The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 373: what you’re looking at

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

_ wnisowadte; and 360 The effluvium continued most poisonous—most sickly : foreit mingled with the heavy sultry air, which was iteelf stagnant and dead ; and there was not the slightest breath of « healthful breese to carry that odour away. Time was passiag: the enake lay completely motionless; and at length the experiment etrengtbennl id aliof and bia hope ox ¢ strengthen: i hope : for not even so much as the reptile’s head war raised from amidst the folds into which the boa had gathered itself at the foot of,the tree. There it lay like a hideous shapeless mass—inert—to every appearance deprived of vitality. Summoning all his courage to hiseaid, the Burker descended from the tree. A dread convul- sing shudder shook him coldly as bis feet touched the ground—s shudder prodaced by the hideous apprehension that the snake might dart at him. But no !—it still lay motionless. Then away he sped—away he sped as if for his very life !—and he breathed not freely, until a considerable dis- tance being completed, be looked beck and,saw that he was safe from all pursuit. Yet still rushed on, anxious to place as long an interval as possible betwixt himself and the scene of the hor- rible spectacie which he had beholden. ' At length, thoroughly exhausted, he sank upon a sward of short sweet herbage, near the brink of « will, the mouth of which was surrounded by granite blooke to a height sufficient to prevent any one frum fall- ing in if walking incautiously in the day-time or jou g that way in the dark. "Yealbene Burker was utterly exbausted, both in mind aid’ body. He. wordered how he had possi- bly ved the tremendous spectacle he had wit- neseed. It even appeared to him a dream— though it was indeed all’ a terrific reality. Fora while he forgot the oravings of hunger; he thought not even of hening ‘Limeclf with the contents of his gourd « it peemed'as if he'oou not sufficiently reason his mind into the conviction that he had actually escaped with dis life from the hideous perils Which he had so recently encoun- ‘tered. But at length he qddressed himself to hi8 provisions ; and he was exhilarated with the potent fiuid which he imbibed from the friendly gourd. a € aa & e OHAPTER CLVI. sSTRANGLEE : Tan Burker was seated upon the grass, partaking of the rice and fruits which his knapsack contained, es well as of the alcoholic beverage from the gourd, when, ion his endeavour to put away from his thoughts the late hideous scene of which he had been a beholder, he began to reflect on the tragedy in which the shark-tecthed Strarfglers hed played so @ireful a part. He recalled to mind the in- of vend fret asoertaindd the precae postion in the prec in which théle victims were reclining ere they threw oul Wisir-Aeadly lass. ker ‘ule it behoved him to be continuously on ry rauoh stealthy, creeping, catdike he revolving ia his mind pies be should “do Ee one ba to ware that such monsters in human should pursue. THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. ebape were at any time menacing himself with denger. Anxious to divert his thoughts from the more recent incid8nt of horror, he kept them stead. fastly fixed on this other topic; and he weighed a dozen different plans of dealing with the Stranglore should he happen to fallin with them. But chiefly he perceived the necessity ef keeping entirely on his guard, and not for an instant Josing his presence of mind if the emergency should arise. It was while thus meditating that he beheld something which put all-his resolution to the test. We should rpmark that amongst the various re- mains of a superior civilisation which formerly cha- racterised that Hindéo popylation whom British mierule and tyranny have thrown back and de- graded, there are numerous tanks and wells in different parts of the Indian Peninsula. These are sometimes to be Yqund in the jungles themselves ; for where those, jungles now serve as dwelling- places for reptiles and wild beasts, a consummate agrioulture ence flourished. 16 was by one of these wells thet the Burker had seated himself and, as ne-| we have already stated, the mouth was surrounded by large blocke of stone, forming a circular wall to the height of about two feet and a half. This wail was overgrown with bushes and long grass, consti- tuting ap it were a brake or thicket that nearly covered the entrance of the well, whose diameter was upwards of four feet. Sil in a moment—just as the Burker was looking towards the well, won- dering how deep it could be, and whether he could by any possible means obtain some water thence to cool the lips and tongue that were parched by the alcohol as well as by the intense sultriness of the suo—he distinctly caught sight of a human eye gleaming at him betwixt an openiog in the stonés and through the thicket. A shudder swept over hims but it was imperceptible; and inas- muoh as he had only an instant before made up his mind how to act in case of a particular emergency arising, he was not thrown off his guard. e Fortu- | nate for him waa it that the very subject which now exacted all bis self. ion should have so recently cocupied éis thoughts. In a word, he was fully prepared for that which now occurred. He did not appear to take any notice of the cire cumstance itself: but laying himself fiat down on the grass, he shaded his eyes with his hand as if to keep off the beams of the sun. He was neverthe- less gasing sideways in the direction of the spot where he had seen the human eye: for‘that it wan @ man’s eye be falt convinced ; and equally certain was he that it belonged to one of the murderers of the two travellers, or else to some one who pursued similar avocations. He reflected what course he He had the horrible conviction that if hé were to rise up and attempt to seek safety in flight, the deadly lasso would in a moment be roaad his neck. It was to avoid this peril that he had thrown himeelf flat upon his back. He failed not to remember that the Stranglers had taken possession of the fire-arms of their recent vio- tims: but he (ought to himeelf that if the indivi- dual ¢o in the well were really one of those Stranglers—if he still retained the fire-arms—-and if he had purposed to use such a weapon on the ¢ cocasion, he would not have waited all this while; for it was so etsy to send a bullet whissing through the same.openibg which served as the means fon the view taken by that gleaming ¢ e LOAO© (CO)