Black Bess; or, the Knight of the Road — page 191: what you’re looking at

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

DS aS Ei 2 ND oe ae . "cheers ‘ py oer rn tas SR ‘yee - jie ‘ 4 - Ae . * uF » ge, 4 Rese + Ue Pia ae: hee ty ; ni eee phon Matty "ae bs ee ; : gee | 2a tie, ‘MK KNIGIT OF THE ROAD. (563 . . << 2 Py ee , : ™ 3 . at Reem red er ve: -." ____ *ut no matter, I feel more than a match for them now. _ _—Hark ye, my friends,” he added, in a louder tone, turn~ pet ing to the cottager and his wife, ‘‘take my advice: Enter _- your cottage, shut the door, and if any question is asked Bi of you, say nothing about my presence here to-nigat. I ask this more for your sake than my own. thatsound? Hark!” Filled with amazement, the couple listened, and then replied: ** We do.” “ You know wket it is?” said Claude, interrogatively. “ Yes, horses’ feet.” * Well, then, they are police officers. I am a hizgtiway- man! Without knowing who I am, you have given me succour, yet should it be known to these men, that would not make any difference in your favor—you would be _ liable to imprisonment for having aided aud abetted me, _ therefore say nothing about it, and take that as your reward.” | He tossed them a guinea as he spoke, and before the woman had time to stoop down to take up the glittering coin he had disappeared round the corner of the narrow lane which we have mentioned was near the cottage. Whether these people were prudent enough to tale his ___ well-meant advice Claude had no means of knowing, and ina short time, engrossed with his own thoughts, he for- got all about the circumstance. With low, encouraging cries, on by the use of the spur. __ * The end of the lane was quickly reached, and tha hich- ™ wayman found himself once again upon the high-road. | He hesitated a moment as to which way he should turn; but having made up his mind as to whereabouts he was, he turned round sharply to the right, and galloped on. Soon, however, he heard other sounds mingling with those produced by the beaiing of his. own horse’s hoofs upon the hard roadway, He stopped at once and listened. Just then the moon again mace her appearance between the interstices of a cloud, and, although the light was misty and obscure, yet Claude was able to make out a dark body some distance before him, which he knew well enough to be a troop of police officers. To turn round and retrace his steps would probably be only to come in contact with those officers who had hung so steadily upon his heels. He had, therefore, no other resource than to leap the low hedgerow, and take to the open country. This he did so quickly after having caught sight of the officers in advance, that one would scarcely have thought he had time to hesitate as to his mode of action. His horse, once more feeling the soft turf beneath his feet, put forth his best powers of speed. “Confound it!” said Claude, tightening the rein at last, “the whole country seems to be up in arms! LKvery road appears to have a troop of officers upon it! I must seek shelter somewhere, that’s very clear! But Jack? I -am forgetting him! How shall we manage to meet again ?” -Claude reduced his horse’s speed to a walk, for the _ &gnimal was greatly distressed by the exertion it had been compelled to make. . : Claude observed this with regret—-he knew how much his own safet» depeaded upon the condition of his steed. Wishing to give it an opportunivy of rocoveriny its wind, he determined to make a halt, being perhaps moved to do so by feeling that rain was beginning to fall, and ‘beeing at no great distance in advance a rude, rambling kind of building that seemed almost like a barn belobgine _. to some farm-house, only this building stood completely by itself, and out of sight of any other. ~ Powards this Claude Duval directed his horge’s steps. Being at no great distance, it was quickly reached. _ The door was swinging half open, so he had no diffi- culty whatever about making an entfance, He dismounted and tried to look arownd him ae the .2- terior of this barn, but found it to be well-nigh impossible, owing to the darkness that prevailed. Through many chinks in the roof, uowever, the moon- _ beams found their way, and after a time Ciaude’s eyes be- _ @ame accustomed te the obscurity. . _ BStraw-was at tiand in abundance, aud with some of Can you hear at Bn ee a er ye ee nts 4 4 pire S. (e . a ’ “at ¢ >, ‘ 4 Se 1 ke > ee 8 ee > Sane he now urged his horse a re i 7 - ' « wv es ad ¥- gy ae S 4 4 “~~ ae | ae | on" VN are | this he rubbed bis horse down, nor did he pause in thig ~ aver until compelled to do so by sheer fatigue. (s0ing then to the doorway of the barn, he endeavoured to take a good look around him. He believed, and with good reason, that he had en- iirely shaken off his pursuers, and uow he began to wonder which way he should turn 1 order to meet with his old comrade. ‘Comfortable as these quarters may be,” he muttered. at length, “i shall have to leave them, though I would fain remsin dack may wait about in expectation of mecting me, and so uselessly expose himself to great danger, At all risks, I must endeavour to find him.’ With these words he turned back into the barn, and tool: his steed by the bridle. He was about to lead him forth and mount, when ha fancied a low, murmuring, distant sound reached hig ears. “He was all attention immediately, and, once more look- ing out, he was astonished to perceive quite a dense throng of people approaching. They were all on foot, and most certainly not police officers, though what they were Claude could not guess. He observed with some surprise that as they came along they indulged in many wild and furious gestures, and every now and then acry like one of deep anguish would arise, making itself heard above the humming, murmuring noise which at first attracted the higwayman’s notice. | Concealed by the deep shadow of the barn, Clauda stood watching them intently as they made their way across the vast meadow. He could not make up his mind whether to remain where he was until they had passed, or gallop off with- out taking any notice of them. Well aware, however, of the importance of keeping unseen as much as possible, he paused, though afterwards he deeply regrctted having done so. To his surprise, the approaching crowd of persons sud- denly changed their course, and, from the manner in which they now advanced, no doubt could be entertained that their intention was to make their way direct into the barn. Discovery now was imminent, for Claude had so many enemies that he could not look upon these new-comers as friends. : To ride forth now unseen by them would be impossible, but yet he thought he might well be able to remain cou- cealed within the building. A certain amount of curiosity to know who these people were and what was their errand to so strange and lonely a place at that late hour may in no slight degree have influenced Claude in coming to this decision. At any rate, grasping the reins tightly, he led his horse ~ as silently as possibia to the most distant corner of the barn, Pausing here, #8 was surprised to find before hima small door leading into another part of the barn which, for some reason or other, had been divided from the rest. Considering now that he had every chance of remain- ing securely hidden, Claude congratulated himself upon the decision he had arrived at. He crossed the threshold quickly, and closed the ‘door. Fastening it had none, but he groped about until he found a stone lying on the damp flooring, and by means of this he was able to keep the door closed. By the time he had done this, the murmuring sound had much increased in loudness, for the approaching crowd, quickening their steps, had almost reached the barn. Claude’s only fear was that some movement or noise made by his horse might betray his presence. In this respect, however, he weuld have to trust to his good fortune. > Overhead a-farge patch of the roof had been removed— grovably had been blown away by some furious gust of wind, and through the laths by which it was crossed and recrossed there came down a very tolerable amount of light, sufficient to enable him to look around him. For the present, however, he confined himself to listenjng. tre had before been struck with the idea that the sounds given forth by these approaching persona were those of (EOMNIKE OOO KS Cc (0)