Joseph Wilmot, or, The Memoirs of a Man-Servant — page 67: what you’re looking at

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

ieee 5 54 CHAPTER LXXXVIITI. THE TOWER. | | | a aa A a ne Nh A A SE SE JOSEPH WILMOT; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A MAN-SERVANT. a dexterous jerk, which he was better enabled to give than I, he broke it at once. “ Now follow me with all possible precaution— and speak not a word.” He took my hand, and led me forth from the ScaRCELY a quarter of an hour had elapsed after | hut. The darkness was still complete beneath the I was thus left to myself, when I heard the door | dense canopy of trees; but as my eyes got more of the hut gently opening, and some one glided| and more accustomed to it, I could just discern stealthily in: but I could not see the individual, | that my unknown friend was taller than the in- so profound was the darkness—nor knew I whether it was male or female. I started up on the mat- tress, my chain clanking with the sudden motion; and a cold shudder swept through me—for my first horrifying idea was that some ruffian was stealing in to murder me. A low “Hush!” however conveyed a partial reassurance—but not a com- plete one: for how could I hope to find a friend amongst that gang of miscreants P” “Here! take this and use it,” said a voice, ad- dressing me in the English tongue, but speaking in so low a tone that I could not possibly have recognised it even if in its louder accents it was perfectly familiar to my ear. “ An hour must suf- fice for the work; and then I shall return to you. It is now considerably past midnight—and there is no time to be lost.” While the man—for of a masculine sex the in- dividual was—thus adcressed me, his hand groped about to encounter mine; and he placed in my grasp a small object which by the touch I imme- diately discerned to be a sharp file. He stole out of the hut, gently closing the door behind him; and I lost not a moment in going to work with the instrument thus supplied me. Though my hands continued busy in filing away at the ring, which was attached to my leg just below the knee, my thoughts had leisure for surmise and conjecture. Who could the friendly individual be? Supposition pointed to the man who had acted as interpreter, from the fact that my mysterious well-wisher had addressed me in English; and methought too that I recognised —now that I came to reflect—the same degree and style of foreign accent which had marked the interpreter’s mode of speech. But then, where- fore should he thus succour me? had my appear- ance moved him to compassion ? or was there any ulterior purpose to serveP On these points con- jecture was of course useless: but as the time was wearing on, I supposed that I should soon have that part of the mystery cleared up. I thought, when first taking possession of the file, that an hour would be ample time to cut through the ring: but I soon found that my progress was not so great as I had expected, and that iron does not eat into iron with so much readiness as man preys upon his fellow-man. Indeed, when I had caleu- lated that an hour must have well nigh passed, the ring was yet very far from being severed— and it resisted all my attempts to snap it. Presently I heard the door slowly opening again ; and my unknown friend entered. “What progress have you made?” he at once inquired, but still speaking in the same low and unrecognisable voice as before; yet the accents tended to confirm my suspicion that he was indeed the interpreter. “The ring is barely three parts severed,” I re- plied in a whisper. terpreter—and theretore he was indeed still wn- known. We passed through the wood, he guiding me by an evidently circuitous route; and then, as we abruptly emerged from the dense shade of the trees, I found myself close by the wall of what appeared to be the ruin of a large tower or castel- lated edifice. This, be it observed, was the lofty object I had caught a glimpse of when first in- troduced on that memorable night to the group of huts in the midst of the embowering wood. But the sky had become much darker in the interval; and though no longer involved in the dense ob- scurity of the wood, yet objects were only seen dimly and indistinctly. I looked at my com- panion: his tall form was enveloped in a flowing mantle; and as he stopped to address me I could just discern that he had a black mask upon his countenance, “ One of the most perilous incidents of out pro- ceeding,” he said, still speaking in the lowest possible whisper, “‘is now to take place. Rownd the angle of that building a sentinel is posted. If is for you to overpower him. I do not wish death to be unnecessaiily dealt: yet if need be, you must take his life, or is may be impossible to rescue the Engiish lady from a horrible fate. Are you the man to proceed with the eénter- prise P” “Show me the means, and fear not on my account,” was my firm though hastily given re- sponse. “°Tis well!” said my companion. “Here isa sword whereof the handle is heavy. Steal round the corner, and deal the sentinel a blow with that handle sufficient to stun him: then gag him with your kerchief—bind him hand and foot with this cord—and drag him round the next angle so as to leave clear the doorway at which he is posted. But if the first blow fail, hesitate not to deal a second—and let it be a sure one. Should I hear the least struggling, I shall be in a moment by your side to render assistance. Yet spare his life, if it be possible: for though our own would be scarcély worth five minutes’ purchase in case of detection, yet am I loth that blood should be wn- necessarily shed.” . Without waiting to reflect upon the singularity of the circumstance of so perilous and difficult a portion of the procceding being allotted exclusively to me, when if my companion were to render his assistance the task of overpowering the sefitinel would be comparatively easy and prompt of per- formance,—I took the cord and the sword. The former I tied loosely round my waist, so that it might be instantaneously available for use; and the latter I found to be of the weight and form of a cutlass. Grasping it by the blade in such a manner that it might serve the purpose of a bludgeon, I stole up to the angle of the building, and peeping round for a moment, discerned the His two hands quickly felt for the ring; and by! dark form of the sentinel leaning on his rifle in a ee a ee ee ee ees Elo@OOkS (C@)