Page:Braddon--The Trail of the Serpent.djvu/190

186 They told him so, not once, but a dozen times; shaking hands with him, and pushing divers liquors into his hand every time. But they got over it at last, and the gentleman with the billiard-cue rapped their heads with that instrument to tranquillize them, and then rose as president, and said,—

"Richard Marwood, our hearts go with you, thoroughly and entirely, and we swear to give you the best powers of our intellects and the utmost strength of our abilities to aid you in your search. Gentlemen, are you prepared to subscribe to this oath?"

They were prepared to subscribe to it, and they did subscribe to it, every one of them—rather noisily, but very heartily.

When they had done so, a gentleman emerges from the shadow of the doorway, who is no other than the illustrious left-handed one, who had come upstairs in answer to Darley's summons, just before Richard addressed the Cherokees. The Smasher was not a handsome man. His nose had been broken a good many times, and that hadn't improved him; he had a considerable number of scars about his face, including almost every known variety of cut, and they didn't improve him. His complexion, again, bore perhaps too close a resemblance to mottled soap to come within the region of the beautiful; but he had a fine and manly expression of countenance, which, in his amiable moments, reminded the beholder of a benevolent bulldog.

He came up to Richard, and took him by the hand. It was no small ordeal of courage to shake hands with the Left-handed Smasher, but Daredevil Dick stood it like a man.

"Mr. Richard Marwood," said he, "you've been a good friend to me, ever since you was old enough—" he stopped here, and cast about in his mind for the fitting pursuits of early youth—"ever since you was old enough to give a cove a black eye, or knock your friend's teeth down his throat with a light backhander. I've known you down stairs, a-swearin' at the barmaid, and holdin' your own agin the whole lot of the Cheerfuls, when other young gents of your age was a-makin' themselves bad with sweetstuffs and green apples, and callin' it life. I've known you help that gent yonder," he gave a jerk with his thumb in the direction of the domino-player, "to wrench off his own pa's knocker, and send it to him by twopenny post next mornin', seventeen and sixpence to pay postage; but I never know'd you to do a bad action, or to hit out upon a cove as was down."

Richard thanked the Smasher for his good opinion, and they shook hands again.

"I'll tell you what it is," continued the host, "I'm a man of few words. If a cove offends me, I give him my left between his eyes, playful; if he does it agen, I give him my left agen, with a meanin', and he don't repeat it. If a gent as I like does