34. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURTH.
“A BLUE PARTY.”
Peter sought for Lester, and found him
in his room, No. 92 of the — Hotel.
Stretched upon his bed, he raved with a madman's
look and voice, about the Preacher, the
daughter of Alice Bayne, and his dead sister—
Ellen Lester.
For two weeks Peter watched by his bedside.
Everyday came the Millerite Preacher,
eager to watch and pray with the sick man.
Charles at length began to recover from the
delirium and fever. Very pale and weak, he
besought William Marvin to watch by his bed,
while Peter hurried forth to gain some intelligence
of the Preacher. Peter searched the
city through, tried every means within the
reach of mortal man, yet still no word of the
Preacher reached his ears. He had disappeared.
He had not been seen since the
night of the fire. Had the daughter of Alice
Bayne, gone with him? Was she in his
“charge?”
The second day after the fire there was a
funeral in Bonus Court. A rude hearse, containing
a pine coffin, moved slowly through
the city, followed by the Millerite Preacher
and his daughter. It paused on a bleak common,
near the Eastern Penitentiary, and in
front of an unpainted fence, which separated a
space of barren earth some two acres in extent,
from the surrounding waste.
The hearse passed through a gate, and
entered the space surrounded by the rough
fence, and halted again beside a new made
grave. Then William Marvin and the driver
lifted the pine coffin and lowered it into the
grave. The driver shoveled the earth upon it,
while the Millerite on his knees, with Hannah
by his side, uttered a prayer.
That was the manner of the funeral of Ann
Clarke, who was buried in Potter's field.
The second day after the fire, Stewel Pydgeon
was lounging near the Railroad Depot,
at the corner of Eleventh and Market streets.
He was anxious to gain some intelligence of
Goodleigh. Thinking that he had escaped the
fire, and might make an attempt to leave the
city, Stewel watched for him at the Railroad
Depot.
While his eyes were fixed upon the aperture
where tickets are sold, an aged man with
long white hair approached, and bought tickets
for himself and two boys, who, attired in blue
cloth round-a-bouts, walked by his side. These
boys were somewhat contrasted, in the details
of their personal appearance. One was slight
and slender; the other bony and rugged.
Both were attired in round-jackets and pantaloons
of blue cloth, and both wore cloth caps,
of the same color. The aged man, attired
neatly in a blue overcoat, carried a bundle
under his arm; a bundle, which, resembling a
large book, was covered with a scarlet handkerchief.
Stewel watched the three, as they left the
ticket office and entered the cars. The place
where he stood was dark, even in daytime,
and he could not see their faces with much
distinctness, but their attire seemed to please
him exceedingly —
“A blue party!” he exclaimed — and
laughed at his own joke — after the manner of
police officers — “They look as if they been
dipped in indigo.”
With this joke — or apology for a joke —
the incident passed from Stewel's mind. He
suffered the old man and his two boys to enter
the cars, and go on their journey to Baltimore,
without a word.
And yet the old man was our friend, the
Popular Preacher.
And the tallest of the boys was Ralph Jones,
otherwise called “Jonesey the B'iler.”
The other boy was Fanny, the sister of
Ralph.
And the bundle, which looked like a large
book, was the TIN BOX, which Ralph had concealed
beneath the roof of Girard College.
And yet Stewel, standing near the ticket
office, watching for Goodleigh, looked upon
these three figures, dressed in blue, without a
suspicious thought.
Alas! for Stewel! While he watched for
Goodleigh, the TIN BOX slipped by him, and
passed on to Baltimore without an opposing
word.
