The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 399: what you’re looking at

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

368 REYNOLDS’ WORKS will keep my bargain with you. You had met Lord Rush- brook on a former occasion? Did you rob him then, and if so, of how much? Now remember, if you tell me the truth, I am not going to take any step to make you disgorge your plunder, but I will suffer you to depart without any further molestation.” ‘“‘ Well, sir, the fact is I did rob him,” answered the Burker, ‘“ but it was a precious bad job for me, for, like a cussed fool as I am, I lost all the money arterward, and devilish near got myself took into the bargain.”’ “How much did you rob him of? ”’ inquired Sir Frederick. ‘“ Well, it was exactly two thousand pounds, all in bank- notes,’’ answered the Burker. ‘ As you may wery well sup- pose, I was astounded when I come to diskiver the amount, and as some of the notes was wery high ones, — fifties and hundreds, I mean, — I thought they was of no more use to me than the elephant was to the old genelman when he won it in a raffle. Howsomever, I recollected an old Jew that did a little business in that way, —I mean who changed bank-notes without asking no questions, — so off I posted to him. But what does the old scamp do but he gives me a lot of little notes, all five-pounders, telling me he was only char- ging a hundred pounds for the job, and that I might think myself devilish lucky in having fallen into such hands. And so at first I did, but then, behold you, sir, when I afterward tried to change one of the five-pun’ notes, the shopkeeper said as how it was a forgery and roared out for the police. If I hadn’t given him a tap over the head and knocked him down senseless behind his own counter, 1t would have been all up with me. Howsomever, I got clear off, but every one of the notes the rascally old Jew had given me was bad ’uns. I went to his quarters in the middle of the night with the intention of telling him a bit of my mind, and perhaps of giving him a tap, too, but the waggabone had bolted; and so you see as how, sir, I was most cruelly robbed by that precious old scoundrel.”’ Sir Frederick had listened with much impatience to this long tale, but he thought he had better hear it to the end, and now that it was finished he had no more questions to ask. Keeping possession of the Burker’s club, Sir Frederick rose from off his prostrate form, and stepping back in a manner which showed that he was prepared for any treacher- ECORNICOOKS (E(0)