Oldal 222 [222]
166 OLIVER
TW IS:
“A pretty thing it would be, wouldn’t
it, to go and stop at the very first public |
house outside the town, so that Sower- |
berry, if he come up after us, might poke |
in his old nose, and have us taken back
in a cart with handcuffs on,” said Mr.
Claypole in a jeeringtone. ‘ No, I shall
go and lose myself among the narrowest
streets I can find, and not stop till we
come to the very out-of-the-wayest house
I can set eyes on. ’Cod, you may thank
your stars [ve got a head on: for if we
hadn’t gone at first the wrong road on
purpose, and come back across country, |
you’d have been locked up hard and fast
a week ago, my lady, and serve you right
for being a fool.” |
“| know Í ain’t as cunning as you are,”
replied Charlotte; * but don’t put all the
blame on me, and say I should have been
locked up. You would have been, if I |
had been, any way.”
“ Yer took the money from the till, yer
know yer did,” said Mr. Claypole.
s] took it for you, Noah, dear,” re¬
joined Charlotte. |
s Did I keep it?” asked Mr. Claypole.
* No; you trusted in me, and let me
carry it, like a dear, and so you are,” said
the Jady, chucking him under the chin,
aud drawing her arm through his.
This was indeed the case; but, as it
was not Mr. Claypole’s habit to repose a
blind and foolish confidence in anybody,
it should be observed, in justice to that
gentleman, that he had trusted Charlotte
to this extent, in order that if they were
pursued, the money might be found on
her, which would leave him an opportu¬
nity of asserting his utter innocence of
any theft, and greatly facilitate his
chances of escape. Of course he entered
at this juncture into no explanation of his
motives, and they walked on very loving¬
ly together.
In pursuance of his cautious plan, Mr.
Claypole went on without halting until
he arrived at the Angel, at Islington,
where he wisely judged, from the crowd
of passengers and number of vehicles that
London began in earnest. Just pausing
to observe which appeared the most
crowded streets, and consequently the
most to be avoided, he crossed into Saint
John’s Road, and was soon deep in the
obscurity of the intricate and dirty ways
which, lying between Gray’s Inn Lane
and Smithfield, render that part of the
town one of the lowest and worst that
alan áz; has left in the midst of Lon¬
on. |
Through these streets Noah Claypole
walked, dragging Charlotte after him,
now slipping into the kennel to embrace
at a glance the whole external character
of some small public houses, and now
jogging on again as some fancied appear¬
for his purpose. _ At length he stopped in
front of one more humble in appearance
and more dirty than any he had yet seen,
and having crossed over and surveyed it
from the opposite pavement, graciously
announced his intention of putting up
there for the night.
“So give us the bundle,” said Noah, .
unstrapping it from the woman’s shoul¬
ders, and slinging it over his own; “and
don’t yer speak except when yer spoken
to. What’s the name of the house—
t-h-r— three what?”
c Cripples,” said Charlotte.
c Three Cripples,” repeated Noah,
“and a very good sign, too. Now, then,
keep close at my heels, and come along.”
With these injunctions, he pushed the
rattling door with his shoulder, and en¬
tered the house, followed by his com¬
panion.
There was nobody in the bar but a
young Jew, who, with his two elbows on
the counter, was reading a dirty newspa¬
per. He stared very hard at Noah, and
Noah stared very hard at him.
If Noah had been attired in his Chari¬
ty-boy’s dress, there might have been
some reason for the Jew’s opening his
eyes so wide; but as he had discarded the
coat, and badge, and wore a short smock¬
frock over his leathers, there seemed no
particular reason for his appearance ex¬
citing so much attention in a public
house.
“Ts this the " Three Cripples”” asked
Noah.
“That is the dabe of this house,” re¬
plied the Jew.
“A gentleman we met on the road
coming up from the country, recommend¬
ed us here,” said Noah, nudging Char¬
lotte, perhaps to call her attention to this
most ingenious device for «ttracting re¬
spect, and perhaps to warn her to betray
no surprise.
4 We want to sleep here to-night.”
“T’b dot certaid you cad,” said Barney,
who was the attendant sprite; "but [11
idquire.”
c Show us the tap, and give us a bit of
cold meat and a drop of beer while yer
inguiring, will yer?” said Noah.
Barney complied by ushering them into
a small back-room, and setting the re¬
quired viands before them; having done