The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 392: what you’re looking at

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THH MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. shop which they had previously passed; and there be purchased an ample supply of pravender. Ac enotber shop he procured a quantity of spirita; and thence he conducted the Lurker to the khan, oy accommodation-house, where they had passed the night. Hore several other Gossoons were ajready assembled, —~—some devouring the food which they had procured with their morning’s mendicity,—others engaged in boiling their rico preparatory for thgir own meal. It did not how- ever appear that any of them had achieved so muoh success as the squinting Gossoon and the Burker, judging by the vature agd quantity of the provisions that were displayed. While these twu wego vating and drinking, the othor Goseoons laughed and chatted anfonget themselves; and tho Burker’s companion, presontly joining in the dis- course, soon made all the othgr Gossoons burst intu uproarious peals of laughter. At first the Burker was at a loss to comprekend the causa of this merriment; but when hie companion pvinted to the man’s wounded arm, the latter became ter- ribly irritated; and he bent a diabolically vinglio- tive look on Bia comrade. The dervish thereupon Jumped up from his seat, pointed to the daprway, and made signs to intimate that the Butker was quite at liberty to shift for limnself if ho thought tit. The Enoglishman gave a savage goewl; and resiguing himeelf to his destiny, went on eating and drinking withoby taking any further notice cf his cawrado or the other Gosguuns CHAPTER CLIX, TOL LURES. Tun days clapsod, during which the Burker re- rauiued in the compaulunship of the squintioy Guasvon ; and they wandered from ono town tu an- other. ° Thay were tolerably successful in their ap- peais to publio charity; and during this interval it was nut ayain tound necessary tu have recuurse to tho knives 1u order tu awaken sympathy. The Burker ate and drank of the best: a couple of hours each day were generally sufficient to pro- cure the reqgisite cuin for the purchaso of this food ; and the houses of public accommodation allurdod tho wanderers q resting-pluc& fur tho night. The Burker begun to learn a few of the ‘curnmonest words in the native lancuage of his companion ; and he thought thathis present kind of life was not so very disagreeable after all. He soon perceived the snutive by which the Gos- goon was influenced in making him his gompanion. It was tolerably evident that public aympathy was pretty well exhausted in respect to the tribe of mendicant dervishes: but*the epectacle of an Kuroposn in apparent distress gave an impulsa to flagging charity. The Burker thus comprehend»d that 16 was more on his own account than for tho Guseoon’s sake, that alms poured in upon them: but the dervish himeelf endeavougd by ail kinds of manwuvrings and stratagems to prevent this impression from teking a hold on the Koglish- man’s mind. The Burker was however tog shrewd nut to fathom the truth ; and he accordingly be- gau to think that it would be better for his own interoats if ho wore to dissolve the partuocrebip dof »" * é A A NE I OI A OA disennont which thoy would shortly bave tu endure. 379 mendicity with the Crossaon. I]is resolutiun to this effect was taken; aud ho now only awhited an opportunity to carry if out. ° One morning—at the expiration of that inter- val we have noticed at the beginning of this chaptef—the Gossoon and the Burker reached @ town of larger dimensions than auy of those which they had as yet visited ia company; and the dor- vish gave his comrade to understand that they would here reap @ considerable harvegt. Scarcely however had they ontered .the suburbs, when they were seized upyn by half-a-dozen Peons, or uatiye policamen, who seemed dispused to handle them roughly. The Gusgoun, setting up a hidovus bowl. ing, drdw forth his knife, and was preparing to attack his captors, when he was knocked down by a severe blow ; and the weapon was wrested from him. The Burker was then searched; and his knife was likewisy taken away: but he ésoiped any particular ill treatment on account of offering no resistance. The two prisoners wore thea can- ducted hurriedly alung tho etreets ; und they were thus lod to a large gloomy-looking building, whigh the Burker fancied to be a prison. It however proved to be uo house of permanont detentiun at all: for the building contaiued one large roon— and though not @ gavly it was nevertheless a scone of terrific hofrors. ° There were al®yt twenty porsons seated upon a long bench ayninst ono of the walls of this room, tho door of which was guarded by several Poons. The Burker and the Gossoon were conducted to the benvl; aad thore they sat down amidst tho other captives, With tho exception of the Burker bimeelf, all these prisoners wero natives, belonging to different castes; and there were several females amongst them. Tucse were weeping bitterly, while soveral of the men wero howling, yelling, and waile ing, all as if in anticipation of some terrible cbhas- | Thore were howovep three or four men, evidently of a somewhat superior class, who maintained a dignified sileng, and who had the air of innocent victims courageuusly resjzuing theraselves tu the preasure of some stwug tyranny against which thero was n@appeul. Upon a table in the middle of the roum lay revo- ral articlegof a mwiscellancous character, ‘i‘icre were yhips and sticks, necklaces made ot bones, hammers and nails, severnl brickbats, small iron rods with wooden handles, coils of rope, cucoa-qat aholly and little boxes tha contents of which the Burkpr could not cunjecture. As be glanced along the line of captives upun the bench, he per- osived that many of them kept fluging frighted and shudderjng glanves towards this tablu; so that at length the idea stole into the man’s mad that the punishment to bo expected was assuciated with the objects 60 ominously spread upun that board. Presently a efiperior offiver of the Poons entered the room; and bo made an imperious sign for the howlings, the lamentations, and the wailings to bo hushed. To @ evrtain’oxtent he was obvyod : for the oaptives doubtless thought that their punishment would "be meted—or rather mjtigated, according ¢q the degree of submissivenesy the diaplayed. Same of the women however continued to weep with « bitterness whigh they wero evi- dently unable to reetruin, : OOO) C) G SS (CO)