The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 51: what you’re looking at

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

34 THE COURT OF LONDON “What the devil is the meaning of this blubbering? ” demanded the Hangman, with a terrible imprecation. “It’s nothink — on’y a sort of nervous fit that I can’t help for the moment,’ whimpered the Buttoner. ‘“ There, take her away, take her away! Don’t let her stare up at me with those eyes that are fixed and dull as if made of glass! Take her away, I say!’’ and the strong man shuddered from head to foot with hysterical convulsions. “You two look to him,” growled the Hangman, addressing the command to the Mushroom Faker and Bob the Durry- nacker. ‘‘ Come along, Bencull; you and me must do the rest of the work betwixt us.”’ ‘To be sure,’’ responded Bencull, raising the corpse by the legs while Daniel Coffin lifted it by the shoulders. ‘“‘ Now then, come quick, out of this here door — there — that’s right! ”’ And the two men emerged into the little gallery behind the house, bearing the dead body between them in the manner just described. ‘“* Now let’s lower it down gently, Ben,” said the Hangman, ‘“so as not to make a splash. There’s nobody about to see what’s going on.”’ Nobody to see! Ah, the insensate wretch! the eye of God was upon him, fixed on that scene of murder; and yet, because there was no candle at any neighbouring window, and because not a human soul was visible either on the oppo- site side of the ditch or on the bridges, the ruthless murderers fancied that no eye was upon them as they lowered the corpse into the stagnant dike. The light of the silver crescent moon shone upon this last act in the terrible drama; and as Bencull and the Hangman thus let down their victim into the slimy grave, there was a moment, as she hung over the wooden parapet ere they let. go the handkerchief that they held in their grasp, a moment, we say, at which the pure lustre of the planet of the night. fell powerfully upon the countenance of the unfortunate young woman, showing in their distorted ghastliness those features that were so recently full of animation and even beauty. For a moment also did that moonlight delineate the form that was so finely modelled, but which now hung in the dread abandonment of death. Terrible indeed was every detail of the tremendous Gomicbdooks (E(0)