Stranica 250 [250]
190
was something to him. He regained his
strength and energy at the prospect of
personal danger, and springing to his feet,
rushed into the open air.
The broad sky seemed on fire. Rising
into the air with showers of sparks, and
rolling one above the other, were sheets
of flame, lighting the atmosphere for
miles round, and driving clouds of smoke
in the direction where he stood.
The shouts grew louder as new voices
swelled the roar, and he could hear the
cry of fire—mingled with the ringing of
and the crackling of flames as they turn¬
ed round some new obstacle, and shot
aloft as though refreshed by food. The
noise increased as he looked. ‘There
were people there— men and women —
light, and bustle. It was like new life to
him. He darted onward—straight, head¬
long, dashing through brier and brake,
and leaping gate and fence, as madly as
the dog who careered with loud and
sounding bark before him.
He came upon the spot; there were
half-dressed figures, tearing to and fro,
some endeavouring to drag the frightened
horses from the stables, others driving the
cattle from the yard and out-houses, and
others coming laden from the burning
pile, amidst a shower of falling. sparks,
and the tumbling down of hot beams.
The apertures where doors and windows
stood an hour ago, disclosed a chaos of
raging fire; walls rocked and crumbled
into the burning well; the molten lead
and iron poured down upon the ground:
women and children shrieked, and men
encouraged each other with noisy shouts
and cheers. The clanking of the engine¬
pumps, and the spouting and hissing of
wood, added to the tremendous roar. He
shouted too till he was hoarse, and, flying
from memory and himself, plunged into
the thickest of the throng.
Hither and thither he dived that night,
now working at the pumps, and now hur¬
rying through the smoke and flame, but
never ceasing to engage himself wherever
noise and men were thickest. Up and
down the ladders, upon the roofs of build¬
ings, over floors that quaked and trembled
with his weight, under the lee of falling
bricks and stones — in every part of that
eat fire was he—but he bore a charmed
ife, and had neither scratch nor bruise,
nor weariness nor thought, till morning
dawned again, and only smoke and black¬
ened ruins remained.
turned with tenfold force the dreadful
consciousness of his crime. He looked
suspiciously about him, for the men were
conversing in groups, and he feared to be
the subject of their talk. The dog obeyed
the significant beck of his finger, and they
drew off stealthily together. He passed
near an engine where some men were
seated, and they called to him to share in
He took some bread
and meat, and as he drank a draught of
beer, heard the firemen, who were from
London, talking about the murder. “He
has gone to Birmingham, they say,” said
one, " but they'll have him yet; for the
scouts are out, and by to-morrow night
there’ll be a cry all through the coun¬
try.”
He hurried off, and walked till he al¬
most dropped upon the ground; then lay
down in a lane, and had a long, but
broken and uneasy sleep. He wandered
on again, unresolved and undecided, and
oppressed with the fear of another solli¬
tary night.
Suddenly he took the desperate resolu¬
tion of going back to London.
* 'T’here’s somebody to speak to there,
at all events,” he thought. “A good
hiding place, too. They’ll never expect
to nab me there, after this country scent.
Why can’t I lay by for a week or so, and
forcing blunt from Fagin, get abroad to
France? Damme, I'll risk it.”
He acted upon this impulse without
delay ; and choosing the least frequented
roads, began his journey back, resolved
to lie concealed within a short distance
of the metropolis, and entering it at dusk,
by a circuitous route, to proceed straight
to that part of it which he had fixed on
The dog, though—if any descriptions
of him were out, it would not be forgotten
that the dog was missing, and had proba¬
bly gone with him. This might lead to
his apprehension as he passed along the
streets. He resolved to drown him, and
walked on, looking about for a pond;
picking up a heavy stone, and tying it to
his handkerchief as he went.
ihe animal looked up into his master’s
face while these preparations were mak¬
ing, and, whether his instinct apprehend¬
ed something of their purpose, or the
robber’s sidelong glance at him was
sterner than ordinary, skulked a little
further in the rear than usual], and cow¬
ered as he came more slowly along.
When his master halted at the brink of
a pool, and looked round to call him, he
stopped outright.