed Claude Duval and Sivteon-String Jack vanish from the summit of the BLACK BESS; OR, eta en CHAPTER CMXAXL / DICK MEETS WIT ANOTIIER ADVENTURZ SOMEFIELD No amount of reflection, however, could «ake his ideas any clearer on this point. ‘The whole affair was a complete myste-y, unless he close to ascribe it to supernatural agency, aud this Dick ‘was loath indeed to do. Vainly, however, as he strode hastily along, did he endeavour to come to some reasonable conjecture until, at length, ke was obliged to give up in utter despair. By this time ke had once more reached the high- road. Before he ventured to set fils foot upon it he paused, and reconnoitred carefully around him. On ail sides was an intense and perfect silence, and at length, reassured by this, he ventured to spring ver the low hedgerow that alone divided him from the high- way. The night was cold, with the moon shining at times with great brilliancy in the sky, but a brisk wind from the south-west drove innumerable clouds across the face of the firmament, so that at intervals all was darkness aud obscurity. But when the moon broke forth, her light seemed all the more vivid and silvery by the contrast. All at once Dick became aware, in spite of the pro- found silence, he was not alone on the high-road. On one occasion, when the moon peeped forth, he saw before him, but only for an instant, a faint, flitting firure. "He fancied it was a female; but the glimpse he had was too momentary for him to feel certain on this oint. ‘ He walked on ata slightly reduced rate, for he wished to have no spy upon any of his movements. A more profound darkness than usual now overspread the scene. When at length the moon once more broke forth, Dick saw, at no great distance before him, a rude, clumsily- constructed wooden bridge. Beneath this, water was running with considerable velocity, for he could hear it where he then stood. ‘he moonlight, too, enabled him to trace its course In a long, irregular line. His attention was diverted from a contemplation of this by again catching sight of the fleetiug figure. It was now near the centre of the bridge, where it paused and looked upward. Then Dick saw clearly, and beyond doubt, that it was a female, by her form aud general appearance certainly young, and most likely beautiful. | Dick wondered what could have brought her at so late an hour to so desolate a spot, and waile half hesitating whether to stay and watch her further movements, or to advance, he uttered a cry of horror. To his great surprise the young girl, after remaining motionless a moment, sprang suddenly on to the low parapet of the bridge, and from thence dashed herself headforemost into the river below. A faint, smothered kind of shriek and then a splash were the next sounds that reached Dick’s ears. Not for one moment did he hesitate as to the course he should adopt. At full speed he ran along until he reached the banks of the river, close to tue rude archway of the bridge. Then, placing his hands before his eyes, he looked keenly and scrutinisingly over tho surface of the water. To his vexation, another cloud at this moment swept over the moon’s disc, yet not before he fancied he saw something white floating in the water close to where he stood. To plunge into the rushing, foaming tide was his next act. Dick was an excellent swimmer, and struck out boldly for the object he wished to reach. The force of the current was so great that it carried him along way down the stream in the course of a few seconds. Bat he was inspired to make every exertion to acceis rate his progress, for, despite the obseurity, he perceived #zN HIS WAY TO Lt Fre de CLO) ff} (E(o) the form of the young gir! before him. pies nicbooks