The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 367: what you’re looking at

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

ing at the cords which were tight round their throate, At length their mortal sufferings were put an end to; and there they lay, still and dead— those who bed so lately been in the enjoyment of vigorous life, exchanging convivial words, dod with smiles upon their lips! The Burke felt as if a noose were round his own, peck; and he dared scarcely even breathe, for feag fest he owl be- tray his presence thége and hepeme the third victim ! The two assassins now emerged from thelr amr bush. They were tall, athletic, well-made indivi- duale—nearly naked—esch with but a scanty gar- ment of dark cloth fastened rouad the eaiddle of the body. Their eyes hed a ferociaus glare, like those of wild beasta; and when they grinned at each other, with fierse bloadthiraty satiafagtion at the contemplation of the work they had performed, the Burker perceived that their teeth had been filed into points, so that they resembled those of a shark, or the aharp jagged edge of a sat. , Altoge- ther there was something annatarel and fieng-like in the appearance of those, miscreants: for though they had the human shape, it as scarcely possi- ble to fancy that they were table human be- a B rere trembled for his ve 3 his b was held with hor suspen 3 bis blood seamed te turn into oa in Most of our readers will ay eomprehended that the two assassins belonged to the horrible sect of Thuga or Btranglera, which has nos alto- gether rod from the peninsula of Hindo- stan. The 9 Git nob howover know who they were; nor hed he the blightest idea thet their murderous perealtg canst a sort of diabolic creed as well an 9-2 tion. He took = = 2 eee eee Soe — 7 EE ee Gee gee oe es ee EES CE SO them to he marg i, «t + this occasion had availed themeclvog of the ye of taking the lives of they. vistiods Ww did not ; provoke to au open pe Bie wn sean! of the re | arcs they possessed. The Stranglerg—having gretifeg their horrible propensity for’ murderous deeds by ng for a few minutes upon their vigtime—p to tako possession of their weapona; and then yufastoning the cords from around the nesks of the murdered men, the Thugs plunged again into the recesses of the grove. They did not tarry to rifls the persous of their victims: they did not even so micli as ‘open the koapsack which was slung over tile shoulder of one of them: nor did they touch the liquor which the gourd contained, nor .the ro- mainder of the food which had beon left upon the grase. They vanished from the Burker’s view, bearing with them their fatal iasscs, aud all the weapons that had belonged to the viotims of this hideous aseasginetion. For nearly half-an-hour, however, did the Burker remain in his hiding-place after the departure of | the Strauglera, He was afraid ts move, He now | thought much less of anskes, reptiles, and tigers, than of those horrible miscreante whose vywtins lay stretebed motionlead before his eyes. At length the Burge began to take courage sumewhat; and ‘Wlies the cunst muat now be completely ver with fear and trembling that the CORDECS : or rat 50 doing hea SSE bat very pact of tho grove fo ‘ tyr | rents = forth from his hiding-place - arrestee —PSp SSee Fo ewevero ae sew bee eeweeneem- ce CS THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. murderers might still be there; and one of those fatel cords might be thrown out for its deadly noose to encirole His own neck as he had seen both circle the necks of the dead towards whum he was now cautiously and timidly advancing! But all was still; and the Barker, gaining more and more =| Gourage, proecdat to possess himself of the gourd, the knapsack, and the remyaut of provisions, He longed ta tarry and rifle the paysoos of the dead ; for if he foun meney upon them is might be ser- viceahle to him if ever heghould sucesed in getting ous of that jyogle; but a sudden rustling amongst the trees made him fice away for his very life. He was at a considerable distance before he dared to look back; agd then ho heheld nog the forms of the miscreants whom he so much dreaded that his eyes would encounter. | He sugceeded ‘in gaining his cavern: but there was another soyrex af surprise and my | for him, A Are had evidently beep lighted in | front of thacave during the day; another mass of — bgiled rice and a quantity of feuits wore left in the | niche underneath the |ovphale, But no human being was tu be sean on that apat excopt the | | | | atification Hurker himesif. The man wae soised with a sort of vaguo and awful terror, as if with the sense that he was the object of He design an the part of preternatural powers. Ferhaps the Euemy of Markind himsolf was placing thas food in his way, moro effectually to seal hie doom than his own antecedent crimea could have done? But this was ag impression that could not be permanently made on such @ mind as the Burker’s; and he be:an to have an inkling of the real truth. Doubdtleas that eaverp served ge @ temporary halting-plage for wayfarera through the dreadiul jungle # —~ and daubtless likewise the food was left by some well- ovided person for the use of any ices fortunate @ | tadividual who might be compelled tp truct entirely to such thoughtful charity? These were tho idcas that now aroae in the Burker’s mind;eand the reader is already aware how consiatent they hap- pened to be with the actual truth. Ho was now wéil supplicd with provisions for the next two or three days; and he found that the | gourd contained some exceedingly potent spirit. | Ho ate and drank heartily; but his soul was the: | prey to ga cuntinuous trauble—for ho dreaded lost chance,or previous knowledge should bring the | shart. tecthed murderers to hiy cave. On examin. | ing the knapsack, he found that i¢ vontained «4 | quantity of despatches, written in a manner which | | he coyld not possibly comprehend ; and he there- fore concluded that the victims of the Stranglers must have boon messengers bearing some docu- ments from one Indian authority to another. Wheil tho darkucas set in, the Burker barri- caded the place with even greater precautions than | those he had previously adupted. He slept but | little that night; and when slumber did fall upon hia eyes, if was more than ever feverish and un- easy; jor-Rot merely wore his droams now haunted by wild beasfs and reptiles, but lixewiee by the images of human beings as terrible as the tiger and aa stealthy as the serpent. EO LOOKS (CO)