Penny Dreadfuls, 1916 · page 361 of 400
Tom Anderson, Dare-Devil: A Young Virginian in the Revolution — page 361: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a page of running prose (page 341) from what appears to be a Victorian penny dreadful novel titled "Sentenced." The text describes the aftermath of a court martial verdict affecting a character named Dick Knatchbull, who appears to be a wealthy benefactor of Barbados. The passage depicts Colonel Forbes arguing that Knatchbull's life should not be lost "at the hands of a savage," while others—including a Bishop, the Marquis de la Jonquiére, and an Archdeacon—discuss the sentence with apparent helplessness and distress. The scene culminates with the Bishop expressing emotional anguish about the "awful thing" occurring.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SENTENCED 341 was unfriendly to the savage who “had tried to murder Dick Knatchbull,” save only those that loved Tom. Then they waited upon the Commandant, — Bishop Coleridge, the Marquis de la Jonquiére, and “the American.”’ Colonel Forbes said that in effect Dick Knatchbull was Barbados. He represented a family which had enriched Barbados with princely bequests, with far-reaching public benefits. The white and the black population of Bar- bados had been made legatees of the Codrington estate in distinct and separate provisions, redounding to the wel- fare of each. The good which Colonel Codrington had done was not interred with his bones. Barbados had flourished through the dispensations of his largess. Was the repre- sentative of the Codrington Family— himself a benefactor of the Islands—to lose his life at the hands of a savage, and the homicide escape the punishment of his crime? “Knatchbull is still alive,” protested [om hotly. “Mr. Knatchbull is in a dying condition. Public ven- geance can hardly be curbed.” He was immovable. But he was obliging! They would receive passports to the guard-room; permission to spend the interval with the condemned, and to be present at the execution. The leaves of the varnish-tree before the officers’ quar- ters at the barracks were as still as if they were moulded of lead. Not a current of air was in motion. In one corner of the veranda sat the Bishop. He was outwardly composed, but his big heart shook within him. The Archdeacon of Barbados and Captain Tulloch talked in undertones. The Marquis de la Jonquiére prowled about the veranda and gnawed his lip. For the first time in his life he experienced the tragedy of helplessness. With all his personal attraction, with all his advantages of birth, place, and boundless means, he could not avert a sentence of court martial. Suddenly the Bishop rose to his feet. “This is an awful thing! And I feel as if | too were about to die.” CORNICOOO® <S (CO) mn