CHAPTER V
_A Thieves' Crib on the Five Points--Bloody Mike--Ragged Pete--the YoungThief, and the stolen Letters--The Stranger--a general Turn-out-Peelinga Lodger--the 'Forty-Foot Cave.'_
It was a dreary winter's night, cold, dark, and stormy. The hour wasmidnight; and the place, the '_Five Points_.'
The narrow and crooked streets which twine serpent-like around thatdreaded plague spot of the city were deserted; but from many a dirtywindow, and through many a red, dingy curtain, streamed forth into thedarkness rages of ruddy light, while the sounds of the violin, and thenoise of Bacchanalian orgies, betokened that the squalid and viciouspopulation of that vile region were still awake.
In the low and dirty tap-room of a thieves' _crib_ in Cross street, areassembled about a dozen persons. The apartment is twenty feet square,and is warmed by a small stove, which is red-hot; a roughly constructedbar, two or three benches, and a table constitute all the furniture.Behind the bar stands the landlord, a great, bull-necked Irishman, withred hair, and ferocious countenance, the proprietor of the elegantappropriate appellation of 'Bloody Mike.' Upon the table are stretchedtwo men, one richly dressed, and the other in rags--both sound asleep.Beneath the table lay a wretched-looking white prostitute, and afilthy-looking negro--also asleep. The remainder of the interestingparty are seated around the stove, and sustain the following dialogue:
'Well, blow me tight,' said one, 'if ever I seed such times as theseafore! Why, a feller can't steal enough to pay for his rum and tobacco.I haven't made a cent these three days. D----n me if I ain't half a mindto knock it off and go to work!'
The speaker was a young man, not over one and twenty years of age; yethe was a most wretched and villainous looking fellow. His hair was wildand uncombed; his features bloated and covered with ulcers; his attiremiserable and ragged in the extreme; and sundry sudden twitchings of hislimbs, as well as frequent violent scratchings of the same, indicatedthat he was overrun with vermin. This man, whose indolence had made hima common loafer, had become a petty thief; he would lurk aroundbackyards and steal any article he could lay his hands to--an axe, ashovel, or a garment off a line.
'What you say is true enough, Ragged Pete,' said a boy of aboutfourteen, quite good looking, and dressed with comparative neatness. 'A_Crossman_ has to look sharp now-a-days to make a _boodle_. And he oftengets deceived when he thinks he has made a raise. Why the other day Icut a rich looking young lady's reticule from her arm in Broadway andgot clear off with it; but upon examining my prize, I found it containednothing but a handkerchief and some letters. The _wipe_ I kept for myown use; as for the letters, here they are--they are not worth atinker's d----n, for they are all about love.'
As he spoke, he carelessly threw upon the table several letters, whichwere taken up and examined by Ragged Pete, who being requested by othersto read aloud, complied, and opening one, read as follows:--
'_Dear Mistress_,--Since your marriage, I have not enjoyed any of those delicious private _tete-a-tetes_ with you, which formerly afforded us both so much pleasure. Send me word when I can find you alone, and I will fly to your arms.
'Your ever faithful Nero'
'By Jesus!' exclaimed Bloody Mike--'it's a mighty quare name megentleman signs himself, any how. And it's making love to another man'swife he'd be, blackguard! Devil the much I blame him for that same, ifthe lady's continted!'
'Here,' said Ragged Pete, taking up another letter, 'is one that'ssealed and directed, and ain't been broke open yet. Let's see what itsays.'
Breaking the seal, he read aloud the contents, thus:--
'_Dear Nero_,--I am dying to see you, but my husband is with me so constantly that 'tis next to impossible. He is kind and attentive to me, but oh! how infinitely I prefer _you to him_! I do not think that he has ever suspected that before my marriage, I * * * _Fortunately for us_, Mr. Sydney has lately been in the habit of absenting himself from home evenings, often staying out very late. Where he goes I care not, tho' I suspect he is engaged in some intrigue of his own; and if so, all the better for us, my dear Nero.
'Thus I arrange matters; when he has gone, and I have reason to think he will not soon return, a light will be placed in my chamber window, which is on the extreme left of the building, in the third story. Without this signal, do not venture into the house. If all is favourable my maid, Susan (who is in our secret,) will admit you by the back gate, when you knock thrice. Trusting that we may meet soon, I remain, dear Nero,
'Your loving and faithful JULIA.'
'Hell and furies!' exclaimed one of the company, starting from his seat,and seizing the letter; he ran his eye hastily over it, and with a groanof anguish, sank back upon the bench.
The person who manifested this violent emotion, was a young man, dressedin a mean and tattered garb, his face begrimed corresponding with thatof the motley crew by which he was surrounded. He was a perfect strangerto the others present, and had not participated in their previousconversation, nor been personally addressed by any of them.
Bloody Mike, the landlord, deeming this a fit opportunity for theexercise of his authority, growled out, in a ferocious tone--
'And who the devil may ye be, that makes such a bobbaboo about a letterthat a _kinchen_ stales from a lady's work bag? Spake, ye blastedscoundrel; or wid my first, (and it's no small one) I'll let daylightthro' yer skull! And be what right do ye snatch the letter from RaggedPete? Answer me _that_ ye devil's pup!'
All present regarded the formidable Irishman with awe, excepting thestranger, who gazed at him in contemptuous silence. This enraged thelandlord still more, and he cried out--
'Bad luck to ye, who are ye, at all at all? Ye're a stranger to all ofus--ye haven't spint a pinney for the good of the house, for all ye'vebeen toasting yer shins furnist the fire for two hours or more! Whoknows but ye're a police spy, an officer in disguise, or--'
'Oh, _slash yer gammon_, Bloody Mike,' exclaimed the stranger, speakingwith a coarse, vulgar accent--'I know you well enough, tho' you don'tremember _me_. Police spy, hey? Why, I've just come out of _quod_myself, d'y see--and I've got _tin_ enough to stand the rum for thewhole party. So call up, fellers--what'll ye all have to drink?'
It is impossible to describe the effect of these words on everybodypresent. Bloody Mike swore that the stranger was a 'rare gentleman', andasked his pardon; Ragged Pete grasped his hand in a transport offriendship; the young thief declared he was 'one of the b'hoys fromhome;' the negro and the prostitute crawled from under the table, andthanked him with hoarse and drunken voices; the vagabond andwell-dressed man on the table, both rolled off, and 'called on.' And thestranger threw upon the counter a handful of silver, and bade them'drink it up.'
Such a scene followed! Half pints of 'blue ruin' were dispensed to thethirsty throng, and in a short time all, with two or three exceptions,were extremely drunk. The negro and the prostitute resumed their placesunder the table; the well-dressed man and his ragged companion stretchedthemselves upon their former hard couch; and Ragged Pete ensconcedhimself in the fireplace, with his head buried in the ashes and hisheels up the chimney, in which comfortable position he vainly essay'd tosing a sentimental song, wherein he [_illegible word_] to deplore theloss of his 'own true love.' (The only sober persons were the stranger,the young thief and the Irish landlord.) The two former of these, seatedin one corner, conversed together in low whispers.
'See here, young feller,' said the stranger--'I've taken a fancy to themtwo letters, and if you'll let me keep 'em, here's a dollar for you.'The boy readily agreed, and the other continued:
'I say, there's a rum set o' coves in this here crib, ain't there? Whois that well-dressed chap on the table?'
'That,' said the boy, 'is a thief who lately made a large haul, sincewhich time he has been cutting a tremendous swell--but he spent thewhole thousand dollars in two or three weeks, and his fine clothes isall that remains. In less than a week he will look a
s bad as RaggedPete.'
'And what kind of a cove is the landlord, Bloody Mike?' asked thestranger.
'He is the best friend a fellow has in the world, as long as his moneylasts,' replied the boy. 'The moment that is gone, he don't know you.Now you'll see in a few moments how he'll clear everybody out of thehouse except such as he thinks has money. And, 'twixt you and me, he isthe d----dst scoundrel out of jail, and would as lief kill a man asnot.'
At this moment, Bloody Mike came from behind the counter and took ageneral survey of the whole party. At length his eye settled upon theform of Ragged Pete, in the fireplace; muttering something about'pinnyless loafers,' he seized that individual by the heels, anddragging him to the door, opened it, and thrust the poor wretch forthinto the deep snow and pelting storm! All the rest with the exception ofthe stranger, the boy thief, and the well dressed man, shared the samefate. But Mike was not done yet; he swore that the well dressedpersonage should pay for his lodgings, and deliberately he stripped theman of his coat, vest and boots, after which summary proceeding heejected him from the house, as he had the others.
'Suppose we take up our quarters in some other 'crib',' whispered theboy to the stranger; the latter assented, and they both arose to depart.The landlord invited them to remain and partake of 'something hot,' butthey declined this hospitality, and sallied forth into the street.
It was now about two o'clock, and snowing heavily. The stranger, placinghimself under the guidance of the boy, followed him around into Orangestreet. Pausing before a steep cellar, exceedingly narrow, dark anddeep, the young thief whispered--
'This is the _forty-foot cave_--the entrance into the _dark vaults_.[1]You have been down, I suppose?'
The stranger answered in the negative.
'Then come on, if you are not afraid,' said the boy--and followed by hiscompanion, he cautiously began to descend into the dark and drearychasm.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: It is a fact by no means generally known that there was,beneath the section of New York called the 'Five Points,' a vastsubterranean cavern, known as the _dark vaults_. There mysteriouspassages run in many directions, for a great distance, far beneath thefoundations of the houses. Some have supposed that the place wasexcavated in time of war, for the secretion of ammunition or stores,while others think it was formerly a deep sewer of the city. In thesedark labyrinths _daylight_ never _shone_: an eternal night prevailed.Yet it swarmed with human beings, who passed their lives amid itsunwholesome damps and gloomy horrors. It served as a refuge formonstrous crimes and loathsome wretchedness. The Police rarely venturedto explore its secret mysteries--for Death lurked in its dark passagesand hidden recesses. The horrors of this awful place have neverheretofore been thoroughly revealed; and now the author of this workwill, for the first time, drag forth the ghastly inmates of thischarnel-house into the clear light of day.]
City Crimes; Or, Life in New York and Boston Page 5
