Spring-Heel'd Jack, The Terror of London — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

on Dn pe SPRING-HEEL’D JACK: THE TERROR OF LONDON, en i eee et ee OEE “That's it;” said the man, coolly drawing a pair of handcufis from his pocket. “ For what ?” ‘ '. “Lor don’t you know!” | “No, no!” half shrieked Slater. _“ How green you are,” said the man, approach- ing with the handcufis. “ Keep off—keep off!” cried Slater, be taken—I won't be taken!” “Oh! won’t you, I'll see about that,” said the officer, adroitly slipping the manacles on to his wrists and locking them in a moment. “ You wont be taken, won't you, and blessed if you don’t hold your hands up for the cuffs.” . “ What—what does all this mean?” cried Slater, dropping his arms in utter despair. “It means that you won’t have a chanee, at least for some time, of forging other people's names. Now do you understand?” said the policeman, coolly surveying the blanched cheeks and trembling limbs of the forger. » “Oh! heaven!” gasped Slater, “and hope had only just beamed in my heart. He will not forgive me—not forgive me!” “Not likely !” said the officer. along.” And he shoulder. “ Where—where ?” To jail!” “T won't ‘* Now, come placed his hand on the forger’s - With a deep sigh, the head of the agonized and cuilty man sank upon his bosom. _ “My wife» oh! my wife! he groaned. “You should have thought of her before,” said the officer, coldly, leading him across the room to the door. ‘“‘ Where is she—out ?” © YVes, yes.” | “ A good job too,” said the man. save her one pang,” ~ € Thank God!” gasped Slater. Thank God!” But what would have been his agony had he known the purpose of the guilty wretch whose name he had forged, of the indignities and insults he poor heartbroken woman had gone to receive atthe hands of the treacherous Ralph Grasper! But he knew it not, guessed it not, and feeling very grateful that she was not present to see him borne away from her side by the officers of the law, he bowed his head still lower, and between the two policemen descended the stairs to the street. It was dark, but still Slater requested that his hat might be pulled lower down over his fore- head, lest anyone should recognise him on his way to jail. This request was instantly granted by one of the policemen, who drew the hat of the guilty man down so as to shade his face. ' It was a request the officer could not refuse. And thus, with his head still bent upon his heaving chest, with an officer on either side, and two following closely behmd him, James Slater was escorted’'to the station, and while he sat sobbing in the cold, dark cell, his wife, with clasped hands and tearful eyes, listened to the pee proposals of the man who had placed him rere. After leaving Spring-heeled Jack at the field gate, with a beating heart Jane Slater hurried on her way home. , “Tt will 15 In her right hand she grasped the fatal evi- dence of her husband’s first and only crime. Little heeded she the pain which had seized her in her side, from the rapid pace at which she ran rather than walked in the direction of her once happy dwelling, for her heart was bounding with joy and gratitude. - Joy at having possession of that which could transport the man she loved, spite of the misery his act had inflicted upon her—gratitude to her preserver who had saved her from a fate so disgusting and loathsome. But when she reached the door of her home, and held the knocker in her trembling grasp, astrange and indefinable terror assailed her— a something seemed to whisper im her ears, Thy sufferings are not yet ended.” The knocker slipped from her fingers, and as it echoed through the silent street, the sound appeared to her like a death-blow to her happiness. She leaned against the door-post, and strained every nerve to catch the footfall of her husband, as he came to answer the summons. Oh, how anxiously did she listen! But not a sound broke the silence. She staggered rather than walked backwards a few paces, and gazed up at the window. The apartment was in darkness. She sprang to the door. : She seized the knob in one hand and the knocker in the other. he raised the latter, but as she brought it down the door gave way before her. A. cold perspiration broke out in every pore. Her limbs trembled till she could scarcely retain an upright position, and still grasping at the knob in the centre of the door, she stagcered into the passaze. | “James! James!” she cried. Echo alone answered her. By an effort she closed the door behind her, went along the dark passage, up the stairs to the room where she had left him. The candle had burned down in the socket, and a piece of the smouldering wick alone remained. | She cast her eyes around the apartment. She called her husband by name. She staggered to the bed. : She clutched at its coverlid, and with a wild, despairing cry, fell forward upon it! ‘* Gone! gone!” she gasped, in agony. “ Oh, God! and I could save him!” Then a bursting sob; which seemed to tear the stretched heartstrings asunder, escaped her bosom, and for a time her sorrows and her sufferings were buried in oblivion. Heaven, in its infinite mercy, had taken com- passion upon her, and plunged her into insensi- bility. A light shot up for a moment from the smotidering wick in the candlestick on. the mantel shelf, and then went out, leaving dark- ness throuchout the apartment. What could be more emblematical of the last few hours of that poor woman’s existence ! Hope had lighted her soul and cheered her heart for a short time, but despair had extin- euished the bright gleam, and left her a prey to the darkest misery. | iGDOO any <S7GO