Authors: George W. M. Reynolds,James Malcolm Rymer
Report
page 43, section 194]
Yesterday I found some matches in a pit; and that is how I have this good fire
here now. But I am starving !'
"The poor fellow then began to cry. I divided with him
my bread and cheese; and, when we had eaten our morsel, we began to converse
upon our miserable condition. He had as much abhorrence of the mine as I had;
he declared that he would sooner kill himself at once than return to labour in
a pit; and I shared in his resolution. In less than an hour Skilligalee and
myself became intimate friends. Varied and many were the plans which we
proposed to earn a livelihood; but all proved hopeless when we remembered our
penniless condition, and Skilligalee pointed to his rags. At length he
exclaimed in despair, '
There is nothing left to do out to rob / - I am
afraid that this is our only resource
,' was my reply.-'
Do you mean it?
' he demanded.- '
Yes!
' I
said boldly; and we exchanged glances full of meaning.
"'
Come with me.
' said Skilligalee. I did not ask
any questions, but followed him. He led the way it: silence for upwards of half
an hour, and at length lights suddenly shone between a grove of trees.
Skilligalee leapt over a low fence, and then helped me to climb it. We were
then in a meadow - planted with trees - a sort of park, which we traversed,
guided by the lights, towards a large house. We next came to a garden; and,
having passed through this enclosure, we reached the back part of the premises.
Skilligalee went straight up to a particular window, which he opened. He then
crept I through, and told me to wait outside. In a few minutes he returned to
the window, and handed me out a large bundle, wrapped up in a table-cloth. He
then crept forth, and closed the window. We beat a retreat from the scene of
our plunder; arid returned to the cave. The fire was still blazing, and
Skilligalee fed it with more fuel, which he obtained by breaking away the wood
from an old ruined cabin close by.
"We next proceeded to open the bundle, which I found to
contain a quantity of food, six silver forks, and six spoons. Skilligalee then
told me that the mansion which we had just robbed was the dwelling of the owner
of the mine wherein he had worked for seven years, and where he had been so
cruelly treated by the pit-man to whom he had been apprenticed. He said that he
had sometimes been sent with messages to the proprietor, from the overseer in
the mine, and that the servants on those occasions had taken him into the
kitchen and given him some food. He had thus obtained a knowledge of the
premises. 'Last night,' he added, 'I was reduced by hunger to desperation, and
I went with the intention of breaking into the pantry. To my surprise I found
the window open, the spring-belt being broken. My courage, however, failed me;
and I returned to this cave to suffer all the pangs of hunger. To-night you
came: companionship gave me resolution and we have got wherewith to obtain the
means of doing something for an honest livelihood.
"We then partook of some of the cold meat and fine
white bread which the pantry had furnished; - and, while we thus regaled
ourselves, we debated what we should do with the silver forks and spoons. I
said before that I was decently dressed; but my companion was in rags. It was
accordingly agreed I that I should go to the nearest town in the morning,
dispose of the plate purchase some clothes for Skilligalee, and then rejoin him
at the cave. This matter being decided upon, we laid down and went to sleep.
"Next morning I washed myself at a neighbouring stream,
made myself look as decent as I could, and set off. Skilligalee had told me how
to proceed. In an hour I reached the town, and went to a pawnbroker's shop. I
said that I was servant to a lady who was in a temporary difficulty and required
a loan. The pawnbroker questioned
me so closely that I began to prevaricate: he called in a constable, and gave
me into custody. I was taken before the magistrate; but I refused to answer a
single question, being determined not to betray my accomplice. The magistrate
remanded me for a week; and I was sent to prison. There I herded with juvenile
thieves and prostitutes; and I cared little for my incarceration, because I was
tolerably, and, at all events, regularly fed. When I was had up again, the owner
of the mansion which I had helped to rob, was there to identify his property.
I, however, still persisted in my refusal to answer any questions : I was
resolved not to criminate Skilligalee; and I also felt desirous of being sent
back to gaol, as I was certain of there obtaining a bed and a meal. In vain did
the magistrate impress upon me the necessity of giving an explanation of the
manner in which the plate came into my possession, for both he and the owner of
the property were inclined to believe that I was only a tool, and not the
original thief;- I remained dumb, and was remanded for another week.
"At the expiration of that period, I was again placed
before the magistrate; and, to my surprise, I found Skilligalee in the court.
He was still clothed in his rags, and looked more wretched and famished than
when I first saw him. I gave him a look, and made a sign to assure him that I
would not betray him; but the moment the case was called, he stood forward and
declared that he alone was guilty,- that he had robbed the house, and that I
was merely an instrument of whom he had made use to dispose of the proceeds of
the burglary. I was overcome by this generosity on his part; and both the
magistrate and the owner of the property were struck by the avowal. The latter
declared that he did not wish to prosecute: the former accordingly inflicted a
summary sentence of imprisonment for a few weeks upon Skilligalee. He then
questioned me about my own condition; and I told him that I had worked in a
mine, but that I had been compelled to run away from home in consequence of the
ill treatment I received at the hands of my mother. I expressed my
determination to put an end to my life sooner than return to her; and the
gentleman, whose house had been robbed, offered to provide for me at his own
expense, if the magistrate would release me. This he agreed to do; and the
gentleman placed me as a boarder in a school kept in the town by two elderly
widows.
"This school was founded for the purpose of furnishing
education to the children of pit-men who were prudent and well-disposed enough
to pay a small stipend for that purpose, that stipend being fixed at a very low
rate, as the deficiency in the amount required to maintain the establishment
was supplied by voluntary contribution. There were only a few boarders - and
they were all girls: the great majority of the pupils consisted of
day-scholars. At this school I stayed until I was sixteen,. when the gentleman
who had placed me there took me into his service as housemaid.
"During the whole of that period I had never heard of
my mother, or Phil Blossom. I now felt some curiosity to discover what had
become of them; so, one day, having obtained a holiday for the purpose, I went
over to the pit where I had myself passed so many miserable years. The same old
woman, who had presided at the handle of the roller that raised or lowered the
clatch-harness, during the period of my never-to-be-forgotten apprenticeship,
was there still. She did not recognise me - I was so altered for the better.
Clean, neatly dressed, stout, and tall, I could not possibly be identified with
the dirty, ragged thin, and miserable-looking creature who had once toiled in
that subterranean hell. I accosted the old woman, and asked her if a woman
named Betsy Flathers or Blossom worked in the mine. 'Bet Blossom!', ejaculated
the old woman: 'why, she's been dead a year!'
"'Dead!' I echoed. 'And how did she die?' - 'By falling
down the shaft, to be sure,' answered the old woman. - Although I entertained
little affection for my mother, absence and a knowledge of her character having
destroyed all feelings of that kind, I could not bear this intelligence without
experiencing a severe shock.- 'Yes,' continued the old woman, 'it was a sort of
judgment on her, I suppose, for she herself let a poor creature fall down some
four or five years ago, when she took my place at the handle here for a few
minutes while I went to the tommy-shop for her. She married the husband of the
woman who was killed by the fall; and every body knew well enough afterwards
that there wasn't quite so much neglect in the affair as she had pretended at
the time, but a something more serious still. However, there was no proof; and
so the thing was soon forgot. Well, one day, about a year ago, as I said just
now, Phil Blossom came up to me and asked me to run to the tommy-shop to fetch
him some candles. I told him to mind the wheel, and he said he would. It seems
that a few minutes after I had left on his errand, his wife came up the clatch;
and, according to what a lad, who looked up the shaft at the time, says, she
had just reached the top, when she fell, harness and all, the whole pit echoing
with her horrible screams. She died the moment she touched the bottom. Phil
Blossom was very much cut up about it; but he swore that the handle slipped out
of his hand, and then went whirling round and round with such force that he
couldn't catch it again. I own people did say that Phil and his second wife led
a precious dog-and-cat kind of a life; but the overseer thought there was no
reason to make a stir about it, and there the matter ended.' - 'And what has
become of Phil Blossom?' I inquired.-The old woman pointed down the shaft, as
much as to say that he was still working in the mine.- 'Did they have any
children?' I asked.- 'Bet had one, I believe,' said the old woman; 'but it died
a few days after it was born, through having too large a dose of Godfrey's
Cordial administered to make it sleep.' - I gave the old woman a shilling, and
turned away from the place, by no means anxious to encounter Phil Blossom, who,
I clearly perceived, had rid himself of my mother by the same means which she
had adopted to dispose of his first wife.
"As I was returning to my master's house, I had to
cross a narrow bridge over a little stream. I was so occupied with the news I
had just heard, I did not perceive that there was another person advancing from
the opposite side, until I was suddenly caught in the arms of a young man in
the very middle of the bridge. I gave a dreadful scream; but he burst out into
a loud laugh, and exclaimed, 'Well, you needn't he so frightened at a mere
joke.' I knew that voice directly; and glancing at the young man, who was
tolerably well dressed, I immediately recognised my old friend Skilligalee. It
was then my turn to laugh, which I did very heartily, because he had not the
least notion who I was. I, however, soon told him; and he was quite delighted
to meet me. We walked together to the very identical cave where we had first
met when boy
and girl. Now he was a tall young man, and had improved
wonderfully. He told me that he had become acquainted with some excellent
fellows when he was in prison, and that he had profited so well by their advice
and example, that he led a jovial life, did no work, and always had plenty of
money. I asked him how he managed; and he told me, after some hesitation, that
he had turned housebreaker. There was scarcely a gentleman's house, within
twelve miles round, that he had not visited in that quality. He then proposed
that I should meet him on the following Sunday evening, and take a walk
together. I agreed, and we separated.
"I did not neglect my appointment. Skilligalee was
delighted to see me again; and he proposed that I should leave service, and
live with him. I consented; and —"
CHAPTER CXVII.
THE RATTLESNAKE.
HERE the Rattlesnake abruptly broke off.
The Resurrection Man was asleep in his chair. It had not
been without a motive that the woman so readily complied with the desire of the
Resurrection Man that she should amuse him with the history of her life; and as
she saw him gradually becoming more and more drowsy as her narrative
progressed, an ill-concealed expression of joy animated her countenance.
At length, when the hand of the watch over the mantelpiece
pointed to eight, and the Resurrection Man fell back in his chair fast asleep,
she could hardly suppress an ejaculation of triumph.
She broke off abruptly in the midst of her narrative, and
listened.
The nasal sounds that emanated from her companion convinced
her that he slept.
Not a moment was now to be lost.
She knew full well that whenever Anthony Tidkins was
overtaken by a nap in such a manner as the present, he invariably awoke a short
time before the hour at which he had any business to transact; for that strange
but fearful individual exercised a marvellous control over all his natural
wants and propensities.
Rising cautiously from her seat, the Rattlesnake advanced
towards the Resurrection Man, and steadfastly examined his countenance.
There could be no doubt that he
slept profoundly.
She was, however, resolved to assure herself as far as
possible on that head; and she purposely agitated the fire-irons against each
other.
The Resurrection Man started slightly, but did not awake.
Perfectly satisfied on this point, Margaret Flathers
hastened into the adjoining room, and put on her bonnet and shawl.
Having provided herself with her skeleton keys and some
lucifer matches, she descended the stairs and went out of the house.
It was not, however, without an intense apprehension of
danger that she proceeded to the execution of her scheme. Were the Resurrection
Man to awake suddenly, and entertain any suspicion on discovering her absence,
she knew that her life would not be worth an hour's purchase.
Still the temptation that now lured her to dare this
terrific chance was so great - it was irresistible!
Her hesitation, when she stood in the street, was only of a
moment's existence; and, calling all her courage to her aid, she plunged into
the alley.
The door in that dark passage was opened in another moment:
she closed and locked it carefully, and then entered the back room on the
ground floor.
Having obtained a light, she raised the mysterious
trap-door, and boldly descended the steps leading into the subterranean
passage.
One of her keys soon opened the door of the cell in which
the Resurrection Man had buried his treasure; but her joy at this disappearance
of the only difficulty which she had apprehended, was adulterated by a
sentiment of invincible terror, as she still thought of the possibility of
detection by him whose desperate character inspired her with this tremendous
alarm.
Nevertheless, she was resolved to dare every thing In the
enterprise which she had undertaken.
"Fortune seemed to favour me this afternoon when I
watched him," she murmured to herself; "and surely it will not desert
me at the last moment."
Then she boldly entered the cell.
To take up the stone which covered the treasure, and possess
herself of the bag that contained the gold over which she had a few hours
previously beheld the Resurrection Man gloating in so strange a manner, - this
was the work of only a few moments.
She replaced the stone: she clutched the bag with a feeling
of wild joy commingled with terrific alarm; and she was hurrying from the cell,
when something at the opposite side of the pas. sage met her view, and for a
moment riveted her to the spot.
A light was streaming from beneath the door of a dungeon
facing the one on the threshold of which she stood.
Circumstances, which in the excitement of her present daring
proceedings she had forgotten, now rushed like an overwhelming torrent to her
memory.
The mysterious visits of the Resurrection Man in a mask and
dark cloak to that subterranean place, - the bread and water which she had seen
in the cupboard up stairs, - and the fearful scream that on one occasion had
emanated from the depths where she now found herself, -all these
circumstances flashed very vividly across her mind.
There was no longer any doubt: a human being - a female,
most probably, judging by the tone of that agonising shriek which now seemed to
ring in her ears at if its vibration had never once ceased - was immured in
that dungeon whence the light streamed!
This conviction dissipated the alarm Into which the sudden
glare of that light had plunged the Rattlesnake.
Urged by several motives, - curiosity, a desire to obtain
the reinforcement of a companion in case of the sudden appearance of the
Resurrection Man, and, to do her justice, a feeling of compassion for a victim
whom she believed to be of her own sex, - urged, we say, by these motives,
which all presented themselves to her mind with the rapidity of lightning, the
Rattlesnake hastened to open the door of that dungeon whence the light
emanated.
She boldly entered the cell; and at the same moment Viola
awoke.
Starting up from the bed, that unhappy lady· glanced wildly
around, and exclaimed, "Where am I?"
"Hush! not a word," said the Rattlesnake,
advancing towards her. "I am come to save you - follow me! "
Viola did not hesitate a single moment: the manner in which
the woman addressed her, and a profound sense of the certainty that no
treachery was needed to draw her into any position worse than her present one,
since she was so completely in the power of the terrible master of that
establishment, induced her to yield instantaneous compliance with the
directions of the Rattlesnake.
"Fear nothing, lady," observed the latter;
"only be silent, and lose not a moment."
She then hastened from the cell, followed by Viola, who did
not even wait to put on her bonnet and shawl.
They ascended the steps leading to the back room, both
hearts palpitating violently.
The Rattlesnake did not stop to close the mouth of the
subterranean vaults, but hastened to apply the skeleton key to the door leading
into the alley.
Her hand trembled to such an extent that she could not turn
the key.
"O heavens!" she exclaimed in a tone of despair,
"if
he
should come!"
"Have you the right key?" demanded Viola in a
hurried tone.
"The one that has opened it before," replied
Margaret ;-" but it appears that - it will not turn - and, ah! my God, I
hear steps approaching!"
The affrighted woman fell upon her knees, as if already to
supplicate for her life.
Viola listened during half a minute of the moat agonising
suspense; but no sound from without met her ears.
"It was a false alarm," she exclaimed; then
applying her band to the key, she turned it with ease, for fear alone had
prevented the Rattlesnake from moving it.
In another instant the door was opened.
"Thank God!" cried Margaret Flathers, starting
from her suppliant posture, and clutching the bag of gold beneath her left arm.
"Come - let us not lose a moment," said Viola; and
she darted into the alley, followed by the Rattlesnake.
There was no one to oppose their egress ; but they could
scarcely believe that they were really safe even when they found themselves in
the street.
And now they ran - they ran, as if that terrible individual
whom they both feared so profoundly
were at their heels;- they ran,
doubting the fact, the one that she was free, the other that she was safe ;-
they ran - they ran, reckless of the way which they were pursuing, but each
alike impressed with the conviction that it was impossible to place too great a
distance between them and the dwelling of the Resurrection Man!
Margaret Flathers carried her treasure as if it were a thing
of no weight: Viola Chichester forgot that she had neither bonnet nor shawl to
protect her against the bitter chill of that wintry evening.
And thus, together, did they pursue their way - the virtuous
wife and the abandoned woman,- the former thinking not what might be the
character of her companion-the latter having now no curiosity to know the
circumstances that had plunged the lady by her side into the captivity from
which she had just been released.
At length they reached the New Church facing the Bethnal
Green Road; and there they halted, both completely out of breath and exhausted.
"We are now safe," said Margaret Flathers.
"We are now safe," echoed Viola Chichester.
"Still this place is lonely —"
"And if that dreadful man were on our track
—"
"We might yet repent —"
"Yes - we might yet repent our proceeding."
The minds of those two women - so distinct in all other
respects - were now entirely congenial in reference to one grand absorbing
idea.
In spite of the alarm which yet filled their imaginations,
they lingered against the palings surrounding the field at the back of the New
Church, for they were too exhausted to continue their flight for a few moments.
That interval of rest enabled them to direct their attention
to other matters besides the immense danger from which they had just escaped,
and the sense of which was still uppermost in their minds.
"Which way are you going, madam?" asked the Rattlesnake,
who saw by Viola's air - in spite of the disadvantages under which her outward
appearance laboured - that she was not one of the poorer orders.
"My own house is close by," answered Mrs.
Chichester. "But you - whither are you going? Will it not be better for
you to come with me - and —"
"No, lady," replied Margaret Flathers; "you
are not aware who and what I am, or you would not make me that generous
offer."
"Generous!" exclaimed Viola: "have you not
saved me from a fearful dungeon? It is true that my persecutors promised to
release me this evening: but, alas I their word was not to be depended
upon."
"Ah! madam," said Margaret, "if you trusted
to Anthony Tidkins to give you your freedom, you would have been woefully
disappointed - unless, indeed, he had no longer any interest in keeping you a
prisoner."
"Well - well," observed Viola, "we will talk
of all that hereafter. In the mean time, I insist upon your accompanying me to
my home."
"I will see you safe to your own door, madam,"
returned Margaret; "and there I shall leave you."
"And why will you refuse an asylum at my abode? "
demanded Viola.
"I dare not remain in London," answered the
Rattlesnake. "Oh! you know not the perseverance, the craft, and the
wickedness of the man from whose power you have just escaped. But there is one
favour, madam, which you can grant me —"
"Name it," exclaimed Viola: "it is already
conferred, if within my power."
"You can have no difficulty in fulfilling my
request," said the Rattlesnake, "because it is simple, and consists
only in forbearance. I mean, madam, that you will amply reward me for the
service I have been able to render you, if you will promise not to take any
measures to punish or molest Anthony Tidkins. He has been more or less good to
me; and I should not like to know that he was injured through me. Besides, his
revenge would only be the more terrible, if ever you or I again fell into his
hands."
"I give you the promise which you require," said
Viola; " although I must confess that it is somewhat repugnant to my
feelings to allow such a wretch to be at large with impunity."
"But for my sake, lady —"
"For your sake, I give my most solemn pledge not to do
aught that may injure that man on account of his past offences."
"A thousand thanks!" ejaculated the Rattlesnake.
" Let us now proceed. But, heavens I you have got nothing on your head nor
on your shoulders; and I did not notice that before! Take my bonnet and shawl,
madam - I am more accustomed to the cold than you."
"No," said Viola; "in five minutes I shall be
at my own house. Come - let us proceed."
Mrs. Chichester and the Rattlesnake hastened towards the
Cambridge Heath gate.
On reaching the door of her abode, Viola again pressed her
companion to accept of her hospitality but the Rattlesnake firmly, though
respectfully, refused the offer.
" In another hour, madam," she said, "I shall not
be in London. Then only shall I consider myself safe."
"At least allow me to supply you with some money for
your immediate purposes. I have none about me, and I know not whether my
husband has left a single shilling in the house; but any of my tradesmen in the
neighbourhood will honour my draft; and if you will walk in for a few
minutes —"
"Thank you, madam - thank you for your kind
consideration but I am well supplied;" and she shook the bag that she
hugged beneath her arm.
Viola heard the jingling of the gold, and ceased to press
her offer.
"At all events," she observed, "should you ever
require a friend, do not hesitate to apply to Mrs. Chichester."
"Mrs. Chichester!" ejaculated the Rattlesnake:
"surely I have heard that name before? Oh! I recollect - I have taken to
the post-office letters from Tidkins to a Mr. Chichester, who, I suppose, must
be your husband."
"The same," said Viola, with a profound sigh.
"Farewell, madam," cried the Rattlesnake: "I
feel that I shall not breathe with freedom until I am far beyond London.
Farewell."
"Farewell," said Mrs. Chichester, extending her
hand towards her deliverer.
Margaret Flathers pressed it warmly, and then hurried away.
Viola knocked at the door, and was speedily admitted once
more into her own dwelling.
The servant who received her, uttered an ejaculation of surprise
when she beheld the condition in which her mistress had returned.
"Make fast the door with chain and bolt, and bring me
the key," said Viola, taking no heed of her domestic's exclamation.
"See also that the