The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 257: what you’re looking at

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

THE which the clouds seemed laden, burst not forth— and still from between the black masses piled one above another on the face of heaven, the straggling rays of the moon peeped timidly forth. The wind had risen to asomewhat higher key—and the air was intensely cold: but the ruffians, heated as they were with brandy and excited by the object which they had in view, felt notits chilling influence. Silently they now pursued their way, the Magsman acting as captain and as guide; and as those six forms moved from the bottom of the Punch-Bowl towards the acclivity on the summit of which the main road ran, they appeared to be fiends of darknegs in the faint and uncertain light of the moon. On gaining the top, or brim, of the vast hollow, the party was divided into two sections. Miles the Buzgloak, Dick the Tramper, and the Kinchin- Grand were ordered by the Magsman to conceal themselves amidst the furze which the low embankment over- looked; while Joe Warren himself, accompanied by the two men completing the band, crossed the road and ascended the portion of the hill which com- manded tne route, Being thus disposed of, the ruffians lay in wait patiently and silently. At length the rumbling of wheels and the noise of horses’ hoofs met their ears. They all listened at- tentively: the sounds came from that quarter whence they were expected;—and there could be no doubt that this was the vehicle whose presence was the ob- ject of the night’s adventure. — Ina few moments two lights, glancing like meteors» began to emerge as it were from the obscurity ; and the progress of the carriage along the road on the brim of the Punch-Bowl was thus marked by its lanterns. On came the vehicle: and now if was nearpgnough for the ruffians who lay in ambush, to observe that it was a long hearse-like concern, drawn by four horses, and with the driver seated on a high box jn front. An escort of four dragoons guarded the ponderous machine—two riding on one side, and twa en the other. | In this manner the cavalcade was jogging along, j when, all on a sudden, the Magsman leapt from the | overhanging hill upon the roof of the vehicle; and, | hurling the driver from his seat into the middle of | the road, he sprang upon the back of one of the | wheel-horses, and cut all the traces in a moment. | At the same instant that the Magsman thus took | the initiative, his two companions threw themselves from the overhanging eminence upon the couple of | dragoons who rode on that side of the vehicle: while the two mounted soldiers riding on the other side were as suddenly assailed by the Buzgloak, the Tram- per, and the Kinchin-Grand. Shots were fired—and a severe conflict took place. Away sped the four horses which the Magsman had freed from the vehicle: frightened by the report of the pistols, they galloped along the road, their thun- dering hoofs raising every echo in that vast abyss the brim of which the terrified animals were thus madly skirting. But all that we have as yet described was the work of scarcely a minute; and the proceedings of the Magsman were executed with wondrous rapidity. Having cut the traces and thus rendered the vehicle stationary by emancipating the horses, this desperate individual passed like lightning underneath the ponderous machine; and with one blow of his rn a MYSTERIES. club he knocked off a massive padlock which fastened a door at the back of the huge hearse-like Carriage. | The vehicle instantaneous!y vomited forth its con- tents in the shape of a dozen convicts, heavily ironed ; and amidst the very foremost, the Magsman had the satisfaction of recognising, by the flickering moon- light, the countenances of his friends Briggs and the Big Beggarman. Meantime the four dragoons and the five villains opposed to them had maintained a desperate struggle on either side of the vehicle: but the release of the convicts decided the fortune of the fray in a very few moments, The soldiers were made prisoners withont any loss ef life; and they, as well as the driver of the van, were bound securely with strong cords and deposited, powerless, beneath the overhanging hill. Then, in the sheey spirit of wanton mischief, the whole gang of desperadoes—liberators as well as con- victs—seized unon the carriage—wheeled it to the edge of the Punch-Bowl—and hurled it over the low embankment into the abyss. Down—down thundered the ponderous machine, rolling over and over with rapid concussions that sounded like the sharp and successive reports of a brisk cannonade: down—down it went, tearing away furze, brambles, and rank grass,—and ultimately dashing to pieces at the bottom of the Punch-Bowl. Satisfied with the work of destruction, and taunt- ingly wishing the four dragoons and the driver a cood night, the party hastened away from the scene of this exploit; and having gained a neighbouring wood, the Magsman produced a quantity of files and pick-locks from one of his capacious pockets. By means of these implements the convicts soon removed their fetters; and we need hardly observe that great was their joy at this triumphant and unexpected de- liyeranee—for not eyen the Beggarman and Briggs had been previously aware of their friends’ determi- nation to attempt their rescue, ——= CHAPTER LXIX. PAULINE AND GABRIEL. It was eleven o’clock on Sunday morning; and Pauline Clarendon was seated alone in a small par- lour at the house which her father had taken about five weeks previously in Cavendish Square. The young lady was dressed in an elegant but un- assuming style; and the dark colour of her gown set off to the utmost advantage her pure and stainless complexion. Her deep brown hair, so rich with its natural gloss, showered in a myriad ringlets over her well-shaped shoulders; and her neck, grandly white and gently arching, resembied a polished ivory pillar against that flood of luxuriant curls which swept her back. Upon her countenance a soft melancholy rested : and, although the light cf heaven appeared to illume the depths of her eloquent blue eyes, yet her features expressed a certain pensiyeness which imparted to her entire appearance an ineflably charming air of re- flective sweetness. From the reverie into which the lovely girl had fallen, she was presently aroused by a double knock at the front door; and starting from her seat, she threw a glance at the mirror over the mantel-piece. eee eee eee A smile of satisfaction played for a moment upon; CORNIECLOO (C Sc (C(O) m