Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 256 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 256: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a page of running prose from the penny dreadful serial *Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil* (page 238). Two characters—apparently Rory (a Major) and Tom (the titular Dare-Devil)—discuss a murder: a young gentleman named Captain Paris has been found dead, and Tom is a suspect because he fought with the Captain earlier that day. Rory explains how he found Tom hiding in an old church tower wearing someone else's clothes, which makes Tom look guilty. Tom responds that circumstantial evidence pointed to him, so he went into hiding until the streets emptied. The dialogue is written in Scottish dialect.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
238 Tom ANDERSON, DareE-DEVIL “Have n’t I?” — with a wholesome laugh. “Tell you all about it. First, how did you find me?” ‘Hout, tout, laddie! I wad na hae thocht o’ lookin’ r the toe oO ot. Michael’s steeple for ye. Sune-syne I slippit oot o’ the hoose wi’ the hizzie at my heels. It is na becoming, ye ken, that Major McIntosh suld gang oot wioot the pipes; but I had sma’ need for the piper the nicht. Sae l tauld Luath. ‘We'll gang oot an’ find Daur-Deevil,’ I says to her. And she kenned varra weel that at SiC a like time, we suld hae nae need o’ the music. Sae we € en drag- elit aboot the streets like puir bodies, Luath an’ mysen. The hizzie stickit her tail atween her twa legs to let fowk see she was abune her saircoomstances! “I’m far come doun 1’ the warld, but no sae far come doun as tae gang aboot wi oot the pibroch!’ sae she hinted. Eh, sirs! But we found a mob ’’ the streets”” — a sudden constraint clouded Rory’s high spirits. He cast a furtive look at his listener. “A young gentleman murdered!”’ “IT know. Captain Paris.” | “Ye kenned he was gone?” Luath felt gravity in the air. She lifted first one leaf-shaped ear, then the other, the lively brain, at every motion of intelligence, fluttering its poor little brown wings. Rory looked Tom through and eres ‘“Laddie, ye dinna ken how he dee’d?”’ 66 ot Lee “God be thankit!” with a deep breath of relief. “I had muckle reason for concern, ye wull allow. At noon ye gied the Captain a bloody nose, an’ he drew his sword on ye. Ye were like twa fighting-cocks. Gin The McIntosh had na steppit oot of his carriage at ance, there wad hae been blood spilt. I mak nae doot o’ that. To-night, the puir young fallow is found stark! Ye didna come hame. I skulkit aboot the city wi’ my twa een on ilka face — an’ I find ye at midnight hiding i the auld kirk-tower, wi’ anither mon’s claes on ye back. I hotch’d aboot ye! pe “Small blame to you, Major. Lot of circumstantial evidence against me, eh? Saw there would be, and dived in here. Meant to hide till the streets were empty, go ECONMMICLOOOKS,(e©) m