But not without shouting to Shock, whom I suddenly remembered.
"Shock--Shock!" I cried; "look out for the cart." Not that I supposed
that the boys I left behind would run off with it and the old horse; but
there were more coils of rope swinging from the ladder, and there were
the sacks and Ike's old coat and whip.
I thought of all this in an instant as I ran, followed by the yells of
the young plunderer's companions.
I was not far behind, but he was barefoot, used to the place, knew every
inch 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 doubled
here and went in and out of the carts and wagons, dodged round a stack
of baskets there, threaded his way easily among the people, while I
tried to imitate him, and only blundered against them and got thrust
aside. Then I nearly knocked over a basket of peas built up on the top
of other baskets like a pillar, and at last nearly lost my quarry, for
he darted in at the door of a herbalist's shop; and as I went panting
up, sure now of catching him, I suddenly awakened to the fact that there
was 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 him
disappearing behind a cabbage wagon.
This time, as he disappeared, I tried to bring a little strategy to
bear, and running round another way by which I felt sure he would go, I
was 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 and
his arm.
It was like catching at an eel. Just as I thought I had him he dodged
aside, dived under a horse, and as I ran round the back of the cart, not
caring to imitate his example, he was a dozen yards away, going in and
out of stalls and piles of vegetables.
I lost sight of him then, and the next minute saw him watching me round
a corner, when I again gave chase, hot, panting, and with a curious
aching pain in my legs; but when I reached the corner he had gone, and I
felt that I had lost him, and, thoroughly disheartened, did not know
which 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 some
columns.
He had not seen me, and he was walking; so, keeping as much out of sight
as I could, and rejoicing in the fact that I had recovered my breath, I
hurried on.
All at once I heard a shrill warning cry, and looking to my right saw
the two young ruffians who had been the most obnoxious, while at the
same moment I saw that the warning had taken effect, the boy I chased
having started off afresh.
"I will catch you," I muttered through my teeth; and, determined not to
lose 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 was
to keep that boy in view, and this I did the more easily now, that
feeling at last that he could not escape me in the market, he suddenly
crossed the road, ran in and out for a minute in what seemed like an
archway, and then ran as hard as he could along a wide street and I
after him.
Suddenly he turned to the right into a narrow street, and along by a
great building. At the end of this he turned to the right again, past
the front and nearly to the bottom of the street, when he turned to the
left and followed a wide street till it became suddenly narrow, and
instead 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 gradually
overtaking him, but he reached the end of the street before I could come
up with him, and as he turned the corner I felt quite despairing once
more at seeing him pass out of sight.
It was only a matter of moments before I too turned the corner, and
found myself in the dirtiest busiest street I had ever seen, with
unpleasant-looking people about, and throngs of children playing over
the foul pavement and in the road.
My boy seemed quite at home there and as if he belonged to the place. I
noticed that as I ran after him, wondering whether it would be of any
use to call to them to stop him, though if I had determined that it
would 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 the
pavement along which he ran, while I kept to the road, but he went in
and out among them as easily as a dog might have run, till all at once I
saw him dive in amongst a number of men talking at the entrance of a
narrow archway with a public-house on one side, and as I ran up I found
that it was a court, down which I caught a glimpse of the boy with the
rope still over his arm.
I stopped for nothing but dashed in after him, the men giving way at
first, 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 falling
over the leg of another, who thrust it out to trip me up. I escaped a
fall, however, and entered the court, which seemed to be half full of
children, just in time to see my boy slip into a house nearly at the
bottom, on the left.
He stopped for a moment to look back to see if I was coming, and then he
disappeared, and my heart gave a bound, for in my excitement I felt that
I 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 stopped
their games and set up a kind of yell, while it seemed to me that the
men who were at the entrance of the court were all following me slowly
with their hands thrust down low in their pockets, and it struck me for
the moment that they were all coming down to see the capture of the
thief.
I was in happy ignorance just then that I had followed the boy into one
of the vilest and most dangerous parts of London in those days,--to wit
a Drury Lane court, one of the refuges of some of the worst characters
in that district.
In this ignorance I was still observant, and noticed that the doors on
each side of the dirty court stood wide open, while the yell set up by
the 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 I
had 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 I
stumbled in from the pavement, up a couple of stone steps, and on to the
boards of the narrow passage, which seemed, by contrast to the bright
sunshine outside, quite dark.
I did not stop, but went on as if by instinct to the end, passed a
flight of steps leading down to the cellar kitchen, up which came a
noisome odour that turned me sick, and began to ascend the stairs before
me.
Then I paused for a moment with my hand on a sticky balustrade and
listened.
Yes! I was quite right, for up above me I could hear the stairs
creaking as if some one was going up; and to make me the more sure that
the 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 kept
saying softly, "Oh!"
That satisfied me, and as fast as I could I went up one flight and then
another of dirty creaking stairs and found myself on the first floor.
Then up another flight, dirtier, more creaking, and with the woodwork
broken away here and there.
Up another flight worse still, and by the light of a staircase window I
could see that the plaster ceiling was down here and there, showing the
laths, while the wall was blackened by hands passing over it. On the
handrail side the balusters were broken out entirely in the most
dangerous way; but all this seemed of no consequence whatever, for there
was 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 faint
cry, and went on up whimpering, evidently so much exhausted by the long
chase that he could hardly drag himself up higher.
By this time I was up to the second floor, where there were a couple of
battered doors and another staircase window nearly without glass, the
broken panes being covered with paper pasted on, or else, fortunately
for the inhabitants of the noisome place, left open for the air to blow
through.
I ought to have stopped; in fact I ought never to have gone; but I was
too much excited by my chase to think of anything but getting hold of
that boy and shaking him till he dropped our new rope; and now as I
began to toil breathlessly up the last flight I knew that my task was
done, for my young enemy could hardly crawl, and had begun to sob and
whine, 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 a
buzz of voices below, with heavy footsteps in the passage.
Still that did not seem to have anything to do with me, so intent was I
on my pursuit up those last two flights of stairs, which seemed to be
steeper, more broken, and more difficult to climb than those which had
gone before. In fact the boy above me was dragging himself up, and I
had 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 knew
that he could go no further.
Half-way up and there was a sloping ceiling above, in which was a
blackened skylight, across which was a string and some dirty white
garments hanging to dry, while to right and to left there were doors
that had been painted black for reasons full of wisdom; and as my head
rose higher I saw the boy who had literally crawled up on to the
landing, rise up, with the rope still upon his arm, and fling himself
against the farthest of these two doors.
It flew open with a crash, and then seemed to be banged to heavily, but
it was against me, for, summoning up all my remaining strength, I
reached the top, and imitating the boy's action, the door came back upon
my hands, and was dashed open again.
I almost tumbled in, staggering forward, and hardly able to keep upon my
legs, so that I nearly reached the middle of the room before I was aware
that the boy was cowering down in a corner upon our rope, and that a big
scowling stubble-chinned man had just risen dressed from a bed on which
he had lain, to catch me by the shoulders in a tremendous grip, and hold
me backwards panting like some newly captured bird.
I noticed that the man wore a great sleeved waistcoat, breeches, and
heavy boots, and that his low forehead was puckered up into an ugly
scowl, with one great wrinkle across it that seemed like another mouth
as he forced me right back against the wall, and held me shivering
there.
"Here, shet that there door, Polly," he said in a low harsh growl, like
the 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 my
head tap against the wall.
For a few moments the man's savage look seemed to fascinate me, and I
felt horribly alarmed, as I could think for the moment about nothing but
the Ogre and Hop-o'-my-thumb, and wonder whether he was going to take
out a big knife and threaten me. I was still panting and breathless
with my exertions, and there was a curious pain in my legs, mingled with
a sensation as if they were going to double up under me, but I made an
effort to be brave as the great heavy-browed scoundrel gave me another
shake, 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 the
door, 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 on
with his sharp restless dark eyes; then, making a determined attempt to
be 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 fellow
sharply; "have yer, Micky?"
"No, father," said the boy.
"Jest up, ain't he, missus?" continued my captor, turning to the
heavy-eyed woman.
"Yes, just up," said the woman in a low mechanical voice, and then with
more 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 my
rope, 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, growing
stronger now. "You let me go, and give me my rope, or I'll tell the
police."
"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 have
it."
"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's
your rope, you shall have it, but--now then! d'yer hear?"
This was to the boy, who took advantage of my helpless position to give
me a couple of savage kicks in the leg as he stood there; but as he had
no 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 turning
sharply he made believe to strike me with all his might right in the
mouth, 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 keep
yer here, or whether I shall let yer go; but whichever I does, don't you
go a sweering that this here's your rope, a cause it's mine. D'yer
hear, mine?"
The door was kicked open at that moment, and a couple of the
rough-looking fellows I had seen at the entrance to the court stood half
inside, leaning against the door-posts and looking stolidly on.
I was about to appeal to them for help, but my instinct told me that
such an application would be in vain, while their first words told me
how 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, which
was 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 round
yer."
The woman just then made a step forward and struck at the boy, who
dodged the blow, and retreated to the far end of the room, the woman
shrinking away too as the man growled:
"Let him alone; will yer?"
I seized the opportunity to wrench myself partly away, and to catch hold
of the rope, which the man had now beneath one of his feet.
"Ah, would yer!" he shouted, tearing the rope away from me. "Comes up
here, mates, bold as brass, and says it's his'n."