‘Tis true that we are in great danger; The greater, therefore, should
our courage be.--Shakspeare.
We proceeded a short way, when we were stopped by a door; this Job
opened, and a narrow staircase, lighted from above, by a dim lamp, was
before us. We ascended, and found ourselves in a sort of gallery; here
hung another lamp, beneath which Job opened a closet.
“This is the place where Bess generally leaves the keys,” said he, “we
shall find them here, I hope.”
So saying, Master Job entered, leaving me in the passage, but soon
returned with a disappointed air.
“The old harridan has left them below,” said he, “I must go down for
them; your honour will wait here till I return.”
Suiting the action to the word, honest Job immediately descended,
leaving me alone with my own reflections. Just opposite to the closet
was the door of some apartment; I leant accidentally against it; it was
only a-jar, and gave way; the ordinary consequence in such accidents, is
a certain precipitation from the centre of gravity. I am not exempt from
the general lot; and accordingly entered the room in a manner entirely
contrary to that which my natural inclination would have prompted me to
adopt. My ear was accosted by a faint voice, which proceeded from a bed
at the opposite corner; it asked, in the thieves’ dialect, and in the
feeble accents of bodily weakness, who was there? I did not judge it
necessary to make any reply, but was withdrawing as gently as possible,
when my eye rested upon a table at the foot of the bed, upon which,
among two or three miscellaneous articles, were deposited a brace of
pistols, and one of those admirable swords, made according to the modern
military regulation, for the united purpose of cut and thrust. The light
which enabled me to discover the contents of the room, proceeded from
a rush-light placed in the grate; this general symptom of a
valetudinarian, together with some other little odd matters (combined
with the weak voice of the speaker), impressed me with the idea of
having intruded into the chamber of some sick member of the crew.
Emboldened by this notion, and by perceiving that the curtains were
drawn closely around the bed, so that the inmate could have optical
discernment of nothing that occurred without, I could not resist taking
two soft steps to the table, and quietly removing a weapon whose bright
face seemed to invite me as a long known and long tried friend.
This was not, however, done in so noiseless a manner, but what the voice
again addressed me, in a somewhat louder key, by the appellation of
“Brimstone Bess,” asking, with sundry oaths, “What was the matter?” and
requesting something to drink. I need scarcely say that, as before, I
made no reply, but crept out of the room as gently as possible, blessing
my good fortune for having thrown into my way a weapon with the use of
which, above all others, I was best acquainted. Scarcely had I regained
the passage, before Jonson re-appeared with the keys; I showed him my
treasure (for indeed it was of no size to conceal).
“Are you mad, Sir?” said he, “or do you think that the best way to avoid
suspicion, is to walk about with a drawn sword in your hand? I would
not have Bess see you for the best diamond I ever borrowed.” With these
words Job took the sword from my reluctant hand.
“Where did you get it?” said he.
I explained in a whisper, and Job, re-opening the door I had so
unceremoniously entered, laid the weapon softly on a chair that stood
within reach. The sick man, whose senses were of course rendered doubly
acute by illness, once more demanded in a fretful tone, who was there?
And Job replied, in the flash language, that Bess had sent him up to
look for her keys, which she imagined she had left there. The invalid
rejoined, by a request to Jonson to reach him a draught, and we had to
undergo a farther delay, until his petition was complied with; we then
proceeded up the passage, till we came to another flight of steps,
which led to a door: Job opened it, and we entered a room of no common
dimensions.
“This,” said he, “is Bess Brimstone’s sleeping apartment; whoever
goes into the passage that leads not only to Dawson’s room, but to
the several other chambers occupied by such of the gang as require
particular care, must pass first through this room. You see that bell
by the bedside--I assure you it is no ordinary tintannabulum; it
communicates with every sleeping apartment in the house, and is only
rung in cases of great alarm, when every boy must look well to himself;
there are two more of this description, one in the room which we have
just left, another in the one occupied by Spider-shanks, who is our
watch-dog, and keeps his kennel below. Those steps in the common room,
which seem to lead to a cellar, conduct to his den. As we shall have
to come back through this room, you see the difficulty of smuggling
Dawson--and if the old dame rung the alarm, the whole hive would be out
in a moment.”
After this speech, Job left the room, by opening a door at the opposite
end, which shewed us a passage, similar in extent and fashion, to the
one we had left below; at the very extremity of this was the entrance to
an apartment at which Jonson stopped.
“Here,” said he, taking from his pocket a small paper book, and an
ink-horn; “here, your honour, take these, you may want to note the heads
of Dawson’s confession, we are now at his door.” Job then applied one of
the keys of a tolerably sized bunch to the door, and the next moment we
were in Dawson’s apartment.
The room which, though low and narrow, was of considerable length, was
in utter darkness, and the dim and flickering light Jonson held, only
struggled with, rather than penetrated the thick gloom. About the centre
of the room stood the bed, and sitting upright on it, with a wan and
hollow countenance, bent eagerly towards us, was a meagre, attenuated
figure. My recollection of Dawson, whom, it will be remembered, I had
only seen once before, was extremely faint, but it had impressed me
with the idea of a middle sized and rather athletic man, with a fair and
florid complexion: the creature I now saw, was totally the reverse
of this idea. His cheeks were yellow and drawn in; his hand which was
raised, in the act of holding aside the curtains, was like the talons
of a famished vulture, so thin, so long, so withered in its hue and
texture.
No sooner did the advancing light allow him to see us distinctly, than
he half sprung from the bed, and cried, in that peculiar tone of
joy, which seems to throw off from the breast a suffocating weight of
previous terror and suspense, “Thank God, thank God! it is you at last;
and you have brought the clergyman--God bless you, Jonson, you are a
true friend to me.”
“Cheer up, Dawson,” said Job; “I have smuggled in this worthy gentleman,
who, I have no doubt, will be of great comfort to you--but you must be
open with him, and tell all.”
“That I will--that I will,” cried Dawson, with a wild and vindictive
expression of countenance--“if it be only to hang him. Here, Jonson,
give me your hand, bring the light nearer--I say--he, the devil--the
fiend--has been here to-day, and threatened to murder me; and I have
listened, and listened, all night, and thought I heard his step along
the passage, and up the stairs, and at the door; but it was nothing,
Job, nothing--and you are come at last, good, kind, worthy Job. Oh! ‘tis
so horrible to be left in the dark, and not sleep--and in this large,
large room, which looks like eternity at night--and one does fancy such
sights, Job--such horrid, horrid sights. Feel my wristband, Jonson, and
here at my back, you would think they had been pouring water over me,
but its only the cold sweat. Oh! it is a fearful thing to have a bad
conscience, Job; but you won’t leave me till daylight, now, that’s a
dear, good Job!”
“For shame, Dawson,” said Jonson; “pluck up, and be a man; you are like
a baby frightened by its nurse. Here’s the clergyman come to heal your
poor wounded conscience, will you hear him now?”
“Yes,” said Dawson; “yes!--but go out of the room--I can’t tell all if
you’re here; go, Job, go!--but you’re not angry with me--I don’t mean to
offend you.”
“Angry!” said Job; “Lord help the poor fellow! no, to be sure not. I’ll
stay outside the door till you’ve done with the clergyman--but make
haste, for the night’s almost over, and it’s as much as the parson’s
life is worth to stay here after daybreak.”
“I will make haste,” said the guilty man, tremulously; “but, Job, where
are you going--what are you doing? leave the light!--here, Job, by the
bed-side.”
Job did as he was desired, and quitted the room, leaving the door not so
firmly shut, but that he might hear, if the penitent spoke aloud, every
particular of his confession.
I seated myself on the side of the bed, and taking the skeleton hand
of the unhappy man, spoke to him in the most consolatory and comforting
words I could summon to my assistance. He seemed greatly soothed by my
efforts, and at last implored me to let him join me in prayer. I knelt
down, and my lips readily found words for that language, which, whatever
be the formula of our faith, seems, in all emotions which come home to
our hearts, the most natural method of expressing them. It is here, by
the bed of sickness, or remorse, that the ministers of God have their
real power! it is here, that their office is indeed a divine and
unearthly mission; and that in breathing balm and comfort, in healing
the broken heart, in raising the crushed and degraded spirit--they are
the voice, and oracle of the FATHER, who made us in benevolence, and
will judge of us in mercy! I rose, and after a short pause, Dawson, who
expressed himself impatient of the comfort of confession, thus began--
“I have no time, Sir, to speak of the earlier part of my life. I passed
it upon the race-course, and at the gaming-table--all that was, I know,
very wrong, and wicked; but I was a wild, idle boy, and eager for any
thing like enterprise or mischief. Well, Sir, it is now more than three
years ago since I first met one Tom Thornton; it was at a boxing match.
Tom was chosen chairman, at a sort of club of the farmers and yeomen;
and being a lively, amusing fellow, and accustomed to the company of
gentlemen, was a great favourite with all of us. He was very civil to
me, and I was quite pleased with his notice. I did not, however, see
much of him then, nor for more than two years afterwards; but some
months ago we met again. I was in very poor circumstances, so was he,
and this made us closer friends than we might otherwise have been. He
lived a great deal at the gambling-houses, and fancied he had discovered
a certain method of winning [Note: A very common delusion, both among
sharpers and their prey.] at hazard. So, whenever he could not find a
gentleman whom he could cheat with false dice, tricks at cards, he
would go into any hell to try his infallible game. I did not, however,
perceive, that he made a good livelihood by it; and though sometimes,
either by that method or some other, he had large sums of money in his
possession, yet they were spent as soon as acquired. The fact was, that
he was not a man who could ever grow rich; he was extremely extravagant
in all things--loved women and drinking, and was always striving to get
into the society of people above him. In order to do this, he affected
great carelessness of money; and if, at a race or a cock-fight, any real
gentlemen would go home with him, he would insist upon treating them to
the very best of every thing.
“Thus, Sir, he was always poor, and at his wit’s end, for means to
supply his extravagance. He introduced me to three or four gentlemen, as
he called them, but whom I have since found to be markers, sharpers,
and black-legs; and this set soon dissipated the little honesty my own
habits of life had left me. They never spoke of things by their right
names; and, therefore, those things never seemed so bad as they really
were--to swindle a gentleman, did not sound a crime, when it was called
‘macing a swell’--nor transportation a punishment, when it was termed,
with a laugh, ‘lagging a cove.’ Thus, insensibly, my ideas of right
and wrong, always obscure, became perfectly confused: and the habit of
treating all crimes as subjects of jest in familiar conversation, soon
made me regard them as matters of very trifling importance.
“Well, Sir, at Newmarket races, this Spring meeting, Thornton and I were
on the look out. He had come down to stay, during the races, at a house
I had just inherited from my father, but which was rather an expense
to me than an advantage; especially as my wife, who was an innkeeper’s
daughter, was very careless and extravagant. It so happened that we were
both taken in by a jockey, whom we had bribed very largely, and were
losers to a very considerable amount. Among other people, I lost to a
Sir John Tyrrell. I expressed my vexation to Thornton, who told me not
to mind it, but to tell Sir John that I would pay him if he came to the
town; and that he was quite sure we could win enough, by his certain
game at hazard, to pay off my debt. He was so very urgent, that I
allowed myself to be persuaded; though Thornton has since told me, that
his only motive was, to prevent Sir John’s going to the Marquess of
Chester’s (where he was invited) with my lord’s party; and so, to have
an opportunity of accomplishing the crime he then meditated.
“Accordingly, as Thornton desired, I asked Sir John Tyrrell to come with
me to Newmarket. He did so. I left him, joined Thornton, and went to the
gambling-house. Here we were engaged in Thornton’s sure game, when Sir
John entered. I went up and apologized for not paying, and said I would
pay him in three months. However, Sir John was very angry, and treated
me with such rudeness, that the whole table remarked it. When he
was gone, I told Thornton how hurt and indignant I was at Sir
John’s treatment. He incensed me still more--exaggerated Sir John’s
conduct--said that I had suffered the grossest insult, and, at last, put
me into such a passion, that I said, that if I was a gentleman, I would
fight Sir John Tyrrell across a table.
“When Thornton saw I was so moved, he took me out of the room, and
carried me to an inn. Here he ordered dinner, and several bottles of
wine. I never could bear much drink: he knew this, and artfully plied me
with wine till I scarcely knew what I did or said. He then talked
much of our destitute situation--affected to put himself out of the
question--said he was a single man, and could easily make shift upon a
potatoe--but that I was encumbered with a wife and child, whom I could
not suffer to starve. He then said, that Sir John Tyrrell had publicly
disgraced me--that I should be blown upon the course--that no gentleman
would bet with me again, and a great deal more of the same sort. Seeing
what an effect he had produced upon me, he then told me that he had
seen Sir John receive a large sum of money, that would more than pay our
debts, and set us up like gentlemen: and, at last, he proposed to me
to rob him. Intoxicated as I was, I was somewhat startled at this
proposition. However, the slang terms in which Thornton disguised the
greatness and danger of the offence, very much diminished both in my
eyes--so at length I consented.
“We went to Sir John’s inn, and learnt that he had just set out;
accordingly, we mounted our horses, and rode after him. The night had
already closed in. After we had got some distance from the main road,
into a lane, which led both to my house and to Chester Park--for the
former was on the direct way to my lord’s--we passed a man on horseback.
I only observed that he was wrapped in a cloak--but Thornton said,
directly we had passed him, ‘I know that man well--he has been following
Tyrrell all day--and though he attempts to screen himself, I have
penetrated his disguise; he is Tyrrell’s mortal enemy.’”
“‘Should the worst come to the worst,’ added Thornton, (words which I
did not at that moment understand) ‘we can make him bear the blame.’”
“When we had got some way further, we came up to Tyrrell and a
gentleman, whom, to our great dismay, we found that Sir John had
joined--the gentleman’s horse had met with an accident, and Thornton
dismounted to offer his assistance. He assured the gentleman, who proved
afterwards to be a Mr. Pelham, that the horse was quite lame, and that
he would scarcely be able to get it home; and he then proposed to Sir
John to accompany us, and said that we would put him in the right road;
this offer Sir John rejected very haughtily, and we rode on.
“‘It’s all up with us,’ said I; ‘since he has joined another person.’
“‘Not at all,’ replied Thornton; ‘for I managed to give the horse a sly
poke with my knife; and if I know any thing of Sir John Tyrrell, he
is much too impatient a spark to crawl along, a snail’s pace, with any
companion, especially with this heavy shower coming on.’
“‘But,’ said I, for I now began to recover from my intoxication, and
to be sensible of the nature of our undertaking, ‘the moon is up, and
unless this shower conceals it, Sir John will recognize us; so you see,
even if he leaves the gentleman, it will be no use, and we had much
better make haste home and go to bed.’
“Upon this, Thornton cursed me for a faint-hearted fellow, and said that
the cloud would effectually hide the moon--or, if not--he added--‘I know
how to silence a prating tongue.’ At these words I was greatly alarmed,
and said, that if he meditated murder as well as robbery, I would have
nothing further to do with it. Thornton laughed, and told me not to be
a fool. While we were thus debating, a heavy shower came on; we rode
hastily to a large tree, by the side of a pond--which, though bare and
withered, was the nearest shelter the country afforded, and was only
a very short distance from my house. I wished to go home--but Thornton
would not let me, and as I was always in the habit of yielding, I stood
with him, though very reluctantly, under the tree.
“Presently, we heard the trampling of a horse.
“‘It is he--it is he,’ cried Thornton, with a savage tone of
exultation--‘and alone!--Be ready--we must make a rush--I will be the
one to bid him to deliver--you hold your tongue.
“The clouds and rain had so overcast the night, that, although it
was not perfectly dark, it was sufficiently obscure to screen our
countenances. Just as Tyrrell approached, Thornton dashed forward, and
cried, in a feigned voice--‘Stand, on your peril!’ I followed, and we
were now both by Sir John’s side.
“He attempted to push by us--but Thornton seized him by the arm--there
was a stout struggle, in which, as yet, I had no share--at last, Tyrrell
got loose from Thornton, and I seized him--he set spurs to his horse,
which was a very spirited and strong animal--it reared upwards, and very
nearly brought me and my horse to the ground--at that instant, Thornton
struck the unfortunate man a violent blow across the head with the butt
end of his heavy whip--Sir John’s hat had fallen before in the struggle,
and the blow was so stunning that it felled him upon the spot. Thornton
dismounted, and made me do the same--‘There is no time to lose,’ said
he; ‘let us drag him from the roadside and rifle him.’ We accordingly
carried him (he was still senseless) to the side of the pond before
mentioned--while we were searching for the money Thornton spoke of, the
storm ceased, and the moon broke out--we were detained some moments by
the accident of Tyrrell’s having transferred his pocket-book from the
pocket Thornton had seen him put it in on the race ground to an inner
one.
“We had just discovered, and seized the pocket-book, when Sir John awoke
from his swoon, and his eyes opened upon Thornton, who was still bending
over him, and looking at the contents of the book to see that all was
right; the moonlight left Tyrrell in no doubt as to our persons; and
struggling hard to get up, he cried, ‘I know you! I know you! you shall
hang for this.’ No sooner had he uttered this imprudence, than it was
all over with him. ‘We will see that, Sir John,’ said Thornton,
setting his knee upon Tyrrell’s chest, and nailing him down. While thus
employed, he told me to feel in his coat-pocket for a case-knife.
“‘For God’s sake!’ cried Tyrrell, with a tone of agonizing terror which
haunts me still, ‘spare my life!’
“‘It is too late,’ said Thornton, deliberately, and taking the knife
from my hands, he plunged it into Sir John’s side, and as the blade was
too short to reach the vitals, Thornton drew it backwards and forwards
to widen the wound. Tyrrell was a strong man, and still continued to
struggle and call out for mercy--Thornton drew out the knife--Tyrrell
seized it by the blade, and his fingers were cut through before Thornton
could snatch it from his grasp; the wretched gentleman then saw all hope
was over; he uttered one loud, sharp, cry of despair. Thornton put one
hand to his mouth, and with the other gashed his throat from ear to ear.
“‘You have done for him, and for us now,’ said I, as Thornton slowly
rose from the body. ‘No,’ replied he, ‘look, he still moves;’ and sure
enough he did, but it was in the last agony. However, Thornton, to make
all sure, plunged the knife again into his body; the blade came into
contact with a bone, and snapped in two; so great was the violence of
the blow, that instead of remaining in the flesh, the broken piece fell
upon the ground among the long fern and grass.
“While we were employed in searching for it: Thornton, whose ears were
much sharper than mine, caught the sound of a horse. ‘Mount! mount,’ he
cried; ‘and let us be off.’ We sprung up on our horses, and rode away
as fast as we could. I wished to go home, as it was so near at hand; but
Thornton insisted on making to an old shed, about a quarter of a mile
across the fields; thither, therefore, we went.”
“Stop,” said I, “what did Thornton do with the remaining part of the
case-knife? did he throw it away, or carry it with him?”
“He took it with him,” answered Dawson, “for his name was engraved on a
silver plate, on the handle; and, he was therefore afraid of throwing it
into the pond, as I advised, lest at any time it should be discovered.
Close by the shed, there is a plantation of young firs of some extent.
Thornton and I entered, and he dug a hole with the broken blade of the
knife, and buried it, covering up the hole again with the earth.”
“Describe the place,” said I. Dawson paused, and seemed to recollect; I
was on the very tenterhooks of suspence, for I saw with one glance all
the importance of his reply.
After some moments, he shook his head; “I cannot describe the place,”
said he, “for the wood is so thick: yet I know the exact spot so
well, that were I in any part of the plantation, I could point it out
immediately.”
I told him to pause again, and recollect himself; and, at all events,
to try to indicate the place. However, his account was so confused and
perplexed, that I was forced to give up the point in despair, and he
continued.
“After we had done this, Thornton told me to hold the horses, and said
he would go alone, to spy whether we might return; accordingly he did
so, and brought back word, in about half an hour, that he had crept
cautiously along till in sight of the place, and then throwing himself
down on his face by the ridge of a bank, had observed a man, (whom he
was sure was the person with a cloak we had passed, and whom, he said,
was Sir Reginald Glanville,) mount his horse on the very spot of the
murder, and ride off, while another person (Mr. Pelham), appeared, and
also discovered the fatal place.
“‘There is no doubt now,’ said he, ‘that we shall have the hue-and cry
upon us. However, if you are staunch and stout-hearted, no possible
danger can come to us; for you may leave me alone to throw the whole
guilt upon Sir Reginald Glanville.’
“‘We then mounted, and rode home. We stole up stairs by the
back-way--Thornton’s linen and hands were stained with blood. The former
he took off, locked up carefully, and burnt the first opportunity; the
latter he washed; and that the water might not lead to detection, drank
it. We then appeared as if nothing had occurred, and learnt that
Mr. Pelham had been to the house; but as, very fortunately, our
out-buildings had been lately robbed by some idle people, the wife and
servants had refused to admit him. I was thrown into great agitation,
and was extremely frightened. However, as Mr. Pelham had left a message
that we were to go to the pond, Thornton insisted upon our repairing
there to avoid suspicion.”
Dawson then proceeded to say, that, on their return, as he was still
exceedingly nervous, Thornton insisted on his going to bed. When our
party from Lord Chester’s came to the house, Thornton went into Dawson’s
room, and made him swallow a large tumbler of brandy; [Note: A common
practice with thieves, who fear the weak nerves of their accomplices.]
this intoxicated him so as to make him less sensible to his dangerous
situation. Afterwards, when the picture was found, which circumstance
Thornton communicated to him, along with that of the threatening letter
sent by Glanville to the deceased, which was discovered in Tyrrell’s
pocket-book, Dawson recovered courage; and justice being entirely thrown
on a wrong scent, he managed to pass his examination without suspicion.
He then went to town with Thornton, and constantly attended “the club”
to which Jonson had before introduced him; at first, among his new
comrades, and while the novel flush of the money, he had so fearfully
acquired, lasted, he partially succeeded in stifling his remorse. But
the success of crime is too contrary to nature to continue long; his
poor wife, whom, in spite of her extravagant, and his dissolute habits,
he seemed really to love, fell ill, and died; on her deathbed she
revealed the suspicions she had formed of his crime, and said, that
those suspicions had preyed upon, and finally destroyed her health; this
awoke him from the guilty torpor of his conscience. His share of the
money, too, the greater part of which Thornton had bullied out of him,
was gone. He fell, as Job had said, into despondency and gloom, and
often spoke to Thornton so forcibly of his remorse, and so earnestly
of his gnawing and restless desire to appease his mind, by surrendering
himself to justice, that the fears of that villain grew, at length, so
thoroughly alarmed, as to procure his removal to his present abode.
It was here that his real punishment commenced; closely confined to his
apartment, at the remotest corner of the house, his solitude was never
broken but by the short and hurried visits of his female gaoler, and
(worse even than loneliness), the occasional invasions of Thornton.
There appeared to be in that abandoned wretch what, for the honour of
human nature, is but rarely found, viz., a love of sin, not for
its objects, but itself. With a malignity, doubly fiendish from its
inutility, he forbade Dawson the only indulgence he craved--a light,
during the dark hours; and not only insulted him for his cowardice, but
even added to his terrors, by threats of effectually silencing them.
These fears had so wildly worked upon the man’s mind, that prison
itself appeared to him an elysium to the hell he endured; and when his
confession was ended, I said, “If you can be freed from this place,
would you repeat before a magistrate all that you have now told me?”
He started up in delight at the very thought; in truth, besides his
remorse, and that inward and impelling voice which, in all the annals of
murder, seems to urge the criminal onwards to the last expiation of his
guilt--besides these, there mingled in his mind a sentiment of bitter,
yet cowardly, vengeance, against his inhuman accomplice; and perhaps
he found consolation for his own fate, in the hope of wreaking upon
Thornton’s head somewhat of the tortures that ruffian had inflicted upon
him.
I had taken down in my book the heads of the confession, and I now
hastened to Jonson, who, waiting without the door, had (as I had
anticipated) heard all.
“You see,” said I, “that, however satisfactory this recital has been, it
contains no secondary or innate proofs to confirm it; the only evidence
with which it could furnish us, would be the remnant of the broken
knife, engraved with Thornton’s name; but you have heard from Dawson’s
account, how impossible it would be in an extensive wood, for any to
discover the spot but himself. You will agree with me, therefore, that
we must not leave this house without Dawson.”
Job changed colour slightly.
“I see as clearly as you do,” said he, “that it will be necessary for my
annuity, and your friend’s full acquittal, to procure Dawson’s personal
evidence, but it is late now; the men may be still drinking below; Bess
may be still awake, and stirring; even if she sleeps, how could we pass
her room without disturbing her? I own that I do not see a chance of
effecting his escape to-night, without incurring the most probable peril
of having our throats cut. Leave it, therefore, to me to procure his
release as soon as possible--probably to-morrow, and let us now quietly
retire, content with what we have yet got.”
Hitherto I had implicitly obeyed Job; it was now my turn to command.
“Look you,” said I, calmly, but sternly, “I have come into this house
under your guidance solely, to procure the evidence of that man; the
evidence he has, as yet, given may not be worth a straw; and, since I
have ventured among the knives of your associates, it shall be for some
purpose. I tell you fairly that, whether you befriend or betray me, I
will either leave these walls with Dawson, or remain in them a corpse.”
“You are a bold blade, Sir,” said Jonson, who seemed rather to respect
than resent the determination of my tone, “and we will see what can be
done: wait here, your honour, while I go down to see if the boys are
gone to bed, and the coast is clear.”
Job descended, and I re-entered Dawson’s room. When I told him that we
were resolved, if possible, to effect his escape, nothing could exceed
his transport and gratitude; this was, indeed, expressed in so mean and
servile a manner, mixed with so many petty threats of vengeance against
Thornton, that I could scarcely conceal my disgust.
Jonson returned, and beckoned me out of the room.
“They are all in bed, Sir,” said he--“Bess as well as the rest; indeed,
the old girl has lushed so well at the bingo, that she sleeps as if her
next morrow was the day of judgment. I have, also, seen that the street
door is still unbarred, so that, upon the whole, we have, perhaps, as
good a chance to-night as we may ever have again. All my fear is about
that cowardly lubber. I have left both Bess’s doors wide open, so we
have nothing to do but to creep through; as for me, I am an old file,
and could steal my way through a sick man’s room, like a sunbeam through
a keyhole.”
“Well,” said I, in the same strain, “I am no elephant, and my dancing
master used to tell me I might tread on a butterfly’s wing without
brushing off a tint: poor Coulon! he little thought of the use his
lessons would be to me hereafter!--so let us be quick, Master Job.”
“Stop,” said Jonson; “I have yet a ceremony to perform with our caged
bird. I must put a fresh gag on his mouth; for though, if he escapes, I
must leave England, perhaps, for ever, for fear of the jolly boys, and,
therefore, care not what he blabs about me; yet there are a few fine
fellows amongst the club whom I would not have hurt for the Indies; so I
shall make Master Dawson take our last oath--the Devil himself would not
break that, I think! Your honour will stay outside the door, for we can
have no witness while it is administered.”
Job then entered; I stood without;--in a few minutes I heard Dawson’s
voice in the accents of supplication. Soon after Job returned, “The
craven dog won’t take the oath,” said he, “and may my right hand rot
above ground before it shall turn key for him unless he does.” But when
Dawson saw that Job had left the room, and withdrawn the light, the
conscience-stricken coward came to the door, and implored Job to return.
“Will you swear then?” said Jonson; “I will, I will,” was the answer.
Job then re-entered--minutes passed away--Job re-appeared, and Dawson
was dressed, and clinging hold of him--“All’s right,” said he to me,
with a satisfied air.
The oath had been taken--what it was I know not--but it was never
broken. [Note: Those conversant with the annals of Newgate, will know
how religiously the oaths of these fearful Freemasonries are kept.]
Dawson and Job went first--I followed--we passed the passage, and came
to the chamber of the sleeping Mrs. Brimstone. Job leant eagerly
forward to listen, before we entered; he took hold of Dawson’s arm, and
beckoning to me to follow, stole, with a step that a blind mole would
not have heard, across the room. Carefully did the practised thief veil
the candle he carried, with his hand, as he now began to pass by the
bed. I saw that Dawson trembled like a leaf, and the palpitation of his
limbs made his step audible and heavy. Just as they had half-way passed
the bed, I turned my look on Brimstone Bess, and observed, with a
shuddering thrill, her eyes slowly open, and fix upon the forms of my
companions. Dawson’s gaze had been bent in the same direction, and when
he met the full, glassy stare of the beldame’s eyes, he uttered a faint
scream. This completed our danger; had it not been for that exclamation,
Bess might, in the uncertain vision of drowsiness, have passed over the
third person, and fancied it was only myself and Jonson, in our way from
Dawson’s apartment; but no sooner had her ear caught the sound, than she
started up, and sat erect on her bed, gazing at us in mingled wrath and
astonishment.
That was a fearful moment--we stood rivetted to the spot! “Oh, my
kiddies,” cried Bess, at last finding speech, “you are in Queer-street,
I trow! Plant your stumps, Master Guinea Pig; you are going to stall
off the Daw’s baby in prime twig, eh? But Bess stags you, my cove! Bess
stags you.”
Jonson, looked irresolute for one instant; but the next he had decided.
“Run, run,” cried he, “for your lives,” and he and Dawson (to whom, fear
did indeed lend wings) were out of the room in an instant. I lost no
time in following their example; but the vigilant and incensed hag
was too quick for me; she pulled violently the bell, on which she
had already placed her hand: the alarm rang like an echo in a cavern;
below--around--far--near--from wall to wall--from chamber to chamber,
the sound seemed multiplied and repeated! and in the same breathing
point of time, she sprang from her bed, and seized me, just as I had
reached the door.
“On, on, on,” cried Jonson’s voice to Dawson, as they had already gained
the passage, and left the whole room, and the staircase beyond, in utter
darkness.
With a firm, muscular, nervous gripe, which almost shewed a masculine
strength, the hag clung to my throat and breast; behind, among some of
the numerous rooms in the passage we had left, I heard sounds, which
told too plainly how rapidly the alarm had spread. A door opened--steps
approached--my fate seemed fixed; but despair gave me energy: it was
no time for the ceremonials due to the beau sexe. I dashed Bess to the
ground, tore myself from her relaxing grasp, and fled down the steps
with all the precipitation the darkness would allow. I gained the
passage, at the far end of which hung the lamp, now weak and waning in
its socket; which, it will be remembered, burnt close by the sick man’s
chamber that I had so unintentionally entered. A thought flashed upon my
mind, and lent me new nerves and fresh speed; I flew along the passage,
guided by the dying light. The staircase I had left, shook with the
footsteps of my pursuers. I was at the door of the sick thief--I burst
it open--seized the sword as it lay within reach on the chair, where
Jonson had placed it, and feeling, at the touch of the familiar weapon,
as if the might of ten men had been transferred to my single arm, I
bounded down the stairs before me--passed the door at the bottom, which
Dawson had fortunately left open--flung it back almost upon the face of
my advancing enemies, and found myself in the long passage which led
to the street-door, in safety, but in the thickest darkness. A light
flashed from a door to the left; the door was that of the “Common Room”
which we had first entered; it opened, and Spider-shanks, with one of
his comrades, looked forth; the former holding a light. I darted by
them, and, guided by their lamp, fled along the passage, and reached the
door. Imagine my dismay! when, either through accident, or by the desire
of my fugitive companions to impede pursuit, I found it unexpectedly
closed.
The two villains had now come up to me, close at their heels were two
more, probably my pursuers, from the upper apartments. Providentially
the passage was (as I before said) extremely narrow, and as long as no
fire-arms were used, nor a general rush resorted to, I had little doubt
of being able to keep the ruffians at bay, until I had hit upon the
method of springing the latch, and so winning my escape from the house.
While my left hand was employed in feeling the latch, I made such good
use of my right, as to keep my antagonists at a safe distance. The one
who was nearest to me, was Fib Fakescrew; he was armed with a weapon
exactly similar to my own. The whole passage rung with oaths and
threats. “Crash the cull--down with him--down with him, before he dubs
the jigger. Tip him the degen, Fib, fake him through and through; if he
pikes, we shall all be scragged.”
Hitherto, in the confusion I had not been able to recall Job’s
instructions in opening the latch; at last I remembered, and pressed,
the screw--the latch rose--I opened the door; but not wide enough to
scape through the aperture. The ruffians saw my escape at hand. “Rush
the b--cove! rush him!” cried the loud voice of one behind; and at
the word, Fib was thrown forwards upon the extended edge of my blade;
scarcely with an effort of my own arm, the sword entered his bosom, and
he fell at my feet bathed in blood; the motion which the men thought
would prove my destruction, became my salvation; staggered by the fall
of their companion they gave way: I seized advantage of the momentary
confusion--threw open the door, and, mindful of Job’s admonition, turned
to the right, and fled onwards, with a rapidity which baffled and mocked
pursuit.