The Steam-Packet: A Tale of the River and the Ocean — page 220: what you’re looking at

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

THE STEAM PACKET, 163. informed his prisoners that they might rest there for a short time if they felt so disposed. They gladly acquiesced in the proposal; and the officer, probably suspecting that he might have been a little too hasty in treating the two English gentlemen as common felons, not- withstanding the extraordinary attire of one of them, increased the comfort of this temporary repose from the fatigues of a rapid march, by freeing them from the chains which had so ignominiously manacled them. : The moment the captain found himself released from the handcuffs he took a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery, in order to ascer- tain which quarter presented the most eligible avenue of escape. The same idea flitted across the brain of the tailor at the same moment ; and he on his side threw the same kind of look upon the same pro- spect. Those glances then darted off each at a tangent from the circle described by the aforesaid panoramic survey, and encountered one another in a manner significant enough to transfuse from soul to soul the hopes of speedily eluding the hundred-eyed Argus into whose power our heroes had fallen. The gendarme was a tall, stout, and some- what awkwardly-made man: indeed it appeared that however rapidly he might choose to travel on horseback, he was by no means adapted for any peculiar feat of locomotive celerity, when obliged to trust to his own legs. All these circumstances, so advantageous in themselves, both Captain Pentonville and Mr. Buckram computed in their own minds, on the one side; while on the other there appeared a small set-off in the shape of a carbine, a huge sword, and a pair of pistols, which were certainly so many advantages in favour of the gendarme. Whether the carbine and pistols were loaded or not, it was impossible to decide :—still a desperate venture was preferable to an ignominious walk to Calais prison—perhaps in the presence of forty Lumitaries just debarking from their gallant Steam-Packet. There was, more- Over, One more point to be considered: and this was, that should both prisoners take to their heels, in different directions, at the same mo- ment, it was very clear the gendarme could only pursue one; and thus escape appeared certain in the perspective view of the other. It was, probably, animated at the same identical moment with this last very important consideration, that Captain Pentonville suddenly started upon his legs and took to his heels on one side, while Mr. Buckram did precisely the same on the other. For an instant the gendarme seemed stupified by this sudden evaporation of both his prisoners ;— but in another moment he drew a pistol from his belt and discharged it point-blank at the tailor, who was flying along the bank of the canal like lightning, Simultaneously with the report of the weapon, M2 Gomicbooks (E(0)