Roy J. Snell
The Firebug : A Mystery Story For Boys
eBook
( May 28, 2013)
Johnny felt his face suddenly grow hot. Had he been recognized? This beyond doubt was a den of the underworld. Was this a cry which was but a signal for a “Rush the bulls”?
Since he could not tell, and since everyone remained in his seat, he did not move.
“If the gentlemen will please hold their bowls,” said the girl, smiling as she handed each his bowl.
What did this mean? They were soon to see. Stepping with a fairy-like lightness from floor to chair, and chair to table, the girl made a low bow and then as a piano in a corner struck up a lively air she began a dance on the table top.
It was such a wild, whirling dance as neither of the boys had seen before. It seemed incredible that the whole affair could be performed upon so small a table top. Indeed, at one time Johnny did feel a slight pat upon his knee and realized in a vague sort of way that the velvet slippered foot of this little enchantress had rested there for an instant.
No greater misfortune could have befallen the two boys than this being seated by the dancer’s table. It focussed all eyes upon them. Their detection was inevitable. They expected it. But, coming sooner than they could dream, it caught them unawares. With a suddenness that was terrible, at the end of the applause that followed the girl’s performance, there came a death-like pause, broken by a single hissed-out word.
The next instant a huge man with a great knife gleaming in his hand launched himself at Pant.
Taken entirely unawares, the boy must have been stabbed through and through had it not been for a curious interference. The man’s arm, struck by a sudden weight, shot downward to drive the knife into the floor.
The next instant, as a tremendous uproar began, there came a sudden and terrible flash of light followed by darkness black as ink.
Johnny, having struggled to his feet, was groping blindly about him when a hand gripped his shoulder and a voice whispered:
“This way out.”
At the same moment he felt a tug at the back of his coat.
Moving forward slowly, led by Pant and being tugged at from behind, he at last came to the door and ten seconds later found himself in the outer semi-darkness of the street.
Feeling the tug at his coat lessening, he turned about to see Jensie, the dancing girl.
“Do you know that she saved your life?” he whispered to Pant. “She leaped squarely upon that big villain’s arm.”
“Rode it like I might a mule,” laughed the girl. “And you, Mister,” she turned to Pant, “you are a Devil. You make a terrible light, you then make terrible night. You are a wonderful Devil!” and with a flash of her white teeth she was gone.
“Now what?” asked Johnny.
“We cannot do better than to follow. They will be out at us like a pack of rats in another minute.”
“How about a police raid?”
“Not to-night. It wouldn’t do any good. The birds have flown.”
At this Pant led the way rapidly out of the narrow alley into more frequented and safer ways.
Little did Johnny dream as he crept beneath the covers that night that the following night would see the end of all this little drama in which he had been playing a part. Yet so it was to be.
As for Pant, who slept upon a cot in one corner of Johnny’s room, he was dreaming of a slender figure and of big, dark, Gypsy eyes. He was indulging in romantic thoughts—the first of his life. That Gypsy-like girl of the underworld den had somehow taken possession of his thoughts. Many times before had he barely escaped death, but never before had his life been saved by a girl.
The Firebug : A Mystery Story For Boys, A Thrilling Rescue, A Shot from Ambush, A Mysterious Island, The Unanswered Call, Ferris Wheel and Fire, The Human Spider
Since he could not tell, and since everyone remained in his seat, he did not move.
“If the gentlemen will please hold their bowls,” said the girl, smiling as she handed each his bowl.
What did this mean? They were soon to see. Stepping with a fairy-like lightness from floor to chair, and chair to table, the girl made a low bow and then as a piano in a corner struck up a lively air she began a dance on the table top.
It was such a wild, whirling dance as neither of the boys had seen before. It seemed incredible that the whole affair could be performed upon so small a table top. Indeed, at one time Johnny did feel a slight pat upon his knee and realized in a vague sort of way that the velvet slippered foot of this little enchantress had rested there for an instant.
No greater misfortune could have befallen the two boys than this being seated by the dancer’s table. It focussed all eyes upon them. Their detection was inevitable. They expected it. But, coming sooner than they could dream, it caught them unawares. With a suddenness that was terrible, at the end of the applause that followed the girl’s performance, there came a death-like pause, broken by a single hissed-out word.
The next instant a huge man with a great knife gleaming in his hand launched himself at Pant.
Taken entirely unawares, the boy must have been stabbed through and through had it not been for a curious interference. The man’s arm, struck by a sudden weight, shot downward to drive the knife into the floor.
The next instant, as a tremendous uproar began, there came a sudden and terrible flash of light followed by darkness black as ink.
Johnny, having struggled to his feet, was groping blindly about him when a hand gripped his shoulder and a voice whispered:
“This way out.”
At the same moment he felt a tug at the back of his coat.
Moving forward slowly, led by Pant and being tugged at from behind, he at last came to the door and ten seconds later found himself in the outer semi-darkness of the street.
Feeling the tug at his coat lessening, he turned about to see Jensie, the dancing girl.
“Do you know that she saved your life?” he whispered to Pant. “She leaped squarely upon that big villain’s arm.”
“Rode it like I might a mule,” laughed the girl. “And you, Mister,” she turned to Pant, “you are a Devil. You make a terrible light, you then make terrible night. You are a wonderful Devil!” and with a flash of her white teeth she was gone.
“Now what?” asked Johnny.
“We cannot do better than to follow. They will be out at us like a pack of rats in another minute.”
“How about a police raid?”
“Not to-night. It wouldn’t do any good. The birds have flown.”
At this Pant led the way rapidly out of the narrow alley into more frequented and safer ways.
Little did Johnny dream as he crept beneath the covers that night that the following night would see the end of all this little drama in which he had been playing a part. Yet so it was to be.
As for Pant, who slept upon a cot in one corner of Johnny’s room, he was dreaming of a slender figure and of big, dark, Gypsy eyes. He was indulging in romantic thoughts—the first of his life. That Gypsy-like girl of the underworld den had somehow taken possession of his thoughts. Many times before had he barely escaped death, but never before had his life been saved by a girl.
The Firebug : A Mystery Story For Boys, A Thrilling Rescue, A Shot from Ambush, A Mysterious Island, The Unanswered Call, Ferris Wheel and Fire, The Human Spider
- Pages
- 143
Enjoy reading The Firebug : A Mystery Story For Boys? You may also like these books
-
Roy J. Snell
Sally Scott of the Waves
Paperback (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform April 26, 2016)
