Ascending a short flight of steps, Jack found at the summit a door,
which being bolted in the inside he speedily opened.
The fresh air, which blew in his face, greatly revived him. He had
now reached what was called the Lower Leads,--a flat, covering a part
of the prison contiguous to the gateway, and surrounded on all sides
by walls about fourteen feet high. On the north stood the battlements
of one of the towers of the gate. On this side a flight of wooden
steps, protected by a hand-rail, led to a door opening upon the
summit of the prison. This door was crested with spikes, and guarded
on the right by a bristling semicircle of spikes. Hastily ascending
these steps, Jack found the door, as he anticipated, locked. He
could have easily forced it, but preferred a more expeditious mode of
reaching the roof which suggested itself to him. Mounting the door he
had last opened, he placed his hands on the wall above, and quickly
drew himself up.
Just as he got on the roof of the prison, St. Sepulchre's clock
struck eight. It was instantly answered by the deep note of St.
Paul's; and the concert was prolonged by other neighbouring churches.
Jack had thus been six hours in accomplishing his arduous task.
Though nearly dark, there was still light enough left to enable
him to discern surrounding objects. Through the gloom he distinctly
perceived the dome of St. Paul's, hanging like a black cloud in the
air; and nearer to him he remarked the golden ball on the summit
of the College of Physicians, compared by Garth to a “gilded
pill.” Other towers and spires--St. Martin's on Ludgate-hill, and
Christchurch in Newgate Street, were also distinguishable. As
he gazed down into the courts of the prison, he could not help
shuddering, lest a false step might precipitate him below.
To prevent the recurrence of any such escape as that just described,
it was deemed expedient, in more recent times, to keep a watchman
at the top of Newgate. Not many years ago, two men, employed on this
duty, quarrelled during the night, and in the morning their bodies
were found stretched upon the pavement of the yard beneath.
Proceeding along the wall, Jack reached the southern tower, over the
battlements of which he clambered, and crossing it, dropped upon the
roof of the gate. He then scaled the northern tower, and made his
way to the summit of that part of the prison which fronted Giltspur
Street. Arrived at the extremity of the building, he found that it
overlooked the flat-roof of a house which, as far as he could judge
in the darkness, lay at a depth of about twenty feet below.
Not choosing to hazard so great a fall, Jack turned to examine
the building, to see whether any more favourable point of descent
presented itself, but could discover nothing but steep walls, without
a single available projection. As he looked around, he beheld an
incessant stream of passengers hurrying on below. Lights glimmered in
the windows of the different houses; and a lamp-lighter was running
from post to post on his way to Snow Hill.
Finding it impossible to descend on any side, without incurring
serious risk, Jack resolved to return for his blanket, by the help of
which he felt certain of accomplishing a safe landing on the roof of
the house in Giltspur Street.
Accordingly, he began to retrace his steps, and pursuing the course
he had recently taken, scaling the two towers, and passing along the
wall of the prison, he descended by means of the door upon the Lower
Leads. Before he re-entered the prison, he hesitated from a doubt
whether he was not fearfully increasing his risk of capture; but,
convinced that he had no other alternative, he went on.
During all this time, he had never quitted the iron bar, and he now
grasped it with the firm determination of selling his life dearly,
if he met with any opposition. A few seconds sufficed to clear the
passage, through which it had previously cost him more than two hours
to force his way. The floor was strewn with screws, nails, fragments
of wood and stone, and across the passage lay the heavy iron fillet.
He did not disturb any of this litter, but left it as a mark of his
prowess.
He was now at the entrance of the chapel, and striking the door over
which he had previously climbed a violent blow with the bar, it flew
open. To vault over the pews was the work of a moment; and having
gained the entry leading to the Red Room he passed through the first
door; his progress being only impeded by the pile of broken stones,
which he himself had raised.
Listening at one of the doors leading to the Master Debtors' side, he
heard a loud voice chanting a Bacchanalian melody, and the boisterous
laughter that accompanied the song, convinced him that no suspicion
was entertained in this quarter. Entering the Red Room, he crept
through the hole in the wall, descended the chimney, and arrived once
more in his old place of captivity.
How different were his present feelings compared with those he had
experienced on quitting it. _Then_, though full of confidence, he
half doubted his power of accomplishing his designs. _Now_, he _had_
achieved them, and felt assured of success. The vast heap of rubbish
on the floor had been so materially increased by the bricks and
plaster thrown down in his attack upon the wall of the Red Room,
that it was with some difficulty he could find the blanket which was
almost buried beneath the pile. He next searched for his stockings
and shoes, and when found, put them on.
While he was thus employed, his nerves underwent a severe shock. A
few bricks, dislodged probably by his last descent, came clattering
down the chimney, and as it was perfectly dark, gave him the notion
that some one was endeavouring to force an entrance into the room.
But these fears, like those he had recently experienced, speedily
vanished, and he prepared to return to the roof, congratulating
himself that owing to the opportune falling of the bricks, he had in
all probability escaped serious injury.
Throwing the blanket over his left arm and shouldering the iron bar,
he again clambered up the chimney; regained the Red Room; hurried
along the first passage; crossed the Chapel; threaded the entry to
the Lower Leads; and, in less than ten minutes after quitting the
Castle, had reached the northern extremity of the prison.
[Illustration: 206]
Previously to his descent he had left the nail and spike on the wall,
and with these he fastened the blanket to the stone coping. This
done, he let himself carefully down by it, and having only a few feet
to drop, alighted in safety.
Having now fairly got out of Newgate for the second time, with a
heart throbbing with exultation, he hastened to make good his escape.
To his great joy he found a small garret-door in the roof of the
opposite house open. He entered it; crossed the room, in which there
was only a small truckle-bed, over which he stumbled; opened another
door and gained the stair-head. As he was about to descend his chains
slightly rattled. “Oh, lud! what's that?” exclaimed a female voice,
from an adjoining room. “Only the dog,” replied the rough tones of a
man.
Securing the chain in the best way he could, Jack then hurried down
two pair of stairs, and had nearly reached the lobby, when a door
suddenly opened, and two persons appeared, one of whom held a light.
Retreating as quickly as he could, Jack opened the first door he
came to, entered a room, and searching in the dark for some place of
concealment, fortunately discovered a skreen, behind which he crept.