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constitootional officers appointed a purpose for you; carts is maintained a purpose for youand yet youre not contented!Will you hold that noise, you sir in the furthest? A groan was the only answer. So well as I can make out, said Mr Dennis, in a tone of mingled badinage and remonstrance, theres not a man among you. I begin to think Im on the opposite side, and among the ladies; though for the matter of that, Ive seen a many ladies face it out, in a manner that did honour to the sex.You in number two, dont grind them teeth of yours. Worse manners, said the hangman, rapping at the door with his stick, I never see in this place afore. Im ashamed of you. Youre a disgrace to the Bailey. After pausing for a moment to hear if anything could be pleaded in justification, Mr Dennis resumed in a sort of coaxing tone Now lookee here, you four. Im come here to take care of you, and see that you ant burnt, instead of the other thing. Its no use your making any noise, for you wont be found out by them as has broken in, and youll only be hoarse when you come to the speeches,which is a pity. What I say in respect to the speeches always is, Give it mouth. Thats my maxim. Give it mouth. Ive heerd, said the hangman, pulling off his hat to take his handkerchief from the crown and wipe his face, and then putting it on again a little more on one side than before, Ive heerd a eloquence on them boardsyou know what boards I meanand have heerd a degree of mouth given to them speeches, that they was as clear as a bell, and as good as a play. Theres a pattern! And always, when a thing of this naturs to come off, what I stand up for, is, a proper frame of mind. Lets have a proper frame of mind, and we can go through with it, creditablepleasant sociable. Whatever you do (and I address myself in particular, to you in the furthest), never snivel. Id sooner by half, though I lose by it, see a man tear his clothes a purpose to spile em before they come to me, than find him snivelling. Its ten to one a better frame of mind, every way! While the hangman addressed them to this effect, in the tone and with the air of a pastor in familiar conversation with his flock, the noise had been in some degree subdued; for the rioters were busy in conveying the prisoners to the Sessions House, which was beyond the main walls of the prison, though connected with it, and the crowd were busy too, in passing them from thence along the street. But when he had got thus far in his discourse, the sound of voices in the yard showed plainly that the mob had returned and were coming that way; and directly afterwards a violent crashing at the grate below, gave note of their attack upon the cells (as they were called) at last. It was in vain the hangman ran from door to door, and covered the grates, one after another, with his hat, in futile efforts to stifle the cries of the four men within; it was in vain he dogged their outstretched hands, and beat them with his stick, or menaced them with new and lingering pains in the execution of his office; the place resounded with their cries. These, together with the feeling that they were now the last men in the jail, so worked upon and stimulated the besiegers, that in an incredibly short space of time they forced the strong grate down below, which was formed of iron rods two inches square, drove in the two other doors, as if they had been but deal partitions, and stood at the end of the gallery with only a bar or two between them and the cells. Halloa! cried Hugh, who was the first to look into the dusky passage: Dennis before us! Well done, old boy. Be quick, and open here, for we shall be suffocated in the smoke, going out. Go out at once, then, said Dennis. What do you want here? Want! echoed Hugh. The four men. Four devils! cried the hangman. Dont you know theyre left for death on Thursday? Dont you respect the lawthe constitootion nothing? Let the four men be. Is this a time for joking? cried Hugh. Do you hear em? Pull away these bars that have got fixed between the door and the ground; and let us in. |
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