Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 197: what you’re looking at

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

eee reer vor Wa BLUESKIN: A ROMANCE. a ec ne” a ee pues gh to assure him of this beyond all possibility of eubt. In vain, as we have seen, did be endeavour to frame aome hypothesis that would account for this most unparal- leled circumstance. He was completely baffled. As a last hope, he had caused a thorough search to be made of all the boats lying at their moorings, but that search did not result in the discovery of the object which he sought. Quite defeated, he had left the spot. But though this remained so inexplicable to the thief- taker, it will not to our readers. , Incomprehensible as it secmed, it In reality was about the simplest thing in the world. . Blueskin reached the boats. The first one to which he came was a huge, clumsy vessel, built more with a view to transporting heavy burdens than for swiftness. He had made a tremendous effort to reach these boats. Té had been almost beyond him, but he managed it. He knew that was the sole chance he had of escaping from a dreadful death. But he weuld have failed, certainly, had they been ten yards further off than they were. He swam behind this boat. His foe was no lenger in sight. Now was the chance. The faint morning light that fell upon the bosom of the river Thames showed him the thick iron chain by which the boat was moored. He clutched it tightly. Then, straining his powers to the utmost, he drew him- self up it, and rolled over the edge into the boat. What it was he fell upon he could not for a moment think. It was soft. But his doubts were quickly put to rest; for, by the morgen of it and a faint cry, he knew it was a human eing. In fact, if was the man who had been set to watch the boat during the night. But, wearied out with his lonely vigil, he had, just as the dawn began to show itself in the sky, laid down and fallen asleep. Of course, the shock of Blueskin falling upon him aroused him from his slumber. But ere he could give an alarm, a hand was pressed tightly over his mouth. Then, with the suddenness almost of a lightning flash, there darted across Blueskin’s mind the thought that this man mig'st aid him in making his escape. No soeuer did the idea occur to him than he proceeded * to put it into execution. Seizing the only partially-conscious man in his powerful grasp, he forced him over the side of the boat, and let him slip into the water. This he was careful to do quietly, so that there was no splash made whatever. “Swim for your life!’’ said Blueskin, in a suppressed whisper; “swim for your life! Utter the least cry, and I Wg send a bullet through your skull! Swim off for your Lae The half-bewildered man obeyed. Eagerly did he watch his progress. Away—away he went, and then Blueskin heard the roar which Jonathan gave when, as he imagined, he saw his prey swimming towards him. Then followed the pistol shot. For an instant—or, perhaps, not so long—Blueskin was undecided hew to act. He did not know how far the stratagem he had put into practice would prove successful, nor how long the deception under which Jonathan laboured would continue. Should he remain where he was in the boat, and either personate the man he had in so summary a manner ejected, or conceal himself within it? Or should he commit himself again to the river, and swim ashore ? This latter he had an opportunity now of doing. It would be, perhaps, the safest, so he resolved to try it. With the greatest speed, therefore, he lowered himself over the boatside into the water. But when he entered it, he found his strength was much SO a LY a PR OE Po, aD. 2 diminished, and, short as the distance was which intervened between him and the shore, he was filled with dread that he should find himself incompetent to reach it. Still, having met with so much success as he hec dons hitherto, he felt himself stimulated to make the attempt. When the mind is firmly fixed upon any object, it is very rarely indeed that it is not attained, and so 1t was in the present instance with Blueskin. Undetected by any one, he wound his way among the vessels, for so close were they together, and so black the shadew that they cast, that 1t weuld have needed a very keen eye to have discovered him. The shore was reached just at the moment Jonathan arrived at the first of the moored vessels, and caused the search te be made. The tide, as we have before mentioned, was running out, and had now about reached the turn, consequently, Blueskin had to scramble through a quantity of thick, black, oozy mud. AltLough he knew his strength was ebbing from him every moment, still he toiled manfully on, and at last had the satisfaction of fairly reaching dry ground. He was then compelled to lie down at full length, for his exhaustion was so great that he could proceed no further. The activity, however, with which the search of the vessels was being carried on, warned iim to remove as quickly as he could, for fear lest, after all, he should be taken. Scrambling, therefore, with no little difficulty to his feet, he staggered rather than walked along a narrow thoroughfare, bordered on each side by tall warehouses. Anuxiously did he look up and down to the right and to the left, for a friendly hght which would indicate a place where he would be able to obtain shelter, but no such met his view. Still he went on. Every now and then he was forced to clutch the sides of the buildings by which he passed, in order to prevent him- self from falling heavily to the ground. At length hoe reached a place where a narrow street branched off from the one he was traversing. The buildings in it were low and squalid. But this he did not notice. There was something else which attracted the whole of his attention. CHAPTER CXXXV. BLUESKIN INCURS GREAT PERIL IN THE LODGING-HOUSE IN SOUTHWARK, AND HAS TO FIGHT HARD FOR LIFE. AxsouT twenty paces down the street was a dimly-burning oil-lamp, which, from its position, was evidently sus- pended from a bracket before the door of one of the dwellings. This seemed to point to a place where he would be able to obtain rest and shelter, the two things of which he stood so much in need. Whereabouts he was, or what was the name of the street, he had no idea whatever, and, as he just then felt, this was a thing not likely to much trouble him. Taking every step with greater difficulty than its pre- decessor, he crawled towards this light, which, theugh it burned, seemed every moment to be on the point of ex- piring. Upon a closer approach, he perceived that the honse before which it hung was one of those lodging-houses of whieh, even at the present day, there are so many along the banks of the Thames. That the establishment was patronized by none but the very dregs of society could beseen at once. A respectable person, or one with any money about him, would never have dreamed of entering the neighbourhood. Southwark, a hundred and forty years ago, was really a most horrible place, and those who know the locality at the present day will readily admit that there 1s even now ample room for improvement in many respects. The door of this house Blueskin found standing in- vitingly open. In fact, it was very rarely closed, for those who slept upon the premises were rather eccentric with respect to the periods when they took that very necessary refreshment. ; With a great deal of difficulty the stone steps leading up to the door were ascended, and the narrow, dingy passage gained. Tee 195, ne) EO DOO C SS 5}