The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-08
CHAPTER " The Caves.

tbe Carlton Hotel and his Majestys lIieaz tretre were laid. It is a networw CT oiu cellars subterranean passages Ailu' u may even be- of dsused condults' eN tended from the corner of Suftolh Succe Pail Mall. away to the conihes or 9t' James park-and as more daflhg eApio ers aver. to the river Thames itsell. Here is q very town of tunnels and arches or odd aneled looms of veritable caves ana depths as dark as Styx. Ii, ln eoIl'iloi Fl T way. it be shut by the circumstance ot the buildings above to the ri=raH anu nlRht-hawks who would frequent H. lnete are reasons, nevertheless, when the l"s
 ing of new foundations the bolidHE hotels and the demolition of 'anclene streets in the name of Improvement fling it's gates open to the more euu.lns of inc "destitutes" and they flock lHeie as rocks to a field newly soWn.
 Of these welcome opportunities tue building af the Carlton hotel IS the best remembered within recent umes' put 'ne erection of new houses ott si. JaHle' street in the year 1903 brought the iadlea ord the qent1emen of the road again to lis harborage; and they basked there TOT many weeks in undisputed possession. Molesting none and by none moiesleu' u was an affair neither for the Walchiheh (whose glances askance earned theui many handsome supper) or Tor the po lice who had sufficient to do the llSnt oi the street lamps that they should busy Themselves with supposed irregularities where that light was not The orgles thus became a nightly feature Of the warrants life There was no more popu. lar hotel i'm London than the coal Hole" as the wits of the company de- lighted to style their habitaton.
 city below city! Indeed inauguration might call II that A replica of famous
 fares for XOilf snectres phoulish women and unspeak- ah1a men grouping in the darkness as though. vampire-like, afraid of the hShl. Why A1ban Kennedy visited thls pItce' he himself could not have said. PossipiS a. certain morbid horror or II alracteu him. He had, admittedly, such pass mort to the caves as may be the reward of a shabby appearance nd d resoiute ali : The criminal company he met With pc Ieved that he also was a criminal. Hn- ioine their confidence because he hadheV- or excited their suspicion they pernlttea him to lie his length before reddened eih- hers and hear tales which ire the ploou with every passion of anger ana ol hate Here. in these caVerns he haa sao,, ,oen aebt AS dogs-with teeth and claws and resoundng yells; he had heat inc screams of a woman and the cries of helpless children. sufficient seise Inf nriiddence compelled him 10 be but an anathetic spectator of these ntanles. The one battle he had fought had been impotent to save the object of ms ci'iN- airy. ,-,. ,.oso1,,- ttons followed him. He had thrashed a rufdan who struck woman, and mar rovlv escaped with his life for dolnE so' Henceforth he could but assent to truce which implied mutual toleratiop; ana yet be understood that his presence was iot without it's influence even on these ire ,deenables Men called him "fhe Hum to,, :, o,. in rrocterv "The Dock" He had done small services for one or two or them-even written a begging letter TOT rogue who could not write at all' po. posed as an ''old public school I""h' fallen unon evil days. Alban was per feotlv well aware that this was shai'le- less imposition. but his ideas ot norallts as if affected the relations of rich ana no,. were ever primitive and unstable oIf this old thief gets half soVere.1 u' n,Latie If natter?" he would argue; the otbor man stole his money l suppose and can well afford to pay un' iieie was gospel preached every uay .n rrbrawl street He had never stoppeu t' ask it's truth ,.4 c,,r+t,.a- lv. and climbed, as an athiete snou.1 t,ta clin,b, the boarding which defended the entrance to this amazing habitatlon' A cnrtented watchman, dozing by coill- fortah,e fire cared little who came or went and rarely hestirred himselt to ash inc question There were two e@ntsa @ 'ieee ', to the raves. one cramped ana ullh, "', Inc other broad and open; and you looh vour choice of them accordlns ,o 'iT p sition of the policeman on the peat ,rI,ts nieht or rather this morning. ol tha dav following upon the meeting ih r-nto, s+reet discovered Alban urlNeh eo tho more hazardous way. Ills quicN " had detected on the far side Of the ehcios- ire. an amable Irritation between ~ I'.ln .i oe law and a lady Of the dus1erS, t a avoiding both discreetly' ne shpp5u .inns a trench of the newly made foundauols and era wled as swiftly through an aPer- tu,e which this descent revealed.
 Here laid hare by the picks and snoNels , ,tn,entieth-century Trade Unionism' was a veritable Gothic arch. hrlcked up to 'n9 he,cht of a tall mans waist but open a1 tba tvmpanum. Alban hoisted hihsell to inc aperture and, sl1pplhE thI""S"'
 soo+ discovered the reelling floor or @ so,,,, and dripping subway; and guldlls bi,,selp now bv hands outstretehed anu nppers touching the fungi of the N'i9, ,,o u,ant on with confidence nntll the rooi lifted above him and the watch IlIeS "l the onnfraternity were disclosed ne ueu @ come hy now into a vast cellar not Nei far from the Carlton hotel ltseH. l ueie we've oyershoots everywhere, passages ,,,ara remote the arches as or crypts' ,,,1ler anartments odd corners whlch had ,arded the casks five hundred years ,ao Each of these could show you us ,,.t1a comnanv safe harbored for the hlgn1 aach had some face from which Master Ti,,,sdit,, might well avert his eyes. But .,han went in amongst them as though ta had been their friend. They knew ms very footstep, the older Tags would ue7 clare.
 .All well. Jack?'
 "All well, old cove.
 "The Panorama come along?
 "straight art of the eoffe shaWp s'help me blind.
 "Ship come in?''
 ..Twp tharsand next Toosday-s as usual.' - ,..u ,o,u+,, ,,,,on . saclr his pipe glowing in the darkness exchanged these pleasantries wlth Ainaii st the entrance. There were fires by here and there in these depths and the smoke was often suffocating. The huauleo ,rouns declared all grades or lll-tortuhe and of crime; from that or the paupei narson,, to the hoariest house-breaker .,aasti,,,,, for a season. Albans little set. .a far as he had a "set" at all consisted -, tha sometime curate of fashionable West End church, known to the com rany as the Archbishop of Bloomsbury, tha I,adv Sarah. a blooming. red-cheekea ,,r, who sold flowers in Regent street. ..tha panorama," an old showmans son ubo had not a slXpenny piece Tn ms
 ocl,et hut whose schemes were lhVa- riably about to bring him In TWO tnous- and next Tuesday morning.; anu be.- tv" a pretty. fair-haired lad, thrown on hox