Black Bess; or, the Knight of the Road — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

»” > * ay, P “Ss , + T, help for it, my lad—the darbics must Delis is Ko - The handcuffs were fixed upon Turpia’s wrists with svofessional dexterity. ‘Then the ropes were untied, and he was comparativeiy /iree. : He shook himself with an air of great satisfaction, for ‘30 was cramped from remaining so long in one position. In a compact body the officers then moved to #e front door of the inn. _ Most of the horses had been brought round, so Dick was placed on one at once. A man mounted behind him, and the same order of prv- cession observed as before, except that, instead of two men walking by the side of the horse and holding the bridle, they cut the rein in tw, so that it might be held by @ mounted officer on either side, who could control the movements of tle animal. : In a few moments all was ready, and Sir Marmaduke, addressing all the officers collectively, said : “ Now, my good fellows, just listen to me for a moment. You have all had a capital breakfast, your horses have - every one been well taken care of; the distance to London _ is great, I know, but not so great as to prevent us from _ reaching it without another halt by the way. It won’t be ante so pleasant, perhaps, but, take my word for it, it will much better. I know there are plenty of public- houses, the landlords of which are friendly to highway- men, and we might have the mortification of seeing our prisoner escape us. In ordor to guard against that, let me advise you to put up with the inconvenience of riding the whole distance without stopping.” “We will, your worship,” said the chief officer—" we will ; your advice is the very best that could be given, and I will see that it is followed.” ‘“‘ Then, as that is settled,” said Sir Marmaduke, set forward at once.” The order was given, and the journey was com- menced. After hearing this little conversation, Dick had good reason to congratulate himself upon the course he had let us _ adopted. Had he neglected to avail himself of the opportunity, be would probably never have had another. Now he felt that all depended upon whether the locket possessed the virtues that had been ascribed to it. _ The journey was performed at a gentle speed, co as pot _ to distress the horses too greatly. _ There was sound policy in this, for the animals wers not knocked up half so quickly as they would have been kad another course been adopted. As they drew nearer and nearer to London, Sir Marma- duke grew more and more exultant. _ At last he thought the notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin, would be safe within the walls of Newgate, and to him would be due the honour of having brought about auch a desirable state of things. Sir George, with every wish to save Dick Turpin if he _ could, had as yet seen no opportunity for interference. Events had turned out differently to what he had ex- __ pected, and he began to regret having taken upon himself the responsibility of advising Turpin to surrender, when _ perhaps he might by chance have made his escape. Dick began to see that it was pretty certain hia captors _wonld carry him to Newgate, for instead of their vigil- ance abating in any degree, he believed that it increased. But then, as we know, this was owing entirely to a per- sonal cause. Revenge was the dominant spirit in Sir Marmaduke’s breast, and this it was that made him watch ‘l'urpin so closely, while the officers were anxious to do their best in erder to obtain the reward. A strange, gloomy feeling began to creep over. Jiick’s heart as he got nearer and nearer to Landon. He strove against the sensation, but could it. He kept thinking that there were many ‘2 o€ which he would tike to feel more satisfied than ho a30 st present. And one of them was whether Black Bess had susope ed In reaching the inn in safety. Could he but have felt perfectly certain that tus #as t banish _ the case, it would indeed have removed a very consiay'- _ sble portion of the oppression at his beart. & ‘ - . ’ 7 : ‘ - br fit KNIGHT OF THE ROAD 1396 CHAPTER DCCCLIL ¥a. PAICE OFFICERS AT LENGTH ARRIVE AT NEWGATE WITH THEIR PRISONER. Dick I'urPIN knew, however, that there was no other means by which this could be ascertained than by waiting patiently 7 Yet when the procession fairty entered London streeta his breathing grew laboured and difficult, and the gloom which had already begun to spread itself over his spirits grew darker and darker. By no means did he give way to this feeling, but it was one entirely beyond his own control. Sir George also looked anxious and vexed, and all could ot that he was in deep thought on some subject or other. Sir Marmaduke presented « most remarkable contrast to these two. His face was beaming with triumph, and such was his exultation that he could scarcely restrain himself within moderate bounds. The cfficers, also, were greatly cverjoyed, for, having once reached London, they considered that the danger and difficulty of their task was at an end. Surely there could be no fear of his escaping now? So good was the speed they made, that when they arrived in the metropolis the business of the day was in full swing, and the streets were unusually full of vehicles and pedestrians. Quickly from mouth to mouth the intelligence spread that Dick Turpin was a prisoner, and in an incredibly short space of time the officers found themselves sur- rounded by a mob of uncommon magnitude, shouting, yelling. and otherwise violently behaving themselves, all being animated by one desire, which was to catch sight of the notorious prisoner. a cea the officers closed still more closely around ick. They knew him to be a popular favourite, and dreaded that the mob would make an effort to set him at liberty again. : Very likely, had there been one master spirit to direct ae movements of the crowd, this would have taken place. The only person capable of it, however, was Sir George, and personal considerations prevented him from doing SO. Therefore the mob contented themselves with yelling as before, and running so as to keep pace with the horses. By the time the Old Bailey was reached, the thorough- fare was completely blocked up. The officers began to grow more anxious, and Sir Marmaduke scarcely dared confess to himself the fears he had that, after all, it would be difficult to gain the interior of Newgate. Dick looked around him, as well as he was able, at the numberless faces. But there was not one that he could recognise. And now being in sight of the great prison of Newgate, thet gloom which we have already metticned reached its eight, He gave one glance up at the frowning walls, and only one. How vividly was brought back to him the time when he had made so strange and daring an escape. Now that the ravages of the fire had been repaired, the prison looked stronger and more dismal than ever. At a slow walk the officers urged their steeds along past the Sessions House, past the residence of the Governor, until the small, well-known doorway was reached through which the prisoners were admitted, The great commotion in the street outside had made the man on the lock aware that some unusual event was taking place, and he was on the look-out accordingly. Little did he imagine, however, that he was about te open the door to give entrance to Dick Turpin. Such proved to be the case, however. Sir Marmaduke saw the man’s face through the bare at the top of the door, and shouted loudly to him to admit them instantly. While with one hand the man turned the key in the well-oiled lock, he with the other pulled a wire that com- mu”icated with a bell in the Governor’s apartments the (E() JOOKS (E(0)