The Man in Black: An Historical Novel of the Days of Queen AnneJames, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
History
The Man in Black: An Historical Novel of the Days of Queen Anne
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Great Britain -- History -- Anne, 1702-1714 -- Fiction
"Thank you, sir.--Yes I was, to be sure," answered the landlord; "and
I'll tell you the funniest thing in the world that happened the second
day. Lord bless you, sir, I was foreman,--and on the first day the
judge suffered the case to go on till his dinner was quite cold, and
we were all half starved; but he saw that he could not hang him that
night, at all events--here's to your health, sir!--so he adjourned the
Court, and called for a constable, and ordered all of us, poor devils,
to be locked up tight in Jones's public-house till the next day; for
the jury room is so small, that there is not standing-room for more
than three such as me. Well, the other men did not much like it,
though I did not care,--for I had my boots full of ham, and a
brandy-bottle in my breeches-pocket. One of them asked the judge, for
all his great black eyebrows, if he could'nt go on that night; but his
lordship answered, with a snort like a cart horse, and told us to hold
our tongues, and mind our own business, and only to take care and keep
ourselves together. Well, sir, we had to walk up the hill, you know,
and there was the constable following us with his staff in his hand;
so I had compassion on my poor fellow-sufferers, and I whispered,
first to one, then to another, that this sort of jog would never do,
but I would manage to tell them how to have a good night's rest. You
see, says I, here's but one constable to thirteen people, so when you
get to the cross-roads, let every man take up his legs and run, each
his own way. He can but catch one, and the slowest runner will have
the chance. Now, I was the fattest of them all, you see, so that every
one of them thought that I should be the man. Well, sir, they followed
my advice; but it's a different thing to give advice, and take it. No
sooner did we get to the cross-roads, than they scattered like a heap
of dust in the wind, some down the roads and lanes, some over the
styles and gates, some through the hedges. Little Sninkum, the tailor,
stuck in the hedge by the way, and was the man caught, for he was
afraid of his broadcloth; but I stood stock still, with a look of
marvellous astonishment, crying out, 'For God's sake catch them,
constable, or what will my lord say to you and me?' Off the poor devil
set in a moment, one man to catch twelve, all over the face of the
country. He thought he was sure enough of me; but what did I do I why,
as soon as he was gone, I waddled home to my own house, and got my
wife to put me to bed up-stairs, and pass me for my grandfather. Well,
sir, that's not the best of it yet. We were all in Court next day at
the right hour, and snug in the jury-box before the judge came in; but
I have a notion he had heard something of the matter. He looked mighty
hard at Sninkum, whose face was all scratched to pieces, and opening
his mouth with a pop, like the drawing of a cork, he said, 'Why, man,
you look as if you and your brethren had been fighting!' and then he
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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