The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 241: what you’re looking at

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

214 REYNOLDS’ WORKS ‘And, on your oath, are you ignorant who that person was? ”’ ‘No, I knew him to be a detective officer.”’ ‘You had, then, seen him before? ”’ ‘““'Yes,’”’ replied Mrs. Webber, and for a moment she looked confused, but quickly recovering her self-possession, she prepared to answer the next query. ‘Be so kind as to tell the jury under what circumstances you had seen that detective before.” — ‘“‘ A few days back,”’ answered Mrs. Webber, “ I was going on a little journey — ” ‘Stop a moment,’ exclaimed the cross-examining counsel. ‘““Immediately after the inquest at Liverpool, you returned to London, I believe, where you again took up your abode with your son-in-law John Smedley? ”’ “Yes, but I had promised the authorities here to come forward when wanted, and give the requisite evidence — ”’ ‘Exactly so. You promised, but did you mean to per- form? However,” exclaimed the barrister, without awaiting an answer, “‘ continue your statement to the jury in respect to the little journey you thought of undertaking a few days back. I believe that for this little journey your boxes were all packed, and a hackney-coach was at the door, when something happened? What was that something? ” ‘‘ A person accosted me as I was stepping into the hackney- coach, and announced himself as a detective officer. He charged me with an intention to go abroad, but I denied it, as it was altogether untrue. Then he told me that if I went anywhere, — no matter how short or how long the distance, —he should follow me, and that if I attempted to leave England, he should take me into custody.” ‘‘'To be sure,”’ said the barrister, with a glance at the jury; ‘he would have taken you into custody as a witness flying from her recognizances. And what else did he tell you? What warning did he give you? ”’ “That there was a watch set upon my movements, and that it would be totally useless for me to think of getting out of the country. But I told him all along that I had no such intention, nor had I, and I think it is very unfair — ”’ ‘“Never mind what you think,” interrupted the cross- examining counsel; “it 1s for the jury to think in the present case. The detective officer who accompanied you in the econniclhooks (E(0) im