Part X.
FLINT JACKSON.
Farnham hops are world-famous, or at least famous in that huge portionof the world where English ale is drunk, and whereon, I have a thousandtimes heard and read, the sun never sets. The name, therefore, of thepleasant Surrey village, in and about which the events I am about torelate occurred, is, I may fairly presume, known to many of my readers.I was ordered to Farnham, to investigate a case of burglary, committedin the house of a gentleman of the name of Hursley, during the temporaryabsence of the family, which had completely nonplussed the unpractisedDogberrys of the place, albeit it was not a riddle at all difficult toread. The premises, it was quickly plain to me, had been broken, notinto, but out of; and a watch being set upon the motions of the veryspecious and clever person left in charge of the house and property, itwas speedily discovered that the robbery had been effected by herselfand a confederate, of the name of Dawkins, her brother-in-law. Some ofthe stolen goods were found secreted at his lodgings; but the mostvaluable portion, consisting of plate, and a small quantity of jewelry,had disappeared: it had questionless been converted into money, asconsiderable sums, in sovereigns, were found upon both Dawkins and thewoman, Sarah Purday. Now, as it had been clearly ascertained thatneither of the prisoners had left Farnham since the burglary, it wasmanifest there was a receiver near at hand who had purchased themissing articles. Dawkins and Purday were, however, dumb as stones uponthe subject; and nothing occurred to point suspicion till early in theevening previous to the second examination of the prisoners before themagistrates, when Sarah Purday asked for pen, ink, and paper, for thepurpose of writing to one Mr. Jackson, in whose service she had formerlylived. I happened to be at the prison, and of course took the liberty ofcarefully unsealing her note and reading it. It revealed nothing; andsave by its extremely cautious wording, and abrupt peremptory tone,coming from a servant to her former master, suggested nothing. I hadcarefully reckoned the number of sheets of paper sent into the cell, andnow on recounting them found that three were missing. The turnkeyreturned immediately, and asked for the two other letters she hadwritten. The woman denied having written any other, and for proofpointed to the torn fragments of the missing sheets lying on the floor.These were gathered up and brought to me, but I could make nothing outof them, every word having been carefully run through with the pen, andconverted into an unintelligible blot. The request contained in theactually-written letter was one simple enough in itself, merely, "thatMr. Jackson would not on any account fail to provide her, inconsideration of past services, with legal assistance on the morrow."The first nine words were strongly underlined; and I made out after agood deal of trouble that the word "pretence" had been partiallyeffaced, and "account" substituted for it.
"She need not have wasted three sheets of paper upon such a nonsensicalrequest as that," observed the turnkey. "Old Jackson wouldn't shell outsixpence to save her or anybody else from the gallows."
"I am of a different opinion; but tell me, what sort of a person is thisformer master of hers?"
"All I know about him is that he's a cross-grained, old curmudgeon,living about a mile out of Farnham, who scrapes money together bylending small sums upon notes-of-hand at short dates, and at athundering interest. Flint Jackson folk about here call him."
"At all events, forward the letter at once, and to-morrow we shallsee--what we shall see. Good-evening."
It turned out as I anticipated. A few minutes after the prisoners werebrought into the justice-room, a Guilford solicitor of much localcelebrity arrived, and announced that he appeared for both theinculpated parties. He was allowed a private conference with them, atthe close of which he stated that his clients would reserve theirdefence. They were at once committed for trial, and I overheard thesolicitor assure the woman that the ablest counsel on the circuit wouldbe retained in their behalf.
I had no longer a doubt that it was my duty to know something further ofthis suddenly-generous Flint Jackson, though how to set about it was amatter of considerable difficulty. There was no legal pretence for asearch-warrant, and I doubted the prudence of proceeding upon my ownresponsibility with so astute an old fox as Jackson was represented tobe; for, supposing him to be a confederate with the burglars, he had bythis time in all probability sent the stolen property away--to London inall likelihood; and should I find nothing, the consequences ofransacking his house merely because he had provided a former servantwith legal assistance would be serious. Under these circumstances Iwrote to headquarters for instructions, and by return of post receivedorders to prosecute the inquiry thoroughly, but cautiously, and toconsider time as nothing so long as there appeared a chance of fixingJackson with the guilt of receiving the plunder. Another suspiciouscircumstance that I have omitted to notice in its place was that theGuilford solicitor tendered bail for the prisoners to any reasonableamount, and named Enoch Jackson as one of the securities. Bail was,however, refused.
There was no need for over-hurrying the business, as the prisoners werecommitted to the Surrey Spring Assizes, and it was now the season of thehop-harvest--a delightful and hilarious period about Farnham when theweather is fine and the yield abundant. I, however, lost no time inmaking diligent and minute inquiry as to the character and habits ofJackson, and the result was a full conviction that nothing but the fearof being denounced as an accomplice could have induced such a miserly,iron-hearted rogue to put himself to charges in defence of theimprisoned burglars.
One afternoon, whilst pondering the matter, and at the same timeenjoying the prettiest and cheerfulest of rural sights, that ofhop-picking, the apothecary at whose house I was lodging--we will callhim Mr. Morgan; he _was_ a Welshman--tapped me suddenly on the shoulder,and looking sharply round, I perceived he had something he deemed ofimportance to communicate.
"What is it?" I said quickly.
"The oddest thing in the world. There's Flint Jackson, his deaf oldwoman, and the young people lodging with him, all drinking and boozingaway at yon alehouse."
"Shew them to me, if you please."
A few minutes brought us to the place of boisterous entertainment, thelower room of which was suffocatingly full of tipplers andtobacco-smoke. We nevertheless contrived to edge ourselves in; and mycompanion stealthily pointed out the group, who were seated togethernear the farther window, and then left me to myself.
The appearance of Jackson entirely answered to the popular prefix ofFlint attached to his name. He was a wiry, gnarled, heavy-browed,iron-jawed fellow of about sixty, with deep-set eyes aglow with sinisterand greedy instincts. His wife, older than he, and so deaf apparently asthe door of a dungeon, wore a simpering, imbecile look of wonderment, itseemed to me, at the presence of such unusual and abundant cheer. Theyoung people, who lodged with Jackson, were really a very frank, honest,good-looking couple, though not then appearing to advantage--thecountenance of Henry Rogers being flushed and inflamed with drink, andthat of his wife's clouded with frowns, at the situation in which shefound herself, and the riotous conduct of her husband. Their briefhistory was this:--They had both been servants in a family living notfar distant from Farnham--Sir Thomas Lethbridge's, I understood--whenabout three or four months previous to the present time, Flint Jackson,who had once been in an attorney's office, discovered that Henry Rogers,in consequence of the death of a distant relative in London, wasentitled to property worth something like L1500. There were, however,some law-difficulties in the way, which Jackson offered, if the businesswas placed in his hands, to overcome for a consideration, and in themeantime to supply board and lodging and such necessary sums of money asHenry Rogers might require. With this brilliant prospect in view servicebecame at once utterly distasteful. The fortunate legatee had for sometime courted Mary Elkins, one of the ladies' maids, a pretty,bright-eyed brunette; and they were both united in the bonds of holymatrimony on the very day the "warnings" they had given expired. Sincethen they had lived at Jackson's house in daily expectation of their"fortune," with which they proposed to start in the public line.
br /> Finding myself unrecognized, I called boldly for a pot and a pipe, andafter some manoeuvring contrived to seat myself within ear-shot ofJackson and his party. They presented a strange study. Henry Rogers wasboisterously excited, and not only drinking freely himself, but treatinga dozen fellows round him, the cost of which he from time to time calledupon "Old Flint," as he courteously styled his ancient friend, todischarge.
"Come, fork out, Old Flint!" he cried again and again. "It'll be allright, you know, in a day or two, and a few half-pence over. Shell out,old fellow! What signifies, so you're happy?"
Jackson complied with an affectation of acquiescent gaiety ludicrous tobehold. It was evident that each successive pull at his purse was likewrenching a tooth out of his head, and yet while the dismalest of smileswrinkled his wolfish mouth, he kept exclaiming: "A fine lad--a fine lad!generous as a prince! Good Lord, another round! He minds money no morethan as if gold was as plentiful as gravel! But a fine generous lad forall that!"
Jackson, I perceived, drank considerably, as if incited thereto bycompressed savageness. The pretty young wife would not taste a drop, buttears frequently filled her eyes, and bitterness pointed her words asshe vainly implored her husband to leave the place and go home with her.To all her remonstrances the maudlin drunkard replied only by foolery,varied occasionally by an attempt at a line or two of the song of "TheThorn."
"But you _will_ plant thorns, Henry," rejoined the provoked wife in alouder and angrier tone than she ought perhaps to have used--"not onlyin my bosom, but your own, if you go on in this sottish, disgracefulway."
"Always quarreling, always quarreling!" remarked Jackson, pointedly,towards the bystanders--"_always_ quarreling!"
"Who is always quarreling?" demanded the young wife sharply. "Do youmean me and Henry?"
"I was only saying, my dear, that you don't like your husband to be sogenerous and free-hearted--that's all," replied Jackson, with aconfidential wink at the persons near him.
"Free-hearted and generous! Fool-hearted and crazy, you mean!" rejoinedthe wife, who was much excited. "And you ought to be ashamed of yourselfto give him money for such brutish purposes."
"Always quarreling, always quarreling!" iterated Jackson, but this timeunheard by Mrs. Rogers--"_always_, perpetually quarreling!"
I could not quite comprehend all this. If so large a sum as L1500 wasreally coming to the young man, why should Jackson wince as he did atdisbursing small amounts which he could repay himself with abundantinterest? If otherwise--and it was probable he should not berepaid--what meant his eternal, "fine generous lad!" "spirited youngman!" and so on? What, above all, meant that look of diabolical hatewhich shot out from his cavernous eyes towards Henry Rogers when hethought himself unobserved, just after satisfying a fresh claim on hispurse? Much practice in reading the faces and deportment of such menmade it pretty clear to me that Jackson's course of action respectingthe young man and his money was not yet decided upon in his own mind;that he was still perplexed and irresolute; and hence the apparentcontradiction in his words and acts.
Henry Rogers at length dropped asleep with his head upon one of thesettle-tables; Jackson sank into sullen silence; the noisy room grewquiet; and I came away.
I was impressed with a belief that Jackson entertained some sinisterdesign against his youthful and inexperienced lodgers and I determinedto acquaint them with my suspicions. For this purpose Mr. Morgan, whohad a patient living near Jackson's house, undertook to invite them totea on some early evening, on the pretence that he had heard of a tavernthat might suit them when they should receive their fortune. Let meconfess, too, that I had another design besides putting the young peopleon their guard against Jackson. I thought it very probable that it wouldnot be difficult to glean from them some interesting and suggestiveparticulars concerning the ways, means, practices, outgoings andincomings, of their worthy landlord's household.
Four more days passed unprofitably away, and I was becoming weary of thebusiness, when about five o'clock in the afternoon the apothecarygalloped up to his door on a borrowed horse, jumped off with surprisingcelerity, and with a face as white as his own magnesia, burst out as hehurried into the room where I was sitting: "Here's a pretty kettle offish! Henry Rogers has been poisoned, and by his wife!"
"Poisoned!"
"Yes, poisoned; although, thanks to my being on the spot I think he willrecover. But I must instantly to Dr. Edwards: I will tell you all when Ireturn."
The promised "all" was this: Morgan was passing slowly by Jackson'shouse, in the hope of seeing either Mr. or Mrs. Rogers, when theservant-woman, Jane Riddet, ran out and begged him to come in, as theirlodger had been taken suddenly ill. Ill indeed! The surface of his bodywas cold as death, and the apothecary quickly discovered that he hadbeen poisoned with sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), a quantity of whichhe, Morgan, had sold a few days previously to Mrs. Rogers, who, whenpurchasing it, said Mr. Jackson wanted it to apply to some warts thatannoyed him. Morgan fortunately knew the proper remedy, and desiredJackson, who was in the room, and seemingly very anxious and flurried,to bring some soap instantly, a solution of which he proposed to giveimmediately to the seemingly dying man. The woman-servant was gone tofind Mrs. Rogers, who had left about ten minutes before, having firstmade the tea in which the poison had been taken. Jackson hurried out ofthe apartment, but was gone so long that Morgan, becoming impatient,scraped a quantity of plaster off the wall, and administered it with thebest effect. At last Jackson came back, and said there was unfortunatelynot a particle of soap in the house. A few minutes afterwards the youngwife, alarmed at the woman-servant's tidings, flew into the room in anagony of alarm and grief. Simulated alarm, crocodile grief, Mr. Morgansaid; for there could, in his opinion, be no doubt that she hadattempted to destroy her husband. Mr. Jackson, on being questioned,peremptorily denied that he had ever desired Mrs. Rogers to procuresulphuric acid for him, or had received any from her--a statement whichso confounded the young woman that she instantly fainted. The upshot wasthat Mrs. Rogers was taken into custody and lodged in prison.
This terrible news flew through Farnham like wild-fire. In a few minutesit was upon everybody's tongue: the hints of the quarrelsome life theyoung couple led, artfully spread by Jackson, were recalled, and nodoubt appeared to be entertained of the truth of the dreadful charge. Ihad no doubt either, but my conviction was not that of the Farnham folk.This, then, was the solution of the struggle I had seen going on inJackson's mind; this the realization of the dark thought which I hadimperfectly read in the sinister glances of his restless eyes. He hadintended to destroy both the husband and wife--the one by poison, andthe other by the law! Doubtless, then, the L1500 had been obtained, andthis was the wretched man's infernal device for retaining it! I wentover with Morgan early the next morning to see the patient, and foundthat, thanks to the prompt antidote administered, and Dr. Edwards'subsequent active treatment, he was rapidly recovering. Thestill-suffering young man, I was glad to find, would not believe for amoment in his wife's guilt. I watched the looks and movements of Jacksonattentively--a scrutiny which he, now aware of my vocation, by no meansappeared to relish.
"Pray," said I, suddenly addressing Riddet, the woman-servant--"pray,how did it happen that you had no soap in such a house as this yesterdayevening?"
"No soap!" echoed the woman, with a stare of surprise. "Why"----
"No--no soap," hastily broke in her master with loud and menacingemphasis. "There was not a morsel in the house. I bought some afterwardsin Farnham."
The cowed and bewildered woman slunk away. I was more than satisfied;and judging by Jackson's countenance, which changed beneath my look tothe color of the lime-washed wall against which he stood, he surmisedthat I was.
My conviction, however, was not evidence, and I felt that I should needeven more than my wonted good-fortune to bring the black crime home tothe real perpetrator. For the present, at all events, I must keepsilence--a resolve I found hard to persist in at the examination of theaccused wife, an hour or
two afterwards, before the county magistrates.Jackson had hardened himself to iron, and gave his lying evidence withruthless self-possession. He had _not_ desired Mrs. Rogers to purchasesulphuric acid; had _not_ received any from her. In addition also to histestimony that she and her husband were always quarreling, it was provedby a respectable person that high words had passed between them on theevening previous to the day the criminal offence was committed, and thatfoolish, passionate expressions had escaped her about wishing to be ridof such a drunken wretch. This evidence, combined with the medicaltestimony, appeared so conclusive to the magistrates, that spite of theunfortunate woman's wild protestations of innocence, and the rendingagony which convulsed her frame, and almost choked her utterence, shewas remanded to prison till that day-week, when, the magistratesinformed her, she would be again brought up for the merely formalcompletion of the depositions, and be then fully committed on thecapital charge.
I was greatly disturbed, and walked for two or three hours about thequiet neighborhood of Farnham, revolving a hundred fragments of schemesfor bringing the truth to light, without arriving at any feasibleconclusion. One only mode of procedure seemed to offer, and that butdimly, a hope of success. It was, however, the best I could hit upon,and I directed my steps towards the Farnham prison. Sarah Purday had notyet, I remembered, been removed to the county jail at Guilford.
"Is Sarah Purday," I asked the turnkey, "more reconciled to her positionthan she was?"
"She's just the same--bitter as gall, and venomous as a viper."
This woman, I should state, was a person of fierce will and strongpassions, and in early life had been respectably situated.
"Just step into her cell," I continued, "upon some excuse or other, andcarelessly drop a hint that if she could prevail upon Jackson to get herbrought by _habeas_ before a judge in London, there could be no doubt ofher being bailed."
The man stared, but after a few words of pretended explanation, went offto do as I requested. He was not long gone. "She's all in a twitterationat the thoughts of it," he said; "and must have pen, ink, and paper,without a moment's delay, bless her consequence!"
These were supplied; and I was soon in possession of her letter, couchedcautiously, but more peremptorily than the former one. I need hardly sayit did not reach its destination. She passed the next day in a state offeverish impatience; and no answer returning, wrote again, her wordsthis time conveying an evident though indistinct threat. I refrainedfrom visiting her till two days had thus passed, and found her, as Iexpected, eaten up with fury. She glared at me as I entered the celllike a chained tigress.
"You appear vexed," I said, "no doubt because Jackson declines to getyou bailed. He ought not to refuse you such a trifling service,considering all things."
"All what things?" replied the woman, eyeing me fiercely.
"That you know best, though I have a shrewd guess."
"What do you guess? and what are you driving at?"
"I will deal frankly with you, Sarah Purday. In the first place, youmust plainly perceive that your _friend_ Jackson has cast youoff--abandoned you to your fate; and that fate will, there can be nodoubt, be transportation."
"Well," she impatiently snarled, "suppose so; what then?"
"This--that you can help yourself in this difficulty by helping me."
"As how?"
"In the first place, give me the means of convicting Jackson of havingreceived the stolen property."
"Ha! How do you know that?"
"Oh, I know it very well--as well almost as you do. But this is not mychief object; there is another far more important one," and I ran overthe incidents relative to the attempt at poisoning. "Now," I resumed,"tell me, if you will, your opinion on this matter."
"That it was Jackson administered the poison, and certainly not theyoung woman," she replied with vengeful promptness.
"My own conviction! This, then, is my proposition:--you aresharp-witted, and know this fellow's ways, habits, and propensitiesthoroughly--I, too, have heard something of them--and it strikes me thatyou could suggest some plan, some device grounded on that knowledge,whereby the truth might come to light."
The woman looked fixedly at me for some time without speaking. As Imeant fairly and honestly by her I could bear her gaze withoutshrinking.
"Supposing I could assist you," she at last said, "how would that helpme?"
"It would help you greatly. You would no doubt be still convicted of theburglary, for the evidence is irresistible; but if in the meantime youshould have been instrumental in saving the life of an innocent person,and of bringing a great criminal to justice, there cannot be a questionthat the Queen's mercy would be extended to you, and the punishment bemerely a nominal one."
"If I were sure of that!" she murmured with a burning scrutiny in hereyes, which were still fixed upon my countenance--"if I were sure ofthat! But you are misleading me."
"Believe me, I am not. I speak in perfect sincerity. Take time toconsider the matter. I will look in again in about an hour; and pray, donot forget that it is your sole and last chance."
I left her, and did not return till more than three hours had passedaway. Sarah Purday was pacing the cell in a frenzy of inquietude.
"I thought you had forgotten me. Now," she continued with rapidvehemence, "tell me, on your word and honor as a man, do you trulybelieve that if I can effectually assist you it will avail me with HerMajesty?"
"I am as positive it will as I am of my own life."
"Well, then, I _will_ assist you. First, then, Jackson was a confederatewith Dawkins and myself, and received the plate and jewelry, for whichhe paid us less than one-third of the value."
"Rogers and his wife were not, I hope, cognizant of this?"
"Certainly not; but Jackson's wife, and the woman-servant, Riddet,were. I have been turning the other business over in my mind," shecontinued, speaking with increasing emotion and rapidity; "and oh,believe me, Mr. Waters, if you can, that it is not solely a selfishmotive which induces me to aid in saving Mary Rogers from destruction. Iwas once myself---- Ah God!"
Tears welled up to the fierce eyes, but they were quickly brushed away,and she continued somewhat more calmly:--"You have heard, I dare say,that Jackson has a strange habit of talking in his sleep?"
"I have, and that he once consulted Morgan as to whether there was anycure for it. It was that which partly suggested"----
"It is, I believe, a mere fancy of his," she interrupted; "or at anyrate the habit is not so frequent, nor what he says so intelligible, ashe thoroughly believes and fears it, from some former circumstances, tobe. His deaf wife cannot undeceive him, and he takes care never even todoze except in her presence only."
"This is not, then, so promising as I hoped."
"Have patience. It is full of promise, as we will manage. Every eveningJackson frequents a low gambling-house, where he almost invariably winssmall sums at cards--by craft, no doubt, as he never drinks there. Whenhe returns home at about ten o'clock, his constant habit is to go intothe front-parlor, where his wife is sure to be sitting at that hour. Hecarefully locks the door, helps himself to brandy and water--plentifullyof late--and falls asleep in his arm-chair; and there they both dozeaway, sometimes till one o'clock--always till past twelve."
"Well; but I do not see how"----
"Hear me out, if you please. Jackson never wastes a candle to drink orsleep by, and at this time of the year there will be no fire. If hespeaks to his wife he does not expect her, from her wooden deafness, toanswer him. Do you begin to perceive my drift?"
"Upon my word, I do not."
"What; if upon awaking, Jackson finds that his wife is Mr. Waters, andthat Mr. Waters relates to him all that he has disclosed in his sleep:that Mr. Hursley's plate is buried in the garden near the lilac-tree;that he, Jackson, received a thousand pounds six weeks ago of HenryRoger's fortune, and that the money is now in the recess on thetop-landing, the key of which is in his breast-pocket; that he was thereceiver of the plate stolen from a hou
se in the close at Salisbury atwelvemonth ago, and sold in London for four hundred and fifty pounds.All this hurled at him," continued the woman with wild energy andflashing eyes, "what else might not a bold, quick-witted man make himbelieve he had confessed, revealed in his brief sleep?"
I had been sitting on a bench; but as these rapid disclosures burst fromher lips, and I saw the use to which they might be turned, I rose slowlyand in some sort involuntarily to my feet, lifted up, as it were, by theenergy of her fiery words.
"God reward you!" I exclaimed, shaking both her hands in mine. "Youhave, unless I blunder, rescued an innocent woman from the scaffold. Isee it all. Farewell!"
"Mr. Waters," she exclaimed, in a changed, palpitating voice, as I waspassing forth; "when all is done, you will not forget me?"
"That I will not, by my own hope of mercy in the hereafter. Adieu!"
At a quarter past nine that evening I, accompanied by two Farnhamconstables, knocked at the door of Jackson's house. Henry Rogers, Ishould state, had been removed to the village. The door was opened bythe woman-servant, and we went in. "I have a warrant for your arrest,Jane Riddet," I said, "as an accomplice in the plate stealing the otherday. There, don't scream, but listen to me." I then intimated the termsupon which alone she could expect favor. She tremblingly promisedcompliance; and after placing the constables outside, in concealment,but within hearing, I proceeded to the parlor, secured the terrified oldwoman, and confined her safely in a distant out-house.
"Now, Riddet," I said, "quick with one of the old lady's gowns, a shawl,cap, _etcetera_." These were brought, and I returned to the parlor. Itwas a roomy apartment, with small, diamond-paned windows, and just thenbut very faintly illumined by the star-light. There were two largehigh-backed easy-chairs, and I prepared to take possession of the onerecently vacated by Jackson's wife. "You must perfectly understand,"were my parting words to the trembling servant, "that we intend standingno nonsense with either you or your master. You cannot escape; but ifyou let Mr. Jackson in as usual, and he enters this room as usual, noharm will befall you: if otherwise, you will be unquestionablytransported. Now, go."
My toilet was not so easily accomplished as I thought it would be. Thegown did not meet at the back by about a foot; that, however, was oflittle consequence, as the high-chair concealed the deficiency; neitherdid the shortness of the sleeves matter much, as the ample shawl couldbe made to hide my too great length of arm; but the skirt was scarcelylower than a Highlander's, and how the deuce I was to crook my bootedlegs up out of view, even in that gloomy starlight, I could hardlyimagine. The cap also was far too small; still, with an ample kerchiefin my hand, my whiskers might, I thought, be concealed. I was stillfidgeting with these arrangements when Jackson knocked at his door. Theservant admitted him without remark, and he presently entered the room,carefully locked the door, and jolted down, so to speak, in the felloweasy-chair to mine.
He was silent for a few moments, and then he bawled out: "She'll swingfor it, they say--swing for it, d'ye hear, dame? But no, of course shedon't--deafer and deafer, deafer and deafer every day. It'll be aprecious good job when the parson says his last prayers over her as wellas others."
He then got up, and went to a cupboard. I could hear--for I dared notlook up--by the jingling of glasses and the outpouring of liquids thathe was helping himself to his spirituous sleeping-draughts. He reseatedhimself, and drank in moody silence, except now and then mumblingdrowsily to himself, but in so low a tone that I could make nothing outof it save an occasional curse or blasphemy. It was nearly eleveno'clock before the muttered self-communing ceased, and his heavy headsank upon the back of the easy-chair. He was very restless, and it wasevident that even his sleeping brain labored with affrighting andoppressive images; but the mutterings, as before he slept, were confusedand indistinct. At length--half an hour had perhaps thus passed--thetroubled meanings became for a few moments clearly audible."Ha--ha--ha!" he burst out, "how are you off for soap? Ho--ho! donethere, my boy; ha--ha! But no--no. Wall-plaster! Who could have thoughtit? But for that I--I---- What do you stare at me so for, you infernalblue-bottle? You--you"---- Again the dream-utterance sank intoindistinctness, and I comprehended nothing more.
About half-past twelve o'clock he awoke, rose, stretched himself, andsaid:--"Come, dame, let's to bed; it's getting chilly here."
"Dame" did not answer, and he again went towards the cupboard. "Here's acandle-end will do for us," he muttered. A lucifer-match was drawnacross the wall, he lit the candle, and stumbled towards me, for he wasscarcely yet awake. "Come, dame, come! Why, thee beest sleeping like adead un! Wake up, will thee---- Ah! murder! thieves! mur"----
My grasp was on the wretch's throat; but there was no occasion to useforce: he recognized me, and nerveless, paralyzed, sank on the floorincapable of motion much less of resistance, and could only gaze in myface in dumb affright and horror.
"Give me the key of the recess up stairs, which you carry in yourbreast-pocket. In your sleep, unhappy man, you have revealed everything."
An inarticulate shriek of terror replied to me. I was silent; andpresently he gasped: "Wha--at, what have I said?"
"That Mr. Hursley's plate is buried in the garden by the lilac-tree;that you have received a thousand pounds belonging to the man you triedto poison; that you netted four hundred and fifty pounds by the platestolen at Salisbury; that you dexterously contrived to slip thesulphuric acid into the tea unseen by Henry Roger's wife."
The shriek or scream was repeated, and he was for several momentsspeechless with consternation. A ray of hope gleamed suddenly in hisflaming eyes. "It is true--it is true!" he hurriedly ejaculated;"useless--useless--useless to deny it. But you are alone, and poor,poor, no doubt. A thousand pounds!--more, more than that: _two_ thousandpounds in gold--gold, all in gold--I will give you to spare me, to letme escape!"
"Where did you hide the soap on the day when you confess you tried topoison Henry Rogers?"
"In the recess you spoke of. But think! Two thousand pounds in gold--allin gold"----
As he spoke, I suddenly grasped the villain's hands, pressed themtogether, and in another instant the snapping of a handcuff pronouncedmy answer. A yell of anguish burst from the miserable man, so loud andpiercing, that the constables outside hurried to the outer-door, andknocked hastily for admittance. They were let in by the servant-woman;and in half an hour afterwards the three prisoners--Jackson, his wife,and Jane Riddet--were safe in Farnham prison.
A few sentences will conclude this narrative. Mary Rogers was brought upon the following day, and, on my evidence, discharged. Her husband, Ihave heard, has since proved a better and a wiser man. Jackson wasconvicted at the Guilford assize of guiltily receiving the Hursleyplate, and sentenced to transportation for life. This being so, thegraver charge of attempting to poison was not pressed. There was nomoral doubt of his guilt; but the legal proof of it rested solely on hisown hurried confession, which counsel would no doubt have contendedought not to be received. His wife and the servant were leniently dealtwith.
Sarah Purday was convicted, and sentenced to transportation. I did notforget my promise; and a statement of the previously-narratedcircumstances having been drawn up and forwarded to the Queen and theHome Secretary, a pardon, after some delay, was issued. There werepainful circumstances in her history which, after strict inquiry, toldfavorably for her. Several benevolent persons interested themselves inher behalf, and she was sent out to Canada, where she had somerelatives, and has, I believe, prospered there.
This affair caused considerable hubbub at the time, and much admirationwas expressed by the country people at the boldness and dexterity of theLondon "runner;" whereas, in fact, the successful result was entirelyattributable to the opportune revelations of Sarah Purday.
Sketches
OF THE
LONDON DETECTIVE FORCE,
FROM
DICKENS' "HOUSEHOLD WORDS."