The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 289: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

272 THE COURT OF LONDON what recovered himself, and his reflections once more flowed on in their proper channel, mystery after mystery was cleared up relative to past incidents, and truth after truth revealed itself to his comprehension. Yes, for when he glanced around and beheld all those varied and admirably contrived disguises, he was no longer at a loss to understand how the whole plot relative to the burglary at Mrs. Owen’s had been discovered by Larry Sampson; for that the knife- grinder and the officer were identical was a fact now placed beyond all possibility of doubt; and what, then, was more probable but that the country bumpkin in the tap-room of the King’s Arms at Richmond was also the ubiquitous and protean Lawrence Sampson? But while he was still pursuing his hurried and startling reflections in this manner, Daniel Coffin hastened to turn to the third compartment of the great book; and there, sure enough, he discovered a detailed account of all the officer’s proceedings while engaged in prosecuting his inquiries and researches into the outrage offered to the prince regent and the Marquis of Leveson, as detailed in earlier chapters of our narrative. A further investigation into Mr. Sampson’s diary showed Daniel Coffin that Taggarty had not betrayed him to the officer, but that the seeming beggar-woman who had so importunately solicited alms of him as he issued from Taggarty’s house on the night in question was in reality Lawrence Sampson. Other facts did the Hangman also ascertain concerning matters that either interested himself or those persons with whom he was connected; but we shall not pause to enter into minuter details now. Suffice it to say, that without for an instant recollecting the possibility, or indeed the probability, of being interrupted while prying into the mysteries of the bulky volume, he continued’ to study its contents with the deepest attention; and the more profoundly he examined into it, the more was he astonished and bewildered at the extraordinary mass of information which Lawrence Samp- son had acquired relative to all the bad characters and flash houses in London. Nor less was the Hangman astounded at the remarkable perseverance, the unflinching dauntless- ness, the exquisite skill, and the reckless indifference to danger which characterized the Bow Street officer, and which qualities were made apparent enough by the various COMNIE QOOMKSa(6O