Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 146: what you’re looking at

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

” LT Ree eee oe am = 144 BLUESKIN : —_ Nover since that 1.:ght when he was first introduced to the readers of this narrative, standing in the street, with clenched hands and heaving breast, povring out maledic- tions upon his master, had he passed tiia spot, and now it was not possible for him to do so without emotion. Anger yet burned fiercely in his breast as he thought of his real and imaginary wrongs, but he did not stay to give them utterance. He hurried on. The door of the “ Black Lion” was reashed. It was open and the shutters were down, but there came from within no sounds of drunken merriment or quarrel suchas might be heard in any one of the twenty- four hours. All was silent and deserted. The stillness of the placc, and the different aspect which it wore from what it had upon the other occasions when he had scen it, increased Jack’s agitation, and he was forced to cling to the door-post for support. But recovering himself by au almost superhuman effort, he staggered in. He pushed open the swinging half-glass door which was hung a few feet inside the passage. The inside of the house looked dark and dreary. No living person was in sight. He had all the inclination to call for some one, but his tongue refused to obey the mandate of his will. Well acquainted with the road as he was, he did not experience any difficulty, althonghit was so dark, in making his way into the kitchen where he had received an avowal of love from the young girl whose champion he had so strangely become. No one was there. In fact, that happened to be just the time when the least business was doing at the inn—that hour indeed, bey sLondon inall respects resembles a city of the ead. A footstep, however, soon disturbed the silence of the place, and Jack waited anxiously for it to approach. That it was nearing the kitchen he felt confident. He leant back against one of the tables, and clutched ita edges nervously with both hands. A fire still burned in the grate, and diffused a faint, ruddy light around it, and by the aid of this he saw enter the kitchen a strange apology for a human being in the shape of a servant. Dirty and ragged, with her eyes more than half-closed with sleep, she tottered in. She was maid-of-all-work to the establishment. Jack spoke. One would have thonght that the unexpected sound of a human voice would have startled her sensibilities, but, alas! that it should be go, she had no sensibilities to startle. With an anxiety of which none of the readers of this history can conceive an adequate idea, Jack asked this benighted being questions the answers to which would either set all his doubts atirest, and send a shrill of unutterable delight through his whole body, or fill him with horror, despair, and anguish. He fairly groaned aloud when he was assured that the poor, prosecuted girl had most certainly not arrived, nor been seen by any one about the place since the occasion of her last mysterious leaving of it. “Where is Johnson?’ Jack gasped, at length. ‘¢ Whore is he? I must see him. Where is he?” ‘“ A.bed !” said the servant, gruffly; ‘‘and I vallys my ’ed more ’n to go and wake him.” = oe go,” said Jack. ‘Show me his room. Where is it ?” But before the servant could reply, there was a “udden rush of footsteps in the passage. Jaok’a eyes had grown familiar to the semi-darkness in the place, and aglance showed him that those who had entered so hastily were police-officers. Then his eyes were dazzled by the broad, briy:at beam of light, which issued through the lens of a dark lantern, which was carried by one of them. ‘That's him,” cried a voice, immediately. ‘‘ Hurrah! we have him safe enough. There he is!” ‘The men, who were in number about a dozen, pre- cipitated themselves into the room as they spoke, and almost before Jack could recover from lis surprise at their first appearance. Semi wer el SE eR ™ SS Se Be coe w ee Ot fe A ROMANCE. But recovering himself instantaneously, he drew the brace of pistols he had taken from Wilkinson’s pocket, and, pointing them at the throng of officers, commanded them to draw back. At the same time he retreated further into thekitchen. with the firm resolution of selling his life dearly, and of not allowing himsclf to be captured alive. _The officers completely blocked up the doorway of tho kitchen, soit wasimpossible for him to think of making his escape from them that way. The police themselves hesitated a little when they saw Jack’s determined behaviour, and he took advantage of it to adroitly place a table between himself and them. It was kut a poor barrier, itis true, but still it was better than nothing. The hesitation of the officers, however, was but mo- mentary. One, who appeared to be in command of tho rest, gave the word for them to rush forward and secure their prisoner. They obeyed, and rushed forward in a compact body, strong enough to carry all before it. The table behind which Jack hacLintrenchud himself was overturned. Then two shots were fired. _ The report of the pistols rang out wita great effect in the confined space. The place was filled with smoke, blue and pungent, which much increased the difficulty of perceivingobjects. Some curses and groans arose, which showed that the pistols had not been discharged without doing execution. Two of tho officers had, in fact, been hit, and severely wounded. The remainder dispersed themselves about the kitchen, searching into all the corners they could find with the blades of their cutlasses, and flashing their lanterns about them. But Jack Sheppard had disappeared. CHAPTER XCIX. THE POOR WIDOW WOMAN ASSISTS JACK TO CONCEAL HIMSELF FROM HIS FOES. At the moment the officer in command gave the order for the others to charge, Jack drew back from the table, and turning round, made his way across the kitchen to whero he knew the stairs were situated. : The only chance he had of escape was to mount them before the officers were aware of it, and this, under the cover of the darkness, he was able to do. To better conceal his retreat, he had hastily aimed his pistols at the police, and pulled the triggers; then with- out waiting an instant, opened the door at the foot of the staircase, and having closed it after him as silently as he could, bounded up. Everything now would depend upon the rapidity of his movements, for he did not anticipate that the police could be long in ignorance of the way he had gone. In fact, ere he had well reaohed the first landing a loud cry from those below made him aware they already suspected the means by which he had made his exit. Fain would he have called upon Johnson for assistance, and which he made no doubt he would have been well able to afford him. But to have cried out would have been to point to his whereabouts and entail discovery, so he was altogether thrown upon his own rescources. His situation was a critical and perilous one, indeed, for though there might be many hiding-places in the building, yet he was not ma position to turn them to any advantage. He had never made an examination of ¢he upper part of the house—had, in fact, never visited it except upon one occasion, and there was no knowing how seon he might run into a corner, and be nnable to escape ‘That risk—and a fearful one it was, he wonld bave to run, and trust to good luck to befriend him. As his foes were so close behind him, he did not pause upon the first landing, but ran up the second fight of stairs. At the top were several doors. Without waiting to make choice of any, Jack put his hand upon thehandle of the first he caine to, It yielded, aud he stepped insida & roous. aN te eg = Mp emetic = Ee tae 2s Ap eR RAL EAS EAT. Ae, OE a ENT ORES: COT: Dice * In, COmIIcoooks 5}