Pelham

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIII.

"Tis true that we are in great danger; The greater, therefore, should our courage be.--Shakspeare.

We proceeded a short way, when we were stopped by a door; this Job opened, and a narrow staircase, lighted from above, by a dim lamp, was before us. We ascended, and found ourselves in a sort of gallery; here hung another lamp, beneath which Job opened a closet.

"This is the place where Bess generally leaves the keys," said he, "we shall find them here, I hope."

So saying, Master Job entered, leaving me in the pa.s.sage, but soon returned with a disappointed air.

"The old harridan has left them below," said he, "I must go down for them; your honour will wait here till I return."

Suiting the action to the word, honest Job immediately descended, leaving me alone with my own reflections. Just opposite to the closet was the door of some apartment; I leant accidentally against it; it was only a-jar, and gave way; the ordinary consequence in such accidents, is a certain precipitation from the centre of gravity. I am not exempt from the general lot; and accordingly entered the room in a manner entirely contrary to that which my natural inclination would have prompted me to adopt. My ear was accosted by a faint voice, which proceeded from a bed at the opposite corner; it asked, in the thieves" dialect, and in the feeble accents of bodily weakness, who was there? I did not judge it necessary to make any reply, but was withdrawing as gently as possible, when my eye rested upon a table at the foot of the bed, upon which, among two or three miscellaneous articles, were deposited a brace of pistols, and one of those admirable swords, made according to the modern military regulation, for the united purpose of cut and thrust. The light which enabled me to discover the contents of the room, proceeded from a rush-light placed in the grate; this general symptom of a valetudinarian, together with some other little odd matters (combined with the weak voice of the speaker), impressed me with the idea of having intruded into the chamber of some sick member of the crew.

Emboldened by this notion, and by perceiving that the curtains were drawn closely around the bed, so that the inmate could have optical discernment of nothing that occurred without, I could not resist taking two soft steps to the table, and quietly removing a weapon whose bright face seemed to invite me as a long known and long tried friend.

This was not, however, done in so noiseless a manner, but what the voice again addressed me, in a somewhat louder key, by the appellation of "Brimstone Bess," asking, with sundry oaths, "What was the matter?" and requesting something to drink. I need scarcely say that, as before, I made no reply, but crept out of the room as gently as possible, blessing my good fortune for having thrown into my way a weapon with the use of which, above all others, I was best acquainted. Scarcely had I regained the pa.s.sage, before Jonson re-appeared with the keys; I showed him my treasure (for indeed it was of no size to conceal).

"Are you mad, Sir?" said he, "or do you think that the best way to avoid suspicion, is to walk about with a drawn sword in your hand? I would not have Bess see you for the best diamond I ever borrowed." With these words Job took the sword from my reluctant hand.

"Where did you get it?" said he.

I explained in a whisper, and Job, re-opening the door I had so unceremoniously entered, laid the weapon softly on a chair that stood within reach. The sick man, whose senses were of course rendered doubly acute by illness, once more demanded in a fretful tone, who was there?

And Job replied, in the flash language, that Bess had sent him up to look for her keys, which she imagined she had left there. The invalid rejoined, by a request to Jonson to reach him a draught, and we had to undergo a farther delay, until his pet.i.tion was complied with; we then proceeded up the pa.s.sage, till we came to another flight of steps, which led to a door: Job opened it, and we entered a room of no common dimensions.

"This," said he, "is Bess Brimstone"s sleeping apartment; whoever goes into the pa.s.sage that leads not only to Dawson"s room, but to the several other chambers occupied by such of the gang as require particular care, must pa.s.s first through this room. You see that bell by the bedside--I a.s.sure you it is no ordinary tintannabulum; it communicates with every sleeping apartment in the house, and is only rung in cases of great alarm, when every boy must look well to himself; there are two more of this description, one in the room which we have just left, another in the one occupied by Spider-shanks, who is our watch-dog, and keeps his kennel below. Those steps in the common room, which seem to lead to a cellar, conduct to his den. As we shall have to come back through this room, you see the difficulty of smuggling Dawson--and if the old dame rung the alarm, the whole hive would be out in a moment."

After this speech, Job left the room, by opening a door at the opposite end, which shewed us a pa.s.sage, similar in extent and fashion, to the one we had left below; at the very extremity of this was the entrance to an apartment at which Jonson stopped.

"Here," said he, taking from his pocket a small paper book, and an ink-horn; "here, your honour, take these, you may want to note the heads of Dawson"s confession, we are now at his door." Job then applied one of the keys of a tolerably sized bunch to the door, and the next moment we were in Dawson"s apartment.

The room which, though low and narrow, was of considerable length, was in utter darkness, and the dim and flickering light Jonson held, only struggled with, rather than penetrated the thick gloom. About the centre of the room stood the bed, and sitting upright on it, with a wan and hollow countenance, bent eagerly towards us, was a meagre, attenuated figure. My recollection of Dawson, whom, it will be remembered, I had only seen once before, was extremely faint, but it had impressed me with the idea of a middle sized and rather athletic man, with a fair and florid complexion: the creature I now saw, was totally the reverse of this idea. His cheeks were yellow and drawn in; his hand which was raised, in the act of holding aside the curtains, was like the talons of a famished vulture, so thin, so long, so withered in its hue and texture.

No sooner did the advancing light allow him to see us distinctly, than he half sprung from the bed, and cried, in that peculiar tone of joy, which seems to throw off from the breast a suffocating weight of previous terror and suspense, "Thank G.o.d, thank G.o.d! it is you at last; and you have brought the clergyman--G.o.d bless you, Jonson, you are a true friend to me."

"Cheer up, Dawson," said Job; "I have smuggled in this worthy gentleman, who, I have no doubt, will be of great comfort to you--but you must be open with him, and tell all."

"That I will--that I will," cried Dawson, with a wild and vindictive expression of countenance--"if it be only to hang him. Here, Jonson, give me your hand, bring the light nearer--I say--he, the devil--the fiend--has been here to-day, and threatened to murder me; and I have listened, and listened, all night, and thought I heard his step along the pa.s.sage, and up the stairs, and at the door; but it was nothing, Job, nothing--and you are come at last, good, kind, worthy Job. Oh! "tis so horrible to be left in the dark, and not sleep--and in this large, large room, which looks like eternity at night--and one does fancy such sights, Job--such horrid, horrid sights. Feel my wristband, Jonson, and here at my back, you would think they had been pouring water over me, but its only the cold sweat. Oh! it is a fearful thing to have a bad conscience, Job; but you won"t leave me till daylight, now, that"s a dear, good Job!"

"For shame, Dawson," said Jonson; "pluck up, and be a man; you are like a baby frightened by its nurse. Here"s the clergyman come to heal your poor wounded conscience, will you hear him now?"

"Yes," said Dawson; "yes!--but go out of the room--I can"t tell all if you"re here; go, Job, go!--but you"re not angry with me--I don"t mean to offend you."

"Angry!" said Job; "Lord help the poor fellow! no, to be sure not. I"ll stay outside the door till you"ve done with the clergyman--but make haste, for the night"s almost over, and it"s as much as the parson"s life is worth to stay here after daybreak."

"I will make haste," said the guilty man, tremulously; "but, Job, where are you going--what are you doing? leave the light!--here, Job, by the bed-side."

Job did as he was desired, and quitted the room, leaving the door not so firmly shut, but that he might hear, if the penitent spoke aloud, every particular of his confession.

I seated myself on the side of the bed, and taking the skeleton hand of the unhappy man, spoke to him in the most consolatory and comforting words I could summon to my a.s.sistance. He seemed greatly soothed by my efforts, and at last implored me to let him join me in prayer. I knelt down, and my lips readily found words for that language, which, whatever be the formula of our faith, seems, in all emotions which come home to our hearts, the most natural method of expressing them. It is here, by the bed of sickness, or remorse, that the ministers of G.o.d have their real power! it is here, that their office is indeed a divine and unearthly mission; and that in breathing balm and comfort, in healing the broken heart, in raising the crushed and degraded spirit--they are the voice, and oracle of the FATHER, who made us in benevolence, and will judge of us in mercy! I rose, and after a short pause, Dawson, who expressed himself impatient of the comfort of confession, thus began--

"I have no time, Sir, to speak of the earlier part of my life. I pa.s.sed it upon the race-course, and at the gaming-table--all that was, I know, very wrong, and wicked; but I was a wild, idle boy, and eager for any thing like enterprise or mischief. Well, Sir, it is now more than three years ago since I first met one Tom Thornton; it was at a boxing match.

Tom was chosen chairman, at a sort of club of the farmers and yeomen; and being a lively, amusing fellow, and accustomed to the company of gentlemen, was a great favourite with all of us. He was very civil to me, and I was quite pleased with his notice. I did not, however, see much of him then, nor for more than two years afterwards; but some months ago we met again. I was in very poor circ.u.mstances, so was he, and this made us closer friends than we might otherwise have been. He lived a great deal at the gambling-houses, and fancied he had discovered a certain method of winning [Note: A very common delusion, both among sharpers and their prey.] at hazard. So, whenever he could not find a gentleman whom he could cheat with false dice, tricks at cards, he would go into any h.e.l.l to try his infallible game. I did not, however, perceive, that he made a good livelihood by it; and though sometimes, either by that method or some other, he had large sums of money in his possession, yet they were spent as soon as acquired. The fact was, that he was not a man who could ever grow rich; he was extremely extravagant in all things--loved women and drinking, and was always striving to get into the society of people above him. In order to do this, he affected great carelessness of money; and if, at a race or a c.o.c.k-fight, any real gentlemen would go home with him, he would insist upon treating them to the very best of every thing.

"Thus, Sir, he was always poor, and at his wit"s end, for means to supply his extravagance. He introduced me to three or four gentlemen, as he called them, but whom I have since found to be markers, sharpers, and black-legs; and this set soon dissipated the little honesty my own habits of life had left me. They never spoke of things by their right names; and, therefore, those things never seemed so bad as they really were--to swindle a gentleman, did not sound a crime, when it was called "macing a swell"--nor transportation a punishment, when it was termed, with a laugh, "lagging a cove." Thus, insensibly, my ideas of right and wrong, always obscure, became perfectly confused: and the habit of treating all crimes as subjects of jest in familiar conversation, soon made me regard them as matters of very trifling importance.

"Well, Sir, at Newmarket races, this Spring meeting, Thornton and I were on the look out. He had come down to stay, during the races, at a house I had just inherited from my father, but which was rather an expense to me than an advantage; especially as my wife, who was an innkeeper"s daughter, was very careless and extravagant. It so happened that we were both taken in by a jockey, whom we had bribed very largely, and were losers to a very considerable amount. Among other people, I lost to a Sir John Tyrrell. I expressed my vexation to Thornton, who told me not to mind it, but to tell Sir John that I would pay him if he came to the town; and that he was quite sure we could win enough, by his certain game at hazard, to pay off my debt. He was so very urgent, that I allowed myself to be persuaded; though Thornton has since told me, that his only motive was, to prevent Sir John"s going to the Marquess of Chester"s (where he was invited) with my lord"s party; and so, to have an opportunity of accomplishing the crime he then meditated.

"Accordingly, as Thornton desired, I asked Sir John Tyrrell to come with me to Newmarket. He did so. I left him, joined Thornton, and went to the gambling-house. Here we were engaged in Thornton"s sure game, when Sir John entered. I went up and apologized for not paying, and said I would pay him in three months. However, Sir John was very angry, and treated me with such rudeness, that the whole table remarked it. When he was gone, I told Thornton how hurt and indignant I was at Sir John"s treatment. He incensed me still more--exaggerated Sir John"s conduct--said that I had suffered the grossest insult, and, at last, put me into such a pa.s.sion, that I said, that if I was a gentleman, I would fight Sir John Tyrrell across a table.

"When Thornton saw I was so moved, he took me out of the room, and carried me to an inn. Here he ordered dinner, and several bottles of wine. I never could bear much drink: he knew this, and artfully plied me with wine till I scarcely knew what I did or said. He then talked much of our dest.i.tute situation--affected to put himself out of the question--said he was a single man, and could easily make shift upon a potatoe--but that I was enc.u.mbered with a wife and child, whom I could not suffer to starve. He then said, that Sir John Tyrrell had publicly disgraced me--that I should be blown upon the course--that no gentleman would bet with me again, and a great deal more of the same sort. Seeing what an effect he had produced upon me, he then told me that he had seen Sir John receive a large sum of money, that would more than pay our debts, and set us up like gentlemen: and, at last, he proposed to me to rob him. Intoxicated as I was, I was somewhat startled at this proposition. However, the slang terms in which Thornton disguised the greatness and danger of the offence, very much diminished both in my eyes--so at length I consented.

"We went to Sir John"s inn, and learnt that he had just set out; accordingly, we mounted our horses, and rode after him. The night had already closed in. After we had got some distance from the main road, into a lane, which led both to my house and to Chester Park--for the former was on the direct way to my lord"s--we pa.s.sed a man on horseback.

I only observed that he was wrapped in a cloak--but Thornton said, directly we had pa.s.sed him, "I know that man well--he has been following Tyrrell all day--and though he attempts to screen himself, I have penetrated his disguise; he is Tyrrell"s mortal enemy.""

""Should the worst come to the worst," added Thornton, (words which I did not at that moment understand) "we can make him bear the blame.""

"When we had got some way further, we came up to Tyrrell and a gentleman, whom, to our great dismay, we found that Sir John had joined--the gentleman"s horse had met with an accident, and Thornton dismounted to offer his a.s.sistance. He a.s.sured the gentleman, who proved afterwards to be a Mr. Pelham, that the horse was quite lame, and that he would scarcely be able to get it home; and he then proposed to Sir John to accompany us, and said that we would put him in the right road; this offer Sir John rejected very haughtily, and we rode on.

""It"s all up with us," said I; "since he has joined another person."

""Not at all," replied Thornton; "for I managed to give the horse a sly poke with my knife; and if I know any thing of Sir John Tyrrell, he is much too impatient a spark to crawl along, a snail"s pace, with any companion, especially with this heavy shower coming on."

""But," said I, for I now began to recover from my intoxication, and to be sensible of the nature of our undertaking, "the moon is up, and unless this shower conceals it, Sir John will recognize us; so you see, even if he leaves the gentleman, it will be no use, and we had much better make haste home and go to bed."

"Upon this, Thornton cursed me for a faint-hearted fellow, and said that the cloud would effectually hide the moon--or, if not--he added--"I know how to silence a prating tongue." At these words I was greatly alarmed, and said, that if he meditated murder as well as robbery, I would have nothing further to do with it. Thornton laughed, and told me not to be a fool. While we were thus debating, a heavy shower came on; we rode hastily to a large tree, by the side of a pond--which, though bare and withered, was the nearest shelter the country afforded, and was only a very short distance from my house. I wished to go home--but Thornton would not let me, and as I was always in the habit of yielding, I stood with him, though very reluctantly, under the tree.

"Presently, we heard the trampling of a horse.

""It is he--it is he," cried Thornton, with a savage tone of exultation--"and alone!--Be ready--we must make a rush--I will be the one to bid him to deliver--you hold your tongue.

"The clouds and rain had so overcast the night, that, although it was not perfectly dark, it was sufficiently obscure to screen our countenances. Just as Tyrrell approached, Thornton dashed forward, and cried, in a feigned voice--"Stand, on your peril!" I followed, and we were now both by Sir John"s side.

"He attempted to push by us--but Thornton seized him by the arm--there was a stout struggle, in which, as yet, I had no share--at last, Tyrrell got loose from Thornton, and I seized him--he set spurs to his horse, which was a very spirited and strong animal--it reared upwards, and very nearly brought me and my horse to the ground--at that instant, Thornton struck the unfortunate man a violent blow across the head with the b.u.t.t end of his heavy whip--Sir John"s hat had fallen before in the struggle, and the blow was so stunning that it felled him upon the spot. Thornton dismounted, and made me do the same--"There is no time to lose," said he; "let us drag him from the roadside and rifle him." We accordingly carried him (he was still senseless) to the side of the pond before mentioned--while we were searching for the money Thornton spoke of, the storm ceased, and the moon broke out--we were detained some moments by the accident of Tyrrell"s having transferred his pocket-book from the pocket Thornton had seen him put it in on the race ground to an inner one.

"We had just discovered, and seized the pocket-book, when Sir John awoke from his swoon, and his eyes opened upon Thornton, who was still bending over him, and looking at the contents of the book to see that all was right; the moonlight left Tyrrell in no doubt as to our persons; and struggling hard to get up, he cried, "I know you! I know you! you shall hang for this." No sooner had he uttered this imprudence, than it was all over with him. "We will see that, Sir John," said Thornton, setting his knee upon Tyrrell"s chest, and nailing him down. While thus employed, he told me to feel in his coat-pocket for a case-knife.

""For G.o.d"s sake!" cried Tyrrell, with a tone of agonizing terror which haunts me still, "spare my life!"

""It is too late," said Thornton, deliberately, and taking the knife from my hands, he plunged it into Sir John"s side, and as the blade was too short to reach the vitals, Thornton drew it backwards and forwards to widen the wound. Tyrrell was a strong man, and still continued to struggle and call out for mercy--Thornton drew out the knife--Tyrrell seized it by the blade, and his fingers were cut through before Thornton could s.n.a.t.c.h it from his grasp; the wretched gentleman then saw all hope was over; he uttered one loud, sharp, cry of despair. Thornton put one hand to his mouth, and with the other gashed his throat from ear to ear.

""You have done for him, and for us now," said I, as Thornton slowly rose from the body. "No," replied he, "look, he still moves;" and sure enough he did, but it was in the last agony. However, Thornton, to make all sure, plunged the knife again into his body; the blade came into contact with a bone, and snapped in two; so great was the violence of the blow, that instead of remaining in the flesh, the broken piece fell upon the ground among the long fern and gra.s.s.

"While we were employed in searching for it: Thornton, whose ears were much sharper than mine, caught the sound of a horse. "Mount! mount," he cried; "and let us be off." We sprung up on our horses, and rode away as fast as we could. I wished to go home, as it was so near at hand; but Thornton insisted on making to an old shed, about a quarter of a mile across the fields; thither, therefore, we went."

"Stop," said I, "what did Thornton do with the remaining part of the case-knife? did he throw it away, or carry it with him?"

"He took it with him," answered Dawson, "for his name was engraved on a silver plate, on the handle; and, he was therefore afraid of throwing it into the pond, as I advised, lest at any time it should be discovered.

Close by the shed, there is a plantation of young firs of some extent.

Thornton and I entered, and he dug a hole with the broken blade of the knife, and buried it, covering up the hole again with the earth."