The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 399: what you’re looking at

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not be so acted upon as to prevent him from open- ing the trap-door again from within the cavern ; and the other was that he might not altogether shut ont the air necessary for life. So horribly bewildered however were the wretched man’s thoughts, that it struck him not at the instant that the first reason was alone sufficient as a mo- tive for leaving the trap-door partially unclosed, | without the adjunctive of the second. ‘Yet both ideas had flashed to his mind at tHe same instant ; ‘and even in the hideous tarmoil of his thoughts they had suggested that precautionary measure. He now lost no time in lighting the second torch—for the first was nearly extinct; and he shrank from the idea of being left in the dark in that subterranean. He heard the stealthy cat-like paces of the tiger returning to the trap-door which covered the aperture of the cavern; and his blood congealed with horror lest the monster should be by any means enabled to get at him. Next he heard the tiger sniffing about above the trap-door; and then, through the slight opening which he had left, he could perceive a dark substance inter- cepting the light. A low savage growl made him aware that the tiger had scented his presence in the cavern; and returning up the steps, he sud- denly thrust the torch upward in such a way that the flame ascended through the crevice. So farious a roar burst from the throat of the tiger that the ruins appeared to be all alive with hor- rible sounds; and the Burker was terrified at the result of his proceeding. He listened with sus- pended breath: he could hear nothing—he hoped that the wild beast was gone. The torch was burning out: in a few more minutes he would be in darkness. All continued silent: he began to breathe more freely: but now the torch was ex- tinct. Should he ascend from the cavern P—dared he leave bis hiding-place? At all events should he not first carry out his design of securing as much coin as possible about his person P Searoely had he mentally asked himself these questions,—or rather, we should say, scarcely were they shaped by the carrent of his thoughts, when another subdued grow! reached his ears; and this was speedily followed by different sounds. There was the tearing down of masonry—the hurling about of stones—the rushing movements of the wild beast,—all mingled with fierce and savage, but still subdued growlings. The Burker speedily comprehended what the monster was about. The tiger had ciscovered the corpse of the Gossoon in its rade smoonti sepuichre; and the beast was clearing obstacles away, previous to draggin it forth. Now the Barker could at length tell that this was achieved: for the noise of the tiger's savage gambollings reached the ears of the hor- rified wretch who was pent up in the cavern. As a cat plays with a mouse, so was the wild beast disporting with the dead body. athe Barker “ in utter darkness, save and ex- cept w a feeble glimmering penetrated through the chink caused by the slightly opened trap-door : but this gleaming was gradually growing fainter and fainter, as the shades of evening were closing in upon the earth. Good heavens! was the Eng- lishman to remain all night in that cavern, with the horrible tiger watching an opportunity to make him its prey? The thought was enough to turn his brain. There he was, surrounded by THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. riches sufficient to enable him to revel in all luxu- ries for the remainder of his life, however extended that life might be: but he would gladly give all the contents of those jars for the privilege of being seated in some wretched khan, over a sorry mess of rice, so long as it was in the midst of a town within the limits of which the tiger would not be likely to come. It did not appear that the wild beast chose to banquet upon the dead man: the tiger was doubt- lees waiting for the living one. Its maw required to be refreshed with the warm blood gushing from veins just torn open; and it could not be ap- peased by the blood that had stagnated in the veins of the dead. Bat ever and anon the tiger came to the trap-door at the mouth of the cavern —ascraping, scratching, and tearing with its paws, as if by some means to widen the chink left by the partially opened masonry. Then, at those times, the Burker’s blood would curdle almost as com- pletely as that of the dead Goseoon: for he was tortured with the horrible apprehension that the tiger might manage to tear open the trap-door, or rather make it alide completely back. And during the intervals between the wild beast’s visits to the trap-door, other frightful ideas crept into the Burker’s mind. Perhaps there might be reptiles in that cavern P perhaps some deadly snake was gliding towards him, stealthy, insidious, and noise- loss, to dart at his leg or twine up it? Oh | what maledictions did the Burker invoke upon the jars of treasure which he had discovered !—how heartily did he wish that the instant the Gossoon was dead he hed rushed away from the spot ! An hour passed in the frightfal manner which we havo been describing, until at length the tiger stretched itself down upon the trap-door, as if re- solved to wait until its intended victim should be by some means or another compelled to come forth. At first the wild beast was restless and un- easy, continuing to claw at that trap-door, and growling, sometimes loudly, sometimes in a sab- dued manner, until at length it appeared to fall asleep—or at all events it remained perfectly still. The Burker was fearful lest the monstrous beast should lie s0 completely over the chink as to shut out all the fresh air; for he had already become sensible of the close and stagnating nature of the atmosphere in that subterranean. But it happened that the tiger did not thus cover up that opening with its furred form : no doubt it was lying there with its muszsle close to the very opening iteelf, eo as to be in readiness to seize upon its victim at his first endeavour to issue from the subterranean trap in which, mouse-like, he was caught. Thus passed the night. We might fill whole pages by depicting the horrible thoughts which raged and agitated in the mind of the Barker— thoughts which fastened like vulture-talons on his brain—thotghtse which at one time goaded him almost to madness, and which at another froze all the blood in his veins and produced a sensation which struck like an ice-chill to his heart. But all these details we must leave to be elaborated by the conception of our readers, Saffice it to say that the Burker passed such a night as must have atoned—if earthly penalties ever can atone—for no one portion of the misdeeds that had branded his As the morning began to dawn, the tiger rose A COMIC DOG SS (CO