Dogs -- Fiction; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Seafaring life -- Fiction
The alternating light of the candle flashed upon the body of the old
woman, and he remembered all. After a few minutes, he was able to rise,
and he sat down upon the bed, giddy and faint. It occurred to him that
he would soon be in the dark, and he would require the light to follow
up his intended movements; so he rose, and went to the cupboard to find
one. He found a candle, and he also found the bottle of cordial, of
which he drank all that was left, and felt himself revived, and capable
of acting. Having put the other candle into the candlestick, he looked
for water, washed himself, and bound up his head with his handkerchief.
He then wiped up the blood from the floor, threw some sand over the
part, and burnt the towel in the grate. His next task was one of more
difficulty, to lift up the body of the old woman, put it into the bed,
and cover it up with the clothes, previously drawing out the bayonet.
No blood issued from the wound--the haemorrhage was all internal. He
covered up the face, took the key of the door, and tried it in the lock,
put the candle under the grate to burn out safely, took possession of
the hammer; then having examined the door, he went out, locked it from
the outside, slid the key in beneath the door, and hastened away as fast
as he could. He was not met by any body, and was soon safe in the
street, with the bayonet, which he again concealed in his vest.
These precautions taken by Smallbones proved that the lad had conduct as
well as courage. He argued that it was not advisable that it should be
known that this fatal affray had taken place between the old woman and
himself. Satisfied with having preserved his life, he was unwilling to
be embroiled in a case of murder, as he wished to prosecute his designs
with his companions on board.
He knew that Vanslyperken was capable of swearing anything against him,
and that his best safety lay in the affair not being found out, which it
could not be until the cutter had sailed, and no one had seen him either
enter or go out. There was another reason which induced Smallbones to
act as he did--without appealing to the authorities--which was, that if
he returned on board, it would create such a shock to Mr Vanslyperken,
who had, as he supposed, seen him lying dead upon the floor. But there
was one person to whom he determined to apply to for advice before he
decided how to proceed, and that was Moggy Salisbury, who had given her
address to him when she had gone on board the Yungfrau. To her house he
therefore repaired, and found her at home. It was then about nine
o'clock in the evening.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account