Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 332 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

> - ~ Mt te antl Bs a ~ —2-~<— = ee POP PIO REISS Se PE es 4 OY OF be i 26 IO ie EE OS AE BOSS OK CO oy — —— =o + = ou a ~ : = . : a — ; he és t | if it had been a deer, _ but it was too plain to be doubted—Spring-Hee 12 ened Iam. The king said something to me to | who had fondly thought he was saving his night at kere in my ra what b area A | es oe ote posse ten of the monster, forget, about that terrible monster t _ and yet ac ye er to its assaults frighted me so much, Oh, Mr. Howard, do | without being able to be near her to protect her, you think there is any danger that he can come | He did not hear about it, luckily for his peace here?” of mind, till late in the afternoon ef iis wtieet ¢ ? ‘None in the world,” declared George posi- | day; for there were no telegraphs in those days, tively. ‘‘ I have been rou id to visit the guards, | and no req! exe and they are allin their places; besides which, the The first intimation he had was in the arrival garden is surrounded by a high brick wall, and | at the Tower of young George Howard, who no human being could get in, save by the river, | had left the place with his company and his where there isa post at the boat-house. You | brother, the day before. may. rest secure that nothing can get in.” _ orge came to him, in much agitation, to She omnes her hands, with an expression of | tell him spo 2 aps Mra a _ ee his ap, great relief. rance a é palace, the night ore, an “Oh, I am so glad to hearthat. ButIam | had been chased out. z keeping you from your duties. And I am afraid ‘* And. Rose,” asked her father, anxiously. that if Lady Balcarras should hear our voices—” | “ Did she see the villain?” The idea frightened her so much that she has- ‘*Thank Heaven, no, sir. But she heard the tily withdrew from the window; and George as | shots the sentries fired at the creature, and the auickly ‘at pe san. id he did not wish to em- | Mea Bige= —#. Sou satan ea I ed @ y way. she will need your presence eep her The window was closed, but he had the con- | from being ill from terror. As long as we can solation of seeing her kiss her hand to him | keep her from seeing the monster, it is a point through the glass, as she ive pv gy when the | gained but, had I not been on guard last night, Fire RN REE AS Ree ig Baga edge Bf peclany eben bon or ae sag 1 every- oung if he thing as ssi erp Ww Ln he Dagan bi t . | ni ah + men Son te - the fact, and Gen- room provi or the officer o e guard, and | eral Reid said to him kindly: sat down 4 Riplar to think etl his best way pe Faia you have dons, well to come to approac y Balcarras in the morning. and tell me; and you are not to blame at all for That the old lady had confounded him with | the persecution this monster had come to inflict his brother, and had applied to him the stories | on ‘my daughter. At the same time, it is very she had heard about O iver, was the most na- | strange that Rose should be selected by him for ge "rig but how should he disabuse her eaeae of A Phones, in mee ae 9 8 ereof? ot entirely so, sir,” sa orge. “ You While he was thinking of this, he began to | remember that the Duke of Norfolk was as- nod in his seat; and must have fallen asleep; | saulted, on the night after I had visited him. Spring-Heel Jack. ltt tn ee Same cua aon ‘* Well, Spring,” he said, as the man, who was now quite sober, having been deprived of liquor for two days, rose hastily and saluted. ‘ Are you tired of this sort of thing, or do you want to be tried by court-martial and flogged?” The Gypsy looked down at the floor. ‘*T suppose,” he said slowly, ‘‘that your honor’s come to release me, if ru promise to do better for the future; or your honor wouldn’t ax the question.” ‘You areright. I don’t like to see a man of your size, and 3s, lying here, when you ought to be serving the king. If you will promise to behave yourself, 1 will let you out, and you can come with me, and do regular duty at the pal- ace at Hampton Court.” Spring seemed to be touched by the kindness sbown him; for he said shamefacedly : ‘Your honor’s wery good, I'd rather go to some place where the men don’t know me; and if your honor can promise that 1 sha’n’t be tied up at the triangles, [ll try to do better for the future.” Howard nodded, ‘* | will see that you are not punished, if you will do your duty. But I want you for a special service, to-night; or I should not have come here to let you out.” He caught a sly glance that the Gypsy cast at him, from under his black brows, that reminded. him of the stare of an animal in a trap, as it sees the trapper coming to kill it ‘“‘[T’m ready to do what your honor says,” he : replied rather sullenly; *‘ but I hope your honor will remember I’m only a recruit. J don’t know what the old soldiers do,” Howard curled his lip, ‘You are not so much of a recruit as you for he woke up with a start, nearly fallen off his | There seems to be some spite against me, in the | make out, Spring. There are all the marks of chair, and, ¢ was three in the mornin x,and that the moon, which still shone through the window, was yet- ting low in the heavens. e started up and went out into the garden, to make another round among the sentries. Why he did so, he could hardly have said, for the duty he had to do was mostly formal; but he had a vague sense that he was wanted in some way, and that something was wrong. As he took his cary afters the garden, he him.” ** But how are you going to work to find out rahe about him tone of helpless despair. ‘‘It seems as if man—for he must be a man—has the skill of the evil one himself.” George shook his head. “Not altogether, sir. We have nearly laid hands on him twice now, and the way he has was challenged by sentry after sentry, and found all on the alert, so that he began to think his fear unfounded. He made the rounds; and, as he returned to host. He must know the ins and outs of , and therefore we are the more like- not a the } his room, took the way by the window from which he had last seen look forth. among the very guards that I myself belong As he drew near it, he was surprised to see a | to.” dark figure crouching under the window, inthe | ‘‘ Have you any suspicion?” asked the general shade of some shrubbery, as if to conceal itself | eagerly. ‘It seems from the way you speak, as from view. Thinking it a sneak thief or some- | if you ha thing of the sort, he ran forward to arrest the scamp, and had almost got there, when the figure rose up with a leap, and made a tremen- dous spring in the air. Asit did so, ne nized the dreaded foe that had done so mu harm to Rose already. Spring-Heel Jack had actually come to Hampton Court, and had dared the presence of pa leek ere was no mistaking the figure and the spring it made, as it was discovered, With a muttered curse and anger, the young officer rushed at the figure, and it fled as fast as oward hesitated a moment, and the general watched him nope The young man seemed as if he did not like to say what was in his mind. At last he said: “T would rather not say, general. I may be right, and I may be wrong; but the suspicion I have is one that willrequire to be, justified be- fore I utter it to another person. I will tell you at some other time what I mean.” ‘** But at least,” the old man asked, “ you will Meg me that you will do your utmost to eep the villain from further molesting my george? followed it, shouting to the sentries to | daughter?” ‘‘ fire at whatever they saw.” “You rest assured,” the young man re- In his eager excitement he had forgotten all | plied, “‘ that if any act of mine can shield Miss about disturbing the e. d from harm, it shall be performed.” .. But, run as he might, he could not overtake ; Then he rose to take his leave, adding: — the figure, which scampered across the “Tf you go down to Hampton Court, general, and ran across the line of sentries at the’end, by | Iam sure that the young lady should not be taken from thence. She is safer there than here, and I will venture my life that the ant not tempt a second visit there to- night. e Why not, sir?” ‘* Because the rd will be doubled, and a patrol will be walking in the ground all night, general. I have asked the privilege of ing guard again, without rest, and he comes it will be a bad thing for him, or I am much mis- taken.” elie y why are you not there now?” asked i the high wall. Then came the loud report of a musket, and he saw the flash of a piece of one of the sen- tries. Whether the shot took effect or not he could not tell; but it did not stop the progress of the active figure. It ran to the foot of the wall which stretched across its path, forbidding further progress in that. direction. ‘“Stop the villain! It is Spring-Heel Jack!” he cried, as he ran on. Then came two more shots, from a more dis- tant of the grounds, as the other sentries caught sight of the figure, and tried their hands if; for he heard the bullets whistle through And then—he could hardly believe his eyes ‘* Because the monster never comes in ay 8 light, and it is at night that the guard needs be doubly careful. yl have had some experience of this Spring-Heel Jack, and am the best per- son to hunt him down. You can rely on one thing, general, that if I once succeed in hunting him to his lair, it will go hard with him, if he er d( ote protien! departure, leaving th n took his , leaving the old Constable of the Tower in a state of mind in which he hardly knew what to believe, as to the pranks of the evil-disposed monster that all London feared and hated, under the name of ‘* Spring-Heel Jack.” As for Howard, his first visit, after he left the general, was paid to the -room, where he asked for John Spring, the G who had been lying there, under accusation of “ absence without leave,” for two whole days. The young officer, being in command of the , in the absence of the captain, was tted to the prisoner’s room, where he found the Gypsy stretched on a hard bench. Jack gave a bound up in the air, turned a somer- set me went over the high brick wall as if he had been a bird. . CHAPTER XVII. THE FIRST CLEW. I there had been excitement in London about the exploits of Spring-Heel Jack, when the mon- ster had assaulted the Duke of Norfolk, the news that he had actually visited Hampton Court, sent the whole city nearly crazy. The audacity of the visit, and the fact that the villain, whoever he might be, had not the “sacred presence of royalty itself,” sent a thrill of horror through the breast of every | loyal Briton. | ut perhaps the most troubled man in Lon- con, when he heard of it, was old General Reid, —_—e ee ee a ' ' ncing at the clock, saw that it | mind of the scoundrel who is playing all these | an old soldier about you; and it is because you tricks, and the fact may yet give us a clew to | are so sha that | want you. You have heard of Spring-Heel Jack, I suppose?” The question seemed puzzle Spring; for he ¢’ asked the general, in a | looked as stupid as an owl, as he answered; = ‘*T don’t know, your honor. I ain’t l’arned, ye know.” ** You don’t need to be learned to know that. All London has heard of the creature, that goes in the night, frightening feeble. women and chil- e made his appearance first at Hamp- escaped shows me that he must be aman, and stead Heath, where there are a number of your people; and I half-suspect. that some of them are in the secret. Last night he came to Ham ly to be able to find him in the end. Sucha ton Court, in the very neighborhood of the man must bein the household of the king, or | king, and I am determined to find out all about him. .I want you for my orderly to-night, to hunt this creature down, if it comes again. That will be your duty. You Gypsies are all poachers, and the like. You do most of your work in the dark, and know how to go round at night. I want you to help me to find this person. ill you do your duty?’ The Gypsy had listened attentively as the offi- cer spoke; and, when Howard had finished, he ‘“‘Tll do anything to ’elp your honor; for you're the fu’st person treated the poor Romany as if he was a brother. Ill go with your honor and Ill venture to say that this ’ere Spring-Eel Jack won’t come where we are, your honor.” ‘That is not what lwant,” said Howard. ‘I want to catch him, and not to keep him away. He will keep out of sight, till the hue and cry is over, and then he will make his anpCarance somew else, and frighten some other lady out of her senses. vee tie Reavie seem cogitating. he said slowly: ‘**Your honor seems to think that I know somm’at about this Spring-’Eel Jack.” “TI do, and I am right. This man, whoever he is, acts like a G . He can jump like a deer, and there is no Englishman who can do that against a hh 5 He first came out near the favorite place for your ple, You can a him if you want to, and Saeed you to do it. ‘* And s’pose I don’t want. to do it?” said the G , with a kind of snarl. . Then you will have to go to the triangles,” said George, coldly. The threat seemed to determine the other, for he said, with a kind of grin: ‘*Your honor “has me in a’ole, and I can’t get out. I’m game fur anythink your honor wants,” So it was settled, and the Gypsy released. CHAPTER XVIII. THE DUKE’S VISIT. THE news had gone round the town that the old Duke of Norfolk, in spite of the agitation he had suffered from the assault of Spring-Heel Jack, was able to go out in a carriage, the very next day. When Howard came to the Tower to take away the Gypsy recruit and make preparations to catch Spring-Heel Jack once more, the heay and gorgeous coach of the great nobleman, wi its e hammer-cloth on the box, and the well-known Howard coat-of-arms on the panels, was driven up to the door of the Tower of Lon- don, and the flunky got out and asked for the Constable of the Tower, sending up the card of the great duke. Genera] Reid was at that moment preparing GoOmicbooks (E()