The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 102: what you’re looking at

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

THE up, and where old wooden things are mouldering with the process of decay. To the walls were sus- pended bunches of herbs of various kinds, hung there to drys and amongst them was a considera- ble quantity of savin, the detestable use of which in such hands as those of Mrs. Lindley, was to produce abortion. But of this fact Caroline Walters was happily ignorant : otherwise, it would only have increased the sentiment of aversion which she already experienced with regard to the midwife, Nevertheless, if the sight of those herbs produced no unpleasant effect upon the young girl, she was speedily horrified and startled by other spectacles which this room presented. For, ranged upon a shelf stood several glass jars, each containing the diminu- tive corpse of an infant preserved in spirits of wine. Yielding to an invincible impulse of curiosity, but with acold tremor of the frame, Caroline advanced to scan these objects nearer ; and as she gazed with mingled loathing and fearful interest, she discovered something connected with each tiny body that en- hanced the poignancy of those feelings. For they were monsters—human monsters—which were pre- served in those bottles, and on which the eyes of the young girl were thus fixed! That those infants had died at their birth, was probable : that some, if not all, had been murdered, either by stifling or poison, was not very unlikely; —but this latter idea did not for a moment strike Caroline Walters. All her thoughts were absorbed in the loathsome monstrosities which she was con- templating. For in one jar was an infant with an enormous protuberance, having the appearance of an immense wen, upon one side of its little head: another contained a child of hideous features and without any arms;—a third displayed the horrid spectacle of twin bodies with one head—the revolt- ing production of nature thus having four arms and four legs;—and a fourth vase contained an infant corpse that had neither arms nor legs atall. In fine, these specimens of the terrible eccentricities which occasionally come within the cognizance of those who practise midwifery, were amongst the most revolting which the annals of the art have ever recorded. Turning away at length from the disgusting exhi- bition, and with such a sickening sensation at the heart that she was forced to place the candle-stick upon a table for fear she should drop it and be left in the dark amidst those horrors, Caroline leant against the wall for support. While thus sustaining herself, and wondering what sentiment of curiosity could have originally prompted her to enter the room at all, she cast her eyes around as if fearful lest some terrific spectre should suddenly rise from amidst the pile of lumber or appear upon the thres- hold of the door,—when her looks settled upon a tall black wooden ease, standing upright against the wall. Again she shuddered with a cold trembling from head to foot: for this box at first struck her as being a coffin that was planted there! But a second and more searching glance showed her that it had not that angular projection of the sides which marks the sinister shape of the receptacle for the dead. And now that same mysterious and invincible curiosity which had already influenced her on this eventful evening, once more impelled her to ap- proach the object of her attention: and observing that the case had a door hung on hinges and fastened MYSTERIKS. | by means of a small latch, she was prompted to S7 open it. The door swung back: but no pen can describe the terror which seized upon the young woman when the bleached bones of a skeleton were suddenly revealed to her view. The consternation which fell upon her, stifled the cry that rose to her lips: and fornearly a minute she was held as it were motionless—petrified—statue- like,—and yet with her very flesh creeping. Horror seized upon her brain: the effect was as if the Me- dusa’s head had thus abruptly met her eyes—turning her to stone. While this appalling influence lasted, by no human effort could she have averted her gaze from the anatomy: a supernal power appeared to rivet her looks on the whitened skeleton ! And that skeleton !—it appeared to be standing upright in its case—for it was fastened by the head to the top thereof: its long fingers were slightly bent—its toes pointed downward ;—it seemed to grin horribly with its two rows of white and perfect teeth,—and Caroline thought that with its eyeless sockets it looked with a stony and death-like gaze upon her. At the same moment that this appalling spectacle was displayed to her view,—appalling we say, con- sidering her state of mind,—the wind came roaring, rushing, and bellowing down upon the house with such fury that it shook to its very foundation;— and for an instant the thought flashed to the girl’s imagination that the day of judgment was at hand. A draught swept through the chamber in spite of the well-closed windows with their shutters inside and their large wooden shades without,—for this room looked into the street,—and, agitated by that piercing, penetrating gust, the herbs rustled against the wall like the garments of some being approach- ing the young woman from behind—and the bones rattled slightly in the upright box. A vertigo seized upon the unfortunate Caroline; and, staggering back—but uttering no ery, for her lips were sealed by the feeling that was now passing over her—she sank on a chair that happened to stand near. Wildly she cast her eyes around: objects of terror, conjured up by her excited imagination, met them on every side;—and, she felt as if she were about to go raving mad, when a bell was suddenly rung with violence in the house. Caroline started from her seat; and all the appa- ritions which her fancy had depicted, vanished in an instant, The thought flashed to her that some one was up and stirring in the dwelling; and the sensation of utter loneliness abandoned her. It Seemed as if something like life and animation had awakened beneath that roof: the certainty sprang up in her mind that should she call out for assist- ance, succour would come ;—and it was even witha courageous feeling that she closed the door of the skeleton’s case. Scearcely had she done this, when the bell was rung furiously a second time ;—and Miss Walters hurried back to her own chamber. Shutting the door as noiselessly as possible, she placed the candle upon the mantel-piece, and seated herself to listen: for she knew that the summons came from one of the chambers tenanted by the mid- wife's lodgers, Then the thought struck her that Mrs. Lindley, who slept in a room below, would be hurrying up-stairs to answer that bell: and it was probable that she would see the light in Caroline’s nn a ee eee Clooolkks. conn Com