And then a knot of highwaymen went trooping by, conducted by thefriends they had among the crowd, who muffled their fetters as theywent along, with handkerchiefs and bands of hay, and wrapped themin coats and cloaks, and gave them drink from bottles, and held itto their lips, because of their handcuffs which there was no timeto remove. All this, and Heaven knows how much more, was doneamidst a noise, a hurry, and distraction, like nothing that we knowof, even in our dreams; which seemed for ever on the rise, andnever to decrease for the space of a single instant.
He was still looking down from his window upon these things, when aband of men with torches, ladders, axes, and many kinds of weapons,poured into the yard, and hammering at his door, inquired if therewere any prisoner within. He left the window when he saw themcoming, and drew back into the remotest corner of the cell; butalthough he returned them no answer, they had a fancy that some onewas inside, for they presently set ladders against it, and began totear away the bars at the casement; not only that, indeed, but withpickaxes to hew down the very stones in the wall.
As soon as they had made a breach at the window, large enough forthe admission of a man"s head, one of them thrust in a torch and looked all round the room. He followed this man"s gaze until itrested on himself, and heard him demand why he had not answered,but made him no reply.
In the general surprise and wonder, they were used to this; withoutsaying anything more, they enlarged the breach until it was largeenough to admit the body of a man, and then came dropping down uponthe floor, one after another, until the cell was full. They caughthim up among them, handed him to the window, and those who stoodupon the ladders passed him down upon the pavement of the yard.
Then the rest came out, one after another, and, bidding him fly,and lose no time, or the way would be choked up, hurried away torescue others.
It seemed not a minute"s work from first to last. He staggered tohis feet, incredulous of what had happened, when the yard wasfilled again, and a crowd rushed on, hurrying Barnaby among them.
In another minute--not so much: another minute! the same instant,with no lapse or interval between!--he and his son were beingpassed from hand to hand, through the dense crowd in the street,and were glancing backward at a burning pile which some one saidwas Newgate.
From the moment of their first entrance into the prison, the crowddispersed themselves about it, and swarmed into every chink andcrevice, as if they had a perfect acquaintance with its innermostparts, and bore in their minds an exact plan of the whole. Forthis immediate knowledge of the place, they were, no doubt, in agreat degree, indebted to the hangman, who stood in the lobby,directing some to go this way, some that, and some the other; andwho materially assisted in bringing about the wonderful rapiditywith which the release of the prisoners was effected.
But this functionary of the law reserved one important piece ofintelligence, and kept it snugly to himself. When he had issuedhis instructions relative to every other part of the building, andthe mob were dispersed from end to end, and busy at their work, hetook a bundle of keys from a kind of cupboard in the wall, andgoing by a kind of passage near the chapel (it joined the governorshouse, and was then on fire), betook himself to the condemnedcells, which were a series of small, strong, dismal rooms, openingon a low gallery, guarded, at the end at which he entered, by astrong iron wicket, and at its opposite extremity by two doors anda thick grate. Having double locked the wicket, and assuredhimself that the other entrances were well secured, he sat down on a bench in the gallery, and sucked the head of his stick with theutmost complacency, tranquillity, and contentment.
It would have been strange enough, a man"s enjoying himself in thisquiet manner, while the prison was burning, and such a tumult wascleaving the air, though he had been outside the walls. But here,in the very heart of the building, and moreover with the prayersand cries of the four men under sentence sounding in his ears, andtheir hands, stretched our through the gratings in their cell-doors, clasped in frantic entreaty before his very eyes, it wasparticularly remarkable. Indeed, Mr Dennis appeared to think it anuncommon circumstance, and to banter himself upon it; for he thrusthis hat on one side as some men do when they are in a waggishhumour, sucked the head of his stick with a higher relish, andsmiled as though he would say, "Dennis, you"re a rum dog; you"re aqueer fellow; you"re capital company, Dennis, and quite acharacter!"
He sat in this way for some minutes, while the four men in thecells, who were certain that somebody had entered the gallery, butcould not see who, gave vent to such piteous entreaties as wretchesin their miserable condition may be supposed to have been inspiredwith: urging, whoever it was, to set them at liberty, for the love of Heaven; and protesting, with great fervour, and truly enough,perhaps, for the time, that if they escaped, they would amend theirways, and would never, never, never again do wrong before God orman, but would lead penitent and sober lives, and sorrowfullyrepent the crimes they had committed. The terrible energy withwhich they spoke, would have moved any person, no matter how goodor just (if any good or just person could have strayed into thatsad place that night), to have set them at liberty: and, while hewould have left any other punishment to its free course, to havesaved them from this last dreadful and repulsive penalty; whichnever turned a man inclined to evil, and has hardened thousands whowere half inclined to good.
Mr Dennis, who had been bred and nurtured in the good old school,and had administered the good old laws on the good old plan, alwaysonce and sometimes twice every six weeks, for a long time, borethese appeals with a deal of philosophy. Being at last, however,rather disturbed in his pleasant reflection by their repetition, herapped at one of the doors with his stick, and cried:
"Hold your noise there, will you?"