The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

MORE PEARLS FROM THE STRING 21 noble animal as if anxious to make it a screen to hide him from the view of all passers-by, and yet, as he held the bridle, a glance of satisfaction twinkled sidelong from his eyes as that look embraced in quick survey all the splendid features of the equipage. Very different from the menial was the master who emerged from that dashing cabriolet. At the first glance he might have been mistaken for a bear escaped from the zoological gardens and dressed up in male attire, for he wore such an enormous quantity of hair about his face as almost to destroy the features that identified him as a human being. His black whiskers stuck out in great bushes, his mus- tachios were fiercer than any that are ever worn by an actor dressed up to play the part of a brigand for the stage, his brows were thick and overhanging, he wore an imperial, and his huge whiskers, meeting under the chin, were pro- longed into a beard of which a pasha might have been proud. He was dressed in a semimilitary style, but with most outrageous pretensions. His frock coat was one mass of braiding and frogging all over the breast, and as it was buttoned up to the chin, and therefore covered the waist- coat where the gold chain ought to have been, he wore this said chain outside his coat, a very little pocket being made to hold the watch belonging thereto. This chain was as massive and large as that of a sheriff or lord mayor, and therefore gave its wearer the appearance of uniting some civic dignity with his military rank. His gray trousers had a broad gold stripe down each leg, and were stretched tightly over boots brilliantly polished, with heels two inches high, and furnished with an immense pair of gold spurs. Such was the phenomenon that emerged in stately grandeur from the cabriolet; and flinging the reins from his lemon- - eoloured kid gloves, or, rather, from the hands that wore them, he drew forth an embroidered cambric handkerchief so highly perfumed that it rendered the air fragrant. ‘Now, Robin, take care of him,” exclaimed Captain Tash, alluding to the horse, ‘‘ and don’t leave his head. Remem- ber how he darted off the day before yesterday and discom- fited the old apple-woman’s stall. I am just going here to call upon my friend Leveson for a few minutes,” con- tinued the captain, exalting his voice in a bombastic style as some ladies and gentlemen passed by at the moment, <Sii inn