The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

of the spirit, seemed distracted by a tumultuous throbbing; whilst his ears were haunted with the vague combination of a myriad different sounds. Of what followed he had no recollection, for his stupefac- tion was rendered complete by the rapidity with which he was dragged rather than led forward by the | did. other; and their way now winding through the rest devious and little frequented alleys, he was speedily placed beyond the reach of rescue, even if he had recovered himself sufficiently to seek such assistance. Forcibly urging Thornton underneath a dark arch- way, and through a mass of mud and rubbish which almost choked up the entrance, Gubbins gave a pecu- liar knock, accompanied by a low shrill whistle, at a door on the left side, that communicated with this dismal avenue; and directly it was opened, he pushed his victim within, the portal that gave them ingress closed immediately afterwards behind them. “ Hallo!” cried a tall, powerful man, who had officiated as the porter, with a vhysiognomy that seemed expressly formed to produce an unfavourable : n behind the bar of the Old Bailey, “ what devil’s luck have yer had to-night, Jim? Where did yer pick up yer pigeon, or has he been plucked yet?” “T’ll tell yer all in good time—he’s had a prett} strong dose of the doctor, and von’t blab or bolt if ve leaves him to hisself a bit. Who’s in the next room ?” 4: : “No one! Poll is out on the catch, and the old ’un has gone to smash the dubs, so that ve can havea cosy chat all to ourselves as comfortable as ninepence.” What particular amount of comfort this allegorical comparison might be presumed to indicate we are not prepared to state; but as the two inmates of the den, after turning out the contents of Thornton’s pockets, and having consigned him to the adjoining room, where he could sleep off his lethargy, began to draw sundry bottles and divers substantial refreshments from a cupboard, it may be concluded the cultivation of the “ creature comforts” formed an essential portion of its enjoyment. “Two pounds seventeen shillin’s and sixpence,’’ ealculated Gubbins, displaying on the table the money he had got from the person of Thornton. “ Vell, there are vorse hauls than that, Mr. Gub- bins,” said the tall man, grinning his satisfaction at the amount displayed; “yer alvays had such vinnin vays with yer, that I don’t vonder a young green ’un should be proud of yer for a pal ;” and a hoarse rough laugh from both crowned this interchange of compli- ments. “ There—that squares the reckoning between us,” said Gubbins, passing over to his comrade the equal share of the spoil, and secreting the rest in his own pocket ; “and now tell us, as it’s been some days since I’ve been among you, vot’s been the game vhile I vos avay, eh?” “The Phantom has been here again,” said the other briefly, in reply. “ Vhot does yer mean by that?” inquired Gubbins, opening his eyes to their full extent, but failing by that process to comprehend fully the nature of the intelligence imparted. “Vy, the Phantom,” repeated the tall man more emphatically. ; “And who’s he?” pursued his interrogator; for whether he knew the real meaning of the term or not, his ideas only associated themselves with substantial beings of flesh and blood. “To be sure,” exclaimed the other, who, we may as well mention at once, was known by the appellation ~_— <-— — . — —— « -_— —_ en — _- — _ — of Slogger; “ to be sure; 1 forgot he came vhilst you vos avay. But come; vhilst yer drink and smoke your pipe, I'll fell yer all 1 knows about him.” “ Go on,” cried Gubbins, encouragingly ; and Slogger i “Vell, about three nights ago, there came here, in a large cloak and cap slouched down over his face, so as hardly the tip of his nose could be guessed at under it, aman whom none of us had seen before, and about whom nobody knew nuffin. He said Bill Simmons, who he met at Liverpool, and who yer know vos lagged about six months since, had told him all about this crib, and those who were mixed up in it; and sartin sure, he seemed to know all the ins and outs of the game vell enough. Ve fought shy at first, and made no friends of him, for he vos a strange, out-of-the-vay kind of cove, and ve set him down as a trap; but vhen he vent over to the big ’un, and vhispered summut in his ear, my eyes! yer should have seen Bill’s face, It vent all colours at vonce, like a boiled rainbow.” “ And vhot vos it he said?” inquired the anxious listener. “Hal! that vos a secret he wouldn’t tell to no von; but it must have been summut partic’lar, for it made him arterwards as soft as possible; and he told us vhotever the gen’l’man yonted he vos to have, as it vos all right, and he vos von of the right sort.” “Go on,” pursued Gubbins, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, and stimulating his informant with another nod of encouragement; “ vhot happened next?” “Vell, he then asked if he could have any crown- pieces; and if so, how much. So Bill brought him in a bagful he had been making on the day before; and the cove bought them all, and paid for them in as good gold as ever you seed. He then said he should vont some more, and could he have them the next night; which Bill said in course he could. So next night he came and had another hundred, and to-night he vos to come again and have his last. I’ve been a vaiting for him some time, and I thought it vos him vhen you tumbled up with the pigeon,” ** Vhot can he vont vith such a lot of them at once?” asked Gubbins, thoughtfully speculating on what he had heard. “That’s vot ve vonted to know; but there ain’t much chance, it seems, of finding it out, Ve put Poll on his track, to see vhere he vent to, but she lost sight of him each night in the Cornwall Road; and she swears he must have gone down a gas-pipe, to have mizzled so suddenly. But, howsomever, as no von Knows vhere he comes from, vhere he goes to, nor vhot he is, ve calls him the Phantom, and——” Three distinct knocks at the onter door suspended the sentence. “That’s him!” cried Slogger, starting up; “and now yer shall see him yourself.” As he spoke the huge bar slung across the doorway was removed, and throwing open the heavy wooden portal, a figure in a cloak, with a cap drawn down over the features, exactly as Slogger had described, entered with a firm and undaunted tread. It was the mysterious visitor on whom the coiners had bestowed the strange soubriguet of The Phantom, “ Have you the amount I wanted in readiness?” he abruptly asked, in a low, hoarse voice, the eyes of the speaker evidently wandering suspiciously towards the form of Gubbins, whom he had not seen before, and who was now sitting apparently unconcerned at the end of the room. <=. ~ ~ — _—_ = Gomicsdook “ This is the bag that Bill left with me to give you,” (0)