Spring-Heel'd Jack, The Terror of London — page 94: what you’re looking at

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

88 SP ING-HEBL’D JACK : THE TERROR OF LONDON. None. The wretched convict or the bedridden alone can know how sweet is the breath of freedom. James Slater knew it—sighed for it during the days and nights that the dark prison-walls en- circled him—tasted it when he fell at the bottom of the outside prison-wall. , As his feet touched the pavement he felt that he was a different man. He seemed to be endowed with the strength of a lion; his limbs appeared more supple—his bearing more erect, | He felt that he was free; and the weight of fifty years seemed taken from his back. He clutched at the air as if he would embrace it. - The whole system was exhilirated—the man was aman again. But hark ! what was that which paled his flushed cheeks, and struck like a death-knell to his soul ? : It was the prison-bell, announcing to those within and without its walls that a culprit had escaped. All his strength so lately renewed, appeared to des2rt him. | | Again he was weak, feeble as an infant. The tones of the bell held him spell-bound for an instant, and he could only glance up and down the road in search of those who came to bear him back to his cell. Then, like an electric flash, came the thought that he was attired in his own dress, and not the uniform of the prison, and that if he ventured away from its precincts, there was yet hope of avoiding discovery. | He turned and filed. But ere he had gone fifty yards, he recollected that the man who had served him could not escape without the aid of the rope and nail. He -had not flung it over the wall. A moment he hesitated, whether to return or leave him to his fate. 2 To return was fraught with danger to himself ; to flee was to sacrifice his best of friends. His mind was made up on the instant, and he hurried back to the spot where the rope hung against the wall. ‘To grasp the stone at the end, and fling it high in the air, was the work of a moment ; and then he took to his heels and fled with all the speed his, desperation could summon to his limbs. But now the prison-bell had been heard and its meaning dived, and anxious eyes and eager hands were waiting for him. When about a hundred and fifty yards had been passed over by his fleet feet, a figure ap- peared in his path with extended arms. He saw them in time to avoid running into their embrace, and he turned aside; but the policeman, who had made sure of his capture, gnissed his mark, and by a desperate and well- deliveréd blow, was hurled to the earth. Slater waited not to see the effect of his blow, but dashed on even faster than before. Desperation had lent suppleness to his feet, and he was more than half-a-mile from the prison ere he could have believed himself capable of covering a quarter of the distance. Flouses and shops flew past him, till a pain in — ee oe = 2k oe his side and a shortness of breath warned him he- “Oh, God! I'm must slacken his speed. ‘‘ Free! free!’ he gasped. free !” There was a footfall behind him, and he turned to defend his liberty as a lioness would turn to defend her young, and stood face to face with Ralph Grasper. — x The recognition was mutual. A ery of surprise broke from the lips of both, but Grasper also uttered another, and that was, “ Police !” : , : But he could not repeat it. ) A blow of such tremendous force fell upon his lips, that they were split from the nose to the chin, and he dropped to the earth as if shot. Fear had called forth Slater’s violence, not in- dignation; for he knew not of the indignities offered to his wife by the ruffian who now lay bleeding and senseless at his feet. j - And so again he bounded on, never heeding the pain in his side or the shortness of his breath, till the fields were in sight, and then he paused. He had panted to see his wife; but now that he was so near the home he had made wretched, . he almost dreaded to meet her. How could he gaze upon the face which he had blanched with sorrow? How could he lookinto those eyes his guilty deedshad dimmed with tears ? How could he press to his bosom the woman he had so cruelly tortured ? | Then, the thought of how she would meet him, whether with upbraidings, or the spirit of for- giveness, came with torturing force to his mind, and he slackened his speed, till he stood still a few doors from his once happy home. = ~ * After a pause he moved forward again, But his step was slow and tottering now. He reeled like a drunken man. : His temples throbbed, and his heart beat violently. Hé reached the door, he grasped the knocker in his trembling hand ; but he feared to raise it. | The sound, he dreaded, would arouse the neighbours, reveal his presence, and ensure his capture. How could he announce his presence to her he called wife ? , ‘These thoughts caused him an agony almost too great to bear. 7 BY: Too well he knew the officers of the law would seek him there, and that speedily, too ; but could he fly without seeing her, without imprinting a kiss upon her cheek ? without asking her forgive- ness for the misery he had caused her, and pray- ing her to fly with him ? No! , And yet he dared not announce his presence to her, lest he announced it to others. What was to be done ! He released his hold of the knocker, ard sprang to the shutters. Joy! they were un- fastened, and so was the window. One glance around to see that-none observed him, and he raised the sash and sprang into the neatly kept parlour. fasten it was the work of a moment, and he }made his way to the passage. Con To close it after him and — f Ls Ny - ———— —— ——— : icbooksico