Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 189: what you’re looking at

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

TT TE ET TT I SET a SS a Pa per ere A ROMANCE. gpm BLUESKIN : No other courage than that of desperation could have prompted her to the execution of such a feat. Down, down-—ceaselessly down she went. The little light to which she looked up had now dwin- dled down until it was no larger than a star. Still there seemed no end to the rope. Surrounded as she was by utter darkness, she could form no idea of the place she was in except that she could tu divest herself of the idea that it was well-like in shape. There can be no doubt that Edgworth Bess would never have attempted to descend by the rope had she not had the conviction firmly implanted in her mind that it was by means of it Colonel Thorne had Jeft her presence. Tt might lead her into his arms, but she trusted that good fortune would so far befriend ber as to shield her from him. At length, after an apparently endless time, her feet touched something firm, which she quickly enough found to be solid earth. Still was she in utter darkness, and so, without ven- turing to move, she held to the ropo which she had al- ready began to look upon as a friend. CHAPTER CXXIX. CAPTAIN HOWLET COMMANDS TE EXECUTION OF THE SPY. Wat kind of place it was which Edgworth Bess had managed with so much difficulty to reach, and what befel her upon her arrival there, must be deferred to another chapter, as the reader’s attention must first be given to that strange scene in the caverns underneath Colonel Thorne’s resideuce, ‘* The Larches.” It will be recollected that the pirate-band had, with some apparent show of reason, pronounced one of their companions guilty of treachery and being a spy, after which, without in the least regarding his denial of the charge, and protestations of his mnocence, they had pro- ceeded to execute very summary justice upon him indeed, by pinioning his arms, placing him upon an inverted barrel, and tying a noose round his neck. His death—immediate death—seemed imevitable, but at this crisis the heutenant, or second in command to the captain, had made his appearance. This person, whom the prisoner had addressed by the name of Morgan, desiring to be placed im possession of the facts of the case, had been shown a letter alleged to have heen dropped by the prisoner. This letter was read, and its character was such as left no reasonable doubt of the truth of the accusation behind ; but Morgan, deeming the matter important enough to be brought before their much-dreaded captain, had by some means or other, known only to himself, gone to the side of the cave and summoned him. Then, as we have described, there was a brief interval of silence, which would have been quite perfect had it not been for the miserable being whose position was truly so awful a one. But after the lapse of a few minutes, there advanced from the darkest portion of the cavern a tall and com. manding figure, which, when it reached the light, pre- sented an appearance most dreadful to behold. It was aman of gigantic stature, but instead of the head of a human being, he had the head of a large white owl. ‘T'be appearance of it was grotesquely hideous. To the wild, lawless spirits, however, who were there asserabled, 1t must have been familiar, for with one accord they cried— “The Howlet! the Howlet! our brave captain, the Howlet! Slay bim! Kull the traitor to our captain ! for Captain Howlet!” . These, and many other similar vociferations, greeted 1m. How long they would have continued is highly proble- matical. As it was, they received a sudden check. The captain, as he had been called, slowly elevated his night hand. The action was noted. A. dead silence ensued. The effect was like magic.- Three cheers, mates, for Down with the spy! Three cheers 187 Morgan approached, and, with a deferential air, ad- dressed himself to the strange being, Captain Howlet. The reader must already be aware who and what this Individual is—at all events he has been shown in both characters, and so it will be folly to attempt to keep up any mystery concerning him. 7 In order, however, that there he no mistake—no mis- understanding, we may as well in this place briefly say that the information contained in the spy’s letter was perfectly correct. Colonel Thorne, the envied wealthy gentleman, and the everywhere dreaded Captain Howlet were one and the same person. It does not need any great effort on the part of the mental faculties to imagine how it would be tolerably casy to maintain two such characters in such a manner as to avert all suspicion. The device of the owl’s head, which was merely a curlously-fashioned head-dress, was for tlie purpose of surrounding the pirate-chief with more attributes of the wild and wonderful than had been imputed to him. It certainly gave him a most horrible and uunatural ¢ appearance, and, to any one who had not seen or heard of § it, would be productive of the utmost terror. As we have hinted in another place, the pirate crew were armed with head-dresses of a similar kind, but these they generally laid aside when in the security of their cave, and resumed them only when on hoard. But Captain Howlet was very rarely indeed seen among his men without this appendage, and on this ocea- sion, when their was no actual reason for so doing, he had assumed it. One thing only remains unexplained, and that is the precise means by which Lieutenant Morgan had summoned im. They were very simple. Attached to the bell upon which the hours were struck by the clock within the belfry above “The Larches” was a hammer, the handle of which was attached to a piece of wire, that, passing down the strange, well-like place, which Edgworth Bess had with so much peril descended, terminated in a large wooden handle in the recess, into which we stated he made his way. The nine strokes signified that something of a very un- usual and important character had occurred, and that his immediate presence was necessary. With the fear, then, at his heart that he was menaced by a danger of a more than ordinary magnitude, Colonel Thorne had hastily left the apartment in which he had immured Edgworth Bess. He had adopted the expedient of pointing through the window in order to distract her attention from himself, and succeeded in his object. Then, taking instant advantage of the opportunity afforded him, he had slammed the inner door, passed through the secret panel, and, by means of- the rope, reached the caverns below. Ere he entered upon the turbulent and awful scene he paused a moment, and taking his owl’s head-dress from a kind of shelf upon which he was accustomed to keep it, he had donned it. Amid the silence, then, that succeeded his holding up his hand, Morgan spoke— “There is treachery here, captain,” lic suid. * Black and dangerous treachery !”’ Captam Howlet made a movement with his hand, which signitied “‘ proceed,” and that was the sole reply he chose to give. But he did not need to be told who was the suspected man. <A glance would serve to show any one that. ‘ He folded his arms, however, and looked steadfastly at im. The eyes in the owl’s head had a truly horrible aspect. eee were formed of dark-coloured, yet transparent, glass. They were large, round, and prominent, like the real eyes of this strange nocturnal bird. Through these lenses, for such they were, the captain could see with great distinctness. He never removed them from the man on the barrel. ““The men were going to string him up, captain, and give him a short shrift, but I happened to come, and when I heard the particulars, I thought the matter was impor- tant enough to call you.” **Good, Morgan!” said Captain Howlet, in strange ~, Re TT EE a TE TT i eS SR, eR I Aya a — Wats Og SAG SEA, DOOLKS AUG CY, (SO) (SO) 5}