Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 171 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 171: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Lion-Heart, page 155 This is running prose from a Victorian penny dreadful novel. The page depicts a dramatic scene in which a character named Troupe de Berrien Anderson, a Captain in McIntosh's Army, agrees to write a letter to Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia on behalf of captured Tory prisoners. When asked what he'll write on, Troupe uses a dog's skull as his writing surface, composing an urgent military report requesting the Governor's protection of the prisoners' lives under the terms of surrender. The scene emphasizes urgency and desperation through dialect-heavy dialogue between rough frontier characters.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lion-HEART 15s “’Lowed we-un wuz fool ’nough ter turn ye loose?” “Hold me, then; but send a letter.” “Shoo! Cain’t read ner write.” Fe ilwrite it.” “En’ putt thur militia atter us —”’ “You can take the letter to any man you know — Whig or Lory. He can read it to you. That will make you cer- tain of every word I write. No time to lose, man!”’ Troupe’s pistol went back into the cow-thief’s breeches. “Right smart chance er the boys gwineter git gibbeted lessen he-un sen’s word!”’ The other man turned upon Troupe. “Kin ye write any- thing thet ‘ll hender Jefferson fum hangin’ of ’em? Kin ye?”’ “IT can. The Governor will respect the terms of sur- render. Good Lord! you are burning daylight!”’ “Whut ll you-un write on?”’ “Anything! This!” kicking the leaves away from some white object — a dog’s skull. “What? Write on hit!” “Time’s precious, I tell you!”” To himself he murmured: “The ancients wrote their wills on the shank-bones of sheep. Here goes for a military report on the skull of poor Watch, or Bulger. Maybe it will be my last will and tes- tament. Who knows?” He wrote: — To His Excellency the Governor of Virginia: Thos. Jefferson, Esq. My Dear Sir: Under terms of surrender, the life of each and every Tory prisoner captured yesterday in camp on the Blue Ridge is to be secure. The name of the Governor of Virginia was the pledge given for the security of their lives. I have the honor to subscribe myself, Yr. Resp. & Obt. Serv’t, TROUPE DE BERRIEN ANDERSON, Capt. Co. C, McIntosh’s Army. He read aloud the message of life and death, borrowed his own handkerchief from the bushwhacker, and rolled the skull in it. CORNICLOO@ eS (EO)