by F. Anstey
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP SEA
VIII.
"Some, when they take _Revenge_, are Desirous the party should know whence it cometh: This is the more Generous."--BACON.
In the Tottenham Court Road was a certain Commercial Dining-room, whereLeander occasionally took his evening meal, after the conclusion of hisday's work, and where Mr. Freemoult was accustomed to take his supper,on leaving the British Museum Library.
To this eating-house Leander repaired the very next evening, urged by aconsuming desire to learn the full particulars of the adventure whichhis prototype in misfortune had met with.
It was an unpretending little place, with the bill of fare wafered tothe door, and red curtains in the windows, setting off a display ofjoints, cauliflowers, and red herrings. He passed through into a long,low room, with dark-brown grained walls, partitioned off in the usualmanner; and taking a seat in a box facing the door, he ordered dinnerfrom one of the shirtsleeved attendants.
The first glance had told him that the man he wished to see was notthere, but he knew he must come in before long; and, in fact, beforeLeander's food could be brought, the old scholar made his appearance.
He was hardly a man of attractive exterior, being of a yellowcomplexion, with a stubbly chin, and lank iron-grey locks. He wore atall and superannuated hat with a staring nap, and the pockets of hisbaggy coat bulged with documents. Altogether he did not seem exactly theperson to be an authority on the subject of Venus.
But, as the hairdresser was aware, he had the reputation of being a mineof curious and out-of-the-way information, though few thought it worththeir while to work him. He gained a living, however, by hackwork ofvarious descriptions, and was in slightly better circumstances than heallowed to appear.
As he passed slowly along the central passage, in his usual state ofabstraction, Leander touched him eagerly on the sleeve. "Come in 'ere,Mr. Freemoult, sir," he said; "there's room in this box."
"It's the barber, is it?" said the old man. "What do you want me to eatwith you for, eh?"
"Why, for the pleasure of your company, sir, of course," said Leander,politely.
"Well," said the old gentleman, sitting down, while documents bristledout of him in all directions, "there are not many who would saythat--not many now."
"Don't you say so, Mr. Freemoult, sir. I'm sure it's a benefit, if onlyfor your conversation. I often say, 'I never meet Mr. Freemoult withoutI learn somethink;' I do indeed."
"Then we must have met less often than I had imagined."
"Now, you're too modest, sir; you reelly are--a scholar like you, too!Talking of scholarship, you'll be gratified to hear that that title youwere good enough to suggest for the 'Regenerator' is having a quitesurprising success. I disposed of five bottles over the counter onlyyesterday." ("These old scholars," was his wily reflection, "like beingflattered up.")
"Does that mean you've another beastly bottle you want me to standgodfather to?" growled the ungrateful old gentleman.
"Oh no, indeed, sir! It's only----But p'r'aps you'll allow me previouslythe honour of sending out for whatever beverage you was thinking ofwashing down your boiled beef with, sir."
"Do you know who I am?" Mr. Freemoult burst out. "I'm a scholar, andgentleman enough still to drink at my own expense!"
"I intended no offence, I'm sure, sir; it was only meant in a friendlyway."
"That is the offence, sir; that _is_ the offence! But, there, we'll sayno more about it; you can't help your profession, and I can't help myprejudices. What was it you wanted to ask me?"
"Well," said Leander, "I was desirous of getting some informationrespecting--ahem--a party by the name of (if I've caught the foreignpronounciation) Haphrodite, otherwise known as Venus. Do you happen tohave heard tell of her?"
"Have I had a classical education, sir, or haven't I? Heard of her? Ofcourse I have. But why, in the name of Mythology, any hairdresser livingshould trouble his head about Aphrodite, passes my comprehension. Leaveher alone, sir!"
"It's her who won't leave _me_ alone!" thought Leander; but he did notsay so. "I've a very particular reason for wishing to know; and I'm sureif you could tell me all you'd heard about her, I'd take it very kind ofyou."
"Want to pick my brains; well, you wouldn't be the first. But I amhere, sir, to rest my brain and refresh my body, not to deliverperipatetic lectures to hairdressers on Grecian mythology."
"Well," said Leander, "I never meant you to give your informationperipatetic; I'm willing to go as far as half a crown."
"Conf----But, there, what's the good of being angry with you? Is thisthe sort of thing you want for your half-crown?--Aphrodite, a later formof the Assyrian Astarte; the daughter, according to some theogonies, ofZeus and Dione; others have it that she was the offspring of the foam ofthe sea, which gathered round the fragments of the mutilated Uranos----"
"That don't seem so likely, do it, sir?" said Leander.
"If you are going to crop in with idiotic remarks, I shall confinemyself to my supper."
"Don't stop, Mr. Freemoult, sir; it's most instructive. I'm attending."
But the old gentleman, after a manner he had, was sunk in a dreamyabstraction for the moment, in which he apparently lost the thread, ashe resumed, "Whereupon Zeus, to punish her, gave her in wedlock to hisdeformed son, Hephaestus."
"She never mentioned him to _me_," thought Leander; "but I suppose she'sa widow goddess by this time; I'm sure I _hope_ so."
"Whom," Mr. Freemoult was saying, "she deceived upon several occasions,notably in the case of ----" And here he launched into a scandalouschronicle, which determined Leander more than ever that Matilda mustnever know he had entertained a personage with such a past.
"Angered by her indiscretions, Zeus inspired her with love for a mortalman."
"Poor devil!" said Leander, involuntarily. "And what became of _him_,sir?"
"There were several thus distinguished; amongst others, Anchises,Adonis, and Cinyras. Of these, the first was struck by lightning; thesecond slain by a wild boar; and the third is reputed to have perishedin a contest with Apollo."
"They don't seem to have had no luck, any of them," was Leander'sdepressed conclusion.
"Aphrodite, or Venus, as you choose to call her, took a prominent partin the Trojan war, the origin of which ten years' struggle may be tracedto a certain golden apple."
"What an old rag-bag it is!" thought Leander. "I'm only wasting money onhim. He's like a bran-pie at a fancy fair: what you get out of him isalways the thing you didn't want."
"No, no, Mr. Freemoult," he said, with some impatience; "leave out aboutthe war and the apple. It--it isn't either of them as I wanted to hearabout."
"Then I have done," said the old man, curtly. "You've had considerablymore than half a crown's worth, as it is."
"Look here, Mr. Freemoult," said the reckless hairdresser, "if you can'tgive me no better value, I don't mind laying out another sixpence inquestions."
"Put your questions, then, by all means; and I'll give you your fairsixpenn'orth of answers. Now, then, I'm ready for you. What's yourdifficulty? Out with it."
"Why," said Leander, in no small confusion, "isn't there a storysomewhere of a statue to Venus as some young man (a long time back itwas, of course) was said to have put his ring on? and do you know therights of it? I--I can't remember how it ended, myself."
"Wait a bit, sir; I think I do remember something of the legend yourefer to. You found it in the _Earthly Paradise_, I make no doubt?"
"I found it in Rosherwich Gardens," Leander very nearly blurted out; buthe stopped himself, and said instead, "I don't think I've ever beenthere, sir; not to remember it."
"Well, well! you're no lover of poetry, that's very evident; but thestory is there. Yes, yes; and Burton has a version of it, too, in his_Anatomy_. How does it go? Give my head a minute to clear, and I'll tellyou. Ha! I have it! It was something like this: There was a certainyoung gentleman of Rome who, on his wedding-day, went out to playtennis; and
in the tennis-court was a brass statue of the goddessVenus----"
("Mine _ought_ to be brass, from her goings on," thought Leander.)
"And while he played he took off his finger-ring and put it upon thestatue's hand; a mighty foolish act, as you will agree."
"Ah!" said Leander, shaking his head; "you may say that! What next,sir?" He became excited to find that he really was on the right track atlast.
"Why, when the game was over, and he came to get his ring, he found hecouldn't get it off again. Ha! ha!" and the old man chuckled softly, andthen relapsed once more into silence.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Freemoult, sir! I'm a-listening; it's very funny; only dogo on!"
"Go on? Where was I? Hadn't I finished? Ah, to be sure! Well, so Parisgave _her_ the apple, you see."
"I didn't understand you to allude to no apple," said his puzzledhearer; "and it was at Rome, I thought, not Paris. Bring your mind moreto it, sir; we'd got to the ring not coming off the statue."
"I know, sir; I know. My mind's clear enough, let me tell you. That verynight (as I was about to say, if you'd had patience to hear me) Venusstepped in and parted the unfortunate pair----"
"It was a apple just now, you aggravating old muddle 'ed!" said Leander,internally.
"Venus informed the young man that he had betrothed himself to her bythat ring" ("Same game exactly," thought the pupil), "and--and, inshort, she led him such a life for some nights, that he could bear it nolonger. So at length he repaired to a certain mighty magiciancalled----Let me see, what was his name again? It wasn't Agrippa--was itAlbertus? Odd; it has escaped me for the moment."
"Never mind, sir; call him Jones."
"I will _not_ call him Jones, sir! I had it on my tongue--there,_Palumbus_! Palumbus it was. Well, Palumbus told him the goddess wouldnever cease to trouble him, unless he could get back the ring--unless hecould get back the ring."
Leander's heart began to beat high; the solution of his difficulty wasat hand. It was something to know for certain that upon recovery of thering the goddess's power would be at an end. It only remained to findout how the other young man managed it. "Yes, Mr. Freemoult?" he saidinterrogatively; for the old gentleman had run down again.
"I was only thinking it out. To resume, then. No sooner had the magician(whose name as I said was Apollonius) come to the wedding, than hepromptly conjectured the bride to be a serpent; whereupon she vanishedincontinently, after the manner of serpents, with the house andfurniture."
"Haven't you missed out a lot, sir?" inquired Leander, deferentially;"because it don't seem to me to hook on quite. What became of Venus andthe ring?"
"How the dickens am I to tell you, if you will interrupt? Ring! _What_ring? Why, yes; the magician gave the young man a certain letter, andtold him to go to a particular cross-road outside the city, at dead ofnight, and wait for Saturn to pass by in procession, with his fallenassociates. This he did, and presented the magician's letter; whichSaturn, after having read, called Venus to him, who was riding in front,and commanded her to deliver up the ring."
Here he stopped, as if he had nothing to add.
"And did she, sir?" asked Leander, breathlessly.
"Did she what? give up the ring? Of course she did. Haven't I beensaying so? Why not?"
"Well," observed Leander, "so that's how _he_ got out of it, was it?Hah! he was a lucky chap. Those were the days when magicians did a goodtrade, I suppose? Should you say there were any such parties now, on thequiet like, eh, sir?"
"Bah! Magic is a lost art, degraded to dark seances and juvenileparties--the last magician dead for more than two hundred years. Don'texpose your ignorance, sir, by any more such questions."
"No," said Leander; "I thought as much. And so, if any one was to getinto such a fix nowadays--of course, that's only my talk, but if theydid--there ain't a practising magician anywhere to help him out of it.That's your opinion, ain't it, sir?"
"As the danger of such a contingency is not immediate," was the reply,"the want of a remedy need not, in my humble opinion, cause you anygrave uneasiness."
"No," agreed Leander, dejectedly. "I don't care, of course. I was onlythinking that, in case--but there, it's no odds! Well, Mr. Freemoult,you've told me what I was curious to know, and here's your littlehonnyrarium, sir--two shillings and two sixpences, making threeshillings in all, pre-cisely."
"Keep your money, sir," said the old man, with contemptuous good humour."My working hours are done for the day, and you're welcome enough to anyinstruction you're capable of receiving from my remarks. It's not sayingmuch, I dare say."
"Oh, you told it very clear, considering, sir, I'm sure! I don't grudgeit."
"Keep it, I tell you, and say no more about it."
So, expressing his thanks, Leander left the place; and, when he wasoutside, felt more keenly than ever the blow his hopes had sustained.
He knew the whole story of his predecessor in misfortune now, and, as aprecedent, it was worse than useless.
True, for an instant a wild idea had crossed his mind, of seeking somelonely suburban cross-road at dead of night, just to see if anythingcame of it. "The last time was several hundred years ago, it seems," hetold himself; "but there's no saying that Satan mightn't come by, forall that. Here's Venus persecuting as lively as ever, and I never heardthe devil was dead. I've a good mind to take the tram to the Archway,and walk out till I find a likely-looking place."
But, on reflection, he gave this up. "If he did come by, I couldn'tbring him a line--not even from the conjuror in High 'Oborn--and Satanmight make me put my hand to something binding, and I shouldn't be nobetter off. No; I don't see no way of getting back my ring and poorTillie's cloak, nor yet getting rid of that goddess, any more thanbefore. There's one comfort, I can't be any worse off than I am."
Oppressed by these gloomy reflections, he returned to his home,expecting a renewal of his nightly persecution from the goddess; butfrom some cause, into which he was too grateful to care to inquire, thestatue that evening showed no sign of life in his presence, and afterwaiting with the cupboard open for some time in suspense, he ventured tomake himself some coffee.
He had scarcely tasted it, however, before he heard, from the passagebelow, a low whistle, followed by the peculiar stave by which a modernlow-life Blondel endeavours to attract attention. The hairdresser paidno attention, being used, as a Londoner, to hearing such signals, andnot imagining they could be intended for his ear.
But presently a handful of gravel rattled against his window, and thewhistle was repeated. He went to the window cautiously, and looked out.Below were two individuals, rather carefully muffled; their faces, whichwere only indistinctly seen, were upturned to him.
He retreated, trembling. He had had so much to think of lately, that thelegal danger he was running, by harbouring the detested statue, wasalmost forgotten; but now he remembered the Inspector's words, and hislegs bent beneath him. Could these people be _detectives_?
"Is that Mr. Tweddle up there?" said a voice below--"because if it is,he'd better come down, double quick, and let us in, that's all!"
"'Ere, don't you skulk up there!" added a coarser voice. "We knowy'er there; and if yer don't come down to us, why, we'll come up toyou!"
This brought Leander forward again. "Gentlemen," he said, leaning out,and speaking in an agitated whisper, "for goodness' sake, what do youwant with me?"
"You let us in, and we'll tell you."
"Will it do if I come down and speak to you outside?" said Leander.
There was a consultation between the two at this, and at the end of itthe first man said: "It's all the same to us, where we have our littleconfabulation. Come down, and look sharp about it!"
Leander came down, taking care to shut the street door behind him. "Youain't the police?" he said, apprehensively.
They each took an arm, and walked him roughly off between them towardsQueen Square. "We'll show you who we are," they said.
"I--I demand your authority for this," gasped Leander. "What am Ich
arged with?"
They had brought him into the gloomiest part of the square, where thehouses, used as offices in the daytime, were now dark and deserted. Herethey jammed him up against the railings, and stood guard over him, whilehe was alarmed to perceive a suppressed ferocity in the faces of both.
"What are you charged with? Grr----! For 'arf a pint I'd knock yourbloomin 'ed in!" said the coarser gentleman of the two--an evasive formof answer which did not seem to promise a pleasant interview.
"FOR 'ARF A PINT I'D KNOCK YOUR BLOOMIN' 'ED IN!"]
Leander was not naturally courageous, and what he had gone throughlately had shaken his nerves. He thought that, for policemen, theyshowed too strong a personal feeling; but who else could they be? Hecould not remember having seen either of them before. One was a tall,burly, heavy-jawed man; the other smaller and slighter, and apparentlythe superior of the two in education and position.
"You don't remember me, I see," said the latter; and then suddenlychanging his tone to a foreign accent, he said: "Haf you been since todrink a glass of beer at your open-air gardens at Rosherwich?"
Leander knew him then. It was his foreign customer of Monday evening.His face was clean-shaven now, and his expression changed--not for thebetter.
"I think," he said, faintly, "I had the privilege of cutting your 'airthe other evening."
"You did, my friend, and I admired your taste for the fine arts. Thisgentleman and I have, on talking it over, been so struck by what I sawthat evening, that we ventured to call and inquire into it."
"Look 'ere, Count," said his companion, "there ain't time for all thatperliteness. You leave him to me; _I'll_ talk to him! Now then, youwhite-livered little airy-sneak, do you know who we are?"
"No," said Leander; "and, excuse me calling of your attention to it, butyou're pinching my arm!"
"I'll pinch it off before I've done," said the burly man. "Well, we'rethe men that have planned and strived, and run all the risk, that youand your gang might cut in and carry off our honest earnings. Youinfernal little hair-cutting shrimp, you! To think of being beaten bythe likes of you! It's sickening, that's what it is, sickening!"
"I don't understand you--as I live, gentlemen, I don't understand you!"pleaded Leander.
"You understand us well enough," said the ex-foreigner, with an awfulimprecation on all Leander's salient features; "but you shall have itall in black and white. We're the party that invented and carried outthat little job at Wricklesmarsh Court."
"Burglars! Do you mean you're burglars?" cried the terrified Leander.
"We started as burglars, but we've finished by being made cat's-pawsof--by you, curse you! You didn't think we should find you out, did you?But if you wanted to keep us in the dark, you made two awkward littleslips: one was leaving your name and address at the gardens as the partywho was supposed to have last seen the statue, and the other was keepingthe said statue standing about in your hair-cutting room, to meet theeye of any gentleman calling out of curiosity, and never expecting sucha find as that."
"What's the good of jawing at him, Count? That won't satisfy me, itwon't. 'Ere, I can't 'old myself off him any longer. I _must_ put a 'edon him."
But the other interposed. "Patience, my good Braddle. No violence. Leavehim to me; he's a devilish deep fellow, and deserves all respect." (Herehe shook Leander like a rat.) "You've stolen a march on us, youcondemned little hairdressing ape, you! How did you do it? Out with it!How the devil did you do it?"
"For the love of heaven, gents," pleaded Leander, without reflectingthat he might have found a stronger inducement, "don't use violence! Howdid I do _what_?"
"Count, I _can't_ answer for myself," said the man addressed as Braddle."I shall send a bullet into him if you don't let me work it off withfists; I know I shall!"
"Keep quiet," said his superior, sternly. "Don't you see _I'm_ quiet?"and he twisted his knuckles viciously into Leander's throat. "If youcall out you're a corpse!"
"I wasn't thinking of calling out, indeed I wasn't. I'm quite satisfiedwith being where I am," said Leander, "if you'd only leave me a littlemore room to choke in, and tell me what I've done to put you both insuch tremenjous tempers."
"Done? You cur, when yer know well enough you've taken the bread out ofour mouths--the bread we'd earned! D'ye suppose we left out that statuein the gardens for the like of you? Who put you up to it? How many werethere in it? What do you mean to do now you've got it? Speak out, or Iswear I'll cut your heart out, and throw it over the railings for thetom-cats; I will, you ----!"
The man called Braddle, as he uttered this threat, looked so veryanxious to execute it, that Leander gave himself up for lost.
"As true as I stand here, gentlemen, I didn't steal that statue."
"I doubt you're not the build for taking the lead in that sort ofthing," said the Count; "but you were in it. You went down that Saturdayas a blind. Deny it if you dare."
Leander did not dare. "I could not help myself, gentlemen," he faltered.
"Who said you could? And you can't help yourself now, either; so make aclean breast of it. Who are you standing in with? Is it Potter's lot?"
If Leander had declared himself to be alone, things might have goneharder with him, and they certainly would never have believed him; so hesaid it _was_ Potter's lot.
"I told you Potter was after that marble, and you wouldn't have it,Count," growled Braddle. "Now you're satisfied."
The Count comprised Potter and his lot in a new and original maledictionby way of answer, and then said to Leander, "Did Potter tell you to letthat Venus stand where all the world might see it?"
"I had no discretion," said the hairdresser. "I'm not responsible,indeed, gents."
"No discretion! I should think you hadn't. Nor Potter either, acting thedog in the manger like this. Where'll _he_ find his market for it, eh?What orders have you got? When are you going to get it across?"
"I've no notions. I haven't received no directions," said Leander.
"A nice sort o' mug you are to be trusted with a job like this," saidBraddle. "I did think Potter was better up in his work, I did. A prettybungle he'll make of it!"
"It would serve him right, for interfering with fellow-professionals inthis infernal unprincipled manner. But he shan't have the chance,Braddle, he shan't have the chance; we'll steal a march on him thistime."
"Is the coast clear yet?" said Braddle.
"We must risk it. We shall find a route for it, never fear," was thereply. "Now, you cursed hairdresser, you listen to what I'm going totell you. That Venus is our lawful property, and, by ----, we mean toget her into our hands again. D'ye hear that?"
Leander heard, and with delight. So long as he could once get free fromthe presence of the statue, and out of the cross-fire of burglars andpolice, he was willing by this time to abandon the cloak and ring.
"I can truly say, I hope you'll be successful, gents," he replied.
"We don't want your hopes, we want your help. You must round onPotter."
"Must I, gents?" said Leander. "Well, to oblige you, whatever it costsme, I _will_ round on Potter."
"Take care you stick to that," said Braddle. "The next pint, Count, is'ow we're to get her."
"Come in and take her away now," said Leander, eagerly. "She'll bequiet. I--I mean the _house_'ll be quiet now. You'll be very welcome, Iassure you. _I_ won't interfere."
"You're a bright chap to go in for a purfession like ours," said Mr.Braddle, with intense disgust. "How do yer suppose we're to do it--takeher to pieces, eh, and bring her along in our pockets? Do you thinkwe're flats enough to run the chance of being seen in the streets by acopper, lugging that 'ere statue along?"
"We must have the light cart again, and a sack," said the Count. "It'stoo late to-night."
"And it ain't safe in the daytime," said Braddle. "We're wanted for thatjob at Camberwell, that puts it on to-morrow evening. But suppose Potterhas fixed the same time."
"Here, _you_ know. Has Potter fixed the same time?" the Coun
t demandedfrom Leander.
"No," said Leander; "Potter ain't said nothing to me about moving her."
"Then are you man enough to undertake Potter, if he starts the idea?_Are_ you? Come!"
"Yes, gents, I'll manage Potter. You break in any time after midnight,and I engage you shall find the Venus on the premises."
"But we want more than that of you, you know. We mustn't lose any timeover this job. You must be ready at the door to let us in, and bear ahand with her down to the cart."
But this did not suit Leander's views at all. He was determined toavoid all personal risks; and to be caught helping the burglars to carryoff the Aphrodite would be fatal.
He was recovering his presence of mind. As his tormentors had sensiblyrelaxed, he was able to take steps for his own security.
"I beg pardon, gents," he said, "but I don't want to appear in thismyself. There's Potter, you see; he's a hawful man to go against. Youknow what Potter is, yourselves." (Potter was really coming in quiteusefully, he began to think.)
"Well, I don't suppose Potter would make more bones about slitting yourthroat than we should, if he knew you'd played him false," said theCount. "But we can't help that; in a place like this it's too risky tobreak in, when we can be let in."
"If you'll only excuse me taking an active part," said Leander, "it'sall I ask. This is my plan, gentlemen. You see that little archwaythere, where my finger points? Well, that leads by a small alley to ayard, back of my saloon. You can leave your cart here, and come round assafe as you please. I'll have the winder in my saloon unfastened, andput the statue where you can get her easy; but I don't want to be mixedup in it further than that."
"That seems fair enough," said the Count, "provided you keep to it."
"But suppose it's a plant?" growled Braddle. "Suppose he's planning tolay a trap for us? Suppose we get in, to find Potter and his lot on thelook-out for us, or break into a house that's full of bloomin' coppers?"
"I did think of that; but I believe our friend knows that if he doesn'tact square with me, his life isn't worth a bent pin; and besides, hecan't warn the police without getting himself into more or less hotwater. So I think he'll see the wisdom of doing what he's told."
"I do," said Leander, "I do, gentlemen. I'd sooner die than deceiveyou."
"Well," said the Count, "you'd find it come to the same thing."
"No," added Braddle. "If you blow the gaff on us, my bloomin', I'll sawthat pudden head of yours right off your shoulders, and swing for it,cheerful!"
Leander shuddered. Amongst what desperate ruffians had his unlucky starsled him! How would it all end, he wondered feebly--how?
"Well, gentlemen," he said, with his teeth chattering, "if you don'twant me any more, I'll go in; and I'm to expect you to-morrow evening, Ibelieve?"
"Expect us when you 'ear us," said Braddle; "and if you make fools of usagain----" And he described consequences which exceeded inunpleasantness the worst that Leander could have imagined.
The poor man tottered back to his room again, in a most unenviable frameof mind; not even the prospect of being delivered from the goddess couldreconcile him to the price he must pay for it. He was going to take aplunge into downright crime now; and if his friend the inspector came tohear of it, ruin must follow. And, in any case, the cloak and the ringwould be gone beyond recovery, while these cut-throat housebreakerswould henceforth have a hold over him; they might insist upon steepinghim in blacker crime still, and he knew he would never have the courageto resist.
As he thought of the new difficulties and dangers that compassed himround about, he was frequently on the verge of tears, and his couchthat night was visited by dreadful dreams, in which he sought audienceof the Evil One himself at cross-roads, was chased over half London bypolice, and dragged over the other half by burglars, to be finallyflattened by the fall of Aphrodite.