The Young Apprentice; or, The Watch-Words of Old London — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

Oy WS, Near THE WATCHWORDS OF OLD LONDON. 63 The armorrer looked surprised. ‘You explain!” he said, “ One would fancy you were mixed up in everything.” Harold smiled. “It seems so, truly, sir,” he said. tell you now, before your daughter? ” ‘Yes ; she is of our thinking—speak.” Clearly, then, and unhesitatingly, Harold described the scene he had witnessed in the vault, the speeches he had heard in praige of Quelf, and the gubsequent danger he had en- countered ere he escaped so miraculously, The armouret'g countenance was yery grave as he listened, “ And you tell me, this entrance leads from my own ,workshop 7” he said, es 9 “And you can find it easily f” “Yes, sir.” “ This is strange, indeed : we must investigate it at once. Let us descend now and see.” “Iam ready,” said Harold, boldly; “where I descended alone before I can have little fear of descending with you.’’ ‘*Come, let us descend at once to the work- shop,” said Leslie. “I am eager to discover this secret. They at once descended. Anxiously Harold entered the place of labour, and searched behind the coats of mail. But not for long. In a few minntes he found that he had been overreached, No sign of the secret panel was visible ! fant armourer smiled when he beheld his con- sion, “You have been dreaming, my young friend,” he said. ‘‘ Some of these evenings you have fa asleep over your work and you have fancied these strange things.” “Not I, Mr. Leslie; mine was no dream,” returned Harold stoutly, ‘I saw Peter Quelf ut his hand behind one of these figures—I saw im press a knob and disappear through asliding panel. I did the same as he did, and [ saw what I have described to you in the secret cavern or vault beneath your house. I have told you what I saw and heard there and how Ef es- caped.” . ‘“ By falling accidentally against the revolving statue of the Virgin ?” é6 Yes,” “Then no doubt we can enter that way,” said the armonrer ; “ let us see.” He led the way again into the house, and along the passage into the street. Then, having seen that no one was watching, he advanced to the statue. It stood there grim and still, No oelebrated master had designed that figure. It was a quaint, rude image —nothing more, Yet, like many other simple things, it was the clue to a great mystery. “Where did you emerge?” he asked of Harold, The apprentice pointed out the spot where he had fallen, and eagerly pressed against that side of the figure, . ‘Shall I It remained stationary ! “You are deceived or are outwitted again, Harold,” cried the armourer, applying his huge shoulder to the place. ‘“ Yes; there is no mode of entrance this way. Doubtleas, they have suspected your confession to me, and have stopped up all mode of ingress,”’ ‘‘ That is what I suspect,” said Harold ; “ how- ever, I will be on the watch, for I doubt not that Peter Quelf, with all his craft, will outwit himself in the end,” OHAPTER XYJIL THE OLD HOUSE BY THE RIVHE ONOB MORE. THE old house where we had firaf met the Man Without a Name, and which ted formed, as it were, his stepping-stone to fortune, had a kind of natural attraction to Harold Fordyce. More than this, moreover, the very fact of the meeting of his benefactor and Lord Baymond in the gncient building, seemed to point to it as the depository of some great. secret. On the first opportanity, therefore, he made his way—after the labours of the day were over —towards the Lane, and walked quickly towards the house, The place was always very still, and on this evening it was no exception to the rule, Not a sound ws to be heard but the plash of the waters against the piles, and the far-off murmur.of voices, | In the Lane iteelf it was like a city of the dead, To any one who was at all imbued with the superstitions of those times, there wonld have been something very awful and terrible in the meditated visit to the old place; but to Harold there wag nothing more in entering it than in entering Frank Leslie's workshop. He made no attempt to passin by the door, but clambering ap, as he had done on the occa- sion of his first visit, he entered by the window, and, closing himself in as well as possible, struck a light. He had resolved to search the place from top to bottom. Above the largest room in the house, which once, perhaps, had been the scene of many 8 gay revel, the ceiling had so fallen away that any one above could see through into the chamber beneath, So round was the place of observation, that it almost seemed as if it had been made by de- sign. Harold was just observing this when a loud noise attracted his attention. It was the opening of the front door, and the entrance of a number of persons. Harold's heart leaped in his bosom. “Tam on the eve now of some discovery,” thought he. Looking round him for a place of conceal- ment, he could see none. Except some ragged tapestry, phere was nothing in the chamber. He waited anxiously. ao @ ao fo —— SP Neen Jn pl } aa EDOO