The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 203: what you’re looking at

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192 in the Magsman’s chains; and had he caught the faintest glimpse of anything calculated to excite his suspicions, he would have immediately sum- moned an assistant who had accompanied him as far as the entrance of the passage, and the most rigid investigation would have been the result. However, his penetration and shrewdness were baffied for once; and the Magsman chuckled in- wardly as he sate down to the enjoyment of the roast fowl, the sausages, the mashed potatoes, and the porter, which an eating-house in the Old Bailey had supplied. We should however observe that the fowl and sausages had been previously cut up into pieces, the potatoes turned over with a spoon, and even the very beer poured from one pot into another, by the busy hands of Mr. Soper, to assure himself that no fle nor watch-spring was secreted enonget the articles intended for the prisoner's ner. The Magsman understood the meaning of all this, and knew that a strict watch was kept upon him: but he was very far from despairing of his escape ; and as he devoured his food with a ravenous appe- tite, he said to himself, “To-morrow I shall not dine in Newgate.” At the expiration of about twenty minutes, _ Soper returned to take away the dishes and pewter- pot, all of which Joe Warren had cleared; and when the door again closed upon him and he was once more alone, he knew that he had four hours , and a half to work in before he should experience another interruption. And with such hearty good will did the Mags- tan ply the irresistible file, that by the time St. Sepulchre’s Church struck six in the evening, two . thirds of the labour was accomplished in respect | to the massive chains with which he was laden. The booming of the bell, as it proclaimed that hour, | was the signal for him to desist again; and, having ] © od e@aean Game. = 2s a» concealed the file and filled up the severed portion of the links with the black putty, he lay down on the iron bedstead and affected to have been sleep- ing when Mr. Soper re-appeared with his supper end a candle. A few remarks were interchanged; and the Magsman was left tu the enjoyment of his meal. In twenty minutes Soper returned to fetch the plate and pewter-pot; and Warren had then two hours wherein to continue his operations until the offi- cial should make his last round for the night. Daring these two hours the Magsman filed almost completely through each of the four links which it Was necessary to sever in order to enable himself to throw off his chains at the proper time; and he had scarcely filled up the places with the remains of his blackened putty, when Soper entered the cell. The man examined the shackles all over, and appeared quite satisfied that they had not been tampered with. He then wished the Magsman good night, and took bis departure, double-locking the door, and securely fastening all the bolts. The candle, having been sent in from the coffee- house which supplied the Magsman’s meals, was not taken away from him : for, in the times of which we are writing, untried prisoners were permitted the use of lights until a late hour,—and Mr. Soper saw by the length of the candle that it would not burn much beyund eleven o'clock. The Magsman resolved to wait until the church of &t. Sepulchre should have struck aing ere he Rap commenced the grand operations which he 4% would result in his escape. There was the possi- bility, though certainly not the probability, thaf Soper might take it into his head to pay him an- other visit that evening: but he felt confident that if the official came at all, it would be at nine o'clock. Slowly—slowly passed that hour, during which the Magaman weighed, with some anxiety, all the chances for and against his escape. At one moment he dreaded lest Soper suspected his intentions: at another he feared that his friends might fail in ac- complishing their portion of the work in the picture- dealer’s house. Then his blood ran cold in his veins as the idea struck him that the implements which he possessed and the short time that he could command were totally inadequate for the immensity of the task that must be accomplished: and even when he reasoned himself into confidence on these heads, an- other source of alarm presented itself. What if some prisoner had been placed, during the day, in the cel overhead—or in the cell higher up still? “ No—it isn’t likely,” thought the Magsman to himself “No one has been condemned to death yet during this session: and if there was, the ground- floor cells would be filled first.” Again did the voice of his own fears suggest, in whispering tones, that desperate characters like him- self, might have been incarcerated during the last few hours in the cells above. “Well—and if so,” was his self-solacing argu- ment, “any fellow that I might fall against in such a position would be only too glad to seize the oppor- tunity of escaping along with me.” Scarcely had he arrived at this conclusion, when the clock struck nine;—and no intrusive step ap- proached the door of his cell. He waited ten minutes Jonger;— and etil) a was quict, save the rumbling of the carts and hackney-coaches in Newgate Street. “ Now for it!’ exclaimed the Magsman to himeelf; and, with a comparatively slight effort, he broke off his chains. A weight seemed to be lifted from his heart in a moment: it bounded with an elasticity which scat- tered all remaining doubts and fears to the winds He felt as if half of his freedom were already ac- complished, and that it only depended on himeelf to consummate the rest. Had he imbibed a tumbler full of brandy, the effects could not have been more exhilarating. Without losing a moment unnecessarily, Jce Warren screwed the three pieces of the jemmy to- gether. He then drew the iron bedstead as noise- lesaly as possible into the middle of the cell, and lifted it up on one end. By means of the chair he mounted on the head-board, which was uppermost; and now, through the deep loop-hole of his dungeon, he could see the lights in the houses on the opposite side of Newgate Street. Yes—and he beheld the people passing in both directions; and the forms of the drivers seated owende their vebicles were borne rapidly by. Life and bustle were without; solitude and death within:—and he must escape—oh! he must escape—from the gloom and the danger of the latter, to join once more the companionship and the pleasures of the former ! We have already stated that the cell had a vaulted roof: and consequently the centre thereof was the thinnest part. Mounted on the upraised bedstead, the Magsman attacked with his crow-bar the sold COMIC OO© So CO —_—___—._