Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 210: what you’re looking at

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as 205 BLUESKIN: A ROMANCE. The latter is a little surprise in store for him. Instigated by his companions, and urged on by the And here let us take the occasion to remark that, let | demon of revenge, Jack Sheppard had consented to rob Jonathan Wild’s faults, and failings, and shortcomings { his master. have been what they may, want of personal courage was{ Frcm the circumstances already given, he knew he not one of them. would be able to secure the whole of hig master’s worldly Tudeed, itis questionable if there ever did exist a person | wealth. who cared so little for hard knocks as he did. By so doing he should ruin him. =e oo there were fewer still who received more and sur-} py duce hini lo shegoary. ; id In the present instance not one thought of the amount ms: oe wes vr anos feit that he could rest of danger he might personally incur ever occurred to }™ Od, and Cry quis wi 1m. i The stairs had been ascended. im, Or, if so, he did not regard it, nor did it influence his}, The door leading into the carpenter’s bed-room had conduct in any way. been reached. It is always pleasing to find, in the character of such’ Success had attended them in the carrying out of their a bold, bad man as Jonathan Wild, one redceming | exploit so far. quality. Blewitt, in chedience to a motion of Jack Sheppard’s And, indaed, it may safely be asserted, that since the} hau’, had taken from his pocket a bunch of selaton creation no person has ever existed, be he whom he may, | keys. who has been wholly and utterly bad. One of these he had carefully selected. In every case it will be found that there is somethingas| Then gently inserted it in the lock. it rr, off against the darker shades of character. It was a moment of anxious suspense when he, with © resume. equal gentleness, turned it round. As they approached the cliffs, we have said the anxiety of Wild increased to a very great degree. But it was some assurance to him when the boatman stated that there were several clefts in the cliffs such as he had described. Jonathan trusted to his own acutenessto discover which was the right one. Very soon now, however, the eyes ot Jonathan Wild were gratified by perceiving, in the dead white surface of the cliff, three or tour patches of black. Which one be should select was rather difficult to de- termine. He had no time to Jose. He had recourse to the boatman. . Which fissure,” he said, “‘ is the largest P” i. There’s not much difference in any of then. not held by the hand. But Jonathan was not foiled yet. But this he effectually prevented. | ‘The lock, which was of the commonest description, er : pascun snow Hic imic one Sonex lerovapeul For fuli tive minutes neither moved in the least. yielded. ; But, despite all the care and all the dexterity he could use, Blewitt could not prevent the slight noise which the bolt made as it flew back when released from the spring. Snap! In the mtense silence which prevailed, it sounded as loud and as distinct as the report of a pistol. But Blewitt had sufficient presence of mind to retain his hold upon the key. Rp den experience had taught bim the expedienoy of is. He knew that doors sometimes creaked open slightly, if under the house?” E : ‘Well, yes, there is. You see those three yonder.” All listened with an eagerness which cannot he con- é¢ Plainly.’ ceived. : But no alarm seemed to have been raised. ‘Then it’s the middlemost.”’ ‘‘ Steer for that, then. J shall soon discover whether it} Blewitt then ventured to open the door. And in doing this he acted in a manner that would ig the one I require. If not, we must try the others till hardly have been expected. we find it.” He threw it wide open at once, with the greatest swift- ** Ay, ay, Sir. The direction of the boats was now slightiy altercd, | ness, taking care that it did not strike against any article of furniture. and not many moments afterwards the foremost one shot into the little cavern, if such it could be called. The result of this was that the door was opened noise- lessly. Several of Wild’s own men had provided themselves with dark lanterns. ; Now, any one who likes to try the experiment can 0 80. By Jonathan’s instructions they were now lighted. Taking one in his own hand, he flashed it cautions!y}| If a door is pnshed open slowly and gently, the hinges will creak with a prolonged sound. about him. So far as he could tell, the place exactly accorded with | Butif the door is thrown open in the manner we hare the description he had received of it from the spy Haw- | described, the hinges will move noiselessly. With all these little facts, s0 necessary to be known kins. But the top was too high for him to see whether the| upon such enterprises as that which he had in hand, Blewitt was well acquainted. door wag there or not, for the tide was three parts out. When the door was open, he paused and listened. He had one of the ladders raised, however. The bottom part of it stuck firmly in the sand. The deep and regular sound of a person or persons sleeping came to his ears. Then taking a lantern in one hand, and carrying a pistol The carpenter, then, had not yet been disturbed. in the other, he ascended it. j All the rest looked on in the deepest interest and] He beckoned to his two companions. They advanced. snspense. When near the top, Jonathan saw the cunningly con-| Noiselessly then all tliree crept into the bedroom. But they did not venture to take the candle in with trived door, of which Hawkins had spoken. them. He signalled to his men to raise the other ladder and follow him. Its beams, unshaded as they were, would, they fearcd, They instantly obeyed. awaken the sleeper. ee So they stuck it upon the railing of the balusters on the landing. Enough light from it streamed into the chamber to enable them to see what they were abont. Jack now, from the superior knowledge of the place which he possessed, took the lead. The others followed, in readiness to render him any assistance he required. And now, evilly-disposed as Jack Sheppard by nature unquestionably was, yet be would not allow bimself to be e carpenter, though his companions CHAPTER CXLIY. JOHN ROOTS RAISES AN ALARM, AND 18 E30" ON THE STAIRCASE BY MATTHEW FIX OD- wr last left Jack Sheppard, and the two men who had accepted him as a leader, in rather a ticklish situation. Ts will be remembered that they had successfuliy made ¢ oxrglarious entry into the house of John Roots, the @zpsmer led into murdering t e282 7. LL ~_ 4 _ 2? |. ee a AD _ ne GER aaewa ~r SIX Coloured Pictures and THREE Splendid j SIX Coloured Fictures and THREE Splendid COMICDOOKS.CO >