The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 219: what you’re looking at

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

216 THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. the smallest young potato that was ever seen. The young lady was not Mabel, and it was all a mistake from first to last. 7 Cap-cap-captain who?” he shouted. ‘* Lovemore. ‘‘The divil! Och, murder! You ain’t you and I’m not meself. We are neither of us anybody.” “Oh, good God! you wretch! what do you mean?” said the servant. ‘‘ By Jasus! I don’t know,” said Rafferty; ‘‘ one--two—three, here goes. The divil take the hindmost.” As he spoke, away he ran, at a speed which, as the puffing shopkeepers say, ‘‘ defied all competition.” The young lady screamed, the servant accompanied her; and, finally, poor Raf- ferty sank exhausted on the door-step of a house, some two or three blocks off, in a state of mind of the most uncomfortable character. Here was a denouement to all his cleverness. He drew a long breath and wiped the perspiration from his brow. ‘* Oh, bedad,” he said. ‘‘I’ve made a pretty mess of that, anyway. It wasn’t her, after all. And the trouble I had, too —oh, murder! There’s nothing but misfortunes coming to the share of the Brolickbones, now. What’s to be done ?” Rafferty remained in deep thought for some time, and more than once it occurred to him that he ought to go and punish the milkman who had led him astray; but when he came to think how ludicrous a figure he should cut if the affair came to the ears of Captain Morton, he, with a long sigh, saw that he must give it up, and content himself with renewing his search, hav- ing now no clew at all, and no more prospect of success than just what he first started with. ‘* Kast, west, north or south,” he said, ‘‘ which way am I to go now to find Mabel ?” This was an easy question to ask, but he found it a difficult one to answer. However, as he could not stand where he was all night, he walked on in a listless mood, and not in the best of spirits. To him, likewise, it was no agreeable reflection that he had brought trouble upon the young lady whom he had mis- taken for Mabel, and who had evidently mistaken Captain Mor- ton for some other captain to whom she was attached. He did think of making an attempt of some kind to repair this error, but, probably, had he, in his Irish manner, really tried to do so, he would have made confusion worse confounded, and it was quite a mercy that he gave up the idea. ‘* Well,” he said with a sigh, ‘‘ there’s nothing to be done to- night, so I'll just find out a bed somewhere, if I can, and sleep off my disappointment. Oh, Miss Mabel, Miss Mabel, what a trouble you do give me, to be sure; and if ever I see you again, you darlint, won’t it be a happy sight for me! I won’t be after etting you go again so easy.” Rafferty did not like at such an hour to go to the lodgings which had been taken for them all, by Captain Morton, because he did not wish any one to know of his adventure; and he thought that, if now that be was out he were to remain al] comicbooks. com