The Skeleton Crew; Or, Wildfire Ned — page 105: what you’re looking at

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

THE SKELETON CREW; OR, WILDFIRE NED. 99 “Hold your tongue, you prating fool,’ replied Ned, angrily, “ your idle words will do more harm than good ; do you hear me say anything ?” “All right, Master, but I ain’t Wildfire Ned, you know ; I ain’t made of cast-iron.” Tim would haye added something else, but a violent jerking of the machine under his feet convinced him that they had reached the bottom. Before he had time to recover from the shock, he was seized by two or three powerful mepv, who bound his arms behind him, and led him away. They also blindfolded him, in spite of his groans ‘ for mercy, and, after dragging him along for about a hundred yards, they stopped, and, loosening the pandase from his eyes, thrust him under a vaulted arch. He was evidently far under ground, and the soil on which he stood was of a whitish colour, similar to that in a lead mine, The water was trickling down through the fissures of the rocks, and formed all around a stagnant pool, _But what struck Ned most forcibly was the singular appearance of his assassins, for as such he deemed them now to be. They were all dressed in coarse baize coats, which reached to their knees, and were fastened in front by a huge clasp. They wore leather breeches, covered by large top boots, which confined the greatest part of their legs. Each of them had a couple of double-barrelled pistols stuck in his belt, and a rough beard flowed upon their breasts, “T say, Nat!” cried one of the ruffians, “what shall we do with this black-looking scoundrel, the servant ?” : “‘Why, leave him here, to be sure,” replied the tallest of the three, “and you shall guard him, it’s your turn to be on duty to-night, and you may as well take it here, as stand at the tower; and to keep you from the cold, here’s my cloak, which will keep out the shivers, l’li warrant ye.” This said he took the arm of his companion, and left Tim, with his guard, who began to pace up and down, without exchanging a single word with the prisoner, But to return to Ned. He shared no better fate than his servant, and before he had time to use his good sword, he was bound, and ordered to march forward. He was led through the midst of five, and then into a sixth spacious apartment, dug in the earth, and lighted by a dim lamp, hanging in the centre. He was requested by one of his conductors to sit on a bench, Two of the band left the room, and the others sat near the entrance, and engaged in a whispering conversation. Ned was then left to his own reflections, which were not of a tranquillising nature. Nearly half an hour had elapsed when the two men mentioned above re-appeared beariag lighted torches and an order from the captain to see the prisoner. / Young Ned Warbeck was now fully aware that he was inacave of robbers, and he made up his mind for the worst, and marched boldly at the summons of one who seemed to be the leader of the band. | They proceeded, at a quick pace, through nume- rous vaulted arches, similar to which Ned had been confined in, and they were soon in the presence of the captain. ry He was seated at a table with a bundle of papers in his left hand, and a sword inhisright. His dress was the same as that of his followers. What distinguished him from the rest was a pair of long moustachios in addition to the beard,’and a yellow band round his waist ~ His dark glaring eyes were fixed for a moment on the countenance of the young and handsome Prisoner, who was leisurely suryeying all around im. “Unloose this young man,’ said the captain, “and stand aside.” Ned was immediately released from his bonds, and his guards took their places silently behind him. The captain spent a few minutes in conference with some of his associates. During this time young Ned had the leisure to perceive that he was mistaken in his conjectures respecting those whom he had taken for robbers ; though not of a very different avocation, they could not literally be entitled to that appellation. They were (as he plainly saw by the die, which at first had escaped his enquiring eyes, and by the heaps of blanks all ready for impression), a set of men who defraud the revenue by circulating, to the detriment of the Mint, immense quantities of base coin—in fact, they were Coiners. He knew not whether he had any right to be satisfied with the change; for, thought he, a robber will take your life rather than be detected, so would a coiner, rather than have his lawless proceedings come to light, have recourse to any means ; but then, would they have forced him, as it were, to be an eye-witness of their crimes for the sole purpose of murdering him in cold blood ? These were his thoughts, which were diverted by an appeal from the captain—to answer his purposes. “Who are you? Whatare you? and whence do you come ?” asked the captain. ‘My name is Warbeck, I am an officer in the king’s navy, and haye come from Plymouth.” “Well answered. Now, what brought you here ?” Ned Warbeck, in a few words, stated the cir- cumstances above mentioned. “Young man,” resumed the captain, ‘‘ you stand charged with having fired at one of my men; of this I will keep little or no account, it was, as you might rightly observe, in self-defence. You have proved yourself bold and worthy of your profession. Many others have been driven from the landlord’s house by the same means. “Though under very little fear of detection, as the entrance to our subterranean dwellings is known to no others but to ourselves, we have, nevertheless, thought it advisable to adopt some method of screening ourselves more effectually. ‘‘ Weresolvedto render that house uninhabitable. “ We bought it, but not being known in the neigh- bourhood, and never going out by night, and that only once a month to buy provisions, we deemed it useless, and therefore concocted the plan which you have witnessed, and which you must own requires as stout a heart as your own to withstand. “The man whom you fired at, unaccustomed to such resistance, against which, however, he was well provided, having upon him a thick steel armour and fire-arms, thoughtit necessary to entice you to the trap-door, and bring you among us with your servant com CLIOOKS an G@tn)