The Young Apprentice; or, The Watch-Words of Old London — page 300: what you’re looking at

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

THE WATCHWORDS OF OLD LONDON. e Blacklock, “ because everything is ready.” “ The horses ?” cé Yes,”’ “ The disguise,” ‘* Yes, and pistols and mask, should you need them. Iam ready now as soon as I have drunk s0me wine, ’ He took up a brimming tankard and drank it off, and then opened the door through which Leicester passed with an anxious heart. At the door of the inn the horses were waiting, and in a few minutes the two companions in crime were dashing away along the road to- wards Hertford. The eacape of Leicester from the Tower was the talk of London, _ Bat no one suspected either of these horsemen to be him. They never, in fact, dreamed that having once eacaped from the clutches of the law, he would be sufficiently foolish to place himself in the power of it again by remaining in London. So leaving London behind them they were soon dashing away along the high road towards the miser’s abode, The house in which Sir Loftus Latimer, the uncle of Leicester, resided, had once been a splen- did mansion ; but neglect and the unchecked inroads of time had at length told their tale. You saw decay stamped upon ita mouldy walls, its green battlements, ita tottering turrets, its cracked windows, its unhinged and hanging gate, its dilapidated garden, with broken statues lying about amid the rank grass, and the weeds and the fallen trees, As you passed up the gardens in the daytime, eyen on a sammer's day, it was dismal enough. it was the impersonation of desolation and ruin, Bat at night it seemed av though you were forcing your way through a pathless and tangled wilderneas, : Nothing, however, daunted our adventurers. Dismounting, and tying their horses to a tree, they passed in among the bushes and walked boldly towards the front door. They knew themselves to be quite safe. x ot another house was within’ a quarter of a mile, No cries for help could therefore be heard. CHAPTER X. THE OLD MISER—THE SERVANT—THE ALABM— THE HOT BATH—A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD SCORES—HOT WATER AND SCALDS V. SHELL- ING OUT—THE PISTOLS—THE APPARITION —THE FLIGHT OF THE ROBBERS—TOO LATE TO RESCUE THE OLD SOUL. OLD Sir Loftus Latimer was seated at his table in his bedroom when the two marauders pre- sented themselves and knocked loudly for admission, He was a thin, spare, miserably-dressed man, with scarcely a vestige of hair upon his head, and by his side was seated one who was almost as old, as thin, and as miserable—if that could - be—as himself. They were going into accounts—seeing how many miserable halfpence they had spent for “Yam, my Prince of Alsatians, I ‘am,’’ cried | dry bread and milk and water and a little mouldy cheese during the week. They leaped from their seats in an agony of alarm as the loud knock echoed through the ouse. ‘Who can that be, Samuel f” cried Sir Loftus, in a peculiar voice ;“ go, run to the window, and see who comes.” The servant hesitated. Well he might, The times are lawless,” he said, “‘ who knows what they may intend? They may be thieves and murderers,” . “Go,” said Sir Loftus, sternly, ‘go, and do as I bid you.” The old domestic had no alternative left to him. With trembling steps he approached the case- ment, and, throwing it open, admitted the cool night air, which almost extinguished the lamp. ‘SW ho’s there?” he cried. “Two weary travellers,” cried Lord Leicester. “They say two weary travellers,” cried the domestic. “Tell them to go away, then,” cried Sir Loftus ; “tell them we are poor people, and have no accommodation here; tell them that—ab ! Heaven preserve us, what is that 7” As he spoke there was aloud crash, and the door was broken violently open, and ere the old man could even dream of an eacape, the heavy tramp of men was heard ascending the stairs, and Leicester and the Alsatian burst into the room. ‘My nephew!” exclaimed the old man, aghast, ei Ah !| my uncle, it is, indeed, your worshipfal and dutiful nephew, Henry of Leicester.” “And, pray, how dare you show yourself to me? How dare you present yourself here when I have forbidden you ever to enter the precincts of my home ?” Leicester laughed. “Unole,” he said, “I have repeatedly applied to you for money.” i “TI know it; uselessly, as it will always be. “Not this time. I have found letters un- availing. I have never come in person, and I can assure you, uncle, that I don’t intend to return to London without the cash I want, Where do you keep your store?” “ Where you will never discover it, villanous robber.” “ Nevertheless, I intend to find it,” said Leicester. Blacklock, seize that old fool yonder who stands trembling and shivering as if it were mid-winter, and bind him and gag him, so that he cannot interfere with us. We will then deacend to the kitchen and boil some water, My uncle desires a bath.” — The old man gased at ‘this nephew in horror and bewilderment, What could he mean? a What horrid torture was he about to inflict? He felt inclined to shriek aloud for aid, but he feared to do so. Leicester and Blacklock were both armed to the teeth, and his life he felt was not safé a moment in their hands. He submitted to this persecution, therefore, and in a few moments both himself and his domestic were secured in their chairs, and unable either to move or speak. ' aD ATA NR CO