The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 235: what you’re looking at

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

282 THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. low away now, quiet and aisy, you’ll be hung some fine morn- ing as sure as you are a fool.” “Oh, d n all the world,” said the officer. ‘‘ Get up, will you, get up.” He laid hold of the mendicant by the collar, and dragged him to his feet, and then, half-dressed as he was, he took him away, in by no means an amiable mood, or one which induced him to show any indulgences en route to the fellow, who, if he had caught him himself, would certainly have been a ie fifty younds in his pocket, besides a hundred pounds which not two ours before Captain Morton had made up his mind to pay to whoever should succeed in capturing the fellow who had caused him and all that was dear to him such a world of anxiety and pain. Upon the whole, now, Rafferty, when he came to review his adventures for the last twelve hours, had every reason to be well enough satisfied with them, although he had failed in his prin- cipal object, namely, the getting possession of information that would restore Mabel to her friends. ‘‘T have caught that blackguard,” he said, ‘‘ at any rate; and he won't get away again quite so easy, I’m thinking.” Rafferty was right enough there; for a prisoner who has once made an escape is, when caught again, looked to rather care- fully, so that now we may consider the mendicant is at Jength fairly in the hands of justice. And now Rafferty, as he walked homeward, began to turn over in his mind what the officer had said about Mabel; for it will be remembered that as yet he was in the same ignorance which Captain Morton had, by so singular a coincidence of cir- cumstances, remained in concerning all that had happened to Mahel, so as to bring her into any connection with the police. ‘“ What the devil did he say?” thought Rafferty, as he arrived at the door of Captain Morton’s lodgings. It was a very early hour indeed when Rafferty thus reached what might be temporarily called his home. In answer to his inquiries, he was told that the captain was not up, so he con- gratulated himself that he should be sure to see him the first thing, to tell him of the capture of the mendicant. But as that even was not a piece of information which he, Rafferty, con- sidered to be of sufficient importance to warrant him in disturb- ing his master’s slumbers, he went to his own bedroom. “ T'll just lay myself down,” said Rafferty, ‘‘ and finish off my night's sleep that was so disturbed by. that blackguard with his long knife, and by that time the captain and Mr. Henry will be up and stirring, and I can tell them all about it, barring how I was took in about the young lady that ought to have been Mabel, but wasn’t, poor thing, more misfortune to her.” With this resolve, Rafferty lay down in his clothes just as he was, and soon fell off into a sleep so profound. that it was an exceedingly doubtful case, indeed, if he should awake in any- thing like time to tell the captain before he went out what had occurred. Now Rafferty would probably have been awakened, but that comicbooks. com