The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 233: what you’re looking at

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

230 THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. seizing the tongs from the fire- place in his progress; ‘* you mur- dering thief of the world, [’'ve got you, have I?” The fellow did recover sufficiently to make a desperate attempt with his knife, but happily be missed Rafferty, who gave him such a ringing blow on the top of the head with the tongs that his faculties evidently became confused, and he reeled like a drunken man, uttering, as he did so, the most diabolical curses, and stabbing at the air with his knife. ‘ Aisy,” said Rafferty, ‘‘and don’t tell anybody I hit you. There you go, now.” Rafferty put out his feet and tripped him up on to the floor with a heavy fall, where he lay, apparently unable to move. All this scarcely occupied a minute in transacting, so that, although the disturbance was heard in the house, which, being an early one, was open, no one had really time to come to see what it was about. Rafferty, however, now that he had conquered his enemy, quite forgot that he was not in a presentable state; but, with the tongs in his hand, opened the door of the bedroom, and walked down into the coffee-shop, which was full of people, saving. as he made his appearance, to the woman of the house, whom he met,— “If you please, ma’am, there’s been a little bit of an action up-stairs, and a gentleman wants to be taken up.” The landlady gave a scream, which was echoed by the girl who served in the coffee-shop, while Rafferty looked at them both in amazement. : What the devil now?” he said. ‘‘I wasn’t used to be so ugly! ©. Flow dare you come down here in your shirt?” said the Jandlady. ‘Oh, murder!” said Rafferty, as he, for the first time became aware of the impropriety, and then, turning at once, be bolted up-stairs again amid a roar of laughter from some people who were in the coffee-shop, enjoying some abominable mixture which they flattered themselves was coffee. The mendicant still lay upon the floor, as if in a state of ex- haustion, but us Rafferty was putting on his own clothes, he saw the villain slowly put his hand toward the knife which he had dropped from his grasp, when he fell. ‘*Hilloa!” said Rafferty; ‘‘ jist tell me now, as we have had a fair fight, whether you surrender or not?” ‘*T surrender,” said the fellow, and, at the same instant, his eyes gleamed with satisfaction, for he thought he succeeded, unobserved, in dragging the knife toward him, with which, no doubt, reckless and desperate as he was, he wou'd have made another attack upon Rafferty had the latter not observed the treacherous movement. ‘‘Very good,” said Rafferty: ‘‘as you have surrendered, then you'll just allow me to say, | don’t allow my prisoners to be armed. Come out of that.” He walked up to him, and gave a touch with his foot to the hand which partially concealed the knife, With a shriek of comicbooks. com