The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 87: what you’re looking at

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

74 THE MYSTERIES OF THE OOURT. two beautiful doves of the carrier-breed. One of these doves the amazonian lady took forth from the cage, and in less than a minute tied the little scrap of paper with the silken cord under its wing. She then opened her hand, and the messenger- bird flew out of the window, fnstantaneously disap pearing in the obscurity of the night. Meanwhile, in pursuance of another rapidly- whispered co d from her mistress, Rosa had fastened the two sheets of the bed together, and had tied one extremity to the bed-post, which was near the casement. “In two or three days! shall be back again, safe and sound. Don’t fear; nothing can be done to you—and your cousin John is unsu ” ving w these words, Lady Beas lost not another instant in passing herself out of the casement; and with wondrous agility and skill, she glided down the twisted sheets, so that with but a slight falf'she reached the ground in safety. To hasten to the stable—put the saddle and bridle on the horse—and lead forth the noble animal, was now the work of but a couple of minutes ; then vaulting on ite back, Lady Beas was borne away like an arrow shot from a bow. In the meantime Rosa had gone on talking in the room in the same strain as before, and pre- cisely as if her mistress was still there. The two solicitors, who were out on the landing, failed not to catch moet of what the woman uttered, although for delicacy’s sake they had not approached nearer to the door than the narrowness of the landing rendered necessary. All that we have described from the moment Lady Bess entered her chamber with Rosa, until she flitted away on the back of her noble steed, barely occupied a quarter of an hour; and that was no great length of time to examine a wound—wash it—fasten bandages on it—and allow for taking off and putting on those garments that it was necessary to remove and change. At least such was the calculation made relative to the lapse of minutes by the two lawyors. Yet, towards the end of the interval named, a feeling of uneasiness and a senso of misgiving to creep into the minds of both. Not that they thought Lady Beas wag too long in her chamber; but those continuous outpourings of lamentations, ejaculations, and comments on the part of Rossa, added to to the din she had created with the crockery-ware, struck them as being sus- picious : for it all looked as if the woman were playing a part,—a part too which she was now overdoing. They were therefore just on the point of knocking at the door, and insisting upon Lady Bess coming forth, when they were struck withcon- sternation on hearing the sudden trampling of the horse's feet as he was being led from the stable, “ By heaven, we are tricked ?” exclaimed Mar- low: and without ceremony he rushed into the bed-chamber. The open window aad the rope of sheets which Rosa was just dragging in, told the tale. “Wretch!” cried Marlow, “you have aided your mistress’s escape! But you shall go to prison for her!” , “ Let her alone,” exclaimed Mr. Malton. “We will punish the guilty one yet:"—and he rushed down the stairs, closely followed by his partner. “Why did you not stop her? Don’t you see that she has escaped?” cried Marlow, addressing himself flercely to the coachman. “ T saw some one, sir, gallop round from the back of the house and bolt away like a shot,” an- swered the coachman: “‘ but Low could I possibly stop her? I ecarcely knew who it could be till she was out of sight: and then it was only eus- picion, for she whisked by at such a rate.” “ True!” oried Mariow ; “the window ie at the back of the house—the stable also. Well, John, I was to blame you. But now, what is to be done?” he demanded, turning to his partner. “We shall be the langhing-stock of all London ff we let her esoape us thus.” “ Bogides,” added Mr. Malton, “it is more than ever imperative that the outraged laws should be satisfied.” “But what ts to be done?” again asked Mr. Marlow, more excited than before. “ Depend upon it she means to get out of the country,” responded the junior partner after a few moments’ reflection. “ I tell you what we must do. We will go on to your :house, and snatch a few hours’ sleep—then off by the first trains in the morning—one of us to Dover and the other to Li 1. France and America—these are the alternatives for this desperate woman [” “ Yos—that ts our course,” returned Marlow. “T would not for a thousand guineas that she escaped us in the long run.” The two lawyers then entered the carriage, which immediately drove away to Mr. Marlow’s mansion, which was about a mile distant. CHAPTER XVIII. THE MESSENGER-BIED. A titriz beyond Gravesend there stood a small public-house, in a somewhat lonely spot, though by the side of the main road. The landlord of this place, which bore the hame of the Dancing Bear, was called Jarael Patch, and wasa younger brother EEE of the keeper of the boozing-ken in London. Not | merely was he the brother of Solomon, but Israel was of kindred character and pursuite, — his public-house being the resort of all the desperate charactérs of the district, especially the smugglers belonging to the Thames and Medway. The Dancing Bear had long been the object of suspi- cion on the part of the local authorities; but so cunningly had Israel managed mattera, that he had never done any overt act, which could be positively brought home to him. Ierael Patch was a widower, bat bad a grown- up daughter living with him to superintend his establishment. She was a woman of about thirty, remarkably ugly, and in every way of a character fitted to aid her father in his money- making and nefarious pursuite. Her Christien name was Rebecoa; but she was universally known amongst the frequenters of the house by the diminutive of Beoly. We must now observe that Israel Patoh slept in a little room behind his bar on the ground- floor: but slept in an attic quite on the top of the house. This attic had no flat coiling ta separate i from tae sloping roof, but may be de- scribed as being covered only by the roof iteelf~- in plain terms, it was just beneath the tiles, On a flat portion of this roof there appeared a very CONNEC MOO — =i — ow BD - COMM —_—___ ie