CHAPTER XLVI.
DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND—CAPTAIN JACK’S ADVENTURES.
When Phillip Redgill found himself safely locked in his prison cell, deep, dark remorse took possession of his wicked heart.
He could not sleep, he could not eat.
All he could do was to walk about the stone chamber, and curse everything and everybody.
He called the gaoler and spoke to him.
“They accuse me of fearful crimes,” said Phillip, faintly attempting to smile; “but mere accusation will not avail much, they must prove all they say.”
“There can’t be much difficulty about doing that,” said the old gaoler, “when such men as Colonel Blood and Captain Jack take the affair in hand, for Captain Jack can prove anything if he likes.”
“Yes; and perhaps can disprove anything also if he thinks proper, eh?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said the turnkey, with a knowing grin.
“Perhaps not,” said Phillip, with a sad smile; “but I dare say you might give a rough guess.”
“No one has any right to guess about such things,” said the turnkey, “and, besides, you mustknow he is our superior officer, and I have no right to speak about what he does.”
“Well, you need not fall out with me,” said Phillip; “I have no friends here, but I think I could make one of you.”
“How do you mean?”
“Would you take a note to the post office for me?”
“I dare not.”
“Not for a guinea?”
“I must not.”
“Not for three guineas?”
“Don’t tempt me!”
“Yes, do; give me pen, ink, and paper, and I will give you ten guineas!”
“My life is at stake; I should be implicated as an accomplice.”
“Nonsense. Do as I wish, and I will give you twenty guineas.”
The turnkey left the cell.
But he soon returned.
“Let me see the colour of your money,” said he, “and I will deliver your note.”
“Agreed,” said Phillip, and as he spoke he drew out of the lining of his coat a twenty guinea note, and gave it to the gaoler.
In less than two minutes Phillip wrote a very hurried note, and gave it to the gaoler to post.
He had scarcely done so, and the frightened gaoler had barely time to put the pen and ink into his pocket when heavy footsteps were heard approaching.
The turnkey turned deadly pale as he whispered to Phillip,
“It is Captain Jack, and half drunk as usual.”
“Hillo!” said the captain to the gaoler, “what brings you here?”
“The prisoner wished me to lend him a bible and prayer book, that’s all.”
“Ha! ha!” laughed Captain Jack. “So Mr. Redgill has turned religious all at once, eh? Very good. Ha! ha! it’s time he did something of the kind. Get you gone, and don’t let me catch you talking to the prisoner any more. Do you understand me? If you do, you shall be dismissed.”
“But, captain, I have done no wrong; no offence was meant. You know I have been gaoler here more than twenty years, and a steadier, a soberer, or a honester man never was than myself, though I say it.”
“I dare say,” Captain Jack replied, with a grin. “All men are honest till they’re found out; I’m a real saint myself. Ha! ha! Then leave us, I wish to speak to the prisoner alone. Get you gone, turnkey!”
The gaoler left.
Captain Jack and Phillip Redgill were now alone,
The captain took a seat on the edge of the table, and looked at Phillip much like a wild beast who has got his prey firmly in its clutches.
Neither spoke for some time.
Phillip’s eyes glowed with rage, but he spoke not a syllable for some time.
Captain Jack amused himself with whistling and playing with a pistol.
“May I ask what you want with me?” Phillip began, at length, endeavouring to suppress the rage he felt.
“Me want with you?” said Jack. “Oh! I really beg pardon for intruding—ha! ha! but I thought you might want to see me, that’s all.”
As he spoke he smiled like a demon.
“You have acted the knave towards me, Captain Jack.”
“Have I, though? How complimentary you are!”
“Yes, you have, Captain Jack; you have acted like a black-hearted scoundrel!”
“Go on, go on, I am listening; you can’t hurt anybody with your tongue; you are bound too fast to the stone floor to do much harm.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, of course you are but go on—I want to hear all you’ve got to say.”
“Why did you take my money, and then arrest me?”
“Because I wanted the cash; and, in the next place, I wished to save my own neck. Colonel Blood swore to hang one or the other, so I thought you might do better than myself, you perceive.”
“But suppose I were to tell Colonel Blood what I have done for you?”
“He wouldn’t believe you, that’s all.”
“I don’t know that.”
“But I do, though. If I had not thought and known so, I shouldn’t have captured you alive.”
“What then?”
“Why, would have so arranged it that you would have been a dead man, that’s all.”
“And did you mean that all along?”
“Of course I did.”
For some time neither spoke, but looked at each other occasionally with an expression of fierce brutality in their eyes.
At last, Phillip said:
“Suppose I disprove all your charges and accusations—what then?”
“Oh, but you can’t.”
“Can’t?”
“No—impossible.”
“But if I get witnesses to swear to my innocence?”
“Why, then, I’ll so manage it as to have two witnesses to your one to swear quite the contrary.”
“You are a villain, Captain Jack!”
“Lor’ bless you! Didn’t you know it before? I’m called that name every day—I’m quite used to it now.”
“Tell the truth, Captain Jack—What did you come here for?”
“Have you any money?—answer me that first.”
“Not a penny piece.”
“Then you will as surely die as eggs are eggs, that’s all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Couldn’t you manage to get some money, by fair means or foul?”
“Why?”
“Oh, nothing; but it’s possible you might only be transported if you could raise a thousand pounds to pay lawyers to defend you, and—ah—”
“And what?”
“Why, ‘palm’ Colonel Blood and myself, that’s all. The affidavits are not made out yet. I have only taken you on suspicion, you know.”
“I understand.”
“But then the suspicion is very strong, you know—very, very strong indeed; it almost amounts to a dead certainty, since we’ve got the identical suit of clothes ‘a certain party’ exchanged, on the night of the murder, with young Bob Bertram.”
Captain Jack smiled as he said this.
Phillip bit his lip.
“How did you procure the clothes?”
“Ned Warbeck gave the suit to me this very morning, for Bob had kept them by him, and young Warbeck says he could swear they belong to——”
“D—n Ned Warbeck!” said Phillip Redgill, in a terrible rage; “D—n him! he is always crossingmy path. I wish he were dead; yes, buried at the bottom of the ocean he loves so much!”
“Aye, but there’s no killing a lad like him,” said Captain Jack; “he’s got more lives than a cat, and as to drowning, it’s out of the question, for he swims like a duck and can float like a cork.”
“Then what do you propose?”
“I can’t propose anything if you can’t raise the wind. If you will be hanged, it’s your fault, not mine. It would suit me to know you were in a penal settlement quite as well as to know you were buried.”
“You are quite disinterested, Captain Jack, and very polite.”
“I always was.”
“But suppose I do not give you money, that I do not hang or be transported—what then?”
“Oh, that’s impossible; out of the question entirely; you must do one thing or the other. Do you refuse to raise the money?”
“No. I do not.”
“Well, then, I have got pens, ink, and paper in my pocket; write a note, and I will take it to any place you like.”
“You are a cunning rascal, Captain Jack.”
“No matter; time is flying—there is no use of wasting compliments. Can you raise the amount by writing for it?”
“In a case of life or death I think I could.”
“Well, that’s sensible. Here is the pen.”
“But suppose I refuse?”
“Well, then, you are a doomed man, that’s all, and there’s an end of it. Good-day!”
“Stay; do not go yet. Upon second thought, I think I will write a note. Will you wait for an answer?”
“Of course, if the money is likely to be forthcoming.”
“But it’s contrary to the rules of the prison to write letters unknown to the governor, you know.”
“Oh, the governor be d——d! What matters? He’ll not know a syllable about it. Here you are; scribble away.”
Phillip Redgill took the pen and paper.
“Go out for a minute, Captain Jack, and stretch your legs. By the time you return I shall have the note written.”
Captain Jack strolled out of the cell carelessly.
Directly he had gone Phillip Redgill pulled out his pocket knife, and made a small wound in his arm.
The blood gently flowed.
With the liquid he wrote a note in a strange hand, and in a still stranger character, which ran thus,
D——w——g,—By our solemn oath, help me. My former note will explain all. This night decides my fate!Phillip Redgill.
D——w——g,—By our solemn oath, help me. My former note will explain all. This night decides my fate!
Phillip Redgill.
When Captain Jack returned, the prisoner had finished his note, and directed it with ink to—
CAPTAIN GINGLES,Blue Boar,City.Strictly private and confidential.
CAPTAIN GINGLES,Blue Boar,City.
Strictly private and confidential.
“Captain Gingles, eh? Is that the name of your friend?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a queer one, any way,” said Captain Jack, taking the note, and balancing it between his fingers in a musing manner. “He’s got plenty of cash, I suppose?”
“Yes, lots of money—that’s why he’s called Gingles, for he’s always got his pockets well filled, and is fond of gingling it about.”
“I see, I see; but what time have I to present it?”
“Don’t go there before twelve o’clock to-night, for he always likes to have his wine undisturbed. You must catch him when he is coming out.”
“Very good.”
“And when shall I see or hear from you, Captain Jack?”
“Directly I get the money—to-night, perhaps, or to-morrow morning early.”
“That’s satisfactory. Give my respects to Gingles, Captain Jack.”
“I shan’t fail. Keep up your courage; you will only be transported if we get the coin.”
So speaking, he left the prisoner, who, strange to say, now began to smile and look quite elated.
“It is my last card,” said Phillip, to himself, “and I have played it. Death-wing will surely not prove a craven to one who has so much and so often befriended him. If all goes well, I may yet escape out of the clutches of this stony-hearted Captain Jack; and if I do!” he said, clenching his fist, and striking it heavily on the table—“and if I do, I’ll have revenge on him first!”
Captain Jack went his way with the note in his pocket, and as he was about to leave the prison he met the turnkey who had been speaking with Phillip.
“Hello! who gave you liberty to leave the prison, eh?”
“I only went across the road to have a drop of ale.”
“Oh, that’s nothing, eh, you rascal? Don’t you know that your prisoner is one of the most determined villains that ever lived? Keep inside, and mind your duties, and if I catch you having any chat with Redgill, or up to any nonsense with him, such as taking letters and the like, I’ll have you publicly horsewhipped, mind ye.”
“Letters?—me take letters, Captain Jack? I’d never dare to do such a thing.”
“I wouldn’t trust you further than I could see you,” was the reply. “Now go and doubly lock the prisoner’s door. If he escapes I will hang you instead, mark me.”
With these words Capt. Jack went his way, and he had not gone far when he entered a wine-shop.
“I wonder what this Redgill has said in his note. There’s no harm in opening it. I can soon seal it up again.”
So thinking he opened the note.
“Hillo, he’s written it in red ink! How the devil did that happen? My ink was black. No matter, it seems he’s cleverer than we thought; he’s got some things concealed on his person yet, I fancy, although we searched him twice. No matter, let’s see what he says.
“What does this ‘D—w—g’ mean?” thought Capt. Jack, as he puzzled himself over the note.
“There is some mystery here, or why say ‘by our solemn oath’? Perhaps he belongs to some secret band, who knows? It was well I opened it, or perhaps I might have fallen into a trap!
“‘My former note explains all,’ does it? What other note has he written then, I wonder? How could he write unknown to the prison officers, eh?
“Ha, ha, Mr. Phillip Redgill, I begin to smell a rat,” thought Capt. Jack. “He has made friends with some one in the prison, no doubt; that cross-eyed turnkey, I shouldn’t wonder. Oh, if I catch the rascals up to any kind of tricks to thwart me in my plans, I’ll have them all hung, that I will.
“‘This night decides my fate,’ eh? Quite right there, Mr. Phillip; quite correct, and no mistake. ‘But I must be careful.’ Yes, Capt. Jack, youmust be very careful of yourself in dealing with this tricky customer, for it strikes me that this Capt. Gingles may be some powerful friend of his, and an enemy to me.
“What shall I do.
“Shall I take the note myself, or let one of the ‘dozen’ do it? No, I must take it myself, for if this Gingles gives the money, ten to one my men would bolt off with it.”
For several hours Capt. Jack didn’t know how to act in the matter.
He didn’t want to trust any of his men with such a large sum as £1,000.
For if he had done so, and they for a miracle proved honest, he would have had to divide the spoil with them all.
This was a consideration that Capt. Jack did not at all relish.
“No, no,” said he, “I must stick to this little sum myself, and if I get it, why, Phillip Redgill may be assisted to escape without trial at all, and the trial will be sure to fall on the sleepy gaolers, for wemusthang somebody.”
Time was flying, however, and something must be done in the matter.
It was now ten o’clock, and yet he was undecided how to act.
He was sauntering along the dark streets, when he accidentally came across one of his own men.
“Hello, captain! is that you?”
“Why, Ben, my lad, how are you? I’ve not seen you for three or four days. You seem rather ‘mellow.’”
“Yes, captain, ‘mellow’ is the word. Iamrather ‘mellow’, if it comes to that, and I like it.”
“So it seems. You seem to be pretty well off for money, Ben.”
“Yes, captain, I’ve made a little this last day or two.”
“How was that?”
“Why, seeing that the dozen haven’t had anything to do, not a single job on hand for this last month, I thought I’d do a little bit of business for myself on the extreme quiet, for our trade has been as flat as ditch water of late.”
“True, Ben; and money is very tight.”
“SoIthought; but, as I’ve got a few pounds to spare, you are welcome to them, captain.”
“No, thank you, Ben; but where did you pick up the money?”
“At the old ‘Bull and Mouth.’”
“Indeed!”
“Yes, the old house is full of people, and there card-playing is going on both night and day. There’s one chap there as must have won over a thousand pounds these last few days.”
“What’s his name?”
“Gingles—Captain Gingles, I think they call him.”
“Ah! you don’t say so? What sort of a fellow is he?”
“Well, he’s rather tall, and strong-looking; but he’s got a grey head and long hair, and wears spectacles, and stoops like a very old man.”
“Not much good in a quarrel or a fight, I suppose”
“Him! Bless your heart, no; he’s as gentle as a child, and, I warrant me, as weak as a cat.”
This description of the person to whom Redgill addressed his note so pleased Captain Jack that he altered his mind again for the hundredth time, and resolved to take and present the note himself, and thus pocket the large sum bargained for.
He soon got rid of Ben, and, with a light heart, bent his steps towards the well-known inn.
He was muffled up to the eyes, and when he had ordered a bottle of wine and other luxuries, he entered the card-room and seated himself in a quiet corner.
He cast a quick glance around him, and instantly perceived old Gingles, who had at his elbow a large sum in gold.
Card playing was now at its height, and so tempting did it appear to Captain Jack, that, after a time, he joined them, and for the first hour won a good stake.
Heated with wine, and flushed with his unexpected success, he made a very heavy bet with old Gingles, and, to the astonishment of all present,lostit!
Gingles raked the heap of shining gold into his old hat and put it into his pocket with a wicked grin which almost drove Captain Jack mad.
Captain Jack lost every farthing he had, and was so aggravated that he could have danced around the room with passion, and felt as if he could have shot old Gingles, who, calm, quiet, and unruffled, played on, and still continued to win with astonishing good fortune.
“No matter,” thought Captain Jack, “he will have to pay me a thousand pounds for his friend, which will make me all right again. I wish they’d stop playing, I want to present this note, and learn what he’ll do in the matter. If he refuses, I’ll get one or two of my lads to waylay the old rascal and rob him. I’ll have his money, by fair means or by foul!”
Midnight had long chimed, and still the play continued.
The “noble captain” felt very sore about his losses at cards, and chewed the end of his cigar in a terrible temper.
“I should like to get up a game to beat old Gingles,” thought he; but ere he had sat long in meditation a great cheer rose from the card-table.
“Gingles won it.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“I say he did.”
“I’ll swear he didn’t.”
“You lie, old Gingles!” said the other, who was called Alick, and a notorious card-sharper.
As he spoke, he struck the table violently.
“I tell you I did win the game—the money is mine.”
“Lay a hand on that gold, and I’ll knock you down, you cheating old scamp!” said Alick, in a terrible rage. “The money is mine.”
“It is not. I’ll leave it to any gentleman in the room.”
“Alick won it fairly,” said a chorus of voices.
“No, old Gingles is entitled to the money. He could beat Alick all night.”
“Could he?”
“Yes, he could,” said several, “and I don’t mind wagering a hundred guineas on another game.”
“So would I.”
“And I.”
“Well, then, gentlemen, since there is a dispute about the game, I am willing that we increase the stakes fourfold, and play it again.”
“Hear, hear,” cried several voices.
“I don’t mind,” said old Gingles; “but not till I’ve had some supper, and a walk in the cool air, to freshen me up a bit.”
“Well, then, it’s decided—put down your money. Gentlemen, in half an hour the game begins again.”
“Agreed, agreed!” shouted every one.
The money was put down for the contested game of cards, and great enthusiasm prevailed amongstthe audience, all of whom seemed to have plenty of money.
Captain Jack was pleased that old Gingles did not win the last stake, and mixed among the company, who were almost unanimous in their opinion that Alick would be sure to play “his very best,” and win, “for,” said several, “of all men on earth he hates most, it is old Gingles.”
“I am sure to win,” said Alick, triumphantly, “and will lay two to one on it.”
“Hear, hear!”
“So will I.”
“And I.”
“And so will I,” said Captain Jack, whose brain now began to get muddled with wine and excitement.
“Where’s your money?”
“Oh, I shall have some presently,” said Jack, “as much as any one in the room.”
At that moment he saw old Gingles leave the room.
He followed him.
In a few moments he overtook the old man, and presented Redgill’s note.
“In difficulties, eh?” said the old man, eyeing Captain Jack like a hawk; “but he has not stated the amount he wants.”
“Oh! he left that to me.”
“Indeed! can I trust to your honesty?”
“Oh! honour bright!”
“Then who are you?”
“Well, they call me Captain Jack, and I am one of the Crown officers.”
“Oh! yes; I think I have heard your name mentioned before in very flattering terms in your endeavours to suppress or destroy the famous Skeleton Crew.”
“Exactly,” said Captain Jack, bowing in mock humility.
“And what is the sum you need, my noble captain?”
“Well, I think £1,500 will get him out of trouble.”
“Quite a modest sum, certainly.”
“But, then, you know, Mr. Gingles, you are very rich, and there are a great number of persons to be paid out of it.”
“I see, I see; but how much do you intend to keep for yourself?” asked the old man, fumbling in his pockets.
“Me! my dear sir? I do not intend to keep a farthing. It is out of pure friendship for the poor young man that I do this.”
“How very kind of you. Well, captain, all I can say is, that if I give you this amount, I hope you will use it properly; for I must help young Redgill out of this difficulty. I have sworn it on my oath, and my oath must be fulfilled. How much was the sum you named?”
“£2,000.”
“Why, just now you said £1,500.”
“But I made a great mistake.”
“Never mind, never mind; £500 more or less isn’t much in a case of life or death.”
So saying, the old man pulled a large wallet of bank notes, and paid Captain Jack the large sum demanded.
One would have thought that Captain Jack might have been satisfied with this large amount, and would have gone homewards and fulfilled his engagement with Phillip Redgill.
But he did not.
The more money he had the more he wanted.
Besides this, he had suddenly entertained a deep and deadly hatred against old Gingles for winning his money at cards.
He therefore retraced his steps towards the “Bull and Mouth,” and when near the door, who should he espy coming out but Alick, the well-known card-sharp.
“Ah! my noble captain; how are you? I was glad to see you had so much spirit in the card-room as to offer to back me in this game, and as I rather like you, I’ll let you into the secret.”
“Secret! What is it?” asked Captain Jack, with his ears all cocked ready to receive it.
“Well, you see,” said Alick, taking the “noble captain’s” arm; “but come away from the doorway first, there may be listeners. You see this old Gingles is very rich, and passionately fond of cards; he has cart loads of money; where he gets it nobody knows; but, at all events, during the past week, he has won enormous sums at the card-table, and how he does it nobody can find out.”
“You don’t mean that?”
“I do though. There is a secret about it, and I have found it out.”
“What is it?”
“All the cards have private marks on the back, which cannot be seen by the naked eye; but his spectacles magnify I have found out, and, therefore, when he looks across the table he can see what cards I hold in my hand.”
“Oh! the cunning old devil!”
“Yes; isn’t he? But in this game we are going to play to-night I have made a promise that he shan’t be allowed to wear his spectacles.”
“Then you are certain to win. What a capital idea.”
“Yes, isn’t it? Those gentlemen brought me there to-night to fleece old Gingles.”
“But he won from you all the time.”
“Yes, true,” said Alick, grinning; “but that was the ‘dodge,’ in order to give him courage.”
“I see it all plainly enough now.”
“Very well; and now that I have told you this important secret, will you give me shares in your winnings?”
“Yes, half.”
“Agreed. How much have you?”
“Two thousand pounds.”
“Well, I will so play that the odds which are on me now shall change on him, and when you think he is winning, do you take up all the odds laid against me.”
“I will, and be glad to do it.”
“Certainly; why shouldn’t you win a thousand or two as well as he?”
“Why not, indeed? and I will, you’ll see.”
“I know you will if you follow my advice.”
“I will to the letter.”
“You see through it, don’t you? Nice dodge, ain’t it, captain?” said he, half reeling with wine. “You’ll make a clean four thousand pounds by the job, and hazard nothing, you know; while I win the stake, and make twice as much by outsiders, friends, who, with unlimited cash, will bet on me! Can you see through it, my boy?”
The noble captain saw through it clearly enough, and, although half tipsy, gave Alick an ominous but eloquent wink, and squeezed his hand in token of friendship.
“Come along, my boy,” said Alick, taking the captain’s arm. “Come along, old boy; don’t let’s pass a public without a drop or two; they keep the best old wines in the whole kingdom up this street. Come on, now, only one more, captain, and then we’ll return. I’m sure to win this match; itis for a large sum, you know. But are you fly to a thing or two? Well, then, listen to me.”
Mr. Alick, half laughing and half hiccuping, explained the little game again.
“Old Gingles knows I can beat him now—Lord bless you, I have improved wonderfully of late—but the ‘gentlemen’ won’t believe it, and will back Gingles to any amount. I shall beat him by long odds! I heard him confess it himself; he told me so to-night on the sly, and wouldn’t play the game at all, only some gentlemen agreed to stand most of the money for him. Pretty dodge, ain’t it? Well, I’ll play the match, if I have to pawn the rags off my back. This night’s work will supply me with small change, my boy, and then I shall say good-bye to the card table, quit London, begin to lead a new life, and be ‘a good boy’ for the future.”
“Half the world is made up of knaves, Alick, my boy; the other half are fools,” said the captain, hiccuping, and with a great air of wisdom.
When Alick returned to the card-room he looked as calm and sober as a judge.
Old Gingles, however, appeared nervous, and unwilling to play.
But the gentlemen present insisted on his doing so; but when Alick demanded that he should play without spectacles the old man got into a terrible rage, and refused to do so.
However, after a stormy discussion, in which it was insinuated that old Gingles had some dishonest motive in wearing them, he threw them upon the floor and smashed the spectacles all to pieces.
The game commenced, and heavy wagers were laid on Alick’s winning it.
Old Gingles, however, so turned the odds against Alick that many began to murmur at the extraordinary change in the play.
“Now’s your time,” said Alick to the noble captain, “the odds are two to one against me; take all you can get at that price. I am sure to win.”
The noble captain having received “the tip” from his friend Alick, took all the odds laid against him, until his £2,000 was exhausted.
The game progressed, and was very, nay, intensely exciting.
Now old Gingles was a point or two in advance, but in a few moments Alick was level again, and great applause was the consequence.
The two players now stood game and game.
The third game or the rubber was to decide it.
It began, and was quickly played, but by the merest chance of bad luck Alick lost it by a single point.
“Lost it!” gasped Captain Jack.
“Yes,” said Alick; “by the merest chance in the world.”
The friends of old Gingles were in ecstacies, and carried him out of the room in triumph, but not before the old man had well-nigh filled his large pockets with his winnings.
Captain Jack was like a madman.
He raved and cursed and swore in the most frightful manner.
He called every one the hardest and the worst names he could think of, and wanted to fight anybody or everybody.
Alick was just as noisy.
He swore that he had been cheated, swindled, robbed, and whatever else his imagination could conjure up.
So noisy and turbulent was he, and “the noble captain,” that the gentlemen at last bundled them both out into the street.
There they stood out in the cold with drawn swords, and using the most dreadful language.
“Never mind,” said Alick, “we will best old Gingles yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know where he lives.”
“Well?”
“Let us hasten to his house, and, as he returns home, let us set upon him, and fleece him of everything.”
“Not a bad idea. I can quickly wake up a dozen lads who will do the trick in no time.”
“Never mind calling in assistance, surely two strapping fellows like us can easily ‘settle’ the old man, and the money will be our own.”
“Agreed,” said Captain Jack. “I’ve got a black mask in my pocket.”
“So have I.”
“Then when we assail him let us wear them, and speak not a word.”
This plan was agreed to, and the two intended robbers set out on their journey.
They had a mile or two to go, but by quick walking they soon arrived at the residence of old Gingles.
“It don’t look like a gentleman’s house,” said Captain Jack. “Why, it stands by the river side, like a huge warehouse for goods.”
“So it does,” said Alick, “and I’ve often heard it whispered that he is engaged in secret with smugglers, robbers, and the like, or why is he so wealthy?”
“I think as you do from the looks of the place,” said Captain Jack. “But I wonder if he has returned yet.”
“What time is it?”
“Why, four o’clock,” said Captain Jack, who thought for an instant of his engagement with the prisoner, Phillip Redgill.
“Then he must have returned.”
“Hang the luck! Who is that, though, whose shadow just now passed across the blinds? There it is again.”
“Why, that is the old rascal, for a hundred pounds!” said Alick, in a tone of great disappointment. “What shall we do?”
“Do? Why, we’ll knock, and demand admittance in the name of the Crown, and search his premises for stolen goods.”
“An excellent idea,” said Alick, rubbing his hands, “and as he lives alone, why, we can rob him of every farthing he’s got in cash!”
“So we will; but are you sure that he lives alone?”
“I am; there is but one old servant in the whole place, and he is over sixty years of age.”
Firmly bent on revenge for what he had lost, and caring not a jot for Phillip Redgill’s escape, Captain Jack knocked at the door.
“House, ho! house! Open to officers of the crown!” said Captain Jack, in a very brave tone.
In a moment the window was raised, and old Gingles appeared at it in his night-cap and dressing-gown.
“Who calls so lustily at such an unseemly hour?” asked the old man.
“I do,” said Captain Jack, “Open, or I’ll break in the door!”
“Call to-morrow.”
“Open, I say!”
“Come some other time, madcaps.”
“Open, or I’ll break it open!”
“Go to the devil!” said the old man, and he slammed down the window again with great violence.
Alick could not but laugh secretly as Captain Jack walked up and down, cursing and swearing.
“Have you any keys?” said Alick.
“Yes; I never thought of that. I’ve got several skeleton keys in my pocket,”
“Let us stop a little while until the old man goes to bed, and then we can let ourselves in without making any disturbance. The night is dark, no one will perceive us.”
After a time, Captain Jack and his friend Alick tried the keys in the door, and were very happy to find that they could open it.
“Now the old rascal must look out for squalls,” said Jack; “we have got him at last.”
“Won’t he be surprised, though!”
“Yes, and no mistake—particularly when he finds out that I am an officer of the crown.”
The door was gently opened, and the two intruders entered very quietly.
They crept upstairs.
When they arrived at the top of the landing on the first floor, Captain Jack peeped into the front room.
No one was there.
The room was dimly lighted by a small, solitary light.
Yet, dark as it was, Captain Jack could see that a large dining-table was laid out, as if for the supper of a dozen or more.
“Hullo! what does all this mean?” said the noble captain, in a whisper.
“Rather strange, ain’t it?” echoed Alick, in a whisper.
Before they could make any other observation, old Gingles appeared upon the scene, and came from a secret closet so suddenly and noiselessly, that neither of the intruders heard or perceived him until he said, abruptly, in their ear,
“Well, and who are you? What do you want, and where do you come from?”
This was so unexpected by Jack and Alick that the former, for a moment, could not answer, and the latter began to titter in the background.
“Did you come to rob me?” the old man asked, in a determined voice.
“No—that is to say, not that exactly, but—”
“Well, no ‘buts’ for me—what do you want?” said the old man, advancing towards Captain Jack.
In an instant the night-cap and dressing-gown, the false wig, moustache, and stooping gait disappeared like magic, and, to Captain Jack’s horror, he stood before no less a person than the terrible Death-wing.
“Death-wing!” gasped Captain Jack, staggering back.
“Yes—Death-wing—no one else!” repeated a dozen voices behind him.
On turning round Captain Jack perceived that he was surrounded by no less than a dozen of the Skeleton Crew!
Before he could say a word, two of the grim gentlemen took the astonished officer by the scruff of the neck, and held him out at arm’s length.
“Where is Alick?” gasped Captain Jack.
“Here I am, you scoundrel,” said that worthy, who now re-entered the room, attired like one of the Crew.
“What, was it all a trap, then?”
“It was,” said Alick; “it was diamond cut diamond, Captain Jack, and you have lost the game.”
NOW READY,
THE BOY SAILOR;
OR,
LIFE ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR.
This will be found one of the most exciting and powerful tales of the day. The scene of the story is laid in Cornwall, and it abounds with the wild legends and strange adventures of the daring wreckers and smugglers that haunt the bays and inlets of that rocky coast.
FOUR ENGRAVINGS,
IN A
HANDSOME COLOURED BORDER,
GIVEN AWAY WITH NUMBERS 1 and 2.
ORDER EARLY. ONE PENNY WEEKLY.