Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 332 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

| 1 98 RS ewe eek eS Se See i = . > ra” es ~~ . . ~ =. SFE aE Be 7 PT Sees SL So See _———e ae ee = ——— ee ee --—_- --- _— oer 8 come in to have a game of chess in the even- ing,” Howard, with all the eagerness of a lover to catch at straws in his favor, accepted the tacit invitation and came there in the evening, hoping, after what was really a penitential ame with the father, to get a glimpse of the aughter. In this he was not disappointed; for the first person he saw, when he entered the room of the commandant, that evening, was the face of Rose, looking pale, as if she had not been well, but with a slight, happy smile on it, that told him a good deal. The old general was remarkably cordial in his manner, and treated him as if nothing had hap- pened to disturb their relations; but he insisted on tying him down closely to his game. George did not dare to let his attention wan- der; for the general was testy, and detected any signs of want of skill, as well as attention. inally the young officer got interested, in spite of himself, in one game, wherein he got the best of the general, who was a very superior player as a rule, and actually forgot all about the presence of the young lady, who was seated by the table, with her fancy work, till he was able to say the important words *‘ check-mate ” to the discomfiture of the old general, who said, as he pushed away the table: ” Mr. Howard, you have improved wonder- fully, since you came to the Tower. In a little while, if you will only pay attention to the position of all your pieces, you might venture to play with a stranger in India; and that, I can assure you, is not what every man can do, Rose, my love, suppose you give us some tea.” George, much relieved at the close of the game, for the strain on his mind to beat the wary old general was by no means light, had his first opportunity, that evening, to take a good look at Rose, as she rung the bell for the ser- vant. He thought she looked as if she had suffered from the terror of the night when such a singu- lar accident had happened to her, and he a strong desire to ask about it, but did not dare. It was the young lady herself who relieved him, presently, by ple) ‘* Have you heard anything about that mon- ster they call Spring-Heel Jack, Mr. Howard?” The old general started slightly, and said, ina nervous way: ‘* Now, Rose, Rose, don’t you remember that Dr. Tatham positively interdicted any mention of that?” **T know it, sir,” she answered; ‘‘ but the doc- tor does not know Meh iver] and he cannot tell how I am tormented with curiosity. If I could ar learn something about it, and not be compelled to nurse my own fancies, [ should be less frightened than I am.” ‘But Howard doesn’t know anything about it,” the general interrupted her, in the same nervous way. ‘‘If he did, he would tell me, and he hasn’t.” George looked at the young lady, and then at her father, and, seeing that the old man did not forbid him to speak, said: ‘* There is no news, Miss Reid, save what you have probably heard already.” ‘*¢ And what is that?” she asked, with vivacity. ** Papa did not tell me anything.” The old general shrugged his shoulders, in an- swer to the inquiring look of George. -“ Tell her about it,” he said. ‘‘ Tatham says that anything is better than letting her brood over the matter.” ‘¢ There is only this tosay,” said George; ‘‘ that the man who is doing all this, attacked the Duke of Norfolk, in his own edhe last night. The police are after it, and I hope they will find out something; for the whole affair is a disgrace to them. To think that one man can defy the whole of London in this way and make his es- cape so often! it is a shame.’ e young lady shuddered. “But are you sure that it is a man?” she asked in a low voice. ‘‘To me it seemed more like a wild beast of some kind. No, father, you cannot silence me. I must talk about it. ou don’t know anything about what happened to me on that night, when you found me in the ory. yah | dont want to know,” said her father hasti- ly. ‘' That is—Tatham gave strict orders that ou were not to excite yourself; and the story is sure to excite you. Please try not to think of it at all.” ‘* But I must think of it,” she retorted sha ly. ‘I cannot get it out of my mind; and it is better to speak out and share it with you, than to keep it to myself, and go mad, thinking it may come again.” “That it s never do,” said George How- ardearnestly. ‘‘I will give my life to defend ou from any such visitation.” She looked at him gravely. “‘T think you would, and so would my father; but what are we to do, suppose that he were to oem to me, when you were neither of you near me ““Then you must not go away from us,” the old ral interposed anxiously. ‘* Promise me, , that you will never go where you can- not summon help, as soon as you see anything ge. Spring-Heel Jack. ‘‘T will do that,” she said, with a slight shud- der. ‘‘ There is no fear that I shall be venture- some, after what I saw. Oh, it was fearful! I | once down the corridor and vanished in a dark place beyond the stairs to the Armory. was alone in the Armory, and the lamp was Hindoo was too much relieved at the departure swinging from the ceiling, when the thing sud- | denly made a spring from the back of the charger, and came cere, great ape. It seemed as if came, and it cast its hair then I must have fainted. could not stir, as it arms round me, and toward me, like a |. I remember trying | of the unwelcome guest to dare to chase it any further than to get rid of it, At that very moment they had heard the bell ring for tea, and Suryia had implored Chundoo not tolet Miss Rose know what had happened. That was ail the story they had to tell, and it to scream, and the sound seemed to be smoth- | left George in a state of perplexity that render- ered in my throat; and after that I saw noth- | ed him uncertain what to do. ing, till you were all round me, and I was in my own room.” Howard listened attentively. The figure seen by Rose was evidently not the same he had seen himself; for she spoke of it as ‘‘a great ape.” The girl, for a few moments, was so much overcome by the recollection of the horrible | sight she had seen, that she trembled violently ; but, after a little, she recovered her calmness, and asked Howard: ‘** Was that the way it appeared to you?” He was about to answer, when they were in- terrupted by the arrival of Chundoo, who came in, bearing the tea-tray, and set it down by them, his black eyes rolling from one to the other, in a way that attracted his master’s at- tention, for he asked: ‘What is the matter, Chundoo? Has any- thing frightened you?” Chundoo tried to salaam in his usual manner, but the rollin teeth chatte tress and answered: ** Not’ing, sahib, not’ing, not’ing.” George Howard saw that somnbthiag had hap- ned, and connected it, in a moment, with ose and the reappearance of the monster. He | The officer of the guard that night was an old | comrade of his in the regiment, named Stanley, and his first thought was that Stanley ought to know the facts and make a thorough search in the building, in which he felt confident that _ the person who had played them so many tricks _ must still be concealed. He did not dare to tell General Reid yet, for | fear thatit might get to the ears of his daughter, _and drive her into a fresh fit of terror. Hastily telling the two frightened Hindoos not to say anything about what had happen- ed, but to keep the door locked, Howard | wor down to the guard-room which he found | quiet. _ The men not on guard were sleeping on their benches in the guard-room, and Stanley had gone to his own room to lie down, the duty in the Tower not being arduous, at any time. The sentry at the door told him where to find Stanley, and he went in and awakened the of his eyes increased, and his | officer, who at first was inclined to resent being as he glanced at his young mis- | disturbed by one not on duty for the night. As soon as he heard that ‘‘ Spring-Heel Jack,” as the monster was generally called, had e his appearance again, in the very midst of the | Tower, he was a enough to make a search, and the first thing they did was to call eut the saw that Chnndoo was making great efforts to | guard and bring up the prisoners to be looked keep down his terror, on account of the youn lady, and he had much respect for the self-contro of the Hindoo, who was naturally very timid. He made a signal to General old gentleman understood and asked no further questions; the more so as he saw that his daugh- ter had caught sight of Chundoo’s face, and was beginning to tremble again. oward tried his best to turn the conversa- tion on other things by referring to the game which he and the general had been playing, and making a comment on the last move, which had given him the victory over the well-laid scheme of his veteran adversary. The ruse succeeded, as far as the general was concerned; for he was ready, at all times, to talk chess with any one, and Howard managed to get Rose into the conversation, by appealing to her on a point in dispute between them. Chundoo had time to get out of the room, and so take out of the range of her observation his visible terror. Then she poured out the tea, and the conversation grew animated, till the time came for the young man to take his de- parture. When he rose to go, the old general had for- gotten all about Chundoo’s queer behavior; and the young officer was not in the corridor, and the door of the Constable’s apartments closed, before he saw Chundoo again. Then the Hindoo came toward him, with every mark of terror on his brown face, from where he had been hiding in a corner of the corridor, and whispered to him: ‘* Oh, sahib, debbil come again !” CHAPTER XI. THE THIRD VISIT. ‘¢ Where did you see it?” asked Howard. Chundoo pointed to the end of the corridor, on which George knew that the room of Miss Reid opened. ‘* Suryia see it, sahib,” he whispered. ‘‘ Come in—frighten her to death.” ‘‘Come with me,” said the young officer, ulate ‘‘ We will see what has happened. Is yt fe able to speak?” Chundoo nodded vehemently. ‘* Yes, sahib. Me fight for Missy Rose. Me drive him away.” George followed him to the place where he had indicated, and found the ayah, crouching in a corner of her mistress’s room, quaking with fear but able to give him some account of what had — t seemed that she was chatting with Chun- doo, when they heard a noise at the door and went to open it, when they had been confront- ed by a man in the dress of an officer, with a long military cloak over his uniform. Supposing it to be the officer of the guard, who wished to ask some question of the com- mandant, and who had got to the wrong place, Suryia began to speak to him, telling him where to go, when he had suddenly caught her round the neck, and breathed a flame of fire in her face, at which she was so much frightened that she gave a scream and dropped on the floor. Then Chundoo, rendered desperate at the ap- rance of the stranger, and thinking him to the devil that had frightened them all so much, yet had the courage to catch up a sword s as a razor which hung on the wall, with ! i a fairly, and made a thrust at it, which would at. These were found all right; and the G sy, who had been locked up, was fast asleep, en id, which the | he was wakened and ordered to stand up, he growled a good deal, but obeyed, and stood swaying to and fro, in a way that showed he had not yet recovered from the spree, on which he had been all day. The prisoners i cted, the two officers—for George accompanied Stanley in the search—pro- ceeded to make a tour round all the places in the huge building, in which it was possible for a man to be secreted. Especially, they went down the narrow pas- sage, at the end of which, Chundoo insisted, the thing he saw had disappeared, The corridor was long, and extended from one end of the building to the other, and they knew that at the other end away from the Constable’s apartments, was a door, which opened’ on the moat, and was kept locked at all times. Nevertheless this door was found unlocked, and they came to the conclusion that the person who had been playing ghost, that night, had gone out of that door. This made it peey certain that he must bean intimate of the Tower itself; but how he had got out still remained a mystery. Howard had told the man to bring lanterns, and he held one out over the glittering waters of the moat, which spread some twenty feet below the little postern door, _ The moat was too oroad to be leaped by any human being; for it stretched twenty-five feet from bank to bank, but it seemed that the per- son who had left by the door must have crossed it in some way, for there was no sign of him to be seen. On the other side of the moat was a flat, paved xtending to the Tower stairs, and Stan- space, ley whispered: ‘‘ By Jove, Howard, the fellow must have gone that way or none, If he hasn’t, he is still in the building.” The words were hardly uttered, when they heard a violent shriek behind them, and the whole party started and turned round, to go poor the place whence the shriek pro- Howard was full of fear, for he had recog- nized the voice of Rose. He drew his sword and ran back as fast as he could to the rooms of the old Constable, when he was met, in the corridor, by the very fi that had terrified them all so much, when they en- countered it in the Armory. . It came leaping and running swiftly alon the ge, silent as ever, and Howard met i have killed any man in the world, had the thrust taken effect. ; He was so excited, however, that he missed his aim, the figure dodging to one side with a dexterity that was wom ul, and the next mo- ment it was in the midst of the soldiers, leaping in the air over the heads of some, and running at others, whom it knocked down in its passage. The men were not so full of superstitious fear as they had been before; but they were clumsy and confused by the sudden apparition, and the strange being actually got through the midst of them all, and started for the postern door, pur- sued by the whole crowd. It ran with remarkable swiftness, and out- which he rushed at the stranger, who fled at stripped them all on its way to the poste There was no sentry ‘n that direction, and the - COMmicbooks.com “