The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 334: what you’re looking at

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

THE STRANGLER 305 Burker behold enough to convince him that it was the Strangler’s friend whom he had just seen, and from whose lips that rueful lamentation pealed forth. Now, therefore, scarcely had the Burker gotten rid of one enemy when he experienced the consciousness of being exposed to the in- sidious proceedings of another, and thus, in the first flush of the signal victory he had obtained, was a damp thrown upon his spirits, and he felt the necessity of being as much as ever upon his guard. Retaining possession of the lasso with which he had achieved his conquest, the Burker dragged the dead body into the midst of some long grass at a distance, and there he left it. Returning to his cave, hesat down to deliberate whether he should continue to abide there until the arrival of some friendly disposed person to guide him out of the jungle, or whether he should make one more desperate effort, unassisted and alone, to find an issue from that wilderness of horrors. That the surviving Strangler would haunt him with a-restless pertinacity, and watch every opportunity to avenge the death of his comrade, the Burker had no doubt. Whether, therefore, he should remain where he was to dare that danger, or whether he should once more encounter the hideous perils of the pathless jungle, — these were the alternatives which he now seriously pondered. But when he thought of all the horrors he had experienced during his wanderings, when he shudderingly remembered how the boa-constrictor had flung itself down from the tree upon the tiger, and how he had heard the bones of the animal crashing and crushing in the enormous folds of the reptile, he dared not incur the chance of becoming the victim of so horrible a doom. His decision was therefore taken in favour of a continued residence at the cavern. The remainder of that day passed without any incident worthy of importance, and when the sun was sinking toward its western couch, the Burker began to prepare his barri- cade as usual. The night went by without producing any subject for alarm, though for the first several hours the man could not close his eyes in slumber. At length sleep stole upon him, induced by a drowsiness which he could not pos- sibly shake off, and he slumbered on until he was awakened by the sounds of a strange music resembling that of a flageolet, but with harsher and more discordant notes. CORE Oe Ss) (S©)