The Mysteries of London, Vol. IV — page 350: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON. ———— Ss ew te are et — = — — ee = -———_——= ~~ ————— h | a irl fi Hn | | I Po OY es = AJ cD It eS = TIT eee te ae Gerd ink Uta a eee — ee boy he became—what & handsome boy he must be now! Nearly two years passed—and I was re- covering my mental serenity, when one day I met the extortioner in the street. Oh! what a cold shudder came over me as I saw his eyes fixed upon me! Itseemed as if a horrible spectre had sud- denly started up from the earth to horrify and appal me. I beheld Ruin personified; and a faintness came over me. But I was recalled toa poignant sense of my misery by the well-known voice that fell upon my cars, making fresh de- mands upon my purse. I took the man into an obscure public-house close by; and, as there was no one in the room save ourselves at the time, we could converse freely upon the business. Freely, indeed ! when every word he uttered fell like drops of molten lead upon my heart—and every syllable Ibreathed in return hissed from my parched tongue like water passing over red-hotiron! What could J do? The fiend insisted upon having moncy, and swore that he would follow me home. He, however, measured his demands to my meuns, and insisted upon having three hundred pounds by a given hour the next evoning. We parted—and I No 96* —lystrerizs or LONDON. TILA CLR arm ar Hf eo") +i i 7? a) bd a 34 HRY Par RIN SDE N I a" nish aa x Ne i Tete : ory Neat Al hn ee i i i | 4 ' == =a Se: , | <a ——— ry = nn a —— =— SS SS lee — art ——— = ——— a ae = SS _ pa re el ——S__——=E—E i Hi | ———— saw that he dogged me; indeed, he did not attempt to conceal himself nor his intentions as he fol- lowed mo until I entered my own door—and I knew that it was useless cither to turn upon him in a hostile manner, or to attempt to bafile his aim. ‘*Heavon only knows how I contrived to explain to my wife the reason of my altered appearance— or rather, how I managed to conceal] the real cause beneath a falschood. But I did succeed in reas- suring her somewhat; and on the following day I went to the discounter—the same discounter who had lent me money before—to ask him for a loan, It was a desperate step, taken by a desperate man: but, to my surprise, he consented without the slightest hesitation to accommodate me. I re- ecived the money—gaye my note of hand—and paid the amount to the extortioner. But things had now reached a crisis with me—and I became so unsettled in my mind that Editha was seriously alarmed. I remembered that my brother, the magistrate, was sent for ; and he visited the house after having been long estranged from me. Then a mist came over my memory; and, when I awoke, I was—here ! (C DOO ZN Un) (SO)