Joseph Wilmot, or, The Memoirs of a Man-Servant — page 121: what you’re looking at

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

AE NO, iii Rr eae 108 JOSEPH WILMOT; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A MAN-SERVANT, which this conviction sustained within me, kept up a certain heat of the blood, and thus bene- ficially served as a counteractive to the glacial effects of the pavement and the nipping draughts. Otherwise 1t would have been next to impossible for me to remain all that time stretched motion- less upon the cold stones, not daring even to shift my position, and with the currents of icy air blowing in upon me with the keenness of a hyper- borean clime. I heard the carriages roll away one after the other; and at length all was silent about the man- sion. I now waited with intense anxiety in the expectation that John Robert would come to lock up the coach-house—or rather to take away the key which he would no doubt recollect that he had left in the door. My purpose was to spring forth from beneath the carriage the instant I should hear footsteps approaching across the yard—and raise an alarm. But now it suddenly occurred to me that inasmuch as the door was unlocked, and merely kept closed by the tightness with which it fitted into its setting, I might make a dash at it at once and escape from the coach-house before the ruffians in the carriage could have time to leap out and seize upon me. I wondered that this idea had not cccurred to me before: but for the first half-hour that they were in the place, my atten- tion was absorbed in listening to their discourse— while for the second half-hour which had by this time passed since they put up the window, I had been benumbed as it were with terror as well as with cold, and my mind was proportionately slug- gish in its action. Now, however, that this thought had smitten me, I was on the very point of carry- ing it into execution,—when the door of the old barouche opened; and as some one stepped out, the voice of Taddy said, “‘ Now, Bill, as all’s quiet, we'll commence operations.” Again did a mortal terror seize upon me with petrifying influence: I felt that the slightest move- ment on my part would render my life not worth an instant’s purchase. * Let’s open the door gently,” continued Taddy, “and see if all the lights are out in the lower part of the premises.” “Well, mark my words, Tom,” replied Black- beard urgently, “you are too fast. I tell you they are sure to come round and lock up all the doors. We had better get back into the carriage and wait and see whether they do come or not. If they do, it will on’y be the work of a moment to take off the lock with the pretty little crowbar I’ve got in my pocket: and we can let ourselves out again in a jiffey.” “Why, it must be past one o’clock—more than half-an-hour,” continued Taddy, “since the car- riages rolled away; and as they hav’n’t come to lock up, they won’t come at all. People always go to bed soon after a party. At all events, Pll look.” He opened the door; and almost immediately afterwards closing it again, said, “ Now, Bill let’s get to work: there isn’t a glimmering of a light at any one of the windows down stairs or up. Depend upon it they have bolted the yard-gate and all the other doors, but forgot about the coach-house.” “Well then, come along,” replied Bill Black- beard: “let’s do the job, since you're so impatient over it.” The two villains issued forth from the coach- house; and for a moment infinite was my alarm lest they should turn the key upon me: but thoy did not. With an indescribable feeling of relief I dragged myself out from under the carriage: but my limbs were so stiff I could scarcely move them : and now it was that the play of the muscles sud- denly caused excruciating aches and pains to shoot all through me. It was with the extremest dif- ficulty I could raise myself to my legs; and I had to cling to the parts of the carriage for the pur- pose. There I stood too, for some moments, feel- ing as if the slightest attempt to move away would be followed by immediately falling down. Oh! what was to be done? The question itself ap- peared so keenly and acutely to sum up in a few brief words all the details of my position,—my own danger in case the wretches, being alarmed, should return abruptly—the necessity of frustrat- ing their scheme of robbery—and that of having them secured, if possible,—that I felt a glow of excitement rush through my entire frame, dispel- ling aches and pains, relaxing the rigidity of my limbs, and filling me with energy. The next moment I gently pushed open the coach-house door: it moved so noiselessly that no sound reached the ears of the two men—while the pitchy darkness of the night prevented them from observing it. Stealing forth, I glided round the angle of the coach-house: I sped into the garden just behind ; and clambering up the leafless branches of a fruit-tree, scaled the wall. Asif wings were fastened to my feet, I darted along—gained the front of the mansion—and then stopped suddenly short again to deliberate how to act. IfI knocked and rang at the front-door, the burglars would hear the alarm, and would retreat. But there appeared no other way of conveying a warning to those inside—unless indeed by throwing some- thing up at the window of the chamber where my master and mistress slept. I glanced up Ah! there was a light still burning in that chamber: the plan which had just suggested itself should be adopted! For I was most anxious, if possible, that the burglars should be captured: I was anxious for the sake of justice—I was anxious, too, because Taddy had leagued with Lanover to take my life, and it was of importance to myself to get at least one of those enemies removed away from a land where fresh mischief might be medi- tated against me: but perhaps chiefly of all at the moment, was I anxious to furnish Mr. Tiverton with ocular proof that this was no concocted scheme on my part to turn opinions and circumstances into a new channel and thus by a trick secure leniency for myself in respect to the accusation under which I laboured. Though these reflection have taken some little time to record, they swept through my mind in the brief space of a few moments; and my resolve being settled, I gathered up some little gravel- stones from the walk, and tossed them against one of the windows of the chamber where my master and mistress slept. I threw at least half-a-dozen before I succeeded in attracting attention. Never- theless, not a minute had altogether elapsed ere one of the windows was opened, and Mr. Tiverton’s head was thrust forth. This I could just see by straining my eyes as I gazed upward through the darkness of the night. \ i SE =» serewwes ewes eee LE LS LL LO Ct it ae th mmm t t tl ~ DOOKS (©) im