Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 280: what you’re looking at

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

978 BLUESKLN ‘Thanks, thanks. You will bave your reward. Your danger seems great, but in reality it is nothing. Carry me to the box, and then I will show you how to lcave this place.” At this moment they heard those without crying to them to surrender. But the poacher, if such he was, heard their proposal with a disdainful smile. He was carried by the joint assistance of the three friends, to the chest i in the corner as he desired. “Open the lid,” he said. “ It is not fastened in any way, and will yield readily to your hand.” IT know that,” said Jack, AS he raised the ld of the box. “T have tried it before.” “Oh! have youP” é¢ Yeas “6 And eould yon find no way out P” **No; nor can I now.” Excellent!” &¢ Why Pp”? “If you are bafiled by it, it makes mo hopeful that our pursuers will be equally at fault.” **T trust they will; but how is this?” Thus.” The wounded man as he speke took from his packet an instrnment which looked not unlike a button-hook, ed, y holding it in his hand, he thrust his arm into the Ox He drew it upwards slowly, and although the exertion required was more than he possessed. But be managed it, and then the others saw to their admiration and surprise that the hooked instrument was fixed in a small] staple at one end of the bottom of the box, and which came up like a door. **There,” said the poacher, in well-pleased accents, that is such a contrivance as yon don’t see every day.” *“ Tt is excellent, ” exclaimed Blueskin. ‘‘ Let me hold it up for you.’ The bottom of the box was, in fact, nothing more than a trap-door, but what it covered our friends had yet to earn, Blueskin asked the question. “There is a flight of steps,” replied the poacher, “below here, and they terminate in an underground passage which leads into some earverns, and those caverns out into the open air upon a hill-side, about three parts of a mile from here.” **Can this be possible!”’ ejaculated Blneskin, think we should have had the means of leaving dangerous place so close to us, and yet knew it not.” “That often happens,” said the poacher. “ But you will have to be quick, or we shall after all be too late.” ** Let me go first,” said Blueskin, “and then Jack will assist you down to me.’ “Very rood.” Blueskin got inside the chest, and found beneath his feet a flight of steps, which, so far as he could tell, appeared to be formed of noth’ ng bnt impacted earth. *“ Stop a minute,” he cried, “ there is one thing I haye forgotten now,’ What P” q 97 Sig {his A light.” é Yes, we shall wanta light,” said the poacher; ‘have you one. éé Yas ‘é That 1s well, then. Make haste, or they will be upon us.’ Blueskin had too many times fond the utility of having a light about him to ever neglect it and be without one. From his coat pocket he produeed a dark lantern, which, though of diminitive size, was made in the hest manner, and emitted a very brilliant light. He handed this to Jack, and then Johnson took hold of the poacher by the arms and lifted him over the side of the bor Biueskin received him in his arms. *¢ Tow many steps are there ?” he asked, ** About twenty.” ** We will go first, then. the light.” Sheppard held the lantern in such a position that its heams were directed down the steps. Blueskin then carried the poacher down about a dozen IT will earry you. Jack show A ROMANCE. a them, and then he paused for his companions to join im. This they lost no time in doing, ner were they any too Soon, The hut was almost full of black hot smoke, and the door was red hot. Johnson came last, and, as he stood on the top step, he shut the lid of the box, and then pulled the bottom after him, leaving it all secure. The poacher, too, showed him how he could draw a bolt beneath the bottom of the box, which shot in a large iron ane so thatno one could possibly raise it from the other side When this was done, a feeling of greater security gathered about tlie hearts of the fugitives. They, indeed, realy began to hope that after all they would be able to eseape with their lives. But it will be seen that they were very far indeed from being out of danger, and they were destined to havo a hard struggle for life and liberty. Having brought things so far, we shall now proceed to relate what took place ‘when the officers forced their way into the hut. CHAPTER CXCIV. BLUESKIN AND JACK SHEPPARD FOR A TIME SUCCEED IN BAFFLING THEIR FOES. Wun the intelligence that the hut was empty was carried to the chief of the police, he refused to believe it. All wounded as he was, the news gave him sneh a sudden accession of vigour, that he started to his feet and rushed in. Then, indeed, he had the witness of his own eye-sight to the truth of what had been said. ‘““Seareh the place!” he yelled, They must be here. 2a are hidden somewhere. cannot possibly escape. Sjareh! search!” The officers were much venraged to think that their prey had shipped through their fingers when they thought they had it so seenre, and they ransacked the place thoroughly. In the search the chest was not, of course, overlooked. It was opened more than once, but sceing it was cmpty the lid was shut down again. There was no outlet pereeivable. The state of the hut was now such as to make it positively dangerous to remain any longer in it, though the wood, from its being hard and solid, did not burn with that rapidity which might have been expected. Another officer opened the lid of the box, and as he did so, he held a pistol in the other hand. Somehow or other, while the lid‘was raised he dropped his pistol, and it fell upon the bottom of the box. A hollow sound was produced. The thought struck him that he had found the secret of the disappearance, and he hastily said as much, while he even asserted that he dropped the pistol intentionally, i m order to see whether a hollow sound was returned; but this, we think, was not exactly the truth, and that the discov ery was made like many others—by accident alone ; although many have afterwards endeavoured to tale the credit to tucmselves. A closer investigation of course followed, and the result of it was that the bottom of the box covered an open space in the same manner as a trapdoor. When they had found this out the rest was easy enough. They tried first to move the box bodily, but finding themselves quite unable to do that, they set to work and knocked it to pieces. The top of the flight of earth steps was at last laid bars to view, and then they prepared to deseend. We will now return to our friends. Upon reaching the bottom of the stepsthe found them- selves in a vaniied passage hollewed out of he earth, aud beeten hard and flat at the floor, roof, and alls. Atong this, by the directions ‘of the poacher, they pro- eceded for some distance in a tolerably straight line. The three comrades gazed curiously around them, for all they saw was strange and wonderful. The poacher was fast recovering from his hurts, or, at any rate, appeared to be doing so. He walked with tolerable speed, without any more assistance than such as the sides of the passage afforded him. “search the place. They DOO (SO) SS} o(CO) (C 5}