The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 238: what you’re looking at

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

939 THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI’S YOUNG CAPTAIN. i @Of-course, Who'd ‘suspect us?” “ Well, no one, I should suppose.” f “'That’s the real trick, my lad,”’ said the rustic ; ‘‘we are gentlemen abroad, and cut as fine a dash about'the Haymarket as any nob in London.” For a moment Warner seemed astonished, -The rustic: laughed as he continued: ‘You know enough of us, then, for the present’; and now what I4want you to do is to make your way by railway as fast as you can to Weedon, and at the station call for a leather trunk with ‘8, T. 5.’ painted on’ the side,’ ‘It is quite new, and’ has two | brass locks. ‘Ifthey’ want to ‘know your name; give ‘any you ‘like; . There’ will ‘be no diffieulty about the matter, for it is directed to be left until called for.” 10 | . ‘‘T suppose it is ‘swag ’?” said Warner, smiling. SANS Tats”? Dio 3 ¥ VOT . wand whatam I'to'do with'it?” ia 19, “Are you well acquainted with the ‘ Lane”??2”" “Well, yes—a little—not’ much,” said ‘Warner, With an @irsof dignity, 28 fo) yon) S “Oh, you needn't feel too proud,’ said the rustic; with a smile; “there’s much better men than you or’ I who have visited that place.” dg “Te may be.o: But why do you ask ?’" ‘ op co Pake'thetronk with yon in a cab, and be ‘at Aldgate church to-morrow night as’ the'clock strikes nines o1f you arepunctual to ‘time an old‘gentle- man will poké‘his{head: into: the ‘cab; and'say, 8. T. S$); “your-answer will be, 0. K.°°The person I speak of will then conduct you' to‘a’néat, genteél fence the) money ‘he gives’you, you ‘will bring. ‘back’ to me,” ee “And what kiiid ofa person ‘ig he?” Ot iicAn old Jew: (We call him Moss, for shorts a élever old fellow; and-has ‘been out with @ ticket of leave ‘forthe last four years, ‘His hair/is long and grey ; his whiskers, beard, and moustache, lon#and untrimmed, He is rather shabbily dressed,’ but wears 2 Costly diamond ring ‘on the little finger’ of his right hand, /If he doesn’t wear the ring; don’t leave the trunk, for it isa sign how the wind blows?’ 1onw .190184/ 28 9 a 4 With these directions Warner prepared to. go!" ca But erefhe went ‘he was“introduced to several of the ‘gangowho liad been con¢ealed in various under: ground apartments; *and, ‘after having had his wound roughly dressed, he left the cottage ‘pro- vided with'money and all’ things necessary for his He was accompanied by the chief of the gang for a long’ distance until they came to a village several miles nearer to London’than Bromley; “You are now togged up,” said lis guide ; “ good= night. station as fast as you can.’ In four days at the farthest let me see you back again.”’ Jf All wight,” said Warner; : They shook hands and parted, 13 ob Warher' procured a'tvap at the:village, andj‘after driving:about ten miles at a rapid rate, he arrived at a small country station, . He:wished:to take ‘a first-class! ‘ticket for the éx- press train, but, as that did not stop there, he had to wait an hour and got into the mail for London.” Now, this was the veryrailroad line upon which Jonathanoand Plint vyhad »met with! the terrible accident recorded in ahother chapter, | But of this Waroce knew no more than the rail: way Officials, for all the telegraph wires had ‘been blown down by that storm. Is - Into the!traim Warner hobbled as’ best’ he could ‘with ‘this wounded: leg, and ere long was whizzing along at a rapid rate towards London, LBiO 12 AU ET et eee aa aa TS 0090909909099 989099 = Go and hire a trap, and get to the nearest — For miles ‘they’ dashed along, but, ere many minutes, they reached a curve in the line just before | they’ came.to the long tunnel. ’ a As they were rattling along, unconsious of any harm or danger, they suddenly saw in the far dis- tance many lights and lanterns flitting to and fro. This unusual sight im the darkness and fog alarmed the engine-driver, who instanly shut off the steam and put on the breaks.. L 290} “The nearer they approached the tunnel: the more discordant and noisy became the sounds. Shouts of warning were heard on every side, and men, half frantic, waved their arms and hats like lunatics, . Fortunately the engine stopped just at the edge of the tunnel, when a number of excited persons rushed forward. and told the sad tale of the collision, | e, | eae ’ ‘Trafic was stopped at both ends of the tunnel, but inside’ of ‘it'all was noise and lamentation. — * Those who had not ‘been injured were assisting those who had, and’ dead bodies were being brought out one after another, in dismal processicn. a All ‘along ‘the bankside of the railway lay maimed persons groaning and moaning. . The train in which Warner had cOme was soon emptied of its travellers, and filled’ with the dead and wounded. © © re, oe ' All'this bad occurred because the telegraph wires had been rendered useless by the storm. ’ “ Hillo, what does all this mean?” said Warner, to a bystander, © ze | — “Mean,” was the reply, “why the express has run into a train in the ‘tunnel and smashed it. A ‘despatch’ engine coming close afterwards, ran into the express, and “there are scores of passengers killed and wounded.” aod» | a _ Warner did not at first recognise the speaker, but in a moment afterwards saw he was a policeman. ' He hastily moved away, and mingled with the crowd, for in his guilty soul he hated an officer of justice. | ‘“‘ Here comes another,”’ said a bystander. “What another bobby ?” was the answer. “Yes, that makes two dead ‘uns as have been dragged out,” ~~” . ‘How comes it so many policemen have been killed?” asked Warner of a workman. “They say the ‘despatch’ engine was sent after the express to overtake it, in order to capture two noted villains, who were running away.” _ | ‘Oh, I see; and did ‘you hear their names?” “No, sir; but I heard one of the officers who escaped say that one of them was an old lawyer, and t’other a schoolmaster, or something of that sort,”’ “Tt must be Jonathan and Flint,” thought Warner, “I wonder if the two old villains have been killed,” ~He had not long to remain in doubt. As he moved about in the darkness, he suddenly espied the tall, lanky form of Jonathan, who was limping away as if shunning the look of every one he met: Behind him crawled the bent-up figure of Flint, who tottered as if shaken in every limb. : They slunk away in the darkness, and, as best they could, clambered over the railings into an adjacent field, and sat’ down under‘a hedge. _ “ How lucky,” thought Warner ; “T’ll follow and listen to what they have got to say.” | While intending to xXct thus) he was suddenly slapped ‘on the shoulder by a Constable, who said to another close by— °° bia Do : ‘This is the man, sergeant.” . ———- | GComichoo