The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 99: what you’re looking at

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

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LONDON LIFE. dressed-up dancing dogs, and incites them to activity by blowing doleful notes ont of a flageolet whistle, here terminates the round of his daily wanderings ; and the whole tribe of Savoyards who, with white mice, marmosets, and monkeys, add zoological attrac- tions to those of music, throng the room after nightfall in noisy numbers, About the same time that Celestine received the two parties of a very different description. As the whole of the lodgers had gone out on their usual the only occupants of the room were the and his visitor who had just entered, and to now necessary that we should direct our first was a coarse, vulgar-looking man, who, capacity of master of the establishment, had stationed himself before the fire and beguiled his soli- tude by having frequent recourse to a pewter tankard that was simmering on the hob, and contained a compound of beer, sweetened and spiced, and strength- ened by the admixture of certain potent spirits. He was a native of Piedmont, and, though long a resi- dent in town, the first look at the man would have satisfied the most inexperienced in physiognomical deductions that he was both a foreigner by birth and & knave by profession. Antonio Borelli—for such was the name he bore— had sundry marked characteristics in his countenance that could not readily be mistaken. Rather under the middle size in figure, he had broad rounded shoulders and a full muscular development of body. His head was bullet-shaped, with a crest of stubble-like red hair that was about as pliant as wire,and no more. Under- neath a low receding forehead were a pair of light grey eyes, rolling about with an infinite amountof rogueryin them; a short, snubby nose; a chin slightly project- ing, and encircled by a beard of some days’ growth; whilst his age, though somewhat difficult to guess at, might be considered near forty. He had a dress that, beyond its worn and dingy appearance, exhibited nothing remarkably obtrusive about it; but in one of the pockets of the coarse gabardine that he had as- sumed as a sort of dressicg-gown there was seen the handle of a short whip thrust forth, which sufficiently indicated his readiness to inflict corporeal chastise- ment on those he held in bondage, should the sum he anticipated on their return not be forthcoming. On the other side of the fireplace was seated an Italian, whose swarthy, olive complexion, dark eyes, and thick bushy eyebrows, heightened the naturally fierce and vindictive expression of his features. His hair, of an intense black, was arranged in full wavy masses; and though the period of life that he had attained was nct evinced by the peculiarities described, it was perceptible, on a closer inspection, that artificial aids had been resorted to, for the purpose of imparting an appearance of greater juvenility, since the deep furrows of his face showed that he was at least ten years older than the man before him. His costume was respectable, and even with some pretensions to fashion, the continental character being, however, pre- served in its style. On the arrival of his visitor, Borelli had not moved from his seat, but simply waving his hand for the door to be closed, and adding an intimation that they were alone in the house, he refreshed himself with a draught from the tankard, and awaited a communication that he evidently “Well, Antonio,” said the Italian, resuming the - ~ it H -—— -- _ —_—- 93 conversation after the few preliminary words of intro- duction had been exchanged, “I told you that the girl was the same that I suspected her to be, and now I want to know if you are ready to carry out the pro- ject we had in contemplation respecting her?” “ Humph !” moodily responded the other, in a hoarse guttural voice, “I must first know whether you are right, and how you come to make so certain of it.” “Psha! what doubt can there be about the mat- ter? I told you, when we met at the gambling-rooms at Strasburg, that I had, at last, got a trace of the pretty decoy duck that I had taken so much trouble to get into my clutches; and once having learned that this Madame Romani, the famous singer, was the lady that ran away with her, I have followed pretty closely on their track ever since.” “Ha! that was an odd freak of yours,” observed Antonio; “ there are few who would have taken the pains that you did to get hold of a child like that, or having once done so, they would have matters more cleverly than to let the bird they had ensnared slip out of the cage.” “And what fault was it of mine?” returned the Italian, leaning his arm on the table and bending over towards his companion; “twelve years ago, when we were both prowling about the streets of Naples, with- out a scudo to bless ourselves, did I not tell you that the little blue-eyed girl we used to see playing within the walls of the building where the orphans are placed would make our fortunes, if we could only steal her quietly away from the asylum? Did I not devise the means, and, under the pretence of soliciting alms from the principal, get access to the garden, and lure my damsel out from the gateway at dusk by telling her that I would take her to her father, who, I said, was still living? Was not the money we made by the little simpleton on the road sufficient to show that I was right in my expectation of getting enough from the soft-hearted to save our heads the trouble of think- ing about the future; and who spoiled all this beauti- ful game but the fellow who grew so confoundedly im- patient after the money, that, at the very first house we stopped at on our way to Florence, he must needs steal the silver plate of mine host and compel me to shift for myself as I best could, before a hue and cry was raised after the plunder?” “Well,” growled Borelli, in reply, “and who the devil-could have let suck a prize slip through his fingers? There were you, with the child, feasting away in the house, whilst I was taking my turn at the roadside, to watch the travellers coming in, and when I saw the landlord, who had been brushing up his plate for the next guests, leave the bar, and let the spoons stand all alone on the shelves, shining in the sun, what the deuce could a poor fellow do but slide his arm through the window and hop off with them?” “Yes, and asmall chance should I have had of get- ting safe off from the consequences, if I hadn’t seen you do it, and made my bow to the innkeeper before it was found out. I loitered about the place till night, hoping to see the girl turned into the road again, but, as ill-luck would have it, the first travellers picked her up, and you had been just as quick as she was in running away from your old comrade,” “Well, you must admit it turned out best for both of us, after all,” rejoined Antonio, surlily; “I got a decent living out of the chances of the road till I de- clared on to the gaming-tables, and helped the flats to get rid of their fortunes by making mine; whilst you, with a better show of speech and manner than I had, managed to wheedle an old uncle of yours into recom- —— —_——" «= - EGOMIIGIOO cS (E)