Paul Clifford — Volume 02Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
General
Paul Clifford — Volume 02
Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
Brigands and robbers -- Fiction
it made of course a similar hitch, our two adventurers were enabled
successively to slide down, and consummate their escape from the House of
Correction.
"Follow me now!" said Augustus, as he took to his heels; and Paul pursued
him through a labyrinth of alleys and lanes, through which he shot and
dodged with a variable and shifting celerity that, had not Paul kept
close upon him, would very soon, combined with the fog, have snatched him
from the eyes of his young ally. Happily the immaturity of the morning,
the obscurity of the streets passed through, and above all, the extreme
darkness of the atmosphere, prevented that detection and arrest which
their prisoner's garb would otherwise have insured them. At length they
found themselves in the fields; and skulking along hedges, and diligently
avoiding the highroad, they continued to fly onward, until they had
advanced several miles into "the bowels of the land." At that time "the
bowels" of Augustus Tomlinson began to remind him of their demands; and
he accordingly suggested the desirability of their seizing the first
peasant they encountered, and causing him to exchange clothes with one of
the fugitives, who would thus be enabled to enter a public-house and
provide for their mutual necessities. Paul agreed to this proposition,
and accordingly they watched their opportunity and caught a ploughman.
Augustus stripped him of his frock, hat, and worsted stockings; and Paul,
hardened by necessity and companionship, helped to tie the poor ploughman
to a tree. They then continued their progress for about an hour, and, as
the shades of evening fell around them, they discovered a public-house.
Augustus entered, and returned in a few minutes laden with bread and
cheese, and a bottle of beer. Prison fare cures a man of daintiness,
and the two fugitives dined on these homely viands with considerable
complacency. They then resumed their journey, and at length, wearied
with exertion, they arrived at a lonely haystack, where they resolved to
repose for an hour or two.
CHAPTER X.
Unlike the ribald, whose licentious jest
Pollutes his banquet, and insults his guest,
From wealth and grandeur easy to descend,
Thou joy'st to lose the master in the friend.
We round thy board the cheerful menials see, Gay--
with the smile of bland equality;
No social care the gracious lord disdains;
Love prompts to love, and reverence reverence gains.
Translation of LUCAN to Paso,
Prefixed to the Twelfth Paper of "The Rambler."
Coyly shone down the bashful stars upon our adventurers, as, after a
short nap behind the haystack, they stretched themselves, and looking at
each other, burst into an involuntary and hilarious laugh at the
prosperous termination of their exploit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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