The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 205: what you’re looking at

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

Woe ee a a EE THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI'S XOUNG CAPTAIN. 6c Yes.’ 9 © How did it happen ?” 0” * When?” . ae ‘nn “Well; Tl tell you. ‘« Several weeks after that, when I had got rid of my black eyes, and the bumps _ on my: head had disappeared, I felt as.gay as alark, for all the ladies around Crema sent me; presents, because t ey, said i must be very braye, and good, for I had fonght with the devil himself, and had come off victorious, ‘Presents of all kinds came flowing in upon me, and’ a8 ‘there “was a” grand™ ‘bal ‘masque to come off ina féw days; Iwas’ invited by an old noble- man who had heard my story!’ ~» ‘‘* You need not provide yourself with any dress,’ said the old ‘Italian,’ ‘for I have Bete suits which will prove suitablé” “All life and joy, I went to his’ house, here the masque was to take place, and, as dancing’did not commence’in earnest until about ten o’clock,»I Bat at dinner longer than usual, and: amused: them very much with stories about the Boy Volunteers; and particularly with my terrible adventure walt the Black Spectre of the Ruins, iad rt “* Tm glad to hear you are such a oe fellow,’ said the old noble, with a smile, and, in ascon- fidential, whisper, added, ‘There is an old room in this mansion which is haunted, ; “* Ts there ?' said I, by no means relishing: the idea of meeting with any more'ghésts or spectres, “< ‘Yes,’ sdidshe, ‘and, as babe ‘seem. to ‘have: 'the power of expelling evil, spirits,:I should much like that you would try and find out all. about this mystery in the house ; if you succeed, I will bestow upon you anything you name.*s ef > ‘““Now, as he was: rich, and had very pretty daughters, I made up my mind to:face the ee himeelf i in order to marry one of them,» “ But, just as Thad’ made up my mind, I ae hear a dismal echoy which sald more than pnd, * ‘“* We shall meet again.’ | “T drank deeply .of wine, ands Aan half -past nine the old noble conducted me to!a room where I could exchange my: Ben dart s dress for a retusa suit, La “€ He opened the door, and I entered “¢ You will find plenty. of clothes in that box,’ said he. +'Help yourself, and: Ko Bol) be es ere you join in the daneet?>!y. -9} so *SBut about this haunted room r said I. “*< There will be plenty of ‘time to see into that little matter after supper,’ said he, and left me; “ Directly he. had gone the door’ closed with a sharp crack as if a. spring had snapped. ‘I. did not take any notice of this, at the time, and began to prepare myself for the, bal masque. sett The old oak chest the nobleman pointed out to me contained splendid suits of all kinds; sizes and colour. “TI selected the gayest-looking, and dressed myself with great care, for, as I was the ‘lion’ of the evening, I wished. to make as great an im- pression as I could upon the fair dames present. “T never did so before, but on this occasion I powdered and brushed, and did everything I could to make myself good- looking. te ““A very difficult task) I should think,” Bae Master Buttons; grinning. Fatty looked fierce for a moment, and then pro- ceeded. ““{ had been fully an hour over my toilet, and as I stood before the glass admiring’ myself, I came to the conclusion that there could not be a finer fellow anywhere than I should prove to be in the ball-room, iio Tt 199 el danced about the room, trying all my best ‘steps’ and * graces,’ and — yet" pprngring ‘said loudly in‘my ear> ~~ - .. ‘Pets ‘<¢ We shall meet again |’ T Yaughed off this_ thought, and was about to look into the old chest again for a splendid silken scart T wished to wear, when, judge of my horror and amazement; there. s] rung out of the box ‘a living skeleton | (See Cut'in No. 23.) “E would. have SROs with horror, but could Vy rindeemied “My tongue ‘was dumb, are my knees shook almost from underme, ~ “ +‘ We have met again |’ tanned the skeleton. , “And in’ an instant he was beside me, and whirled me round and round the room in a fast an furious waltz. “What to do or what to say I knew not.. ““ Judge of my intense horror to be dancing madly round and round in the embrace of a skeleton! Ts “Twas moré dead than alive.” “JT should like to have fainted, but I could not. “Before I could ‘recover my senses, the skeleton whipped a long red cloak out. of the chest, atid put it on, “He next found a plumed hat and a black mask, — “This he also aii on, and, suddenly seizing me by the arm, touched’a secret spring, as The door opened, and ‘we; both went forth from the apartment arm-in-arm. ~ “Tt seemed to me that’ I was dreaming. “ But it was not so; for, whenever I felt weak in the’ legs, the skéleton gave me such a pinch in the ‘arm’ or thigh with his Jong, bony fingers, as made me wince ‘again’ with pain. ~ ~ « Arm-in-arm ‘we went down the ‘grand stair- case. ; The band was playing delicious music. ©The servants‘flung “wide the the folding- doors, as, with a loud tone, they announced, “Signor Toni Waddledooki |’ “ At any other time,I should have felt proud, but at that moment I would have given worlds not to have heard the sound of my own name, “The skeleton, disguised as he was, still clung to my arm until we got intothe centre of the room, where we were’ met by the old nobleman and a large crowd of ladies. >) “© Allow me.to introduce to you, ladies,’ said the old nobleman, smiling blandly, ‘ allow me to intro- duce to you the brave hero of the Black Spectre of the Ruins.’ ~ “TJ bowed sadly, and would have said something ; : but the bony gentleman beside me gaye me such a pinch that'I fairly groaned with agony. ~ “*'And who is your friend i in the red cloak 64 said the old nobleman, ~ “Before I’ could answer him, the skeleton stranger threw off all disguise, and appeared in his true form before them. ‘“ Loud scréams from the ladies followed. “Some fainted ; others dashed madly from the room. “The musicians jumped out of the orchestra, trampling on each other, and breaking all their instruments in the wild confusion: ~~ ~* ‘‘The gas was turned off: * Al was pitch darkness. “Phe mansion was in a terrible uproar from top to bottom. ‘Old ladies and Pentieie tumbled over each other in getting down statrs. “The footmen, cdoks, and other servants rushed about madly hither and thither. we? exe ~~ GComichoo <S CO im