“How imprudent this meeting must appear, sir! and how unguarded in a female to venture out at this unseasonable hour!” was whispered in the softest voice imaginable to some remark of mine, as I passed the arm of the incognita through mine.
“By Heaven, the thing is safe!” said the hunchbacked villain, in an under-tone, to his confederate. “See how blindly the poor flat runs into the snare, and follows the beck of the deepest dodger that ever betrayed a fool! Stick close; and mind your blow! Oh, that I had man’s strength!—there’s not in Britain one who loves a daring deed more dearly.—Would that the arm was equal to the heart!—How I shall delight to see that tall idiot, who would stare or smile at my deformity, grovelling on the earth, and wondering how he contrived to get his skull cracked, while he thought only of Julia’s charms, and fancied himself in full security.”
“Can ye see them, captain?” whispered the fosterer; “I can’t distinctly, the night’s so dark.”
“Many a darker one I have watched the soldiers pass me on the heather, after I was an outlaw,” replied the ratcatcher. “I see a man and woman. See, they turn to the right, under yonder drowsy-looking lamp; and there—those other two—one the dark scoundrel we overheard, and the cursed cripple he was talkin’ to. What are we to do, Mark?”
“Stick to the villains like a brace of blood-hounds,” replied the fosterer.
“I don’t half like it,” said the ratcatcher; “remember, Mark, how nearly I was being hanged about the tailor’s wife. There’s sure to be murder; and, holy Mary! all this comes out of taa-drinkin’!”
Through dark and intricate turnings, the soldier’s daughter conducted me. I found the arm that was locked in mine tremble, and yet the night was far from cold. As we advanced, the lanes became darker and less frequented, and I could not avoid remarking, how dreary and deserted the immediate neighbourhood of my young friend’s residence appeared to be. She replied—the tone of voice was agitated. Was she ill? I asked the question, and gently put my arm round her for support. Suddenly, some terrible emotion convulsed her.
“No—no—no!” she exclaimed: “not for thousands will I do it! There’s guilt enough upon my soul already!”
“Come, Julia,” I said, not clearly hearing what she said; “I must get you assistance. Come on.”
“Not another step,” she murmured. “Return—quick, quick—away, away!”