The Young Apprentice; or, The Watch-Words of Old London — page 262: what you’re looking at

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

(, > ¥, Nowe i ~ PaO. | , THE WATCHWORDS OF OLD LONDON. t Ca On eel el age EE eee Oe _She clapped her hands as ahe spoke, and kissed m, “ Give her some, and let us go,” cried Black- look, who to be alarmed. ‘And lose the chance of getting the men ?”’ cried Dennis. “ No need of that. I will go round and speak to one or two ; meanwhile, be careful.” “ All right,” cried Dennis, in a foolish voice. Blacklock rose. ‘He would gladly have taken away with him his companion ; but he saw that withoutja dis- turbance it would be at this moment impossible. He, therefore, d away to the other side of the room, and spoke rapidly to one of his friends, When he returned he shook Dennis by the arm. “ Come, come, my friend,” he cried. “ Let us be going now. We have not too much time before morning.” Dennis staggered to his feet. “Pm coming now,” he cried, “I’m coming now. Good bye, Floretta.” She stooped towards him and kissed him. _As she did so, she whispered a few words in ear. Dennis laughed, and patted her on the shoulder, ‘Yes, yes," he said," just as much as Ihave.” Without waiting to ask any questions as to the meaning of these words, Blacklock drew his companion out of the room. « Let us hurry away from this place,” he cried ; ‘7 fear me we have done but little good.” “ Have you the money safe ?” ‘Yes; why do you ask ?” ‘‘ Because I fancy that girl helped herself to some of mine. Have you obtained the men you wished?” ‘Yes; and now, if you are sober enough to do 80, you had better go to the ‘Crown and Cushion,’ and see‘Henry Ludlam, while I go to the ‘ Red Lion.’ Atsix we meet outside White- a y ‘Good: I will be there.” The two men then separated, and Blacklock proceeded hastily towards the “‘ Red Lion,” while Hal Dennis went rolling off in the direction of the “ Crown and Cashion.” He was followed stealthily by Floretta and a tall, gaunt-looking man. euperniowms CHAPTER XIX. THE MORNING OF THE EXECUTION — THE WATCHER—THE SOLDIERS—IrHE FADING OF HOPE — THE COMING OF THE DREAD MES- BENGER, BLACELOCK, having seen and spoken with some more friends, proceeded hastily towards White- The morning was a clear, but cold one; yet the city of London was evidently in a state of excitement. Blacklock paced to and fro, and watched eagerly the crowds as they collected. vane soon began to lose heart in his under- ing. No sooner had six o'clock struck than the et tramp of feet was beard, and the solemn-looking Puritan soldiers came trooping out of the palace. The scaffold, with its gloomy hangings, was already in the place appointed, and around this the troopers began to form in double lines. The rabble—the lowest of the low, who pressed forward in order to secure places where they could see the hideous tragedy enacted—were gradually but surely pressed away from the edge of the scaffold, and before an hour had passed, a sea of glittering and swords had formed itself, as it' were, between Blacklock and the terrible machine of death. While he was standing gazing up at the palace windows, and wondering whether it would be possible to attempt the saving of the king amidst auch an excited and ever-moving crowd, & number of men approached him. * Blacklock,” said one, “ the king has but few friends in England.” ‘Why do you say so?” asked Blacklock. “See” replied the first speaker, “see what myriads of heads fill the open space before the palace, and yet who is there amongst them that would raise a hand to save Charles Stuart from destruction ?”’ | Blacklock smiled drearily. He said— : “TI have sworn to save him, and I will save: him at the peril of my life.” The man to whom these words were addressed laughed coarsely. | “Yon are talking like a mad man,” he said ; ‘the scaffold is surrounded by soldiers, and in a few moments the whole space in front of Whitehall will be so encompassed by armed men, that you will be unable to approach the spot within a hundred yards,” “Ah! what noise is that?” said Blacklock. “ Tt is the cavalry approaching,” said the other. “ As Iam a living man, Charles Stuart will die this day.” “T fear me you are right,” said Blacklock ; ‘ but see, our friends are approaching,” His words were true, Pressing their way through the crowd upon all sides, came a host of armed men, forcing themselves along in a thin stream, and uniting in a body around the scaffold. By 8 sign, invisible to all but Blacklock, they signified their presence, and gathered six deep around the man whom, upon the moment, they recognised as leader. But this leader soon lost the shadow of con- fidence with which the presence of the mob had inepired him. As certainly as his friends approached, so cer- tainly ap ed also large bodies of troops, who gradually and almoat imperceptibly pressed the people back further from the scaffold. At length, just as the spearmen and pikemen, and musketeers, had formed into a dense, com- pact body, there was a murmur among the o— . “They are coming! They are coming !” Such were the hushed words which sped from mouth to mouth. They were wrong. The new-comers were only some workmen coming to make some additions to the scaffold. While these dismal preparations are going on, Con EDOOo