The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 38: what you’re looking at

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

TRE MYSTERIES. yA] “Along Pickled Herring Street,” she responded. In this throughfare the houses were all shut up ; and it was ouly when alight gieamed from some | window, that Page could catch aglimpse of the ' principal features of the path which he was pur- suing. That the Thames was close by, he however knew, alike from his general acquaintance with London, aad from the low moaning of the vast volume of water as it rolled onward in its mighty bed ;—and then it struck him how easy it would be for evil-intentionod to assail, rob, and | wander the defenceless individual in that lonely | Gistrict, and dispose of the corpse in the river that | Was so near at hand.. Shuddering at this idea, he | looked back to ascertain if any one resembling a ' constable was following: but the darkness was so intense that he could distinguish nothing even at a | distance of three or four yards. | og nt ensth the young woman stopped at the comer which is a street branching off to the right and, hastily seizing the arm of her com- | pamion, she drew him into a deep door-way, say- ing, “ We will remain here a few minutes, if you “ But for what purpose?” asked Page, astonished at the movement. “Hash whispered the Gallows’ Widow. A profound silence now reigned, disturbed only by the gurgling of the adjacent waters as they broke against the piles of a wharf: but in a short time | Sootetepe were heard approaching, and the woman | again caught the commercial traveller by the arm, w retain him im the door-way and impress upon kim the necessity of keeping silence. Almost im- mediately afterwards, the form of a man passed the place where they were concealed; and it was easy tojedge by his footsteps that he turned the corner iato Horslydown. “We must remain a few minutes longer, if you please, sir,” said the woman, in a whisper so low that had Page been a fobdt farther off ie could not have distinguished the words that were thus uttered. In avery short time another man passed the door-way, and likewise turned into Horslydown ; aad when the echoes of his steps had died away, the | Gallows’ Widow again requested her companion to stay a little longer in that recess. | It now struck Page that the two men whom he ‘had seen pass that way, were not altogether un- eomnected with the present adventure: in fact, he felt ansured that they were constables on the watch. Bat almost simultaneously with this idea, the sus- picion flashed to his mind that the Gallows’ Widow might be waiting in that dark concealment to as- certain if her footsteps were dogged; and a cold trembling came over him as he contemplated the perils which he was enoountering—the desperate character of the man whom he sought to deliver ‘into the hands of justico—and the horrible neigh- bourhood in which he was pursuing this dangerous course. “What are you waiting for?” he suddenly de- manded of hie companion in a whisper. “ Hush ![—more footsteps are ing,” was the prompt reply, also delivered in a tone barely * But I do not choose——~” began Page, his ter- ror gaining upon him. “Silence—or I will blow your brains out!” was the low, but hasty and emphatic rejoinder: and at ee eee ‘ b | i | ~~ = - a —_—__— - i the same time the commercial traveller felt the cold muzzle of a pistol touch his cheek. An ap consternation seized upon him ; and had he not been leaning against the wall in the | deep door-way, he would have fallen to the ground. Another man passed along the street, and turned into Horslydown. “We will remain a little longer,” said the woman. | “ But if yon dare move or make a noise, I shall in- | stantly suspect some treachery—and I will put a ! bullet into you with as little ceremony as if you was | a mad dog that had bit me.” As she spoke, she withdrew the pistol from its alarming contact with the commercial traveller's face : but at the same instant its ominous click fell upon his ears, as if to warn him that the Gallows’ Widow did not waste her words in idle threats. He was horror-struck at the ferecious character which the woman had thus displayed so suddenly. Her pale, pensive, and even mild countenance ap- peared totally incompatible with such a daring and desperate spirit;—and her manner was so reserved and subdued ‘that it seemed impossible for her dis- position to arouse itself to such a terrible energy. While Page was making these reflections, which stole upon him in spite of the alarm that he now ex- perienced, nearly ten minuteshad elapsed; and during that interval not another soul had passed along the street, “We will go now,” said the Gallows’ Widow at ast. They accordingly emerged from their place of concealment, and turned into Horslydown. Page was more than half-inclined to give bis com- panion the slip and rush away as quickly as his legs might carry him: for he did not at all admire the circumstances which had just occurred. But no sooner had the thought of escape risen up in his mind, when innumerable reasons s them- selves against it. He dreaded the wrath of Mr. Hodson—he feared to lose bis employment in that individual’s service—he longed to gain a share of the reward for capturing Joe the Magsman—and he trembled lest his formidable female companion should send a bullet whizzing after him, were he to raise her suspicions by attempting to decamp. But he was still balancing which course to pursue, when the woman suddenly observed, “ Here we are ;” —and as she pushed Page gently on in front, hi mustered up all his courage and entered the noto- rious boozing-ken. 0 Ee CHAPTER VIII. THE BEGGAR'S STAFF. In a long, low, and ill-lighted room, a number of men and women were seated at tables, some of them engaged in eating their suppers, and all having drink- ing materials before them. Though the weather was so cold without, an in- tense heat pervaded this place: for at one end was a fire which blazed from an enormous kitchen-grate half-way up the wide-mouthed chimney. The cloud of tobacco-smoke which spread like a haze through- out the apartment, and appeared to hang like a mass of dingy drapery to the ceiling, augmented this heat, and produced a stifling sensation in Page’s throat. The vapour appeared to be of a darter hue in cor — a rrr rr rrr rr rr cr rs ee mre emp cE RE COMGROO S COMM