Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 121: what you’re looking at

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

BLUESKIN : ow ** Drink, my lord, and listen. In there are six persons acquainted with your secret! “Six persons! What” ‘Wait and hear me out. From yourself and from me you ought not to dread anything. That reduces the number to four.” “Well?” “ Blueskin, or Blake, as I believe his name was, 1s dead. You saw me strike him down with my own hand.” “1 did—I did! I shudder now when I think of that night’s work!” } “Pho—pho! That, then, reduces the number to three. Now listen, and I will tell you the situation of those three persons, and show you how powerless they are to do you any mischief. Are you listening ?” **T am.” “First, then, there is Steggs. For his fate, let :t be what it may, you cannot possibly feel any compunction. He is my prisoner. I hold his hfe in my hands. Do you fear him now ?”’ “No,” replied his lordship, shuddering, “ No.” “Of course not; and the number is reduced to two. One is Jack Sheppard, the young villain who mauled you so, and prevented your succeeding in your first attempt.” Curse him, yes! he stole my watch, too, which I would not have parted with for a hundred guineas :”’ “Ha! ha! my lord, you get the better of your fears when you think of your revenge! Itis only natural. I, too, have a score to settle with that individual! At the present moment he is a prisoner in one of the strongest eells of Newgate, charged with the commission of a burglary, which charge I can substantiate. His fute may be looked upon, then, as settled; so the six persons who hold your dangerous secret are reduced to one, and that one is a poor weak girl, also a prisoner in my power. Say, then, would it not be cowardly in the extreme to give in when all is so secured within your grasp. Am 1 to have all the trouble of bringing things to their present successful point for nothing ? You could not wish such a thing! Say but the word, and your niece shall be removed from your path by death, or if taking her life is repugnant to you, she can remain as long as you think proper in her present habitation. Or steps may be taken to induce her to sign a legal transfer of all her estates to you. But you are not equal to the task of deciding now, therefore I say let things remain as they are awhile; they can safely do so.” Twill, Wild, I will!” Lord Donmull rose as he spoke. “Oh!” he added, “if I had a mind, a heart, a head like yours, I should be happy.” “‘ Shake off your groundless fears! Seek change of scene, do anything to keep this from your recollection, until, feeling calmer, you can return to me, decide what is to be done, and the matter will be then entirely settled.” TJ will! I am much better and firmer now. Good day, Wild, good day.” ‘Good day!” replied Wild, as he showed him out. ‘“‘The weak-headed fool!” he added, mentally, “‘ but he ' deserves to perish, and perhaps it is better as itis. My path may be all the easier and smoother forit. I must have a few hours quiet thought before I shall be able to decide upon the best mode of action. But the estates shall be mine, wholly mine! I swear it! I will then quit this mode of life, for Iam getting sick of it, andif I am not careful the government, whose ready and unscru- pulous agent I have for so long been, will turn against me, and i shall perish! But I will guard against such a contingency as that, for with such wealth as I should then possess I should be able to defy them all. I will think—I will think.” Jonathan seated himself at the table, and, clasping his head in his hands, he gave himself up to profound and lengthened thought, and took a survey of his present and future prospects. CHAPTER LXXXI. JONATHAN WILD PROCEEDS TO EXECUTE A FOULER CRIME THAN ANY OF WHICH HE HAS YET BEEN GUILTY. IT is night in Jonathan Wild’s house in Newgate-street From no window in that wretched habitation beams forth the faintest ray of light. All is as dark and cheer- had as the minds of the poor prisoners who languish in his cells. " Including our two selves Cad Rg, aE EF OO 55 nsec A ROMANCE. men aang The oil lamp in the hall is burning dimly. It casts | | around it strange, oddly-shaped, moving shadows, such ag would fill the nervous with alarm. Tonks is on the lock. - Ife is not actually asleep, but in a half conscious state, from which the least sound or motion would be sufficient to arouse him. At the iron grating leading to the cells is, as usual, seated another of the gang. Down the dark staircase which creaks beneath his tread 'eomes a human form. His steps are stealthy, but the two men on the watch hear them, and are on the alert accordingly. The dark figure finishes the descent of the stairs, and stands in the gloomy hall. The iron lamp gives out sufficient light to reveal him plainly, and one ray im particular falls upon the face— that face which it would be impossible to mistake. Jonathan Wild. He sees ‘Tonks is awake, and turning to the man at tha grating, finds him awake also. ‘A lantern,” he said to the latter, * quick!” The man took from under the seat upon which he sat a lighted bull’s-eye lantern, which he gave into his employer’s and. Then he unlocked the grating, and held it open to allow him to pass through. Wild’s errand was to the cells. But why did he choose that lone and silent honr of the night to execute it ? That was best known to himself. For certain is it a villainy of no ordinary kind that he meditates ; for us he creeps along the corridor, his limbs tremble, and he difficultly draws his breath in short unequal gasps. ee cell in which Steggs is confined his destina- tion No, for in his progress the light falls upon the door of No. 7; not there does he pause, but keeps on and on until the middle of the passage where the lamp hung 1s reached. There he stops. All around him is very still. Without any great effort of the imagination, he could fancy himself the sole inhabi- tant of some subterranean city of the dead. He can hear his own breathing, and the rapid and irregular beating of his own heart. e takes from his pocket a rather large-sized key, and, holding it in his grasp, approaches one of the cell doors with it. His hands shake. The key rattles in the keyhole. The lantern casts strange moving shadows on the walls. The tremulous motion of Jonathan’s hands gradually communicates itself over his whole body, and he trembles from head to foot. What can it be that bold bad man is about to do? Surely one would think there was no crime or evil deed, the commission of which would produce such an effect upon him. : But that such was the case there was abundant evi- ence. From this it must be certain that the guilt is of more than ordinary blackness. At length, after some fruitless efforts, he controlled his nervous agitation, and succeeded in introducing the key mto the lock. The bolt was shot back. The door flung open. Then a faint ery of affright and aversion reaches his ears from the interior of the cell. The voice was feminine. The cell which he thus entered, then, at that dead hour of the night was the one in which Edgworth Bess was confined. Jonathan, casting from him all remnants of human nature, then strode into the cell. He placed the lantern on a little bracket high up in the wall, in such a position that its light was tolerably well diffused about the dungeon. Edgworth Bess had upon his entrance risen to her feet, and shrank back as far as she could into one corner of the cell. SN eee need Ly oie COmiIcboooks (SO) 5}