The Newgate Jig Read Online Free PDF Page B

the head of every pretty young woman
in the street.
    But Trim, anxiously
twisting his gloves about and not wanting to look either of us in the eye, was
above and beyond his usual state of agitation. Will frowned and nudged him
encouragingly, and said in that rich, sailor-hero voice he reserved for serious
occasions, 'Now then, old fellow. Buck up and hoist yer topsail! Tell Bob here
about your dreadful shipwreck.'
    Trimmer smiled weakly
and laid his hands upon the table. 'It is simple enough and you already know
the first instalment, Chapman. I left Garraway's this morning with a full
stomach, a light heart and a manuscript copy of Elenore the Female Pirate, a
Christmas Extravaganza in one pocket and The Vulture's Bride; or the Adventures
of Fanny Campbell, the Terror of the High Seas, A Novel, in the
other. I arrive at the Pavilion Theatre with Elenore in a muddy
and despicable condition, and The Vulture's Bride in the hands of a
stranger.' He paused, for dramatic effect. 'I've been robbed. Distressing
enough, of course, but that's not all.' Trim wound the ends of his muffler
around his fingers. 'If it were just a robbery, I should not mind. The fact
that it was my only finished copy of The Vulture's Bride, and it'll be the devil's own job to re-write it from working scraps, is bad,
but it can be done.' He reflected. 'No, it's not just the robbery. Rather the
manner of it. And what went with it.'
    And then followed a
description of his route, what and who he saw on the way, and finally his
strange encounter with a street boy - 'Skulking in the shadows!' - just on the
corner of Dunfermline-street, where the pavement was narrowest and the shadow
of the London and South Metropolitan railway bridge was deepest. 'I suppose I
wasn't looking where I was going, and tripped over this boy. I hit the ground
rather hard and dropped the manuscript, and it scattered everywhere. Whilst I
was trying to recover it, the boy hooked the novel from my pocket and made off
at a lick.'
    Will was frowning and
tracing pot stains on the table. 'An unusual robbery, I'll give you that.'
    'The boy was sitting on
the ground,' continued Trim, 'with his back to the wall, like some Chinese
statue. And just out of sight, round the corner. No doubt waiting for me.'
    Will nodded
thoughtfully. 'If you say so, old fellow. Was he alone?'
    'I didn't see anyone
else,' said Trim, 'but there might have been someone hiding. There are plenty
of rows and courts around there.'
    Will
considered.
    'Just a passing
thought, old fellow, but don't you think it's rather out of the way for a boy to rob you like that? On his own? Pick your pockets in a market, yes. Trip you
up on a dark street at midnight, certainly. But even then, with someone else
larger and taller to hold you down, or kick you, or beat you with a club,
before robbing you. And it doesn't sound like a garrotting either. From your
description, it sounds more like an accident.'
    Trim's eyes widened in
indignation. 'Well! Clearly, I've had a narrow escape! By rights, I should be
weltering in the road! Or have had my throat pressed by a nasty man till I'm
insensible.'
    'All
I am saying—'
    'No need, Will,' said
Trim, trying, I think, to keep his irritation under a sack. 'As a matter of
fact, I have already formed my own opinion. I think this is a simple matter of
professional jealousy. A conspiracy to steal my new story even before Barnard's
have seen it and pass it off under a different name. I can think of two or
three likely candidates in the penny novel business even now.' He shook his
head. 'Jealousy is one thing, but theft!'
    I
was not convinced, and don't think Will was either.
    'You may be right,' he
said, patiently, 'but it seems a lot of trouble to go to just for a packet of
paper, even if it is your very excellent story. After all, how would this boy
know you had it on you? You are sure nothing else is missing? Not your purse?
Your handkerchief?'
    'No.
Only the manuscript.'
    'And the boy,'
continued Will,