 Section 67 of Mysteries of London, Volume 4. Chapter 174 A Night of Terror. The two ladies hastened to console, or speaking with greater accuracy, endeavored to console the weeping girl. But although she knew how friendly disposed they were towards her, although she felt the full extent of their kindness and even reproached herself with her inability to yield to its soothing influence, yet it seemed as if the departure of her mother had left her more alone in the world than ever she was before. "'Dry those tears, my sweet Agnes,' said the elder Miss Theobald, pressing the maiden's delicate white hand with cordiality and tenderness. "'Oh, do not give way to sorrow for which you have no real cause,' urged the younger of the two ladies. "'A few hours will soon pass, my dear child, and your fond parent will return.' But Agnes, though acknowledging by her gestures the kindness of the sisters, could not subdue her grief, and her sobbing became more convulsive. For a tide of conflicting and painful reflections rushed in upon her soul. She remembered all her father's goodness towards her, the strong injunctions he had given her not to hold intercourse with anyone who was not the bearer of a letter from him, and the grief that he would experience when he heard of her departure. She thought likewise of the terror and dismay which must even already reign at the cottage on account of her mysterious absence. She beheld, in imagination, the excellent-hearted Mrs. Gifford and the good-nature Jane inconsolable at her loss, and, apart from all these, she now felt certain misgivings arise in her bosom relative to the steps she had taken. Thenly did she endeavour to persuade herself that, acting by the counsel and in obedience to the prayers of her mother, she could not have done wrong. A secret voice appeared to reproach her, and unknown tongues seemed to whisper ominous things in her ears. Terror gained upon her, and, under its influence, her grief became less violent. But her thoughts grew confused. There was a hurry in her brain. She felt as if she had just awakened from a wild and painful dream, and was still unable to collect her scattered ideas, and still admits that confusion flashed with vivid brightness to her memory, the warning which her sire had so emphatically given to her respecting the snares that were set by the wicked to entrap the artless and the innocent. At length overcome by the terror which thus rapidly acquired a complete empire over her soul, and forgetting that all was reassuring and consolatory in her present petition, Agnes Vernon fell upon her knees before the two amazed ladies, exclaiming as she extended her clapped hands wildly towards them. Take me home again to my cottage. Take me home again. I implore you. My dearest child, said the elder Miss Theobald, accompanying her soothing words with a tenderest caresses. What do you fear? Wherefore do you wish to leave us? Are we not your mother's friends? And can you not persuade yourself to look upon us in the same light? Oh, yes, madam, I know. I feel that you are my friend, that you wish me well, cried Agnes, her apprehensions dissipating, but only to allow scope for her anguish to burst forth again. Why, then, do you thus give way to your grief? Miss Theobald, raising the young maiden gently, and us gently leading her to a seat. I cannot explain my sensations, sobbed the poor girl, and yet I feel very, very unhappy. You have doubtless been much excited this evening, my love, was the reply, but a good night's rest will tranquilize you, and remember, you are beneath the friendly roof, and where Han cannot reach you. But I tremble lest I have done wrong, madam, exclaimed Agnes. How is it that my father ordains one thing, and my mother counsels another? Oh, I am bewildered with misgivings. I know not what to think, nor how to act. Are you not pleased at having at length embraced a mother? said the younger Miss Theobald in a tone of gentle reproach. Yes, oh, yes, ejaculated Agnes fervently. Then in a mournful voice she observed, but I have fled, surreptitiously fled from the home provided for me by a fond and trusting father. The two ladies fully comprehended the nature of the conflicting thoughts that were agitating in the breast of Agnes Vernon, and they exchanged rapid glances of mingled sorrow and apprehension. They saw that on one side was a suddenly awakened and ardent love for a mother, and that on the other side was a sense of the deference and obedience, as well as of the gratitude due to an affectionate father. They were, therefore, filled with regret that family circumstances should have placed that pure, artless, and innocent girl in a position which compelled her to balance between the two, and although they would have moved heaven and earth to induce her to decide in favor of the maternal parent, they recognized the difficulty of the task and entertained the deepest alarm for its results. Tomorrow evening, long before this hour, my dear Agnes, said the elder of the ladies, you will be comfortably settled in your new home, the villa which your mother intends to inhabit at Bayswater, but belongs to my sister and myself. It is a neat little dwelling, neither too much secluded nor too near to the neighboring houses, and a large, well-culpivated and delightful garden is attached to it. Then, my dear child, reflect, remember that you will possess a constant, a devoted, and a loving companion in your mother. You will no longer pass many, many hours, indeed the greater portion of your time in solitude and loneliness, nor be thrown upon the incompatible society of servants who, however good and hard and well-intentioned, are not such associates as you would select of your own free will. Ah, madam, your words console me, said Agnes, endeavoring to stifle her sobs. But how happens it that you should be acquainted with my late mode of life? I did but guess what that mode of life must have been, returned Miss Theobald, and I see that I was not far wrong. I knew that your father did not, could not dwell with you entirely, that he could only be a visitor at your place of abode, wherever it might be, and therefore I naturally conjectured that you were thrown almost completely upon your own resources. And can you tell me, madam? asked Miss Vernon ingenuously, as the thought suddenly struck her. Can you tell me how it is that my father should wish me to dwell under his guardianship only, and my mother wishes me to rely solely upon her, or indeed, she added, after a few moments pause? I should rather inquire the reason which prevents my parents from living together beneath the same roof, and having me with them? For according to all the books I have ever read, ah, my dear Agnes interrupted the elder sister. You would not seek to penetrate into those mysteries which so unhappily belong to the destinies of your parents. Oh, no, no, if it be improper for a child to ask an explanation of such secrets, exclaimed Miss Vernon, the natural purity of her soul instantly absorbing the sentiment of curiosity that had prompted her queries. And now let me employ your pardon for having testified so much excitement. It was to be expected, dear child, said Miss Theobald, and you have no pardon to solicit. We are delighted to perceive that you have at length recovered some degree of calmness. Rest assured that you will be happy in the society of your mother, whom we have known for years. Yes, many, many years, and whom we love as much as if she were a near relative. You will be surprised to learn, Agnes, that when you were a babe, we often fondled you in our arms. Yes, you may regard me with surprise, but it is nevertheless the fact that my sister and myself have frequently, very frequently, nursed and dandled you for hours together. Oh, I was wrong to exhibit so much mistrust and want of confidence in you just now, exclaimed Agnes, her affectionate soul being deeply touched by assurances so well calculated to move her, and which were indeed strictly consonant with truth. Think not of what has gone by, my dear child, said the younger sister. We make all possible allowances for the excited state of your mind, and we sincerely hope, as we believe, that happiness awaits you. But it is growing late, and you doubtless stand in need of refreshment ere you retire to rest. Then, without waiting for an answer, she rang the bell, and the servant was ordered to bring in the suppertree. Agnes was in no humor to partake of the meal. Indeed, she was in that state of mind when the individual rather loathes the idea of eating through a total suspension of the appetite. But so delicate were the attentions of the kind-hearted sisters, and so persevering were they in their endeavors to render their guests as much at home as possible that Agnes sat down with them to table, and, if she scarcely ate anything, yet her spirits revived somewhat from the sociable nature of the evening repast. It was a little after eleven when the Mrs. Theobald conducted the young lady to the bed-chamber, which had been prepared for her reception, and, having embraced her affectionately, the good sisters left her, as they hoped, to the enjoyment of the repose of which they knew she must stand much in need. The moment she found herself alone, the maiden felt unpleasant thoughts returning to her mind, and in order to escape from them, if possible, she began to lay aside her apparel with unwanted haste. Everything necessary for her toilette had been provided, and the chamber, which was at the back of the house and on the second floor, was elegantly furnished, having an air of comfort that would have been duly appreciated by one in a more settled state of mind than was the amiable girl at the time. In a few minutes, she retired to rest, and, contrary to her expectation, sleep soon fell upon her eyelids, for she was worn out and exhausted by the exciting incidents of the day. Her dreams were not, however, of a tranquilizing description. In the first place, she fancied that she was roving in her garden, and that she beheld Lord William Trevelyan, approaching down the lane. In a few moments he stood by her side, though how he passed the verdant boundary was not quite clear to her. She did not retreat, yet she felt that she ought to retire. But her feet were riveted to the ground, and when he took her hand, the same unknown and invisible influence which nailed her to the spot, forbade her to withdraw that hand which trembled in his own. Then she imagined that the young nobleman began to address her in a style similar to the contents of this letter. She cast down her eyes, she felt herself blushing, and, though she knew that she ought to retreat, she nevertheless listened with emotions of pleasure never experienced before. He pressed her to be allowed to visit her again, and she was raising her eyes bashfully towards his countenance. To read his sincerity in his looks, ere she murmured the affirmative reply that already trembled upon her tongue, when she was suddenly shocked to receive a marvelous and signal change taking place in him. His face grew wrinkled, the handsome features became distorted and frightful. His clothes took another appearance, and as she gazed upon him in speechless wonder and alarm, she saw standing in his place a hideous old woman, whom she at length recognized as Mrs. Mortimer. Agnes strove to cry out, but could not. A spell was upon her lips, and the Herodon's eyes glared upon her with savage malignity. The maiden felt herself sinking in terror to the ground, when the whole scene experienced a sudden variation, and she was now in the parlor of the cottage, with her father seated by her side. Neither was the second dream of a tranquilizing description. Agnes fancied that her sire was angry with her, that he uttered reproaches for a disobedience of which she had been guilty. At first she could not comprehend the nature of the offence that had entailed upon her this vituperation, and rendered her father's manner so unusually severe towards her. But at last it flashed in her mind that she had been incautious in receiving at the cottage evil intentioned visitors, and then she suddenly found her father engaged in a violent dispute with Mrs. Mortimer, whose countenance seemed more than ever hideous and revolting. How this dispute originated, or how Mrs. Mortimer had got into the room, Agnes knew not. There she, however, was, and the quarrel waxed warmer and warmer. At length the old woman took her departure, but aired the door closed behind her. She turned on Agnes a look of such fiend-like malignity that a shriek would have expressed the young maidens of fright, had not her lips been mysteriously sealed. When the Herodon had disappeared Mr. Vernon renewed his reproaches, and Agnes fancied that, on falling on her knees in the presence of her sire to demand pardon, he spurned her from him, upgraded her with her disobedience, and in gratitude, and warned her in a tone of solemnly prophetic meaning that her readiness to repose confidence in strangers would bring down some terrible calamity on her head. She was about to promise never more to prove guilty of the disobedience which had elicited all these reproaches, and produced all that unwanted harshness on her father's part. When a third person appeared on the scene, and this third person was her mother, but this new dream which now visited the sleeping maiden was not of a tranquilizing description. She fancied that an earnest appeal was now made to her on either side, placing her in the difficult and most distressing condition of a child who had to decide as to which of her parents she would cling to, and which abandoned. Here was her father, reminding her of all he had done for her. There was her mother, proclaiming herself to be unhappy and to need the society and solace of her daughter. On her right hand stood the sire whom she had always known. On her left was the maternal parent whom she had never known before. The countenance of the former expressed misgivings, accounting almost to despair. That of the latter was bathed in tears and indicative of all the agonies of a cruel suspense. Agnes felt that her heart was rent by this scene, and yet it appeared to her that she was bound to decide, and that promptly, in one way or the other, she looked towards her father, and he held out his arms to receive her, his countenance assuming an expression so profoundly wretched that it seemed to say, If I lose you, I lose all I love or care for on earth. She turned towards her mother, in order to breathe a last farewell, for that she must accompany her father. When she beheld her maternal parent on her knees, and extending her clapped hands imploringly, while the pale but beauteous face indicated that life or death was in the decision which was about to be pronounced, Agnes could not resist this earnest, silently eloquent appeal on the part of a mother who had proclaimed herself to be unhappy, and the maiden fancied that she threw herself into that mother's arms. A cry of misery burst from her father's lips, and Agnes awoke with a wild start, awoke to feel her entire frame quaking convulsively, and her heart palpitating with alarming violence. For a few moments, nay, for nearly a minute, she lay stretched upon her back, endeavouring to compel her thoughts to settle themselves in their proper places, so that she might attain the assurance whether she had just beheld realities, or had only been the victim of distressing dreams. And when she was unable to arrive at the latter conclusion, she started up in her bed, exclaiming, Nevertheless, this is more than I can endure. Then came the consciousness of where she was, and why she was there. Now she had fled from the home that her father had provided for her, and in spite of all his solemn injunctions and prudential warnings, how her mother had left her in a strange place and with persons who were strangers to her, and how Mrs. Gifford would be certain to send to Paris without delay and communicate the afflicting tidings to Mr. Vernon. The maiden's brain reeled as these thoughts flashed through it, and at this moment, when her senses appeared to be leaving her, the clock of Christchurch in the Blackfriars road proclaimed the hour of one. The sound came booming, rolling, vibrating through the air, like a solemn warning, at least so it seemed the disordered fancy of Agnes Vernon, and, with feelings worked up to an intolerable pitch, she leapt from her couch. To obtain a light was an easy matter, for the necessary materials were at hand, and when the flame burst from the tip of the Lucifer match, Agnes cast a hurried and a frightened glance around, as if she dreaded to meet some hideous countenance or horrible form in the chamber. Not that she was naturally timid, no, far from it. Her very innocence and purity rendered her courageous on ordinary occasions, but she was now under the influence of emotions powerfully rung, a feeling strained to an unusual tension, and she had no control over her imagination, which was disordered and excited. One idea dominated all the rest. This was to escape from the house, to escape at any hazard and at all risks. Not for worlds, she thought, could she return to that bed where such distressing visions had rent her soul, and she could not pass the rest of the night alone and in a strange place. No, she must return to the cottage, retrace her way to the home which her father had provided for her, and endeavour to reach that friendly threshold in time to prevent Mrs. Gifford from transmating to her sire the news of her disobedience. But her mother, oh, she should see that parent again. She would explain everything, and perhaps arrangements might be made to suit the views and accomplish the happiness of all. In the meantime, however, she must escape. She must return home. She could not endure the idea of remaining another hour. No, nor even a minute longer than was necessary in that stranger dwelling. With lightning's speed did all these thoughts, or rather glimpses of thoughts, for they were too brief, too fleetingly vivid, to deserve the name of reflections, pass through the maiden's mind. As she threw on her apparel with a congenial haste, and in three minutes she was dressed, her bonnet was in the parlor below, but that she could take on her way out of the house, or she cared not if she did not find it at all. She would escape in any case and at all events, and if she could not find a vehicle to convey her home, she would walk. Although she might have to ask her way at every step. For Agnes had worked herself up to a pitch of desperation. A fearful panic was upon her. She knew not. Neither did she pause to ask in her own soul why she longed so ardently to fly from that house, an irresistible, an irresistible, an almost incomprehensible influence urged her on, and the hurry of her actions was in accordance with the hurry of her brain. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders. She just waited a moment, a single moment, to fasten it up in a large knot behind, and then, taking the light in her hand, she stole noiselessly down the stairs. A profound silence, a silence which her footsteps disturbed not, rained throughout the house. All, save the affrightened, half-maddened girl, slept. She gained the haul. She endeavored to enter the parlor to procure her bonnet, but the door was closed, and she now remembered that the elder Miss Thielbald had taken the key with her when they had all quitted that room for the night. But we have already said that Agnes cared not for the bonnet, and without bestowing a second thought on the matter, she approached the front door. Alas, there was a more serious disappointment still. The key of that door had likewise been taken upstairs. An expression of bitter vexation passed over the pale countenance of the maiden, an expression more bitter than that beauteous countenance had ever before worn. But in another instant it was seceded by something like a gleam of hope and joy, for Agnes bethought her that there was a yard at the back of the house. She had seen it in the moonlight from her bedroom window, and there might be a means of egress in that direction. Consciously descending the stairs leading into the kitchens, which were below the level of the street, she hastened to the back door, which to her joy proved only to be bolted. Oh, now she would escape. She would escape, even if she were forced to climb a wall and enter the enclosure belonging to a neighboring house. For with the excitement occasioned by her present proceedings, the panic influence which urged her on acquired a fresh power every moment. Extinguishing the light she left the candlestick in the house, and then emerged into the yard. The fresh air, as it fanned her face, seemed to breathe whispering promises of freedom, and gave her renewed courage. The moon was shining gloriously, and as she cast a glance of rapid survey around, she beheld the backs of the dilapidated houses, the fronts of which had struck her with such sinister effect when she first entered Stamford Street, in the Hackney coach in the evening. There was no motive egress from the yard saved by scaling the boundary walls, which were low on either side. Non-instant did Agnes hesitate, the fittings of a water-butt served as a ladder for her delicate feet, and behold, the silph-like form of the maiden passes nimbly and lightly over the wall, into the yard belonging to the ruined house next door, for it strikes her that egress by means of an uninhabited building must be certain beyond all risk or doubt. The moonlight streams, with silvery rays upon the somber walls, the dark window frames, with the blackened fragments of glass remaining in them, the back door hanging crazily and loosely on its hinges, and the rust-eaten bars of the back kitchen window, the yard is overgrown with a ranked grass, reaching above the ankles, and the ground is ragged and uneven, the chances of tripping being moreover multiplied by the brick-bats and the broken bottles scattered about. The ruined aspect of the house and the long neglected condition of the yard, or small garden, as it once was, behind the building, constituted a scene of desolation, and conveyed an impression of utter loneliness to the mind of the young lady, that made her shrink back for a moment as she placed her hand on the rusty latch of the crazy door leading into the lower premises, and seemed she not the sprite of some maiden who had been fowly dealt with in that gloomy tomb-like place, and whose unquiet ghost came to haunt the scene where her blood had been ruthlessly spilt and her mortal remains lay concealed in unconsecrated ground. Yes, such she indeed appeared, with her ashy pale face, her white dress rendered wider still by the moonbeams that played upon it, and her long dark hair, which having become loosened in the act of scaling the wall, now flowed wildly and disheveled over her shoulders. We said that she hesitated for a moment to push her way into the dark and ruined building, wrapped as it was in supproical silence, but the dominant influence which had hitherto impelled her asserted its empire once again, and thrusting open the door, which was by no means a difficult matter, she entered the dilapidated house. A chill struck her heart, and a vague terror seized upon her, as she now plunged, as it were, out of the pure moonlight into the utter darkness of those premises. But subduing her fears, she advanced a few paces, with her arms extended so as to grope for the stairs. Her right hand encountered the banisters which were loose and crazy, and raised a rattling noise as she grasped them. No longer alarmed, however, but feeling that the means of escape were gained, she was about to ascend the steps, when a door suddenly opened immediately in front of her. A light appeared, and the rays of the candle, thus abruptly thrust forth, revealed the countenance so hideous, so monster-like, that for a few moments Agnes stood transfixed in speechless horror, stupefied, paralyzed, motionless as a marble statue, and glaring with horror also were the eyeballs whose riveted looks met her own, then a loud, hoarse, and a frightened voice exclaimed, The Ghost! The Ghost! and the light, dropped suddenly on the ground, was immediately extinguished. A piercing shriek burst from the lips of Agnes, and she fell senseless at the foot of the stairs. End of Section 67. Recording by Christina Bowie. Section 68 of Mysteries of London, Volume 4. This is a LibreBox recording. All LibreBox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibreBox.org. Reading by Stephen Seidel. Mysteries of London, Volume 4 by George W. M. Reynolds. The Haunted House in Stamford Street. We must now carry our narrative backwards for a few hours in order to explain the incident which has just been described. At the corner of Stamford Street and the Black Friars Road, there are three houses in a most dismantled and dilapidated condition. They seem to have been ravaged by fire, but time and neglect have in reality produced that deplorable appearance. The walls are blackened with accumulated dirt, and the state of the windows bears unequivocal evidence to the fact that every pain has been broken, individually and separately by stones flung from the streets by vagabond boys or other mischievous persons. The fragments of glass that remain seem as if the material never could have been transparent, but had even in its manufacture been stained with a nicky dye. The shutters wherewith the casements are closed inside are equally blackened, as if by a smoke as dense as that which proceeds from the funnel of a steam packet or the chimney of a factory. For the last 20 years have these three houses been left thus to fall into ruin. For the fifth part of a century has the work of dilapidation and decay been going on. That they were once inhabited is evident from the fact that the blinds pulled up around their rollers still remain, but so be grinded with black dirt and dust that it is scarcely possible to believe that they were ever white. The cords used to pull them down with the tassels at the end are likewise still there and totally discolored also. Very mournful is the aspect of these ruined tenements, these indications that they once were comfortable dwellings, that cheerful fires once burnt in the grates, that lights streamed from the casements in years gone by, and that the walls echoed to the gay peeling laughter of merry children. Desolate, desolate indeed are these three houses, a disfigurement to the entire vicinity and having an appearance well calculated to throw a damp upon the spirits even of the most strong-minded of the neighbors. There is something picturesque in the aspect which ruins in the open country, perhaps on the summit of a hill, assumed from gradual decay because there the ivy grows upon the walls and the naked hideousness of dilapidation is concealed by the invasion of a wilderness of shrubs and sweets. But when the golden rays of a summer sun pour upon the blackened walls and shattered casements of houses in the midst of a populous city, houses which have dwelling places adjoining them at all around, the effect of somber, fat, and sinister in the extreme. Such is the impression produced by those three houses in Stamford Street. Not that the street itself is otherwise cheerful an aspect, on the contrary, the entire thoroughfare stretching between the black friars and waterloo roads is gloomy and inhospitable an aspect. The exterior of the houses has a dinginess of wall and a darkness of window that are unreleased by the aristocratic grandeur and the richness of curtains inside which characterize the rows of smoke-dyed dwellings and more fashionable quarters. The inhabitants of Stamford Street are amazingly prone to the letting of lodgings when they can find any persons willing to take them. But that such plant and easily persuaded tenants are rare in that quarter is proved to demonstration by the numbers of cards and bills in the windows announcing furnished apartments to lab. It is a curious study and one that affords matter for speculation to examine the cards and bills thus displayed. Some are written in a neat feminine hand so small that the passerby must protrude his head far over the railings to enable his vision to decipher the delicate announcements. Others are pinned in a bold coarse hand and in them the chances are ten to one that the word let is spelt with a double T. While others again are printed in the types which the experience dye has no difficulty in tracing to peel spame establishment in the new cut. More than half of Stamford Street constantly appears to let and from all accounts landlords experience no trifling difficulty in collecting the rents from the occupants of their houses. If you pass along Stamford Street just before quarter day and at a very early hour in the morning or at a late hour in the night you will be sure to perceive several bands loading with furniture for the habit of moonshining it or flitting surreptitiously is unfortunately a frequent occurrence in that district. But these are not the only indications that the affairs of the inhabitants and lodgers in Stamford Street are far from being in the most blooming condition. The fact may also be gathered from the careworn countenance of the tax gatherer as he leaves fresh notices at every door and from the common occurrence of the water being cut off nor less does the poor rates collector feel his task to be a most unpleasant one. While the tradesmen in the Black Friars Road wonder as they look over the ledgers what the deuce Stamford Street is coming to visitors are frequently answered from the area an unmistakable precaution against the intrusion of sheriff's officers and even when the butcher delivers his meat for the baker is bread at the front door the chain is in many instances kept up such as the prevalent state of affairs in the long thoroughfare which we have thus briefly described but it is with the dilapidated houses or rather with one of them that we now have to occupy ourselves as soon as it was dusk two men emerged from the miserable rookery constituted by the district of Broadwall and entering Stamford Street they proceeded stealthily along until they reached the ruin house which was next to the dwelling of the mrs. Theobald one of the men a tall stout ruffian like fellow whom we shall presently describe more particularly took a key from his pocket and opened the door of the dilapidated tenement into which he hastily entered his companion closely following him we should however observe that this ingress was affected at a moment when no other persons were near and that the door was open and shut in a noiseless manner so that no sound might reach the ears of the occupants of the adjacent dwelling now give us your hand old feller said the ruffian like individual when they were safe inside the passage because the stairs as summit broke away and the banisters isn't to be trusted lord how you tremble why what the hell are you a feared on nothing nothing my good friend was the answer delivered in a nervous tone only it's it's so very dark dark cried the ruffian with a horse laugh why it were very often dark in a house at night time where there's no candle alight but perhaps you're a feared of ghostesses he continued as he dragged rather than led the nervous old man down the crazy rotting stairs toward the lower region of the place and if so you're in the right quarters to see a spirit for they do say the young gal which was murdered here walks under shroud but for my part I'm never here and I ain't got no fear of that sword by the time these words were uttered in a tone of course jocularity the ruffian had conducted his companion to the bottom of the stairs and halting at that point he struck a lucifer match against the wall and lighted a piece of candle which he took from his pocket he then led the way into the front kitchen of the house bidding the old man close the door behind him the place was black all over with accumulated dust and dirt the ceiling appeared as if it had been originally painted a sable hue and the floor broken in several parts conveyed the same impression the shelves above the dresser were in a most dilapidated condition dense cobwebs clung to them as well as to the corners of the ceiling like masses of rotten rags the shutters were closed and over their entire surface were pasted sheets of thick brown paper evidently to prevent the light of candles from peeping through their chinks and being noticed in the street there was an old rickety table in the middle of the kitchen there were likewise two chairs which being made of a tough wood had withstood the ravages of time and an empty beer barrel was placed upright near the table as if it occasionally served as a third seat the ruffians stuck the candle in the neck of a bottle and opening one of the dresser drawers he drew forth a bottle and a couple of small tumblers then placing himself on the barrel he proceeded in a leisurely manner to light his pipe while the old man his companion sank nervous and trembling into one of the Windsor chairs the reader has no doubt already guessed that these two individuals were vitriol bob and torans and if so the surmise is correct the latter person needs no description but the former character must be more elaborately dealt with on the present occasion he was indeed as jack riley had represented him one of the greatest miscreants that ever disgraced humanity not only in reality but also in personal appearance of tall stature athletic frame and muscular build he possessed vast physical strength he was about 36 years of age his countenance was naturally ugly even to repulsionness but huge black whiskers meeting under his chin rendered it positively ferocious and the small dark reptile-like eyes glared from beneath thick overhanging brows his lips were remarkably coarse and of a livid hue in his nose broken in the middle had a deep indentation giving an appearance of death's head flatness to the broad countenance his apparel consisted of a seedy suit of black a hat with very wide brims made even dislouching and a pair of heavy willington boots and in his hand he carried a thick stick with a huge knob at one end and a massive ferrule at the other this was his life preserver but he seldom had occasion to use it for his proceedings were usually of the savage and diabolical nature described by the doctor and whence he derived the appellation of vitriol bob this terrible individual was well known to the police but those functionaries trembled at the idea of molesting him they would have experienced no such dread had his defensive weapons been confined to life preservers or pistols but there was something so horrible in the thought of having a bottle of burning blinding fluid broken over the countenance that the officers shuttered at the bare idea of tackling vitriol bob thus whenever information was given on some nefarious deed which he had attempted or perpetrated the police took very good care to search for him where they knew he was not to be found and if they even met him in one of the by streets or obscure alleys on the surrey side of the metropolis the quarter in which he chiefly honored with his presence they were suddenly seized with an inclination to look steadfastly into a picture shop or gaze up abstractedly at the sky until he had passed vitriol bob knew that he was an object of terror to the functionaries of justice in general but he was also well aware that there were exceptions to the rule and that amongst so large a body is a police force some few individuals would pounce upon him at all risks in fact the impunity he enjoyed was not so completely assured as to render precaution unnecessary and there was more over such a thing as being taken by surprise for these reasons he accordingly made use of one of the haunted houses for so they were denominated as a place of concealment whenever he had committed a deed calculated to lead to the institution of unpleasant inquiries such was the individual who we now find in company with torrens the circumstance and threw them together in the first instant will presently transpire through the medium of the conversation that took place as soon as they were seated in the kitchen of the haunted house well here we are safe at last old feller cried vitriol bob puffing deliberately as pipe as if he savored deliciously the soothing influences of the tobacco my goals as one of the best larks i ever was engaged in such a lot of tin and so easily got 2700 apiece hey said torrens eyeing his companion the nervous suspense said if he were eager to assure himself that a fair and equitable division of the booty would take place ah observe the ruffian in a complacent manner as he filled the two tumblers with brandy from the black bottle drink and he emptied one of the glasses that had dropped just as if it were a mere thimble full of the fiery liquid it was a good job old feller he continued after a short pause that you fell in with such a prime chap as i am or rather it was fortunate that i lodged in the same house and as i came in heard you moaning and groaning away in your cellar it was also lucky that you let me worm out of you all that had happened although you was precious cherry of making a confident of me you remember i couldn't believe you at first i looked on you as a perfect madman thinks i to myself there's a precious lunatic just scaped out of bedlam for how is i to fancy that you've really been robbed of such an enormous amount living in a cellar as you was but you believe me at last you saw that it was all true and correct he exclaimed torrens perceiving that it suited the man's humor to talk on the subject well i did return vitriol and now he had a tapping his breaches pocket significantly i've got plenty of proof that you didn't tell no lies but lord blessy you could have done nothing without me you would have sat down quietly under your loss but i told you that i'd find the old woman out if so be she was in london at all and so i did the description you gave me of her was not to be mistaken especially by a gentleman of experience like myself i went about all over london looking for her and then behold you artaral she's living within a stone stroll of us as one may say by goals i shall never forget how my heart jumped in my bosom when i clapped eyes on her yesterday as she came out of the coffee house but you don't know how i found out that she actually lived there no i do not said torrens observing that his companion bent upon a maluch of mysterious importance as much to invite a query that should finish him with the opportunity of giving an explanation relative to the point alluded to how did it happen then i when i see the old woman come out of the coffee house i went straight away to my fluid that's pig-faced poly as she's called and i tells her to go to the place take me in toast and wait till she's found out whether the old woman lived there or not but i order poly not make inquiries for fear of the exciting suspicion well my gal did as i told her and waited and waited a good long time and when she'd had three teas and four or five buttered toastises she sees the old woman come in and she hears the landlady come out and say here's your key mrs mortimer and up goes mrs mortimer for such your name seems to be to a room and pig-faced pole returns to me with a intelligence i know that my game was now safe enough and it was me which devised the plan of our going as officers with a search word when we'd watch the old woman leave the coffee house this morning yes yes i know that you did it all said torrens terribly alarmed lest he who experienced the lion's share of the trouble should now claim the lion's share of the booty but how long shall we be obliged to remain here i am in a hurry to get away with my share my fair share of my own money your own money indeed ejaculated vitriol bob with a chocolate map was it your in one mother mortimer had it safe in her own box and i should just like to know how you fussed come by it not honestly i'll swear old feller such a seedy looking cold living in the way you was couldn't have gotten your upon six thousand pounds by what's called legitimate means but that's neither here nor there i don't care two things how you got the tin and if i ask no questions i shan't have no lies told me one thing is very certain that i've got it now but surely you you surely my dear friend you stammered torrens absolutely aghast at the idea of still remaining a bigger come let's have no more of this dribbling nonsense interrupted the pre-all bob in a tone of unmitigated contempt then as he refilled and relighted despite the observed why you've been in a fidget in a stew all day ever since we secured the swag at the coffee house don't you see my dear feller that people in our situations must act with something like common prudence the old woman may rouse hell's delight about her loss and that was why i thought we'd better keep ourselves scarce for a time so i made you stay close with me at the flash lodging can in the mint and all the afternoon till it was dusk then i brought you here and here had a vitriol bob we are safe and now because only pig face pole jack riley and one or two others of my pals knows anything about this place being my hunt when i'm a feared of getting into trouble and there's no danger of them splitting on us so far from that the pig faced will be sure to come here presently when she finds i don't visit her own borders this evening and she'll bring a basket of prog along with her so that we shall have a jolly good supper in due time drink oh feller thus speaking the ruffian refilled his own tumbler and pushed the brandy bottle across the dirty table to torren's who did not however touch it for his glass was only half empty and he experienced such lively sensations of alarm that he felt as if his brain were reading and his intellects were leaving him there he was a feeble helpless weak old man entirely in the power of an individual whom he knew to be of the most desperate character but with whom he had joined in companionship only through the hope of recovering at least one half of that treasure to gain which in the first place he had imbued his hands and blood there he was alone with that miscreant in a place the aspect of which was sufficient to fill his attenuated soul with a gloomiest thoughts and the most melancholy forebodings alone with a demon in human shape in a ruined and desolate tenement to augment the cheerless influence of which superstition had lent its aid alone with a very fiend in a haunt the ominous features of which were dimly shadowed forth and rendered more hideous by the dull glimmering light of the solitary candle with its long wick and sickly flame well what are you thinking of and why don't you drink were the words which suddenly falling on the old man's ears after a pause awoken as if it were from a lethargy a lethargy however in which the mind had been painfully active though the body was motionless petrified i was wondering how long we should have to remain here stammered torrents starting as if shaken by a strong spasm or mood by an electric shock i i asked you the question just now and and you did not give me the reply well it all depends my fine feller answered vitriol bob three or four days perhaps three or four days almost shrieked towards i shall die if i linger so long in this horrible place died he ejaculated the ruffian in a contemptuous tone why lord bless you i've stayed here for three weeks at a time before now without ever budging out not be able to linger as you call it and it's comfortable crib smoke and drink all day long or drink only if you don't like smoking and sleep on one of them winds or cheers as cozy as a bug in a rug besides won't you have me for a companion no no i cannot i will not endure it exclaimed torrents starting up from his chair his countenance hideous with its workings his nerves strung to the most painful state of tension and a thousand frightful thoughts rushing in with a speed and fury of a torrent upon his appalled soul hold your curse a jaw you fool growl vitriol bob in a tone of sudden range you will be heard in the street and i care not scream torrents louder than before give me my share of the money let me depart be quiet i say spoke the ruffian in a still more irritated voice while he sprang from his seat on the barrel i shall do you a mischief i care not again cried torrents and again his tone grew still more piercing and shriekingly historical for he was wrought up to a state of utter despair give me my money i say give me oh we still exclaimed vitriol bob rushing around the table and grasping the old man by the throat but torrents inspired with a sudden strength that astonished the ruffian broke away from his grip and rushed toward the door crying murder murder damn nation thunder bob and bounding after him he sprang on the old man with a fury in the force of a tiger murder again you'll be a frighted desperate torrents but in another instant he was dashed violently against the wall a moan succeeding his agonizing cry and he fell heavily upon the floor vitriol bob then jumped upon him and the attenuated form of the wretched old man rise beneath the heavy feet of the murderous ruffian there was a faint and stifling appeal for mercy mercy but the miscreant silenced it with a ferocious stamp of his heel on the mouth of the dying man and in a few moments all was over vitriol bob was now alone in the gloomy cheerless place with a crushed and disfigured corpse of him whom he had literally trampled to death but scarcely was the deed accomplished when a noise as of gravel thrown from the street against the kitchen window fell upon the ears of the murderer whose countenance instantly expanded into an expression of grim delight at the well-known signal here's big face paul he claimed hastily then he paused to listen again at the expiration of about a minute the signal was repeated and vitriol bob no longer harboring the slightest doubt hurried up the stairs to open the street door end of section 68 section 69 of mysteries of london volume four this is the libra box recording all libra box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra box dot org reading by steven sidle section 69 scenes in the haunted house at five and 20 minutes past 10 on this eventful night mrs mortimer entered the narrow lane leading from the black fryer's road onto calling wood street we have already stated that she had persuaded herself into a belief of jack riley's fidelity towards his partner or pal in any enterprise nevertheless she could not help wishing that the business in hand was over and she mentally explained more than once as she threaded the lane would that tomorrow morning were come but she had such a powerful inducement to proceed in the affair at any risk that the idea of retreating was discarded each time it faintly suggested itself and when jack riley made his appearance punctually to an instant she felt her courage worked up to such a pitch that it was difficult to decide whether it arose from entire confidence or utter desperation so here you are my final tiger cat said the doctor grasping her hand with a force that might have been very friendly but was not the less painful on that account i thought you would not planch indeed i made sure you'd come to the scratch what am i to be afraid of since you are so sure of being wretch whom you call vitriol bob demanded mrs mortimer in a firm tone i have already told you that i will undertake to manage the villain torrance i long to see you grapple with him return to doctor but we must not waste time in idle observations listen my good lady to our plan of proceeding vitriol bob has a female acquaintance called molly calvert or in more familiar terms pig faced pole this young woman knows his hunt knows also the signals necessary to induce him to open the door besides whenever he's missing she goes straight there with a basket of provisions and whatnot because she naturally suspects that he has done something queer and has found it convenient to make himself scarce well you must be pig faced pole for the nonce understand you interrupted mrs mortimer it is for me to give the signal and obtain admission just so my dear madam and for us both because if molly calvert and i go there together it's always the young woman herself who whispers a word of assurance to vitriol bob when he opens the door but suppose the young woman you speak of has already repaired to the robbers hunt suppose that she is already with him now don't take jack riley for an errant fool said the ruffian and dark though it were in the narrow lane where this colloquy took place mrs mortimer could see the huge white teeth of her companion gleaming through the opening of his horrid hair lip i know what i am about he continued lord bless you do you think i have been idle since i saw you this morning no such thing i went straight away to molly calvert and made her send out for a bottle of gin she is uncommonly fond of blue ruin particularly when she drinks at another person's expense and as she drank this afternoon at mine she did not spare it in a word i left her in such a helpless state of intoxication that if she moves off her bed before two or three o'clock in the morning then tell jack riley he is a fool and incapable of managing any business whatsoever i give you all possible credit for sagacity and forethought said mrs mortimer purposely flattering the ruffian well then the other woman you speak of is placed in a condition which will render her incapable of interfering with our proceedings and i'm a personator for a moment or two just to attain admission into the home personator is scarcely the term my dear madam answered jack riley because if vitriol bob only caught a glimpse of you by the neighboring lamp light he would know do so well that it was not the pig face to sod admission but it's a mere matter of vocal stratagem if you understand me speak plainly and briefly said mrs mortimer with some degree of sharpness in her tone i will put it all into a nutshell responded jack riley then with rapid utterance but impressive enunciation he continued the first signal is made by throwing a little gravel at a certain window but as that might be accidental it is necessary to repeat it at the expiration of a minute or so a few seconds afterwards vitriol bob will open the front door as far as the chain inside will permit that's barely an inch you must immediately whisper it's me and the doctor and the door will be instantly opened wide bob standing behind it you pass rapidly in and i'm at your heels and as the passage in the stairs leading down to the kitchen are as dark as pitch he won't observe that it is not molly calbert whom he is admitted into the house now mind you must walk straight along the passage and gain the stairs and all this without any hesitation but with an apparent knowledge of the premises go rapidly down the stairs and you will then see a light straight before you that will be the front kitchen and there you are certain to find torrents spring upon him tackle him desperately there will not be a minute to lose because the moment you appear in his presence he will recognize you he will let her cry and that must be the signal for the fight vitriol bob will be just behind me and he will assail him at the instant that i pounce upon torrents said the old woman with a bitter malignity in her tone as she already gloated in anticipation upon the vengeance which she hoped to wreck upon her husband perform your part madam do all i have told you absurd jack riley and leave the rest of me and now are you quite ready quite was replied in which direction do we proceed the house is in stanford street answered the doctor but now you had better follow me at a short distance with these words the man turned around and proceeding along the narrow lane into the black priors road up which he went to this way until he reached the corner of stanford street where he looked back to satisfy himself that mrs mortimer was in his track he beheld her by the light of the lamps at a short distance behind and turning into stanford street he was duly followed by her halting for a moment he stooped down gathered a few small pebbles from the side of the road joining the curb stone and threw them at a window in the area of the dilapidated house which stood third from the corner he then walked on a few paces picked up some more little stones and hard crusted dirt and turning back met mrs mortimer just opposite the house alluded to the second volley was discharged at the window and then they both stationed themselves at the door of the tenement mrs mortimer being placed in the most convenient position to give an answer to any summons that might issue from within the door was opened an inch or two and the old woman feigning the tone of a younger female whispered hastily it's me and the doctor thereupon the chain fell inside and the door was opened halfway vitriol bob standing behind it mrs mortimer passed hastily in followed by jack riley and vitriol bob closing the door noiselessly readjusted the chain take care of all he said in a horse and low tone don't be in such a devil of a hurry to get down them stairs because there's something in the doorway of that kitchen that you might stumble over what is it bob demanded jack riley hastily for in as much as the real truth flashed to his mind in an instant he feared lest mrs mortimer should likewise suspect the fact and being thrown off her guard betray herself by some sudden explanation what is it why a step one responded vitriol bob with a chuckling laugh which sounded horribly in the midst of the total darkness that prevailed in the passage and on the stairs i suppose paul has let you into the business since you've come along with her continue the man and although i don't see what right she had to tell you anything about it i ain't sorry you have come because you could help me to bury the old feller and you shall have your regulars mrs mortimer now fully comprehended that torrens had been murdered and an appalling dread seized upon her for she felt that she was completely in the power of two diabolical ruffians who were as capable of assassinating her as one had already been to make away with her husband a faintness came over her and she staggered against the wall for support then jack riley in answer to vitriol bob's last observation said oh paul didn't tell me a single word about any business you had in hand but as i met her quite by accident and suspected she was coming here i forced myself as what may say upon her company for i thought you'd be glad to see an old pal if he was under a cloud these words instantaneously reassured mrs mortimer she comprehended that her confederate had uttered them for that purpose and it flashed to her mind that he only wanted to get vitriol bob down into the lower part of the house in order to make an attack upon him she accordingly recovered her self-possession and rapidly groped her way to the bottom of the stairs when a feeble light glimmering from the kitchen showed her a sinister object lying just inside the threshold the blood ran cold in her veins where as much as she hated torrens anxiously as she had longed to be avenged upon him profoundly as she abhorred the tie that to some degree had linked their fates she nevertheless felt horrified at the conviction that the murdered man lay there in her very path nevertheless she still maintained her courage as well as she could and hastily passing the lifeless form entered the cheerless gloomy kitchen this indeed appeared to be the proper hunt for such a miscreant as vitriol bob and the fitting scene for such a tragedy is the one which had been enacted there that night in the middle of the kitchen she paused and listened with breathless suspense jack griley had just reached the bottom of the stairs leading thither vitriol bob had only just begun to descend them well here indeed it's a stifling exclaimed the former stopping short in the interval between the foot of the steps and the threshold of the kitchen what had he done to you bob and when did this happen wait a minute and i'll tell you all about it was the reply i hope paul has brought lots of grub for the business hasn't taken away my appetite she has got a basket with her said jack griley at this moment vitriol bob reached the bottom of the stairs the doctor sprang upon him with a sudden violence of a savage monster and the murderer was thrown back upon the steps dratchery he exclaimed in a tone resembling the subdued roar of a wild beast irritated by its keeper the two men were locked in a close embrace a deadly struggle immediately commencing a mortal terror struck to the heart of mrs mortimer who knew full well that if her confederate should succumb her own life would not be worth a moment's purchase and for upwards of a minute she stood riveted to the spot listening to the sounds of the conflict which she could not see suddenly it struck her that she might aid her companion and taking from beneath her shawl a coil of rope with which she had intended buying torrents whom she had made certain of some doing she rushed to the scene of the struggle the gleam of the light that reached that place was sufficient people though it were to show her that vitriol bob had the advantage he had succeeded in getting uppermost and jack griley was struggling desperately underneath the man whose strength he had miscalculated the conflict was thus progressing accompanied by deep low but bitter execrations when mrs mortimer whom a sense of danger suddenly restored to complete self-possession threw a noose around vitriol bob's neck and instantly drew it tight exclaiming as she performed this rapid and well executed feet courage riley courage grasp him firmly loosen not your hold damnation he jacked elated vitriol bob the moment he felt the cord upon his neck and heard a strange female voice at the same time making a desperate may an almost superhuman effort to tear himself away from his fold and turn around on his new enemy but the woman drew the cord as tight as she could a sense of faintness came suddenly over the murderer so that jack griley was in another instant and able to get uppermost once more tie his legs old lady and then we've nothing more to fear cried he as he placed one knee on vitriol bob's chest and held the vanquished ruffians wrists firmly with the iron grasp of this anew he hands now keep quiet old fellow or you'll be strangled he continued addressing himself to the wretch whose eyes glared savagely up at him even admits the obscurity of the place it's useless to resist you are my prisoner and if it's necessary to make you safer still i'll draw my class knife across your throat which i should be sorry to do on account of old acquaintance what what have i done to you jack to to deserve this yes vitriol bob half strangled with a noose which however was now somewhat relaxed in consequence of mrs mortimer being occupied and tying the other end of the rope around his ankles a task which he performed with amazing skill and rapidity in which in consequence of riley's menaces the vanquished one did not think it prudent to resist i'll tell you presently what you have done bob said the doctor in answer to the others query now that you are bound neck and heels you are not very formidable nevertheless i must just make your arm secure and then we'll hold a parley here old lady put your hand in the pocket on the right side of my coat and give me out the cord you'll find there that's right come be steady bob or i shall do you a mischief yet the conqueror then proceeded to bind the wrists of the vanquished and when this was done he said now my fine fellow i will just carry you into the kitchen and if there is any brandy there you shall have a drop to wash the dust out of your mouth with these words jack riley raised vitriol bob in his arms and bore him into the kitchen where he placed him on a chair and the murderer now perceived for the first time that the female who had mainly contributed to his defeat was the one whom he himself and torrens had robbed jack riley on examining the bottle which he found upon the table discovered that there was plenty of liquor left in it and filling a tumbler he placed it to the lips of vitriol bob who greedily swallowed the contents for his throat was indeed parched with the dust raised by the late struggle and the semi-strangulation he had endured now my hyena friend my tiger cat accomplice said the doctor turning toward mrs mortimer who exhausted in mind and body had sunk into a chair you will likewise partake of the stimulant and mark him adam he added with deep emphasis and in a tone that was particularly reassuring to the old woman i owe you my life and whatever my intentions concerning you originally were i can only now say that i'll do all its fair and honorable towards you but enough of that so drink mrs mortimer greatly delighted at the result of the night's expedition smiled as cordially as her repulsive cabinets would permit the jack riley surveyed her with much admiration for she reminded him at that moment of a pleased hyena after a copious meal his satisfaction was enhanced by the readiness with which she tossed off the burning fluid and taking his turn with the brandy he drank to her health now the business once more he exclaimed as he set the glass upon the table and first where's the money bob he demanded turning toward the helpless ruffian who sat moody and scowling in the chair in which he'd been placed i suppose you mean to let me have my regulars jack he said in a tone which he endeavored to render his conciliatory and agreeable as possible not a blessed half penny bob and that's flat responded the doctor as he plunged his hands into the pocket of his prisoner ah here's the swag in a precious heavy parcel it is too he exclaimed after a few moments pause and in a joyous tone my dear madam continued the villain handing the brown paper packet to mrs mortimer countered over see that it's right and divide its contents equally you may as well be satisfied at once that i mean to do what is right towards you and then maybe you will think seriously of the propriety of our clubbing our fortunes together and setting up as a gentleman and lady living on our means that is you know as mr and mrs riley all the latter portion of this long sentence was lost entirely lost upon mrs mortimer for the moment that her hands grasped the brown paper parcel that parcel which was so significantly weighty her whole attention was absorbed in the task of examining its contents she placed it upon the table and by the dim flickering light of the miserable candle she counted the yellow pieces turned over the soil notes and carefully reckoned up the whole exclaiming at the completion of the business it is all right save in respect to a single sovereign which i dare say these rogues changed and spent directly here is your share mr riley and i thank you much for your valuable aid you are the handsomest ogre's i ever saw when you appear gloating over the recovered gold to the doctor if i could afford it i would actually and positively give you my portion just to have the pleasure of contemplating your physiognomy while you fingered it but perhaps we may have all things in common yet between you and me thus speaking the ruffian secured his share of the spoil about his person an example that was immediately followed by mrs mortimer in respect to her division and all the while betrayal bobs had looking on with accountants of the most demonic ferocity it was evident that could the wretch release himself from his bonds his rage would endow him with a strength calculated to give matters quite another turn but he was helpless powerless and the consciousness of his enthralled predicament only rendered his hatred the more savage against his successful enemies and made his longings for revenge the more eager and also the more torturing on account of their unavailing intensity i will now tell you bob said jack riley turning toward him why i have played you this trick and you will acknowledge that it is only tit for tat you remember the swells crib we broke into at peckham well you found a bag containing a hundred and twenty sovereigns in a drawer and you never mentioned a word about it when we came to divide the plunder it's a lie a damned lie ejaculated the villain ferociously say that again cried the doctor his hair left becoming absolutely white with rage while a scar upon his cheek grew crimson and i will cut your throat from ear to ear how could i invent such a tale but i saw the advertisement in the papers about the robbery i read that a bag containing a hundred and twenty pounds in gold was abstracted from a chest of drawers and i will remember that you searched those drawers and afterwards assured me there was nothing in them worth taking i did not tell you that i had thus become aware of your treachery because i resolved to be revenged some day or other that day has now arrived and you have the consolation of knowing that you have lost thousands in consequence of your beggarly meanness respecting a paltry 60 sovereigns which was my share of the sum you kept back well supposing it is all as you say jack a fine vitriol bob assuming a humble and indeed abject tone ain't you more than even with me tonight and won't you let me have my regulars we shall then be good friends again i do not mean to give you one farthing of my money and i know this old lady won't responded the doctor as to our being friends again i care not whether we become so or whether we continue as enemies you can't do me so much harm as i can you bob added riley in an impressive manner and without a particle of his usual course jocularity for you have tonight done a deed done if known would send you to the scaffold the deadly pallor passed over the countenance of the murderer and he rides in his chair with mingled rage and terror now my old hyena he's claimed the doctor turning toward mrs mortimer i told you that you should have a good opportunity of seeing vitriol bob and all his hideousness which do you think is the ugliest of the two he or me and he grinned so horribly with his hair lip and his gleaming teeth that the old woman was for an instant appalled by the fiendish malignant joy that caused his countenance thus to assume so frightful and expression well you don't like to pass an opinion on the matter he said with a chuckling laugh maybe you think i am the ugliest of the two and that would hurt my feelings to tell me so lord bless you my dear madam a right down savage ferocious revolting ugliness is a splendid subject for admiration to my mind the uglier people are provided it's the right sort of ugliness the handsomer they are in my eyes this may seem paradoxical but it's the truth and it's on that principle i am ready to marry you tomorrow if you'll have me however think upon it there's no hurry for your decision my dear creature pardon me for being so familiar and now i may as well tell you that it was not my original intention to let you have one penny piece of all that swag he continued after a few moments pause i had purpose to make use of you and obtaining it and then self-appropriate it because i didn't look upon you in the light of a power with whom it was necessary to keep faith the moment however the two interfered in the struggle just now the case became suddenly altered you saved my life and i wouldn't harm a hear of your head for all of the world so you are quite welcome to take your departure at once if you will but i should esteem at a mark of confidence if you'd remain here with me a few hours longer and i'll tell you why show me a good reason and i shall not object remarked mrs mortimer knowing that the man in spite of his conciliatory observations had the power to enforce if he chose what he seemed to ask as a favor i will explain myself resume jack riley then glancing toward vitriol bob he said our friend here must remain in that condition until i can send big faced poll to release him from his bonds it would not be worthwhile to risk another conflict by taking on the part ourselves of the liberators his young woman shall therefore be entrusted with at agreeable duty but as she is drunk in bed vitriol bob uttered a sound resembling the savage but subdued growl of a wild beast as she is drunk in bed repeated jack riley with a chuckle she won't be fit to undertake the task until it's pretty near daylight and it would not be safe to leave the poor devil alone here for so many hours i don't seek his death but he might fall off the chair a tumble flat on his face and not be able to ride himself for it's by no means an easy thing to shift one's position when bowed neck and heels like that so remain with him i must stand well his company will not however prove the most agreeable after all that has occurred betwixt us and now you can guess why i ask you as a favor to stay with me say till two o'clock when we will take our departure at sin paul calvert who will be sufficiently sober by that time to cut his cords i consent to remain here until two o'clock said mrs mortimer only and she glanced with shuttering aversion towards the door ah i understand you my dear tiger cat exclaimed jack riley you don't admire the presence of the stiffen there lord bless you if you'd only been my wife when i was a doctor you would have become familiar enough with articles of that kind i had taught nothing has shaken hands with a resurrection man but it's all i have it and so since you would feel more comfortable if that bundle over there was moved i'll just drag it into the back kitchen and our friend here will doubtless amuse himself by burying it tomorrow night having thus delivered himself with cherry pristic levity the doctor rose from the barrel where on he had been seated and taking up the candle proceeded to transfer the dead body of torrents from the threshold of the door into the back kitchen mrs mortimer was now left in the company of the murderer and in total darkness and though she knew that he was bound beyond the chance of self-release yet a cold shutter passed over her frame as she thought of what would be the consequences were it possible for him to cast off the strong cords that restrained him scarcely had this reflection entered her mind when a voice stealing as it were like the hiss of an invisible serpent through the utter darkness of the place smote upon her ear madame mrs mortimer loosen the cord and i will give you a half of what i shall then take from that villain riley were the earnest hastily uttered words that were thus suddenly whispered by the murderer your woman was so startled that she could make no reply and in another moment the light reappeared she mechanically cast her eyes toward vitriol bob and the returning glimmer fell upon the countenance infuriated with rage disappointment and renewed spite but she did not think it worthwhile to mention to the doctor the treacherous proposal that had been made to her during his temporary absence i have put the corpse into the back kitchen said riley resuming his seat on the barrel then after a few moments pause he observed this is the second murder that has been committed in this house the second explained mrs mortimer suddenly animated with a feeling of morbid curiosity yes the second repeated riley what did you never hear how these three houses came to be shut up and why they are supposed to be haunted never answered the old woman her man are convincing the garyless mr john riley that she had no objection to be enlightened on the subject well as it can't be more than half past eleven o'clock and we have two hours and a half to pass away according to our agreement in this place resumed the doctor i don't mind telling you the whole story our friend bob here has heard it often enough i dare say but he will himself admit that it bears telling over and over again jack riley paused for a few moments and then commenced the promise narrative which we shall however put into our own language the semi jocular and flippant style of the doctor not being quite suited for so serious a history end of section 69