The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 340: what you’re looking at

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

314 THE COURT OF LONDON outside, for the object was too loathsome in every respect for the individual to stay inside the place along with it. Mr. Lawrence Sampson rose very early on this same morning, for he was resolved to adopt all possible measures for the arrest of Daniel Coffin. Scarcely had the officer dressed himself and taken a mouthful of breakfast, when he received intelligence that the corpse of the murdered woman had been found, and very soon afterward, the Swag Chovey Bloak called to inform him that the Hangman was at Jeremy’s Humpage’s house. Of course the fence made Sampson understand that old Humpage had not voluntarily secreted the criminal, but that he had forced himself into that asylum. The Bow Street officer accordingly lost no time in repairing with half a dozen of his men to the very midst of that morass of wretchedness and demoralization bearing the name of Whitechapel, and on reaching the street where Humpage’s establishment was situated, Larry Sampson disposed of his subordinates in such a manner that they might anticipate any attempt at escape on the part of the Hangman should he take the alarm before his capture could be accomplished. Two men were left to watch in the street; two were sent around to obtain admis- sion into one of the houses the back windows of which overlooked the yard in the rear of Humpage’s establishment; and when these dispositions were made, Larry Sampson, attended by his two remaining followers, knocked at the front door of the habitation. Several minutes elapsed, and the summons received no answer. Sampson now suspected that something was wrong, and, without waiting to repeat that summons, he at once ordered an entry to be effected by breaking open the shutters of one of the windows on the ground floor. This was speedily done, and the officer, with a loaded pistol in his hand, was the first to enter the house, his two comrades following close behind. They were now in one of the spacious warerooms of the establishment, and having assured them- selves that no one was concealed in that part of the premises, they forced open the door, which was always carefully locked at night, and thus effected an entry into the passage on the ground floor. All the lower part of the house being searched in vain, they ascended to the first story, and there, in the middle of the passage, they discovered the corpse of CoMmiiclooolkks (CO nin