Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 254 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 254: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a page of running prose from a Victorian penny dreadful titled "Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil" (page 236). The text depicts characters named Troupe and Pink preparing for a secret meeting, with dialogue revealing that someone named Tom Calvert is hiding as a fugitive in St. Michael's tower. Pink suggests using the church for a clandestine gathering, leveraging his grandmother's connection to the church sexton to obtain keys. The passage concludes with Captain Taliaferro and Colonel Lloyd agreeing to hold their meeting inside the old church rather than outdoors.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
236 Tom ANDERSON, DarE-DEVIL Troupe looked up from the cheese-box in which he was storing away the piece of pie pledged to the absentee. “Tam sorry, Pink; but I lent my last ruffled shirt to poor Stroud — to be hanged in.” Pink rushed away. Presently he came flying back with his body-servant at his heels; blackie laden with toilette accessories. Troupe surrendered his coat to St. John’s man. Pink’s tongue ran. “Captain Anderson, what shall we do? ’T is clouding up! The moon has flunked us—a yellow hussy!”” — dragging his friend to a window. “What do you see?” “Nothing but St. Michael’s steeple. Cloudy, by George!”’ If Troupe had known that Tom Calvert was a fugitive in St. Michael’s tower, — if he could have seen the face in the tower window at that minute, — Captain Ander- son’s sword-arm would have been unsteady. “| have it, Captain. There was a wedding at St. Michael’s to-night. Bushels of wax tapers. We can light up like day. Plenty of elbow-room in the nave for you and the little baronet.” “Nonsense! How on earth could we get the church keys?” “Nothing easier. Old Simeon, the church sexton, be- longs to my grandmother, Lady Savage.” And the upshot of the matter was that Captain Talia- ferro and Colonel Lloyd held a second conference to decide upon a place of meeting, an outdoor rendezvous being impossible. The old church would afford light, space, security against intrusion. [he amendment was made. Gomilecbooks (EO) m