The Young Apprentice; or, The Watch-Words of Old London — page 340: what you’re looking at

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

Ve~ “Understand me now, both of you,’’ said the tall man; “attend to what I say to you.” “ Humbly, yes,” said Jasper. “ Well, I hear,’’ said Laurence. The tall man must have been well used to the peculiarities of his two notables, for he paid no more attention to the growling insolence of Laurence, than he did to the servile humility of Jasper, but continued speaking, as if they had not interrupted him, “ Now, you understand, that you keep upon the coach box, and the moment you hear my whistle, you whip the cattle towards town, and’ go at the best pace you can. If you are pursued, you will take the firat opportunity of leaving the coach and making your escape; if you are not pursued, you will go quietly to the stables,” “ Yea, sir—yes, Lord Raym—I——” “Silence. How dare you mention my name, even to the night air? You wretch, how dare you do it?” “Oh, I—that is, l humbly forgot. Oh, sir, I beg your pardon, indeed I do, if you please, sir, I forgot.” ** Idiot,” ; ‘Yes, sir—humbly, yes, sir—I am anything you please,” ‘“ Hush! Laurence, where is the box ?”’ “Here, to be sure. Have you got any ears? I thought I heard some one coming.” * It’s a man on horseback, I take it,” “ Stand close, then, and let him pass, What @ pace |" A mounted man swept by them at a gallop that was prodigious, and he was gone like a whirlwind before a glimpse could be got of him, 50 as to come to any opinion as to who or what 6 was, Lord Raymond and his men did not speak nor © move for some few minutes after the man on horseback had passed them like a mad appari- tion. - At length, however, he broke the silence ; and, in a low, demoniac voice, he said, ** Look to your pistols; but do not use them until I order you. Open the gate that leads to the garden yonder, and place the box inside. Quick, quick, Ido not know that there is any time to lose now.”’ Thus urged, the unscrupulous agents of Lord Raymond, as he named himself, obeyed his in- atructions, and they had scarcely got everythin in the order that he wished, and Jasper ha mounted the coach-box again and turned tho horses’ heads towards London, when the rumbling sound of carriage wheels came upon their ears. Lord Raymond took a mask from his pocket that was made of some elastic material, and with some exertion, after first securing it below his chin, dragged it over the rest of his face and ead. There were small orifices for the eyes, and one for the mouth ; when his hat was replaced then the covering was quite secure, and by any light that would have sufficed to show the nature of it, it would have been seen to have been of a pale, sea-green colour, and fitting so tightly as it did to the features, it had a very lifelike and hor- tible aspect. He then disposed hia cloak so around him as wonderfully to increase the apparent bulk of the THE WATCHWORDS OF OLD LONDON. upper part of his person ; but he was careful to leave hia hands at perfect liberty. The rumblo of approaching carriage wheels, and the step of the horsea’ hoofs upon the un- frequented road increased in reality every moment. * Toey come!” said Raymond, “ they come !"" In a few minutes tho bright dancing reflec- tion of the lamps of Sir Marcus Forester’s car- riage flashed upon the road as it whirled rapidly past, thus giving that strange metallic colour to the vegetation which artificial light ever gives O it. Lord Raymond stood just upon the vergo of the shadow cast by the old willows, and when the carriage got within a dozen yards of the spot, he, with one bound, got to the middle of the road, and seizing the horse that was upon the near side by the rein, he cried out, as the animal was forced back upon its haunches by the suddenness of the attack, “ Is this Sir Marcus Forester's carriage ?”’ The coachman was so astounded at the sudden apparition of a man in the middle of the road, who, to all a earth, and stopped the horses in their progress, that he nearly fell off the box; but he did manage to save himself from such a catastrophe, and then the voice of Sir Marcus from the inside of the vehicle, calling loudly “What is the matter?” was the next sound that was heard, The coachman was courageous enongh in his way, and he began to lash with his long whip at the man who so audaciously stopped the horses. The two footmen likewise got down from behind, and were rather confused to know what to do, when Lord Raymond, who had received a severe cut or two from the coachman’s whip, drew a pistol from the breast of his apparel, and with an execration, shot him dead. At the sound of the report of the pistol, the two footmen fell flat to the earth, for they made sure that their last hour had come, and then by some known agency the horses found themselves suddenly released from the carriage, and, being terrified at the pistol shot, they started off at full speed. All this was the work of a very few moments, during which Sir Marcus had made the most unavailing efforts to get out of the carriage ; something connected with the fastening of the door—it had evidently been tampered with upon that side—impeded him, Lizzie screamed, but still tried to second her protector in his exertions to open the garriage door ; while the little daughter of Sir Marcua, with her hands clasped and her pretty face blanched, as though death had robbed it of its roses, sat still as a statue. ‘ What is all this ?” cried Sir Marcus, furiously. ‘Open the door, somebody? John and Charlie, where are you, both open the door at once ?” ‘‘ Try the other one, Sir Marcus,’’ said Lizzie. Before Sir Marcus could scramble over the fainting little girl, who had slipped from her seat to the bottom of her carriage, and offered a considerable obstacle to reaching the other door, it was swung*open, and holding one of the car- riage lamps just a little above the level of his face, so that the light fell full upon the strange Wy ~ RN ppearance, had risen out of the GOVE OO © eS CO