"Alas!" cried Mrs. Sheppard, relieved by their departure, and giving way to a pa.s.sionate flood of tears; "were it not for my child, I should wish to be in the place of that unfortunate lady."
CHAPTER V.
The Denunciation.
For a short s.p.a.ce, Mrs. Sheppard remained dissolved in tears. She then dried her eyes, and laying her child gently upon the floor, knelt down beside him. "Open my heart, Father of Mercy!" she murmured, in a humble tone, and with downcast looks, "and make me sensible of the error of my ways. I have sinned deeply; but I have been sorely tried. Spare me yet a little while, Father! not for my own sake, but for the sake of this poor babe." Her utterance was here choked by sobs. "But if it is thy will to take me from him," she continued, as soon as her emotion permitted her,--"if he must be left an orphan amid strangers, implant, I beseech thee, a mother"s feelings in some other bosom, and raise up a friend, who shall be to him what I would have been. Let him not bear the weight of my punishment. Spare him!--pity me!"
With this she arose, and, taking up the infant, was about to proceed down stairs, when she was alarmed by hearing the street-door opened, and the sound of heavy footsteps entering the house.
"Halloa, widow!" shouted a rough voice from below, "where the devil are you?"
Mrs. Sheppard returned no answer.
"I"ve got something to say to you," continued the speaker, rather less harshly; "something to your advantage; so come out o" your hiding-place, and let"s have some supper, for I"m infernally hungry.--D"ye hear?"
Still the widow remained silent.
"Well, if you won"t come, I shall help myself, and that"s unsociable,"
pursued the speaker, evidently, from the noise he made, suiting the action to the word. "Devilish nice ham you"ve got here!--capital pie!--and, as I live, a flask of excellent canary. You"re in luck to-night, widow. Here"s your health in a b.u.mper, and wishing you a better husband than your first. It"ll be your own fault if you don"t soon get another and a proper young man into the bargain. Here"s his health likewise. What! mum still. You"re the first widow I ever heard of who could withstand that lure. I"ll try the effect of a jolly stave."
And he struck up the following ballad:--
SAINT GILES"S BOWL.[A]
[Music: Transcribers note See HTML version for music]
I.
Where Saint-Giles" church stands, once a la-zar-house stood; And, chain"d to its gates, was a ves-sel of wood; A broad-bottom"d bowl, from which all the fine fellows, Who pa.s.s"d by that spot, on their way to the gallows, Might tipple strong beer, Their spirits to cheer, And drown, in a sea of good li-quor, all fear! For nothing the tran-sit to Ty-burn beguiles, So well as a draught from the Bowl of Saint Giles!
II.
By many a highwayman many a draught Of nutty-brown ale at Saint Giles"s was quaft, Until the old lazar-house chanced to fall down, And the broad-bottom"d bowl was removed to the Crown.
_Where the robber may cheer_ _His spirit with beer,_ _And drown in a sea of good liquor all fear!_ _For nothing the transit to Tyburn beguiles_ _So well as a draught from the Bowl of Saint Giles!_
III.
There MULSACK and SWIFTNECK, both prigs from their birth, OLD MOB and TOM c.o.x took their last draught on earth: There RANDAL, and SHORTER, and WHITNEY pulled up, And jolly JACK JOYCE drank his finishing cup!
_For a can of ale calms,_ _A highwayman"s qualms,_ _And makes him sing blithely his dolorous psalms_ _And nothing the transit to Tyburn beguiles_ _So well as a draught from the Bowl of Saint Giles!_
"Singing"s dry work," observed the stranger, pausing to take a pull at the bottle. "And now, widow," he continued, "attend to the next verse, for it consarns a friend o" yours."
IV.
When gallant TOM SHEPPARD to Tyburn was led,-- "Stop the cart at the Crown--stop a moment," he said.
He was offered the Bowl, but he left it and smiled, Crying, "Keep it till call"d for by JONATHAN WILD!
"_The rascal one day,_ "_Will pa.s.s by this way,_ "_And drink a full measure to moisten his clay!_ "_And never will Bowl of Saint Giles have beguiled_ "_Such a thorough-paced scoundrel as_ JONATHAN WILD!"
V.
Should it e"er be _my_ lot to ride backwards that way, At the door of the Crown I will certainly stay; I"ll summon the landlord--I"ll call for the Bowl, And drink a deep draught to the health of my soul!
_Whatever may hap,_ _I"ll taste of the tap,_ _To keep up my spirits when brought to the c.r.a.p!_ _For nothing the transit to Tyburn beguiles_ _So well as a draught from the Bowl of St. Giles!_
"Devil seize the woman!" growled the singer, as he brought his ditty to a close; "will nothing tempt her out? Widow Sheppard, I say," he added, rising, "don"t be afraid. It"s only a gentleman come to offer you his hand. "He that woos a maid",--fol-de-rol--(hiccupping).--I"ll soon find you out."
Mrs. Sheppard, whose distress at the consumption of the provisions had been somewhat allayed by the antic.i.p.ation of the intruder"s departure after he had satisfied his appet.i.te, was now terrified in the extreme by seeing a light approach, and hearing footsteps on the stairs. Her first impulse was to fly to the window; and she was about to pa.s.s through it, at the risk of sharing the fate of the unfortunate lady, when her arm was grasped by some one in the act of ascending the ladder from without.
Uttering a faint scream, she sank backwards, and would have fallen, if it had not been for the interposition of Blueskin, who, at that moment, staggered into the room with a candle in one hand, and the bottle in the other.
"Oh, you"re here, are you?" said the ruffian, with an exulting laugh: "I"ve been looking for you everywhere."
"Let me go," implored Mrs. Sheppard,--"pray let me go. You hurt the child. Don"t you hear how you"ve made it cry?"
"Throttle the kid!" rejoined Blueskin, fiercely. "If you don"t stop its squalling, I will. I hate children. And, if I"d my own way, I"d drown "em all like a litter o" puppies."
Well knowing the savage temper of the person she had to deal with, and how likely he was to put his threat into execution, Mrs. Sheppard did not dare to return any answer; but, disengaging herself from his embrace, endeavoured meekly to comply with his request.
"And now, widow," continued the ruffian, setting down the candle, and applying his lips to the bottle neck as he flung his heavy frame upon a bench, "I"ve a piece o" good news for you."
"Good news will be news to me. What is it?"
"Guess," rejoined Blueskin, attempting to throw a gallant expression into his forbidding countenance.
Mrs. Sheppard trembled violently; and though she understood his meaning too well, she answered,--"I can"t guess."
"Well, then," returned the ruffian, "to put you out o" suspense, as the topsman remarked to poor Tom Sheppard, afore he turned him off, I"m come to make you an honourable proposal o" marriage. You won"t refuse me, I"m sure; so no more need be said about the matter. To-morrow, we"ll go to the Fleet and get spliced. Don"t shake so. What I said about your brat was all stuff. I didn"t mean it. It"s my way when I"m ruffled. I shall take to him as nat"ral as if he were my own flesh and blood afore long.--I"ll give him the edication of a prig,--teach him the use of his forks betimes,--and make him, in the end, as clever a cracksman as his father."
"Never!" shrieked Mrs. Sheppard; "never! never!"
"Halloa! what"s this?" demanded Blueskin, springing to his feet. "Do you mean to say that if I support your kid, I shan"t bring him up how I please--eh?"
"Don"t question me, but leave me," replied the widow wildly; "you had better."
"Leave you!" echoed the ruffian, with a contemptuous laugh; "--not just yet."
"I am not unprotected," rejoined the poor woman; "there"s some one at the window. Help! help!"
But her cries were unheeded. And Blueskin, who, for a moment, had looked round distrustfully, concluding it was a feint, now laughed louder than ever.
"It won"t do, widow," said he, drawing near her, while she shrank from his approach, "so you may spare your breath. Come, come, be reasonable, and listen to me. Your kid has already brought me good luck, and may bring me still more if his edication"s attended to. This purse," he added, c.h.i.n.king it in the air, "and this ring, were given me for him just now by the lady, who made a false step on leaving your house. If I"d been in the way, instead of Jonathan Wild, that accident wouldn"t have happened."
As he said this, a slight noise was heard without.