The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 157: what you’re looking at

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

mence her voyage to Australia. a _—_ ~~ Bately possesses not one estimable quality, you need not afterwards reproach your conscience with the part you will have to play in his abduction, I would have him live to repent of his evil ways, but se great is the artful hypocrisy which he is capable of practising, that the utmost vigilance will be required on your part to retain him ia that close subjection which he must be held in during the voyage.” “ And for the money—the six hundred pounds that was mentioned?” . “ Oliver, who will give you further instructions rela- tive te the man you will this night remove, has been empowered to pay you half as soon as you reach the vessel, and the remainder will be shared among you on your arrival,” “I have no more to speak of,” said Saunders, thoughtfully, “except that I am at a loss to know who you can be that, in so brief a time, seem to have established suck an authority over all around you. I begin to suspect that, when you first visited my abode, it was not ny cube the want of spurious currency that brought you to the spof.” * Perhaps you are not quite wrong in that suppo- sition,” returned Barrington, with a smile; “but Oliver may some day furnish you with a solution to the mystery. At present I prefer keeping my secret to myself. You will find,” he continued, “that every necessary preparation for your voyage has been made, Your outfits are all on board, and every arrangement has been provided that has been thought needful for your comfort on arrival.” Another summons at the outer door was heard. “It is the man I spoke of,” exclaimed Barrington, eagerly; “he is earlier than I anticipated; quick, to this room, until I give the signal for your approach. Then throwieg your mofiler over his head, and fas~ tening his arms back, he must be conveyed through the vaults to the coach, according to the direetions I before gavo you.” Concealing the three men in a back room, Barring- ton repaired to the door, dnd admitted Oliver and the wily Jarvis, who bad been decoyed thither by the note come had been forced to indite. Disguising his /he invited the unconscious agent below; and 6 last step of the staircase had been no sooner reached, than Jarvis heard the name of Mordaunt thundered in his ear, and at the same instant a cloak was thrown over his head, his arms were pinioned behind him, and he was borne along the passage towards the vaults where Saunders and Oliver; who had exchanged a few rapid. words of greeting, were in readiness to receive him. The subterranean labyrinth was threaded with facility by Slogger, who, with the lantern in his hand, served as a guide to the party through the dark mazy région of which he so well knew the windings, At " the other éxtremity they emerged upon the gateway, and with the same dexterous and almost noiseless movements, they passed under the arch, crossed into the street, and nearly simultaneously they entered the coach that had been draws up close to the kerb in readiness. Saunders and his two accomplices took their invo- ity companion into the body of the vehicle. Oliver mounted to the box, and without a farther ayllable being exchanged on either side, the entire , with the exception of the principal instigator, was driven off to the docks, where they were conveyed in a few minutes afterwards to an emigrant ship, that was only waiting the tarn ef the morning tide to com- LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LONDON LIFE. -_ N LIV 151 “ Thus,” soliloquised Barrington, as he saw them depart, “ is the fate of my wife avenged, He can now live for repentance, and deep as are the injuries he has inflicted upen me, I wish him no severer punish- ment than the accusation of an awakening conscience, As the vessel calls off Plymouth, I shall there hasten to give my parting encouragement to the deserving families whom I have sent out; and at the same time I shall add my crowning curse to embitter the re- flections of Jarvis—the knowledge of whose hand struck the blow that with retributive justieo has con- signed him to the imprisonment of a foreign land, as he hoped to have once banished myself.” With the contemplation of this journey before him, on the following day Barrington turned his footsteps back to the vaults, having confidence sufficient in the faithful emissary that he had sent forward to carry out his designs, to know that nothing of importance would be forgotten. There were two surprises that, however, awaited him on his return to the mansion he occupied in Man- chester Square: one was the flight of the Italian, and the other the perusal of a letter delivered during his absence, that bore the signature of the earl’s phy- sician, and selicited his earliest attendance at Winter- ton House. CHAPTER XXXII. THE LAST ADVENTURE OF BOB CHUCKERS, It was a merry day for Bob Chuckers when he got up one morning and found a letter that informed him how an old aunt of his in the country hed bequeathed to him a small legacy; but it was both a merrier and a prouder day for him when he felt the result of this sudden accession of fortune fully developed in the un- questionable and undisputed proprietorship of a small shop which he had been wistfully looking at some week or so before. It was only after a considerable degree of forethought and consideration had been exercised that he came to decide permanently upon the advantage of so bold astep; but having had alo debate within himself, wherein his inclination took prominent part in the discussion, he at last resolved to secede from the establishment in which he had been hitherto retained as an assistant, and become his own master, He accordingly took possession of it, with the stock and fixtures, at a valuation; and as the shop was double- fronted, with periodicals and stationery in one window, and boxes of cigars and trays of tobacco liberally displayed in the other one, he aspired to great ideas of profit from the junction of the dual trades, His friend Grigg, the ticket-writer, was em- ployed to invent attractive labels for both depart- ments; a boy was hired to assist in the establishment, and look after it in. the occasional absence of the owner. And when Chuckers came forth and saw his own name substantially painted over the facia above, a momorable thrill of pride went through him that disturbed his nerves like a shock of electricity. During the first day of his initiation he wrote letters to all the friends he knew—a proceeding that materially lessened the stock in one window, whilst the prompt response of personal applications at night considerably diminished the display in the other, and caused the profit on cigars to be smoked away anticipatively for the next quarter. However, he got steadier after a week’s experience, (E) and began to havea proper tradesmanlike appreciation ———E COMME DOOL