CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
AN EXCITING CHASE.
But not without shouting to Shock, whom I suddenly remembered.
"Shock--Shock!" I cried; "look out for the cart." Not that I supposedthat the boys I left behind would run off with it and the old horse; butthere were more coils of rope swinging from the ladder, and there werethe sacks and Ike's old coat and whip.
I thought of all this in an instant as I ran, followed by the yells ofthe young plunderer's companions.
I was not far behind, but he was barefoot, used to the place, knew everyinch of the ground, and while I slipped and nearly went down twice over,he ran easily and well, pad--pad--pad--pad over the stones. He doubledhere and went in and out of the carts and wagons, dodged round a stackof baskets there, threaded his way easily among the people, while Itried to imitate him, and only blundered against them and got thrustaside. Then I nearly knocked over a basket of peas built up on the topof other baskets like a pillar, and at last nearly lost my quarry, forhe darted in at the door of a herbalist's shop; and as I went pantingup, sure now of catching him, I suddenly awakened to the fact that therewas a door on the other side out by which he had passed.
As luck had it, when I darted round I just caught sight of himdisappearing behind a cabbage wagon.
This time, as he disappeared, I tried to bring a little strategy tobear, and running round another way by which I felt sure he would go, Iwas able to make up all my lost ground, for I came plump upon him.
"Stop, you young thief!" I panted as I made a snatch at the rope andhis arm.
It was like catching at an eel. Just as I thought I had him he dodgedaside, dived under a horse, and as I ran round the back of the cart, notcaring to imitate his example, he was a dozen yards away, going in andout of stalls and piles of vegetables.
I lost sight of him then, and the next minute saw him watching me rounda corner, when I again gave chase, hot, panting, and with a curiousaching pain in my legs; but when I reached the corner he had gone, and Ifelt that I had lost him, and, thoroughly disheartened, did not knowwhich way to turn. I was about to go despondently back to the cart,when, giving a final glance round, I saw him stealing away beyond somecolumns.
He had not seen me, and he was walking; so, keeping as much out of sightas I could, and rejoicing in the fact that I had recovered my breath, Ihurried on.
All at once I heard a shrill warning cry, and looking to my right sawthe two young ruffians who had been the most obnoxious, while at thesame moment I saw that the warning had taken effect, the boy I chasedhaving started off afresh.
"I will catch you," I muttered through my teeth; and, determined not tolose sight of him again, I ran on, in and out among carts and vans,jostling and being jostled, running blindly now, for my sole thought wasto keep that boy in view, and this I did the more easily now, thatfeeling at last that he could not escape me in the market, he suddenlycrossed the road, ran in and out for a minute in what seemed like anarchway, and then ran as hard as he could along a wide street and Iafter him.
Suddenly he turned to the right into a narrow street, and along by agreat building. At the end of this he turned to the right again, pastthe front and nearly to the bottom of the street, when he turned to theleft and followed a wide street till it became suddenly narrow, andinstead of being full of people it was quite empty.
Here he darted into a covered way with columns all along the side,running very fast still, and I suppose I was too, and graduallyovertaking him, but he reached the end of the street before I could comeup with him, and as he turned the corner I felt quite despairing oncemore at seeing him pass out of sight.
It was only a matter of moments before I too turned the corner, andfound myself in the dirtiest busiest street I had ever seen, withunpleasant-looking people about, and throngs of children playing overthe foul pavement and in the road.
My boy seemed quite at home there and as if he belonged to the place. Inoticed that as I ran after him, wondering whether it would be of anyuse to call to them to stop him, though if I had determined that itwould be I had not the breath, as I panted on at a much slower rate now,and with the perspiration streaming down my face.
I kept losing sight of him, there were so many people grouped about thepavement along which he ran, while I kept to the road, but he went inand out among them as easily as a dog might have run, till all at once Isaw him dive in amongst a number of men talking at the entrance of anarrow archway with a public-house on one side, and as I ran up I foundthat it was a court, down which I caught a glimpse of the boy with therope still over his arm.
I stopped for nothing but dashed in after him, the men giving way atfirst, but as I blundered in my haste against one rough-looking fellow,he roared out savagely:
"Now, then, where are you running to?" and made a snatch at my collar.
I eluded him by making quite a bound in my alarm, and nearly fallingover the leg of another, who thrust it out to trip me up. I escaped afall, however, and entered the court, which seemed to be half full ofchildren, just in time to see my boy slip into a house nearly at thebottom, on the left.
He stopped for a moment to look back to see if I was coming, and then hedisappeared, and my heart gave a bound, for in my excitement I felt thatI had succeeded, and that I had traced the young thief to his lair.
I did not think about anything else, only that the children all stoppedtheir games and set up a kind of yell, while it seemed to me that themen who were at the entrance of the court were all following me slowlywith their hands thrust down low in their pockets, and it struck me forthe moment that they were all coming down to see the capture of thethief.
I was in happy ignorance just then that I had followed the boy into oneof the vilest and most dangerous parts of London in those days,--to wita Drury Lane court, one of the refuges of some of the worst charactersin that district.
In this ignorance I was still observant, and noticed that the doors oneach side of the dirty court stood wide open, while the yell set up bythe children brought people to some of the open windows.
That was all seen in a glance, as I made for the open door at the end,before which a boy of my own size ran as if to stop me; but even if Ihad wished to stop just then I could not, and I gave him a sharp push,the weight of my body driving him back into a sitting position as Istumbled in from the pavement, up a couple of stone steps, and on to theboards of the narrow passage, which seemed, by contrast to the brightsunshine outside, quite dark.
I did not stop, but went on as if by instinct to the end, passed aflight of steps leading down to the cellar kitchen, up which came anoisome odour that turned me sick, and began to ascend the stairs beforeme.
Then I paused for a moment with my hand on a sticky balustrade andlistened.
Yes! I was quite right, for up above me I could hear the stairscreaking as if some one was going up; and to make me the more sure thatthe boy had not entered a room I could hear his hoarse panting,accompanied by a faint whimpering cry, as if every moment or two he keptsaying softly, "Oh!"
That satisfied me, and as fast as I could I went up one flight and thenanother of dirty creaking stairs and found myself on the first floor.Then up another flight, dirtier, more creaking, and with the woodworkbroken away here and there.
Up another flight worse still, and by the light of a staircase window Icould see that the plaster ceiling was down here and there, showing thelaths, while the wall was blackened by hands passing over it. On thehandrail side the balusters were broken out entirely in the mostdangerous way; but all this seemed of no consequence whatever, for therewas the boy still going on, evidently to the very top of the house.
All at once there was silence above me, and I thought he must have gone,but he was only listening, and as he heard me coming he uttered a faintcry, and went on up whimpering, evidently so much exhausted by the longchase that he could hardly drag himself up higher.
By this time I was up to the second floor, where there were a couple ofbattered doors and
another staircase window nearly without glass, thebroken panes being covered with paper pasted on, or else, fortunatelyfor the inhabitants of the noisome place, left open for the air to blowthrough.
I ought to have stopped; in fact I ought never to have gone; but I wastoo much excited by my chase to think of anything but getting hold ofthat boy and shaking him till he dropped our new rope; and now as Ibegan to toil breathlessly up the last flight I knew that my task wasdone, for my young enemy could hardly crawl, and had begun to sob andwhine, and I could just make out:
"You'd best let me be--I--I--ain't--I ain't done--done--"
I heard no more, only that doors were being thrown open, and there was abuzz of voices below, with heavy footsteps in the passage.
Still that did not seem to have anything to do with me, so intent was Ion my pursuit up those last two flights of stairs, which seemed to besteeper, more broken, and more difficult to climb than those which hadgone before. In fact the boy above me was dragging himself up, and Ihad settled down into a walk, helping myself on by the dirty hand-rail,and panting so hoarsely that each breath came to be a snore. My heart,too, throbbed heavily, and seemed to be beating right up into my throat.
I had gained on my quarry, so that we were on the last flight together,and this gave me the requisite strength for the last climb, for I knewthat he could go no further.
Half-way up and there was a sloping ceiling above, in which was ablackened skylight, across which was a string and some dirty whitegarments hanging to dry, while to right and to left there were doorsthat had been painted black for reasons full of wisdom; and as my headrose higher I saw the boy who had literally crawled up on to thelanding, rise up, with the rope still upon his arm, and fling himselfagainst the farthest of these two doors.
It flew open with a crash, and then seemed to be banged to heavily, butit was against me, for, summoning up all my remaining strength, Ireached the top, and imitating the boy's action, the door came back uponmy hands, and was dashed open again.
I almost tumbled in, staggering forward, and hardly able to keep upon mylegs, so that I nearly reached the middle of the room before I was awarethat the boy was cowering down in a corner upon our rope, and that a bigscowling stubble-chinned man had just risen dressed from a bed on whichhe had lain, to catch me by the shoulders in a tremendous grip, and holdme backwards panting like some newly captured bird.
I noticed that the man wore a great sleeved waistcoat, breeches, andheavy boots, and that his low forehead was puckered up into an uglyscowl, with one great wrinkle across it that seemed like another mouthas he forced me right back against the wall, and held me shiveringthere.
"Here, shet that there door, Polly," he said in a low harsh growl, likethe snarl of a wild beast. Then to me:
"Here, what d'yer mean a-comin' in here, eh?"
He accompanied his words with a fierce shake that made the back of myhead tap against the wall.
For a few moments the man's savage look seemed to fascinate me, and Ifelt horribly alarmed, as I could think for the moment about nothing butthe Ogre and Hop-o'-my-thumb, and wonder whether he was going to takeout a big knife and threaten me. I was still panting and breathlesswith my exertions, and there was a curious pain in my legs, mingled witha sensation as if they were going to double up under me, but I made aneffort to be brave as the great heavy-browed scoundrel gave me anothershake, and said:--
"D'yer hear? What d'yer mean by banging into my room like that 'ere?"
I glanced at a sad-faced dull-eyed slatternly woman who had closed thedoor, and then at the boy, who still crouched close up under the window,whimpering like a whipped dog, but keenly watching all that was going onwith his sharp restless dark eyes; then, making a determined attempt tobe braver than I looked, I said as stoutly as I could:
"I want our new rope. He stole our new rope."
"Who stole yer noo rope!" cried the fellow, giving me another shake;"what d'yer mean?"
"He took our rope off the cart in Covent Garden this morning," I cried,feeling angry now.
"Why, he ain't been out o' the court this morning," said the fellowsharply; "have yer, Micky?"
"No, father," said the boy.
"Jest up, ain't he, missus?" continued my captor, turning to theheavy-eyed woman.
"Yes, just up," said the woman in a low mechanical voice, and then withmore animation, "Let him go, Ned."
"You mind yer own business," said the fellow savagely; then to me, "Now,then, d'yer hear that?"
"I don't care; he did," I said firmly. "He stole our rope--that's it,you give it me directly."
"What! that?" he cried. "You're a nice un, you are. Why, that's myrope, as 'longs to my donnerkey-cart. Don't you come lying here."
"I tell you that's our rope, and I saw him steal it," I cried, growingstronger now. "You let me go, and give me my rope, or I'll tell thepolice."
"Why, you never had no rope, yer young liar!" he cried.
"It's my master's rope," I said, struggling to get free. "I will haveit."
"What! yer'd steal it, would yer? Yer'd tell the polliss, would yer!"growled the fellow, tightening his grip; "I'll soon see about that.Here you, Micky, bring that there rope here."
The boy struggled to his feet, and came slowly to us with the rope,which the man scanned eagerly.
"I don't want to make no mistakes," he growled. "Let's see it. If it'syour rope, you shall have it, but--now then! d'yer hear?"
This was to the boy, who took advantage of my helpless position to giveme a couple of savage kicks in the leg as he stood there; but as he hadno shoes on, the kicks did not do much harm.
"Why, o' course it is our rope," growled the fellow. "Gahn with you,what d'yer mean by coming here with a tale like that?"
He gave me a shake, and the woman interfered.
"Let him go, Ned," she said, "or ther'll be a row."
The man took one hand from my shoulder, and doubled his great fist,which he held close to the woman's face in a menacing way. Then turningsharply he made believe to strike me with all his might right in themouth, when, as I flinched, he growled out with a savage grin:
"Ah! yer know'd yer deserved it. Now I dunno whether I'm going to keepyer here, or whether I shall let yer go; but whichever I does, don't yougo a sweering that this here's your rope, a cause it's mine. D'yerhear, mine?"
The door was kicked open at that moment, and a couple of therough-looking fellows I had seen at the entrance to the court stood halfinside, leaning against the door-posts and looking stolidly on.
I was about to appeal to them for help, but my instinct told me thatsuch an application would be in vain, while their first words told mehow right I was.
"Give it him, Ned. What's he a-doin' here?" said one.
"See if he's got any tin," said the other.
"Ah! make him pay up," said the first.
"'Ow much have yer got, eh?" said my captor, giving me a shake, whichwas the signal for the boy to kick at me again with all his might.
"Gahn, will yer," cried the man, "or I'll wrap that rope's end roundyer."
The woman just then made a step forward and struck at the boy, whododged the blow, and retreated to the far end of the room, the womanshrinking away too as the man growled:
"Let him alone; will yer?"
I seized the opportunity to wrench myself partly away, and to catch holdof the rope, which the man had now beneath one of his feet.
"Ah, would yer!" he shouted, tearing the rope away from me. "Comes uphere, mates, bold as brass, and says it's his'n."
I felt more enraged and mortified now than alarmed, and I cried out:
"It is our rope, and that boy stole it; and I'll tell the police."
"Oh! yer will, will yer?" cried my captor. "We'll see about that.Here, what money have yer got?"
"I've only enough for my breakfast," I cried defiantly. "Give me myrope and let me go."
"Oh yes, I'll let yer go," he cried, as I wrestled to get away, fightingwith all my mig
ht, and striving to reach the rope at the same moment.
"Look out, Ned," said one of the men at the door, grinning. "He'll betoo much for yer;" and the other uttered a hoarse laugh.
"Ah, that he will!" cried the big fellow, letting me get hold of therope, and, tightening his grasp upon my collar, he kicked my legs fromunder me, so that I fell heavily half across the coil, while he wentdown on one knee and held me panting and quivering there, perfectlyhelpless.
The boy made another dart forward, and I saw the woman catch at him bythe head, but his shortly-cropped hair glided through her hands, and hewould have reached me had not the man kicked out at him and made himstop suddenly and watch for another chance.
"Who's got a knife?" growled the man now savagely as he turned towardsthe two fellows at the door; "I'll soon show him what it is to come herea-wanting to steal our cart-ropes. Chuck that there knife here."
He rose as he spoke, and planted one foot upon my chest. Then catchingthe pocket-knife thrown to him by one of the men at the door, he openedit with a great deal of show and menace, bending down to stare savagelyin my eyes as he whetted the blade upon the boot resting on my chest.
Of course I was a good deal alarmed, but I knew all the while that thiswas all show and that the great ruffian was trying to frighten me. Iwas in a desperately bad state, in an evil place, but it was broaddaylight, and people had seen me come in, so that I did not for a momentthink he would dare to kill me. All the same, though, I could not helpfeeling a curious nervous kind of tremor run through my frame as heflourished the knife about and glared at me as if pondering as to whathe should do next.
"I wish Ike were here," I thought; and as I did so I could not helpthinking how big and strong he was, and how little he would make ofseizing this great cowardly ruffian by the throat and making him let mego.
"Now, then," he cried, "out wi' that there money." For answer, Ifoolishly showed him where it was by clapping my hand upon my pocket,when, with a grin of satisfaction, he tore my hand away, thrust in hisgreat fingers, and dragged it out, spat on the various coins, and thrustthem in his own pocket.
"What d'yer say?" he cried, bending down again towards me.
"The police shall make you give that up," I panted.
"Says we're to spend this here in beer, mates," he said, grinning, whilethe woman stood with her eyes half shut and her arms folded, looking on.
The two men at the door laughed.
"Now, then," said the big fellow, "since he's come out genteel-like withhis money, I don't think I'll give him the knife this time. Get up withyer, and be off while your shoes are good."
He took his great boot off my chest, and I started up.
"I wouldn't give much for yer," he growled, "if yer showed yer face hereagen."
He accompanied this with such a menacing look that I involuntarilyshrank away, but recovering myself directly I seized the coil of ropeand made for the door.
"What!" roared the great ruffian, snatching the rope, and, as I held onto it, dragging me back. "Trying to steal, are you?"
"It's mine--it's ours," I cried passionately.
"Oh! I'll soon let yer know about that," he cried. "Look here, mates;this is our rope, ain't it?"
"Yes," said one of them: "I'll swear to it."
"It's mine," I cried, tugging at it angrily.
"Let go, will yer--d'yer hear; let go."
He tugged and snatched at it savagely, and just then the boy leaped uponme, butting at me, and striking with all his might, infuriating me so byhis cowardly attack, that, holding on to the rope with one hand, I swunground my doubled fist with the other and struck him with all my might.
It must have been a heavy blow right in the face, for he staggered back,caught against a chair, and then fell with a crash, howling dismally.
"Look at that, now," cried the big ruffian. "Now he shall have it."
"Serves him right!" said the woman passionately.
"Let the boy go, Ned, or you'll get into trouble."
"I'll get into trouble for something then," cried the fellow savagely,as he hurt me terribly by jerking the rope out of my hand and catchingme by the collar, when I saw the two men at the open door look round,and I heard a familiar growl on the stairs that made my heart leap withjoy.
"Ike!--Here!--Ike!" I shouted with all my might.
"Hold yer row," hissed the great ruffian in a hoarse whisper, andclapping one hand behind my head he placed the other upon my mouth.
He dragged me round, half-choked and helpless, and then he saidsomething over his shoulder to the woman, while I fought and struggled,and tried hard to shout again to Ike, whose heavy feet I could hear inthe midst of a good deal of altercation on the stairs.
As I struggled to get free I saw that the window was opened and the ropethrown out. Then the window was quickly shut, and I was dragged towardsthe door.
"Here, you be off outer this," whispered the great ruffian, with hislips close to my ear. "You cut; and don't you--"
He stopped short, holding me tightly, and seemed to hesitate, his eyesglaring round as if in search of some place where he could hide me, notknowing what to do for the best.
"Shut the door, mates," he said quickly; and the two men dragged thedoor to after them as they stood outside.
"Just you make half a sound, and--"
He put his lips close to my ear as he said this, and closed the greatclasp-knife with a sharp click which made me start; while his eyesseemed to fascinate me as he bent down and glared at me.
It was only for a moment, though, and then I managed to slip my faceaside and shouted aloud:
"Ike!"
There was a rush and a scuffle outside, and the woman said in anill-used tone:
"I told yer how it would be."
"You hold--"
He did not finish, for just then one of the men outside growled--plainlyheard through the thin door:
"Now, then, where are yer shovin' to?"
"In here," roared a voice that sent a thrill of joy through me.
"Now, then, what d'yer want?" cried the big fellow, thrusting me behindhim as Ike kicked open the door and strode into the room.
"What do I want?" he roared. "I want him and our cart-rope. Now, then,where is it?"
There was a fierce muttering among the men, and they drew together whilethe boy and the woman cowered into one corner of the attic.
"Oh! you're not going to scare me," cried Ike fiercely. "There's thepolice just at hand if I wants help. Now then, where's that rope?"
"What rope?" growled the ruffian. "I don't know about no ropes."
"They threw it out of the window, Ike," I cried.
"That's a lie," snarled the man. "There ain't never been no ropeshere."
"There has been one," I cried, feeling bold now; "but they threw it outof the window."
"Well, of all--" began one of the men, who had crossed the room with hiscompanion to the big ruffian's side.
"You go on down, my lad," whispered Ike in a low deep voice. "Go on,now."
"But are you coming?" I whispered back.
"You may depend on that," he said, as if to himself, "if they'll let me.Go on."
I moved towards the open door, when one of the men made a dash to stopme; but Ike threw put one leg, and he fell sprawling. At the samemoment my enemy made a rush at Ike, who stepped back, and then I saw hisgreat fist fly out straight. There was a dull, heavy sound, and the bigruffian stopped short, reeled, and then dropped down upon his hands andknees.
"Quick, boy, quick! You go first," whispered Ike, as I stopped as ifparalysed; "I'll foller."
His words roused me, and I ran out of the room.