Gashford deserted him, of course. He subsisted for a time upon his
traffic in his master's secrets; and, this trade failing when the stock
was quite exhausted, procured an appointment in the honourable corps
of spies and eavesdroppers employed by the government. As one of these
wretched underlings, he did his drudgery, sometimes abroad, sometimes at
home, and long endured the various miseries of such a station. Ten or a
dozen years ago--not more--a meagre, wan old man, diseased and miserably
poor, was found dead in his bed at an obscure inn in the Borough, where
he was quite unknown. He had taken poison. There was no clue to his
name; but it was discovered from certain entries in a pocket-book he
carried, that he had been secretary to Lord George Gordon in the time of
the famous riots.
Many months after the re-establishment of peace and order, and even when
it had ceased to be the town-talk, that every military officer, kept at
free quarters by the City during the late alarms, had cost for his board
and lodging four pounds four per day, and every private soldier two and
twopence halfpenny; many months after even this engrossing topic was
forgotten, and the United Bulldogs were to a man all killed, imprisoned,
or transported, Mr Simon Tappertit, being removed from a hospital
to prison, and thence to his place of trial, was discharged by
proclamation, on two wooden legs.
Pages:
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090