Black Bess; or, the Knight of the Road — page 254: what you’re looking at

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

ON NS BR OES 1 IY nak een Dale” a AY gate OE Seon ere ere ae Pane ’ , wr tar ee (oa senna - & age. causes 2 Die) , - "A é ° , ‘ (Gd6 TT Oid Matthew had during these occurrences suifered se BLACK BHSB ; | OR, Recovering his presence of mind i0wever ha 6x zuch an arnount of mental agitation as few could have; claimed: any conception of, and he looked upon Dick’s disappear- (» 106 aware the re- ance as something miraculous, for he was himselt that there was any means of leavir ness. He could scareely believe his eyes, indeed; but his satisfaction was, nevertheless, most intense. ‘“‘There’s nobody there,” cried the officer, in des dis- appointment—' nobody at all!” ‘‘ But there’s this glass, sir,” said one of the men. “Oh, d—n the glass! Don’t bother me with that !” ‘‘ But there’s ale in it,” continued the officer, sp aking gautiously—“ there’s ale in it; and, look, why, there’s froth on it, and it loeks ag fresh as though it had only been just drawn.” This occurrence arrested the officer’s attention, and at the same momeni filled old Matthew with despair. ‘So it has,” cried the one with the angry oice—“ so it has! Aha! I knew Iwasright. He is close at hand, my lads, depend upon it! Look around, and you will see the means of leaving this recess.” Just as he spoke, there came a loud and thrilling shriek; evidently issuing from female lips. At. the sound the officers all stood aghast. ‘‘ Help—help!” they heard a voice cry, very distinctly. “ Help—help! Murder—thieves !” ‘ He's caught!” cried the chief officer—“as I’m a living man, he’s caught! Down with that bit of wood- work! Dash against it! The sooner you break it down the better!” The officers obeyed, but it tosk them rather longer to pull down the panelling than they had an**— : CHAPTER CMLXXXIII. DICK TURPIN PUTS IN EXECUTION A BOLD ANP NOVEL EXPEDIENT. [In order to explain the meaning of this strange occur- cence, we must go back to the proceedings of Dick Turpin. He waited until the officer struck against the wood- work with his pistol, then he knew discovery was cer- tain. Without another second’s pause or hesitation, he stcoped down, and slowly and noiselessly raised the large piece of wood forming the back of the recess. He only did so toa sufficient distance to allow him to creep beneath it. This he did with all secrecy imaginable. Then he drew it down again. He was only just in time—indeed, he had scarcely composed himself before the panelling was torn down, and the recess discovered. He remained perfectly still after this, listening to what 300k place next. Where he was he had not the remotest idea, except that it was possible he wasin another closet similar to the one he had recently left. How much he regretted having left the glass behind him, as that unquestionably helped the officers to get on the right track. When he heard the remarks passed unon it, he was sure that his present place was no abiding spot, and ha began to seek some means of quitting it. Feeliag cautiously with his hands, his fingers encoun- tered two doors similar to those openizg into old Matthew’s room, They yisided to his touch, and ke pushed them open slowly and gently. Then, creeping out with a stealthiness that would have delighted an Indian, he raised himself to his feet, and endeavored to take a peep at his surroundings. fle was in a rvom evidently, for he could see the window, through which there came a very dim amount of twilight. He moved forward, as he believed, in the direction >f the door, but he was not looking sufficiently cose to his Aeet, for, with great suddenness, he struck against the post of a bedstead. It was then that the shrill scream that had so startled she officers broke forth, and it must be confezsed that it ‘Do not be alarmed—all is well !” But his words were perfectly unheeded. The female by whom the room was tenauted had evi- dently: yt hold of the idea that a man was in the room, whose t.tention was to rob and murder her, and so she kept up the prodigious clamor. Finding all efforts to silence her vain, Dick, who by this time had discovered the doorway, lost no time in passing through it. . As his hand passed over the lock he felt a key. He took it out instantly, thrust it in on the other side, and locked the chamber door. This he knew would cause delay, and, in the mean- time, what he had to do was to seek the street. Accordingly, he descended the stairs at fu'l speed, but, ere he had gone far, some one, alarmed no doubt by the fearful shriek, cried out: ‘‘In Heaven’s name, what’s the matter? 4h, lawks! who are you ?” ‘The devil!” said Dick, in a sepulchral voice. There was a smothered kind of cry, and then the door | was hastily shut. But Dick was very far from being anything like safe. The house would be so thoroughly alarmed before he could get to the bottom of it, that on attempting to leave it he would most likely run into the arms of the officers. The first-floor landing was now, however, reached, but just as his foot touched it, a door was opened, and a man with an extraordinary worsted night-cap on his head, a candle in his left hand, and a dark object in hie right, appeared fle seemed to catck sight of Dick, for he cried: “Take that, you wietch, and don’t you disturb me any more! I tell you I won’t be bothered with you!” These words plainly showed that he mistook Dick for somebody else. When he said “ Take that!” he lifted up his right hand in which he held the dark object, which proved to bea missile of some kind, for it flew past Dick’s head with un- pleasant swiftness. Its course was stopped by the face of a large clock which stood upon the landing. There was a crash, and then the mechanism became so deranged that the clock began to strike at a furious rate. So alarmed was the night-capped gentleman by the effects of his violence that he dropped his candle and precipitately retreated into his room. Dick made a plunge down the staircase, inwardly cursing his ill-luck. When about half-way to the ground floor, however, he perceived a small window, whig& had been contrived for the purpose of lighting the gg vircase. Happening to glance threugh it, he saw that it openea upon some leads, and this caused him to pause. The way of escape he now believed tay clear enough before him. To open the window took him scarcely more than a second. He passed through it, closed it after him, and then found himself standing on what was to all appearances the top of a cistern. On one side of him was a rather narrow wall, whic extended for a considerable distance. Without hesitation, he stepped upon it, and, without giving a thought to the narrow space on which he stoo¢, ran rapidly along. Reaching the extremity, he saw, only a few feet oelow him, the pavement of a narrow court. He dropped without hesitation, and running forward, quickly found himself in one of the streets lying between Clare Market and Lincoln’s Inn. He set forward to run immediately, though he instantly became conscious of the impolicy of this course, and certainly had he not been so greatly excited he would never have dreamed of adopting it. His flying form arrested the attention of a man, whe set up a tremenuvus snout, “Stop him!” he cried—* stop him! A highwaymas, « a highwayman! ‘\'ere he enes! Stop him—stop bh» ” Gomichooks. 7 - ‘ gt Vi *