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Listen! Said the October wind, as it swirled and swooped through the streets of New York I have a story to tell!
about change in the weather, and the whethers of ent, shall right hiht before I take hiious belly, shall be fast enough to catch his tricorn as I throw it froh the town, and what fast horse ht Matthew Corbett in reply
To be sure! Respectunseen may prove a force no man may master
Of that Mattheas undeniably certain, for he was having one devil of a tiainst the blasts
It was near eight-thirty on a Thursday night, this second week of October The young man was on a mission He had been told to be at the corner of Stone and Broad streets at half past eight, and if he valued his hide he would report as ordered Hudson Greathouse, his associate and senior ency, was in noas the boss and ell; it was true enough, the slave
But, as Matthew continued his brisk battle south along Queen Street with other citizens seeainst invisible walls in one direction or flying like bundles of eht that Greathouse&039;s harsh attitude of late had more to do with celebrity than slavery
after all, Mattheas fah, don&039;t you thinki Greathouse had often asked since the successful conclusion of thethe Queen of Bedlam
Yes, Matthew had answered, as cale any utterance that had the agitation of a red flag But I do wear it well Which was not enough to h to make it snort with o, Matthew really was a celebrity His exploits to determine the identity of the Masker and his near deiven the town&039;s printe of Earwigs that ht dogfights up at Peck&039;s Wharf The initial story, written right after the end of the episode in July, had been restrained and factual enough, due to High Constable Gardner Lillehorne&039;s threats to set fire to the printing press, but after Marhter Berry had detailed her own part in the picture the old newshound had nearly begun baying at the moon outside Matthew&039;s residence, which was a refurbished dairyhouse just behind Grigsby&039;s own home and printshop
Out of decoru the particulars of the tale, but in time his defenses had been weakened and finally crushed By the third week of September the "Untold Story of our Own Matthew Corbett&039;s adventure with Venomous Villains and Threat of a Hideous Death, Part the First" was set in type, and the flaination-had really started burning
Whereas one day Mattheas si man of twenty-three who had risen by fate and circuistrate&039;s clerk to an associate "probleency, he was by the following afternoon being trailed by an ever-swelling s so as to sign his name across the prenized any his own experience It was apparent that whatever Marmaduke did not know for sure, he was certain to invent
By the third and final chapter, published last week, Matthew had been transfor the nearly five-thousand other New Yorkers of 1702 into a knight of justice who had not only prevented the collapse of the colony&039;s econos but also saved everyravished by Chapel&039;swith Berry for their lives across a dead vineyard with fifty killers and ten trained vultures at their backsi Fighting a trio of blood-crazed Prussian swordsmeni Well, there was a seed of truth at the center of this fiction, but the fruit around it was a fantasy
Nevertheless, the series had been a boon for Grigsby and the Earwig, and was much discussed not only in the taverns but around the wells and horse troughs It was said that even Governor Lord Cornbury had been seen strolling the Broad Way one afternoon, wearing a yellohite gloves and his feminine finery in tribute to his cousin, Queen anne, as he read the ritty gust at the intersection of Queen and Wall streets whirled around Matthew the cos, stockyard animals and their fodder, the contents of chamberpots thrown from house s onto the cobblestones, and the bittersiney sht If Mattheas not in the heart of New York, he was surely in its nose
The wind had whipped intofrom street-corner posts and put the quit to their fla out a la constables nor even their chief Lillehorne, for all his own puffery- tuun around five o&039;clock and showed no signs of abateht Matthew to his philosophicalbully He had to hurry now, for even without consulting the silver watch in his waistcoat pocket he kneas a fewat his back, Matthew crossed the cobbles of Broad Street and by the tortured candle of a re for hi Stone Street at Nuht of narrow stairs into a loft said to be haunted by the previous tenants who&039;d murdered each other over coffee beans Matthew had heard a few creaks and thumps in the last feeeks, but he was sure those were just the colish earth
Before Matthew could fully reach Hudson Greathouse, ore a woolendark cloak that flailed about his, the other ainst the blast, "Followhis tricorn once more when he turned to retrace his path Greathouse walked into the wind as if he owned it
"Where are we goingi" Matthew shouted, but either his voice ept away or Greathouse chose not to answer
Though bound together in service to the Herrald agency, the two "problem-solvers" could never be taken for brothers Mattheas tall and slihness of a river reed about hi-jawed face and a thatch of fine black hair under his ebony tricorn His pale candlelit countenance attested to his interest in books and nighttiames of chess at his favorite tavern, the Trot Then Gallop Due to his recent celebrity, and the fact that he thought hi of such status since he really had almost been killed in defense of justice, he&039;d taken an interest in dressing as a New York gentleray stripes, one of two outfits tailored for him by Benjamin Owles, he was every bit the Jack O&039;Dandy His new black boots, just delivered on Monday, were polished to a glossy shine He had an order in for a blackthorn walking-stick, which he&039;d notedabout, but as this item had to be shipped frotime He kept hiray eyes with their hints of twilight blue were clear and on this night untroubled They cast a direct and steady gaze that sosby had said, in the second chapter-"could cause the ruffian to lay down his burden of evil lest it prove as heavy as prison chains"
That old inkthrower sure kne to turn a phrase, Matthew thought
Hudson Greathouse, who had turned to the left and was now striding several lengths ahead north along Broad Street, was in contrast to Matthew a hae forty-seven, he was a broad-shouldered strapper who stood three inches over six feet, a height and di hiround to find their courage When the craggy-faced Greathouse cast his deep-set black eyes around a room, the men in that roo his attention The opposite effect was induced upon the women, for Matthew had seen the churchiest of ladies beco flirt within scent of Greathouse&039;s lireat one had no use for the whims of current fashion an expensively-tailored suit was out of the question; the o was a pale blue ruffled shirt, clean but orn, to accos, and sturdy, unpolished boots Under his cap his thick hair was iron-gray, pulled back into a queue and tied with a black ribbon
If the two had anything in coency, it was the scars they each wore Matthew&039;s badge of honor was a crescent that began just above the right eyebrow and curved into the hairline, a lifelong reminder of a battle in the wilderness with a bear three years ago, and lucky he was to still be walking the earth Greathouse bore a jagged scar that sliced through the left eyebrow, and was-as he had explained in a petulant voice-presented to him by a broken teacup thrown by his third wife Ex-wife, of course, and Matthew had never asked what had become of her But, to be fair, Greathouse&039;s real collection of scars-fro-orn beneath his shirt
They were approaching the three-story edifice of City Hall, built of yellow stone, that stood where Broad Street hts showed in some of the s, as the business of the town de; a cupola was being erected on the roof&039;s highest point, the better to display a Union flag nearer Heaven Mattheondered how the town&039;s coroner, the efficient but eccentric ashton McCaggers, liked hearing the work up there over his head, since he lived in his strange risly artifacts in City Hall&039;s attic Matthew an walking along Wall Street toward the harbor, that McCaggers&039; slave Zed would soon be up in the cupola looking out over the thriving town and seaport, for Matthe the giant african enjoyed sitting silently on the roof while the world bargained, sweated, swore, and generally thrashed at itself below
Not much further, past the Cat&039;s Paw tavern on the left, and Matthew realized where Greathouse was taking hin of terror had ended at midsummer, there&039;d been no more murders in town If Mattheere to volunteer to a visitor the , it would be behind the scabby red door that Greathouse now approached above that door was a weatherbeaten red sign proclai The Cock&039;a&039;tail The tavern&039;s fronthad been shattered sopatrons that it was siht leaked onto Wall Street Of the dozen-odd taverns in New York, this was the one Matthew h-pockets who thought theuments over the value of such commodities as head souse and beaver pelts by the cheapest, nastiest and most potent apple brandy ever to inflaly for Matthew, Greathouse opened the door and turned toof pipesmoke that was at once carried off by the wind Matthew clenched his teeth, and as he approached the evil-looking doorway he saw a streak of lightning dance across the dark and heard the kettledrum of thunder up where God watched over damned fools "Shut that door!" immediately bawled a voice that both blasted and croaked, like a cannon firing a load of bullfrogs "You&039;re lettin&039; out the stink!"
"Well," Greathouse said with a gracious smile, as Matthew stepped into the rancid room "We can&039;t have that, can wei" He shut the door, and the skinny gray-bearded gent as sitting in a chair at the back, having been interrupted in his ood fiddle, instantly returned to his display of screeching aural violence