The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 97: what you’re looking at

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

a THE MYSTERIES. 82 mv own house, Briggs let me pass through the open- ing which you had made in the wall. This was the way that [ got in—and, on going up-stairs, I found my father a corpse in his bed. In the course of the day I noticed that the front door had been unbolted and unlocked—and I was surprised. But now you have explained the mystery.” “Was your father very rich, Julia?” asked Page, €xing upor her e searching look. “ Rich!” she eaculated, with an ironical laugh. “Ah! I see—my suspicions are confirmed—he was a miser™ exclaimed the commercial traveller. “But you don’t know—you haven't any idea where be was accustomed to conceal] his wealth ?"”—and avain he bent his eyes significantly on the young | woman. “Not I, indeed [" she observed, in a strange tone. " Nevertheless,” she added, almost immediately, “there must have been a large quantity——~” “ Of zold somewhere~vh ?” cried Page, chuckling, “ Yes—yes—you are right there, my dear. And now, what will you do for me if I help yeu: to-—-to—this treasure?” he demanded, hesitating whether he | should impart his secret to her, or devise some scheme | to become the sole possessor of the wealth to which | he supposed the scrap of paper to allude. ,““ What will 1 do for you?” she exclaimed: “ any- thing you like.” “It would be a pity to divide it,” remarked Page, 'avzain eyemy her significantly. A sum of money that ie a surtune in itself, only makes two poor cumpetenctes when split into equal shares.” “Pray explmn yourself,” observed the young ‘ WOtlall, Lutpatiently, | “| suppewe—that is, I hope—I believe—I pre- . suine you-ase a single woman, Julia?” said the com- , mercial travelles, endegveuring to ogie her tenaerly. { “Oh! that. | am,” she exclaimed, flippantly. “ bed hat nexs?* * Nothing peegoular new—at least on that point,” returned Page. “ But.we.must at once pass on to : another tnportamt feature in the business which we ! have in hand tagethes, ie this your father’s writing ?” ' he demanded, with a cunning loek, as he produced | the scrap of paper. Julia took the documentary fragment in her hand —gianved rapidly over it—and, with a sudden ani- uuation of countenance, exclaimed, “ Yes—this is the old man’s writing: and now we may be rich for the teinainder of our days!” “I thouzht sof” ejaculated Page, delighted at finding his fondest hopes thus completely fulfilled. * Come—let us visit the cellar without delay, and in- spect the treasure. I will then tell you why I asked whether you were married or nut.” The girl smiled significantly, as if she read her ‘om panion’s meaning and required no farther expla- aation: and Page was pleased to observe that she possessed a very good set of teeth. They now descended the stairs to the kitchen, where Julia lighted a lantern, observing that the proceeded to the cellar. The tirst object which met the eyes of the com- merc.al traveller was the pile of masonry which had by the ruffian Briggs or any of his vile conftdarates —the consequence of which detection would inevi- tably be a re-consignment to his old quarters, with unconuquerable precautions against another escape. Ge therefore hesitated for a fow moments on the Dpper step leading into the cellar, and was almost in- chned to beat a precipitate retreat: but Julia, who had preceded him, held the lantern high up so as to fing the light upon the spot which she indicated, as she observed, “There’s the stone which the paper a'sudes to.” The idea of being within reach, as it were, of e trvasure which his imagination represented ta be of ne insignificant amount, restored Page to that des- }rate courage wherewith he had armed himself for tae present enterprises and boldly descending the steps, he proceeded to inspect the etone beneath which the miser’s hoardings lay. “It will require some strong instrument to raise it,” he observed, at the expiration of a ‘ew momenta “There is a pick-axe in the kitchen,” said Julias “and I have often wondered what it could be for. Now I understand why my father sometimes required : euch a thing.” Thus speaking, she tripped lightly away to fetch the implemeat—while Page retraced his stepe to the threshold of the cellar, so es to guard againat any treacherous inteation which might possibly exist om the girl’s part to close the door upon him. On her return in about a minute, with the pick-aze in her hand, she iinmediately conjectured what was passing in the mind of the commescial traveller: far, gazing intently upon his countenance, the young womaa said, “ You are perhaps nght as a prudent man to mistrust mer but if you kuew how much | hate the .people next door--I mean Briggs and all his friends—you would not be slarmed. Besides, have you not come on a business which may prove beneficial ta me?—and why, therefose, should I seek to do you an injury ?” “lam glad you harespoken to me in this manner,” said Page, perceiving that Julia was rapidly losing her sullenness ef temper and acquiring confidence in him: “ because it makes me feel all the more plea- sure in co-operating with you. You area nice girl, Julia,” he added, patting her face and again ogling her tender:y—which little indications of the matri- monial views which she suspected him to entertain were far from disagreeable to the girl. “ Now, then—get to work,” she exclaimed, smiling, and fixing her bold eyes wantonly on the commercial traveller. He returned the leer, and took the pick-axe from lier nand: then, throwing back his cloak, he com- ‘meuced operations, The mortar which surrounded che flag-stone was not particularly hard; and the / tusk of raising it was speedily accomplished. When tt was removed, half-a-dozen canvass bags of tole- rable size appeared in a smaii hollow beneath. “Six thousand guineas, at the lowest computa- von!” ejaculated Mr. Page, his heart leaping with alight; and, taking up one of the bags, he weighed .‘n his hand. “ Yes—this contains a thousand, J «1 6ure!” he added, in a tone of exultation. ‘ How eha!! we remove them ?" asked Julia, alec been detached fromm the aperture that had cnabled | 1: «joyous mann: “ and where shall we take then oimeelf and Sir Richard Sta:nford tu eecare from | 10 ™ the adjoining cellar on the preceding night ;-~and a obill passed over him 4s he thonght of the possibility | ¢ ( | | draught would blow out the candle; and thence they | E @f hie -avisit to that neigisbourhood being discovered - nm * First in‘> the ¥itchen—or up-stairs, in the routr veish y >. slowed mu just now,” responded tip “~~ unercial traveller. a GORMGOOOKXS