The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 152: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON. 146 IRIE! of apprehension, and he now commenced his work of liberation in earnest, Catting his way through the wall, tearing down one impediment, wrenching off another, and making the fragments of lath and plaster fly about his head in a dusty cloud, that filled the room with a choking mist of limy particles, Bazzini was able in about half an hour to clear an aperture sufficiently large to admit his body passing through, and by means of the gap thus formed he trusted to obtain his extrication. Emerging from the room where he had been incarce- rated into the next, he saw to his delight that the window was unprotected by any of the bars that had been raised around the former one, and that the parapet so receded at this point that he could work his way between the shelving ledge of the wintiow and the coping-stone beyond. ae Clambering ovér thé casement; for the framework was immoveable below, he passed along the lofty parapet, and steadying himself as he went by the sloping roof, he crept cautiously over the ridge that separated the Hotise he had left from the adjoining one, and reachifig the flat suffaee 6f the leads beyond, he stopped an instant to look froti the giddy height that he had attained and consider his futuré move- ments. Around him Were the tall élusters of chim- neys, casting forth frotit their dark motiths thick soot- Jaden columns of difig¥ smoke; that rolled away over the house-tops in ufdulating folds, and only revéedled at misty intervals thé pile of buildings behind. Below he saw the diminished fofins of passérs by; traversing a pavement narfowed to a slender stony line; and the figures in the square beyond, reduced to miliniature dimensions, weré glidiig about among the stunted trees in dreamy indistinctness. , He looked before him, and he saw a bead chasm in the range of houses that warned him of the impossi- bility of continuing oy rere in that difection; and it was thus certain that he must either abandon his hope of escape, or find some opening for descent from the flat leads on the summit of which he stood. Nerving himself for a desperate effort, he rose from his recumbent position, and standing erect upon the frail ledge of stonework that formed the outer boundary of the roof, he passed onward to the stack of chimneys that stretched right athwart his path. Along this dangerous summit, so narrow that his feet were unable to tread the ledge together, he slowly crawled, until he had gained the wider and securer standing. Here a false step, a crumbling brick, or a slippery hold, would have hurled him headlong down; but he kept his footing unshaken, and with suspended breath he clung to the iron braces that were driven in various places into the brickwork, and ultimately reached the opposite side of the apparent barrier in safety. There was a window now observable, that belonged to what appeared to be the back attic of the house over the roof of which he had performed his perilous and daring journey. To lean over the parapet, ascer- tain that there was no occupant, and glide along the rain-pipe that ran beneath the casement, was an exploit of an equally hazardous character with that which he had just accomplished; but he brought his utmost courage and dexterity to the task, and he succeeded. He descended in safety into the room, and then cautiously opening the door, he listened attentively for some sound of voices, but he was speedily con- vinced, on a closer examination of the premises, that the house was at that time unoccupied, and was, in fact, a mansion he had noticed, on his way through the square, as having been placarded with a bill that announced it to be to let. covery, he hurried down the stairs, threw open the street-door, and though eager to leave a neighbourhood where he risked the chance of being recognised, he took the precaution of adopting a moderate pace to avoid attention, and only quickened his steps when he turned into an adjacent thoroughfare. the baronet had imposed upon him, Bazzini hurried through the streets towards the abode of Borelli, from whom he was anxious to first gain the intelligence of the way in which his design had been thwarted, and with the intention of employing the same deadly poison against his comrade should he find out that the information that had been givon emanated from the quarter he had supposed. Emboldened by this dis- Having in this manner eluded the restraint which There was, besides this, their joint project to beun- . dertaken the samé night, when the bribe of one thou- sand potinds was t6 Bé 6Xtorted from Celestine at the villa; and as it was dy approaching dusk, he de- : termined to procoed there first, and satisfy himself on that point before he fan the risk of being foiled a second time, should he venture singly to keep the appointment. Thé league he had entered into with Jarvis had becomé too dangerous to be renewed, and he therefore resolved upon leaving him to defend him- self for thé present, and make use, on his own ac- count, of thé letters Hé had obtained, when a fitting time occurred. The fioney he expected to procura from his alleged daughter would, with the funds he had acquired in other nefarious ways, assist his flight to the Continent, atid there he intended to remiain concéaled until the affair in which he was involved ha lown over. . To get rid of the dust atid dirt that had been left ef his garments by the seriés of adventures through which he had passed, he turned aside into a public- house in Tottenham Court Road, and; entering the arlour, called for a dram of brand¥; which his ex- austion rendered necessary to recruit his MS i pe in the removal of the incrustation from his cl ;& man, attired as a bricklayer, came into thé room, and looking inquisitively at the spots of lime that Bazzini was rubbing off his cout, he said in a familiar strain of jocose pleasantry: “You seem, master, to have been doing a little work in my way, by your appearance; for if you had scrambled over a housetop you couldn’t have got more of the signs of my craft about you.” The observation was accidental, but it struck the Italian to have a deeper meaning~than the words conveyed; and thinking that he was suspected of having committed a burglary, and afraid of being de- tained on that suspicion, he gave a brief reply to the man, and, hastily tossing off the brandy, stopped but for a minute to resume the coat he had taken off, and hurried out of the room. As he passed by the bar, on his way to the door of the tavern, a cabman, who had just ef ; called for a quartern of gin, and, as he began pouring | out the spirit, he heard him say to the loungers who | were round him: i. “There’s a rare fire to be seen blazing away down Holborn; the flames are shooting up into the sky in grand style.” | | “ Whereabouts is it, sir, do you think?” askedanold | apple- woman, who, treating herself to a quiét glass of her favourite cordial, had left her stall at the corner to the protection of the crossing-sweéper, whilst she — took her evening refreshry2” y | The Italian paused with fhe seat thaw the apps Fa PES HO. eee Pet Cy eae | = a ee ed FE ET LT TT OT OO a