The Man in Black: An Historical Novel of the Days of Queen Anne

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  Before the door of a large brick building, with no windows towards thestreet, and tall walls rising up till they overtopped the neighboringhouses, stood two men, about an hour after night had fallen, waitingfor admittance. The great large iron bar which formed the knocker ofthe door, had descended twice with a heavy thump, but yet no oneappeared in answer to the summons. It was again in the hand of Mr.Shanks and ready to descend, when the rattling of keys was heardinside; bolts were withdrawn and bars cast down, and one half of thedoor opened, displaying a man with a lantern, which he held up to gazeat his visitors. His face was fat and bloated, covered with a goodnumber of spots, and his swollen eyelids made his little keen blackeyes look smaller than they even naturally were, while his nose, muchin the shape of a horse-chestnut, blushed with the hues of the earlymorning.

  "How are you, Cram, how are you?" asked the attorney. "I haven't beenhere for a long time, but you know me, I suppose."

  "Oh, yes, I know you, Master Shanks," replied the jailer, winking oneof his small black eyes; "who have you come to see? Betty Diaper, I'llwarrant, who prigged the gentleman's purse at the bottom of the hill.She's as slink a diver as any on the lay; but she's got the shinersand so must have counsel to defend her before the beak, I'll bet agallon."

  "No, no," answered Mr. Shanks, "our old friend Tom Cutter wants to seeme on this little affair of his."

  "You'll make no hand of that, as sure a my name's Dionysius Cram,"replied the jailer. "Can't prove an _alibi_ there, Master Shanks, forI saw him do the job; besides he can't pay. What's the use of meddlingwith him? He must swing some time you know, and one day's as good asanother. But come in, Master Shanks, come in. But who's this hereother chap?"

  "That's my clerk," replied Mr. Shanks, "I may want him to takeinstructions."

  The man laughed, but demurred, but a crown piece was in those days thekey to all jailers' hearts, and after a show of hesitation, Shanks andhis young companion were both admitted within the gates. They nowfound themselves in a small square space, guarded on two sides by talliron railings, which bent overhead, and were let into the wallsomewhat after the manner of a birdcage. On the left-hand side,however, was another brick wall, with a door and some steps leading upto it. By this entrance Mr. Dionysius Cram led them into a smalljailer's lodge, with a table and some wooden chairs, in the side ofwhich, opposite to the entrance, was a strong movable grate, betweenthe bars of which might be seen a yawning sort of chasm leading intothe heart of the prison.

  Again Mr. Cram's great keys were put in motion, and he opened thegrate to let them pass, eyeing John Ayliffe with considerableattention as he did so. Locking the grate carefully behind him, helighted them on with his lantern, muttering as he went in the peculiarprison slang of those days, various sentences not very complimentaryto the tastes and habits of young John Ayliffe. "Ay, ay," he said,"clerk be damned! One of Tom's pals, for a pint and a boiledbone--droll I don't know him. He must be twenty, and ought to havebeen in the stone pitcher often enough before now. Dare say he's beensent to Mill Dol, for some minor. That's not in my department. I shallhave the darbies on him some day. He'd look handsome under the tree."

  John Ayliffe had a strong inclination to knock him down, but herestrained himself, and at length a large plated iron door admittedthe two gentlemen into the penetralia of the temple.

  A powerful smell of aqua vit? and other kinds of strong waters nowpervaded the atmosphere, mingled with that close sickly odor which isfelt where great numbers of uncleanly human beings are closely packedtogether; and from some distance was heard the sounds of riotousmerriment, ribald song, and hoarse, unfeeling laugh, with curses andexecrations not a few. It was a time when the abominations of theprison system were at their height.

  "Here, you step in here," said Mr. Cram to the attorney and hiscompanion, "and I'll bring Tom to you in a minute. He's having a lushwith some of his pals; though I thought we were going to have a mill,for Jack Perkins, who is to be hanged o' Monday, roused out his slackjaw at him for some quarrel about a gal, and Tom don't bear such likeeasily. Howsumdever, they made it up and clubbed a gallon. Stay, I'llget you a candle end;" and leaving them in the dark, not much, if thetruth must be told, to the satisfaction of John Ayliffe, he rolledaway along the passage and remained absent several minutes.

  When he returned, a clanking step followed him, as heavy irons weredragged slowly on by unaccustomed limbs, and the moment after, TomCutter stood in the presence of his two friends.

  The jailer brought them in a piece of candle about two inches long,which he stuck into a sort of socket attached to an iron barprojecting straight from the wall; and having done this he left thethree together, taking care to close and lock the door behind him.

  Chair or stool in the room there was none, and the only seat, exceptthe floor, which the place afforded was the edge of a small woodenbedstead or trough, as it might be called, scantily furnished withstraw.

  Both Mr. Shanks and John Ayliffe shook hands with the felon, whoseface, though somewhat flushed with drinking, bore traces of deeper andsterner feelings than he chose to show. He seemed glad to see them,however, and said it was very kind of them to come, adding with aninquiring look at Mr. Shanks, "I can't pay you, you know, Masterlawyer; for what between my garnish and lush, I shall have just enoughto keep me till the 'sizes; I shan't need much after that I fancy."

  "Pooh, pooh," cried the attorney, "don't be downhearted, Tom, and asto pay, never mind that. John here will pay all that's needful, andwe'll have down counsellor Twistem to work the witnesses. We can'tmake out an _alibi_, for the folks saw you, but we'll get you up acharacter, if money can make a reputation, and I never knew the timein England when it could not. We have come to consult with you at onceas to what's the best defence to be made, that we may have the storyall pat and right from the beginning, and no shifting and turningafterwards."

  "I wish I hadn't killed the man," said Tom Cutter, gloomily; "I shan'tforget his face in a hurry as he fell over and cried out 'Oh, mypoor--!' but the last word choked him. He couldn't get it out; but Ifancy he was thinking of his wife--or maybe his children. But whatcould I do? He gave me a sight of bad names, and swore he would peachabout what I wanted him to do. He called me a villain, and ascoundrel, and a cheat, and a great deal more besides, till my bloodgot up, and having got the stick by the small end, I hit him with theknob on the temple. I didn't know I hit so hard; but I was in a rage."

  "That's just what I thought--just what I thought," said Mr. Shanks."You struck him without premeditation in a fit of passion. Now if wecan make out that he provoked you beyond bearing--"

  "That he did," said Tom Cutter.

  "That's what I say," continued Mr. Shanks, "if we can make out that heprovoked you beyond bearing while you were doing nothing unlawful andwrong, that isn't murder, Tom."

  "Hum," said Tom Cutter, "but how will you get that up, Mr. Shanks?I've a notion that what I went to him about was devilish unlawful."

  "Ay, but nobody knew any thing of that but you and he, and JohnAyliffe and I. We must keep that quite close, and get up a likelystory about the quarrel. You will have to tell it yourself, you know,Tom, though we'll make counsellor Twistem let the jury see itbeforehand in his examinations."

  A gleam of hope seemed to lighten the man's face, and Mr. Shankscontinued, "We can prove, I dare say, that this fellow Scantling had agreat hatred for you."

  "No, no, he had not," said Tom Cutter, "he was more civil to me thanmost, for we had been boys together."

  "That doesn't matter," said Mr. Shanks, "we must prove it; for that'syour only chance, Tom. If we can prove that you always spoke well ofhim, so much the better; but we must show that he was accustomed toabuse you, and to call you a damned ruffian and a poacher. We'll doit--we'll do it; and then if you stick tight to your story, we'll getyou off."

  "But what's the story to be, master Shanks?" asked Tom Cutter, "Ican't learn a long one; I never was good at learning by heart."

  "Oh, no; it sh
all be as short and simple as possible," replied Shanks;"you must admit having gone over to see him, and that you struck theblow that killed him. We can't get over that, Tom; but then you mustsay you're exceedingly sorry, and was so the very moment after."

  "So I was," replied Tom Cutter.

  "And your story must refer," continued Mr. Shanks, "to nothing butwhat took place just before the blow was struck. You must say that youheard he accused you of putting wires in Lord Selby's woods, and thatyou went over to clear yourself; but that he abused you so violently,and insulted you so grossly, your blood got up and you struck him,only intending to knock him down. Do you understand me?"

  "Quite well--quite well," replied Tom Cutter, his face brightening; "Ido think that may do, 'specially if you can make out that I wasaccustomed to speak well of him, and he to abuse me. It's an accidentthat might happen to any man."

  "To be sure," replied Mr. Shanks; "we will take care to corroborateyour story, only you get it quite right. Now let us hear what you willsay."

  Tom Cutter repeated the tale he had been taught very accurately; forit was just suited to his comprehension, and Shanks rubbed his hands,saying, "That will do--that will do."

  John Ayliffe, however, was still not without his anxieties, and aftera little hesitation as to how he should put the question which hemeditated, he said, "Of course, Tom, I suppose you have not told anyof the fellows here what you came over for?"

  The ruffian knew him better than he thought, and understood his objectat once.

  "No, no, John," he said, "I have'nt peached, and shall not; be yousure of that. If I am to die, I'll die game, depend upon it; but I dothink there's a chance now, and we may as well make the best of it."

  "To be sure--to be sure," answered the more prudent Shanks; "you don'tthink, Mr. Ayliffe, that he would be fool enough to go and cut his ownthroat by telling any one what would be sure to hang him. That is avery green notion."

  "Oh, no, nor would I say a word that could serve that Sir PhilipHastings," said Tom Cutter; "he's been my enemy for the last tenyears, and I could see he would be as glad to twist my neck as I havebeen to twist his hares. Perhaps I may live to pay him yet."

  "I'm not sure you might not give him a gentle rub in your defence,"said John Ayliffe; "he would not like to hear that his pretty prouddaughter Emily came down to see me, as I'm sure she did, let her saywhat she will, when I was ill at the cottage by the park gates. Youwere in the house, don't you recollect, getting a jug of beer, while Iwas sitting at the door when she came down?"

  "I remember, I remember," replied Tom Cutter, with a malicious smile;"I gave him one rub which he didn't like when he committed me, andI'll do this too."

  "Take care," said Mr. Shanks, "you had better not mix up other thingswith your defence."

  "Oh, I can do it quite easily," replied the other with a triumphantlook; "I could tell what happened then, and how I heard there thatpeople suspected me of poaching still, though I had quite given it up,and how I determined to find out from that minute who it was accusedme."

  "That can do no harm," said Shanks, who had not the least objection tosee Sir Philip Hastings mortified; and after about half an hour'sfarther conversation, having supplied Tom Cutter with a small sum ofmoney, the lawyer and his young companion prepared to withdraw. Shankswhistled through the keyhole of the door, producing a shrill loudsound as if he were blowing over the top of a key; and Dionysius Cramunderstanding the signal, hastened to let them out.

  Before we proceed farther, however, with any other personage, we mayas well trace the fate of Mr. Thomas Cutter.

  The assizes were approaching near at this time, and about a fortnightafter, he was brought to trial; not all the skill of counsellorTwistem, however, nor the excellent character which Mr. Shanks triedto procure for him, had any effect; his reputation was too wellestablished to be affected by any scandalous reports of his being apeaceable and orderly man. His violence and irregular life were toowell known for the jury to come to any other conclusion than that itwould be a good thing to rid the country of him, and whether verylegally or not, I cannot say, they brought in a verdict of wilfulmurder without quitting the box. His defence, however, established forhim the name of a very clever fellow, and one portion of it certainlysent Sir Philip Hastings from the Court thoughtful and gloomy.Nevertheless, no recommendation to mercy having issued from the Judge,Tom Cutter was hanged in due form of law, and to use his own words,"died game."