CHAPTER SIX.
ENEMIES TURNED TO FRIENDS.
"You want to see as much as you can, I suppose?" remarked the thief ashe hastened along. "Come, I'll take you to our den."
It seemed as if the man were leading his companion into deeper anddeeper depths, for the dark passage into which they finally turned, andalong which they groped their way, seemed to be the very vestibule ofPandemonium; cries as of fierce and evil spirits being heard at thefarther end of it.
"Now," said the thief, stopping, "whatever you do here, don't showfight. This is a thieves' den."
The passage at its farther end became absolutely dark, so that the thiefhad to lead our hero by the hand. Turning abruptly to the right, theycame upon a door through which there issued sounds of terrible revelry.A knock produced no effect. A second and louder knock resulted in deadsilence. Then a female voice was heard inside. To it our thief repliedin the language of the slums. Immediately the door was opened justenough to let the two men glide in; then it was shut with a bang andbolted.
"Hallo, Trumps, who 'ave you got here?" "W'ere did you pick 'im up?""Is he a noo member?" shouted several voices, amid general laughter.
The speakers were among a company of men and women whose generalappearance and reckless expressions of countenance seemed to indicatethat they were past redemption. The den in which they sat drinking,smoking, and gambling consisted of a dirty room fitted with narrowtables, out of which opened an inner apartment. The door of this hadbeen removed--probably for firewood in a time of scarcity. Both roomswere lighted with dim oil-lamps. Some of the company were beggars andtramps of the lowest type, but most were evidently of the vicious andcriminal order. There was a tendency to unpleasant curiosity in regardto the stranger, but the thief, whom we may now call Trumps, put an endto this with a few slang words, and led his friend to a seat in theinner room, whence he could observe nearly the whole party and all thatwent on.
Some of the more intoxicated among them objected to be snubbed byTrumps, and were beginning to scowl at the visitor, no doubt withsinister intentions, when the outer door was again opened, and a youngthief, obviously familiar with the place, entered, closely followed by arespectable-looking man in a surtout and a light topcoat. It requiredno second look to tell that the new-comer was a city missionary. Likeour Scot, he had gained admission to the place through the influence ofa friendly thief.
"Hullo, _more_ visitors!" growled a big savage-looking man with anapron, who proved to be the landlord of the den.
Advancing quickly to this man, the missionary said, in a quiet gentletone--
"You supply coffee, I see. May I have a cup?"
"No you mayn't, you spy! I know you, you canting wretch!"
He locked the door as he spoke, and then, striding forward in a toweringrage, threatened vengeance on the intruder. The company, expecting ascene, rose _en masse_ to their feet, while those in the inner roomcrowded to the front. Laidlaw, who was for the moment forgotten in thisnew excitement, followed them. He was well enough informed in referenceto the work of the London City Missionaries to understand at a glancethat one of those fearless men had managed to worm his way into thethieves' den, and was perhaps in danger of his life. That the manrealised his danger was apparent from the fact that he stood erect andclosed his eyes for a moment--evidently in silent prayer for help in thehour of need. The act probably saved him, for the ferocious landlord,although ready enough to crush defiance with a savage blow, did notquite see his way to dash his great fist into a mild, manly face withshut eyes! It was such an unusual way of receiving his onset that hehesitated and lowered his fist. Suddenly the missionary drew out apocket-Bible, and, pointing upwards with it, said, in loud solemn tones,"A great white throne will be set up among the stars above us. TheSaviour who died for sinners will sit upon it, and the dead that are intheir graves shall hear His voice and live. _We_ shall be there!"
At this the people were silenced, apparently under a spell--some gazingupwards as if to see the throne; others staring into the missionary'sface in wonder.
"And I and you and you," he continued, pointing to one and another,"shall be there: `We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.'I am not an enemy, or a spy, but a servant of the Lord Jesus, who willbe your judge at the last day. He is now the Saviour of the ruined andlost, and in His name I offer you mercy through the blood He shed foryou upon the Cross. In His blessed Book it is written, `Whosoeverbelieveth on Him shall be saved.' I hope to come again before long tosee you, friends. Now, landlord, open that door and let me out."
The landlord, who seemed to be thoroughly taken aback, unlocked the doorwith a trembling hand, and the missionary passed out. But that was notthe end of this remarkable visit. It was only the beginning of a grandwork for Christ which afterwards took place in and around that thieves'den. On this, however, we may not do more than touch here. Smitten inconscience, that landlord hurried out after the missionary and actuallybegged of him to repeat his visit. Then he returned to the den andfound his people recovering somewhat from their surprise.
But, touched though the landlord was, he had by no means changed hischaracter.
"Now, then," he demanded, going up to David Laidlaw, "are _you_ amissionary too?"
"Na, freen', I am not; but I 'maist wush that I was, for it's a graundwark t' carry help t' the destitute."
"Well, guv'nor," cried one fellow with a crushed nose and a huge blackeye, "if that's wot you're a-'ankerin' arter you can go a-'ead 'ere an''elp us to yer 'eart's content, for we're all destitoot in this 'ereden. So, come along, table down all the cash you've got about you."
"I'll dae that wi' pleasure," said David, rising promptly, and turningall his pockets inside out. "Ye shall hae every bodle I possess."
A general laugh greeted this proceeding, and one young thief shouted,"Well done, checkers," (referring to his garments); "but 'ow comes itthat you've bin cleaned out?"
"Plain as pea-soup," cried another. "Don't you see? He's bin keepin'company with Trumps!"
Here Trumps rose to explain. "No, pals, that's not the reason; but justbefore comin' here he gave away every rap he had to poor widow Grain."
"He's a brick!" cried one man, with a fierce oath.
"He's a fool!" shouted another, with a fiercer oath. Regardless of theinterruption, Trumps went on to explain how he had attempted to rob ourhero, and been caught by him, and let off with a mild reproof and a lotof coppers. He also explained how that black-hearted villain TandySpivin (meaning David's landlord) had hired him--Trumps--to take this"gen'lem'n" (pointing to David) "down into the den _for a purpus_--ahem!Of course, on bein' introdooced to him," continued Trumps, "I at oncerecognised the Scotchman I had tried to rob, and expected he wouldrefuse to go with me; but I soon found that Scotty was a deep as well asa plucky cove, and wasn't to be done out of his fun by trifles, for hesaid he would go to the slums with me because he could _trust me--trustme_, pals--note that!"
A loud explosion of laughter interrupted the speaker at this point.
"What!" exclaimed several voices, "said 'e could trust _you_, Trumps?"
"Ay," cried the thief, looking suddenly fierce, "and why not? Isn't itsaid, `There's honour among thieves?'"
"Thrue for ye," cried a big burglarious-looking Irishman, "sure there'shonour 'twixt the likes o' you an' me, Trumps, but that gen'lem'n an't athief!"
"That's so, Bill," exclaimed another man, with bloodshot eyes andbeetling brows; "an' it's my opinion that as the cove hain't got nobrowns 'e ought to contribute 'is checker suit to the good o' the 'ouse.It would fetch summat."
The interest in the missionary's words seemed to be passing away, for atthis point the language and looks of some of the company made DavidLaidlaw feel that he was indeed in a ticklish position. The threats andnoise were becoming louder and more furious, and he was beginning tothink of the hopeless resource of using his fists, when a loudexclamation, followed by a dead silence, drew every eye to the door.
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br /> The girl to whom the keeping of it had been intrusted had neglected herduty for a moment. In letting one of the company out she incautiouslystood looking through the open chink into the dark passage. Thatinstant was seized by two tall and powerful limbs of the law, in clothhelmets and with bull's-eye lanterns, who pushed quietly but quicklyinto the room. Shutting the door, one of the constables stood with hisback against it, while the other advanced and examined the faces of thecompany one by one.
There was dead silence, for the constables were men of business, not ofwords, while the criminals, some of whom became grave as well as silent,seemed very anxious not to attract undue attention.
The particular person "wanted," however, was not there at that time. Oncoming to David, who met the glare of the bull's-eye with his gravesmile, the constable looked surprised.
"I think, young man," he said in a low voice, "you've come to the wrongshop here."
"That's _my_ business," replied David coolly.
"Well, you know best of course, but if you'll take my advice you'll comeout of this place along with us."
"Na. I'll bide where I am. I'll _trust_ them."
"Brayvo! well done, Scotty!" burst from the company, whose couragequickly revived when they found that no one there was "wanted."
The policemen laughed and went out.
"Noo, freen's, I want to say a word," said David, rising. "I'm gaunawa', an' it's ower late t' mak' a speech the nicht, but I want t' askleave t' come back here again an' hae a crack wi' ye. I want t' ask 'eesome questions, an' gie ye some guid advice. May I come?"
"Of course you may, Scotty," said the landlord, grasping David's handand receiving a good-humoured squeeze that made him wince. "You're atrump, and we'll give you the freedom of the 'ouse. Won't we, pals?"
"Agreed, agreed," shouted the whole company; "and we've got two Trumpsnow!" added a wag, amid much laughter and staves of, "He's a jolly goodfellow," during the singing of which Laidlaw and his friend took theirdeparture.
Having marked the position of the den well and taken its bearings theysaid good-night cordially and separated, the thief to his lair, and theScotsman to his lodging, where he fully expected that the "villain"Tandy Spivin had availed himself of the opportunity to rob him.
But he was wrong. He found his bag, with his watch and money and hislittle all, intact as he had left it.