Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 56 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 56: 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 40). The text depicts a confrontation between Tom and a man named Egger over stable keys, followed by Tom's arrival at a house where he encounters servants and his grandmother. The dialogue is written in heavy dialect representing working-class and rural speech patterns. Tom appears distressed and snow-covered as he enters his grandmother's room, where she sits alert with her Bible, apparently waiting to question him about something significant.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
40 Tom ANDERSON, DarE-DEVIL “Pretty way ter sarve a body. Come a-roustin’ of ’em up this time er night — atter stable keys!” “Why did n’t you leave those keys with Daddy Joe? You’d no business to tote ’em off before my horse was stabled — and you know it!” Here a woman’s malignant whine. “Ait midnight, en’ him a-ridin’!”’ “Shet up. Don’t ye know he-un’s a-drinkin’?”’ growled Egger. He pulled the door half open, confronting Tom. His spring from the saddle to the snowy steps had been noiseless. Very quiet, he. ‘“T dare you to say that to my face. Say it!— and Ill knock your teeth down your lying throat!” “Neenter think I’m afeared uv ye, mer young game- chicken!” The keys fell at Tom’s feet, and the door was barred. Dilsey, sure enough, was nodding by the dining- room fire and various covered dishes were ranged round the warm hearth, when the half-frozen youngster entered the house. Dilsey began: “Miss Sa’ah say step dar, son, — soon’s you’s done had yer supper.” “T’ll go straight to her. Set my supper on the table, Dilsey. Where’s Lady Pantoufle?”’ “Done gone upstairs. Miss Sa’ah sont word fer her not ter set up vo longer. Atter midnight, now!’’ Her stare of curlosity was ignored; but as he was leaving the room, ‘Yer gran’maw sorter jubus ter-night. Would n’t tell her nothin’ ter ’sturb her, Marse Tom.”’ “Ehe All right —I won't.” The shadow of momen- tous things kept him from being attentive to domestic -cross-currents. Grandmother was sitting erect and alert when he entered her room. Her Bible still lay open on the candle-stand. He could not see that anything was amiss. He scorned indirection. He stood facing the light — and a pair of eyes that “could see to the bottom of a well!’’ Hewas white with snow, white of face, distressed. What woman would not have asked questions? — and ECONMMICOOOKS.(6©