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[-125-]
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE BODY-SNATCHERS
THE Resurrection Man, the Cracksman, and the Buffer hastened rapidly
along the narrow lanes and filthy alleys leading towards Shoreditch Church. They
threaded their way in silence, through the jet-black darkness of the night, and
without once hesitating as to the particular turnings which they were to follow.
Those men were as familiar with that neighbourhood as a person can be with the
rooms and passages in his own house.
At length the body-snatchers reached the low wall surmounted
with a high railing which encloses Shoreditch churchyard. They were now at the
back part of that burial ground, in a narrow and deserted street, whose dark and
lonely appearance tended to aid their designs upon an edifice situated in one of
the most populous districts in all London.
For some minutes before their arrival an individual,
enveloped in a long cloak, was walking up and down beneath the shadow of the
wall.
This was the surgeon, whose thirst after science had called
into action the energies of the body-snatchers that night.
The Cracksman advanced first, and ascertained that the
surgeon had already arrived, and that the coast was otherwise clear.
He then whistled in a low and peculiar manner; and his two
confederates came up.
"You have got all your tools?" said the surgeon in
a hasty whisper.
"Every one that we require," answered the
Resurrection Man.
" For opening a vault inside the church, mind?"
added the surgeon. interrogatively.
"You show us the vault, sir, and we'll soon have out the
body," said the Resurrection Man.
"All right," whispered the surgeon; " and my [-126-]
own carriage will be in this street at three precisely. We shall have
plenty of time -there's no one stirring till five, and its dark till
seven."
The surgeon and the body-snatchers then scaled the railing,
and in a few moments stood in the churchyard.
The Resurrection Man addressed himself to his two
confederates and the surgeon, and said, " Do you lie snug under the wall
here while I go forward and see how we must manage the door." With these
words he crept stealthily along, amidst the tomb-stones, towards the church.
The surgeon and the Cracksman seated themselves upon a grave
close to the wall; and the Buffer threw himself flat upon his stomach, with his
ear towards the ground. He remained in this position for some minutes, and then
uttered a species of low growl as if be were answering some signal which caught
his ears alone.
"The skeleton-keys won't open the side-door, the Resurrection
Man says," whispered the Buffer, raising his head towards the surgeon and the
Cracksman.
He then laid his ear close to the ground once score, and
resumed his listening posture.
In a few minutes he again replied to a signal; and this time
his answer was conveyed by means of a short sharp whistle.
"It appears there is a bolt; and it will take a quarter
of an hour to saw through the padlock that holds it," observed the Buffer in a
whisper.
Nearly twenty minutes elapsed after this announcement. The
surgeon's teeth chattered with the intense cold; and he could not altogether
subdue certain feelings of horror at the idea of the business which had brought
him thither. The almost mute correspondence which those two men were enabled to
carry on together - the methodical precision with which they performed their
avocations - and the coolness they exhibited in undertaking a sacrilegious task,
made a powerful impression upon his mind. He shuddered from head to foot:- his
feelings of aversion were the same as he would have experienced had a loathsome
reptile crawled over his naked flesh.
"It a all right now!" suddenly exclaimed the Buffer,
rising from the ground. " Come along."
The surgeon and the Cracksman followed the Buffer to the
southern side of the church where there was a flight of steps leading up to a
side-door in a species of lobby, or lodge. This door was open; and the
Resurrection Man was standing inside the lodge.
As soon as they had all entered the sacred edifice, the door
was carefully closed once more.
We have before said that the night was cold: but the interior
of the church was of a chill so intense, that an icy feeling appeared to
penetrate to the very back-bone. The wind murmured down the aisle; and every
footstep echoed, like a hollow sound in the distance, throughout the spacious
pile.
"Now, sir," said the Resurrection Man to the surgeon, " it
is for you to tell us whereabouts we are to begin."
The surgeon groped his way towards the communion-table, and
at the northern side or the railings which surrounded it he stopped short.
" I must now be standing," he said, "upon the very
stone which you are to remove. You can, however, soon ascertain; for the funeral
only took place yesterday morning, and the mortar must be quite soft."
The Resurrection Man stooped down, felt with his hand for the
joints of the pavement in that particular spot, and thrust his knife between them.
"Yes," he said, after a few minutes' silence " this stone has
only been put down a day or two. But do you wish, sir, that all traces of our
work should disappear?"
"Certainly! I would not for the world that the family of the
deceased should learn that this tomb has been violated. Suspicion would
immediately fall upon me; for it would be remembered how earnestly I desired
to open the body, and how resolutely my request was refused."
"We must use a candle, then, presently," said the
Resurrection Man; "and that is the most dangerous part of the whole
proceeding."
"It cannot be helped, returned the surgeon," in a decided tone.
" The fact that the side-door has been opened by unfair means must
transpire in a day or two ; and search will then be made inside the church to
ascertain whether those who have been guilty of the sacrilege were thieves or
resurrection- men. You see, then, how necessary it is that there should remain
no proofs of the violation of a tomb."
" Well and good, sir," said the Resurrection Man.
"You command - we obey. Now, then, my mates, to work."
In a moment the Resurrection Man lighted a piece of candle,
and placed it in the tin shade before alluded to. The glare which it shed was
thereby thrown almost entirely downwards. He then carefully, and with surprising
rapidity, examined the joints of the large flag-stone whirls was to be removed,
and on which no inscription had yet been engraved. He observed the manner in
which the mortar was laid down, and noticed even the places where it spread a
little over the adjoining stones or where it was slightly deficient. This
inspection being completed, he extinguished the light, and set to work in
company with the Cracksman and the Buffer.
The eyes of the surgeon gradually became accustomed to the
obscurity; and be was enabled to observe to some extent the proceedings of the
body. snatchers.
These men commenced by pouring vinegar over the mortar round
the stone which they were to raise. They then took long clasp-knives, with very
thin and flexible blades, from their pockets ; and inserted them between the
joints of the stones. They moved these knives rapidly backwards and forwards for
a few seconds, so as effectually to loosen the mortar, and moistened the
interstices several times with the vinegar.
This operation being finished, they introduced the thin and
pointed end of a lever between the end of the stone which they were to raise and
the one adjoining it. The Resurrection Man, who held the lever, only worked it
very gently; but at every fresh effort on his part, the Cracksman and the Buffer
introduced each a wedge of wood into the space which thus grew larger and
larger. By these means, had the lever suddenly given way, the stone would not
have fallen back into its setting. At length it was raised to a sufficient height
to admit of its being supported by a thick log about three feet in length.
While these three men were thus proceeding as expeditiously
as possible with their task, the surgeon, although a man of a naturally strong
mind, could not control the strange feelings which crept upon him, it suddenly
appeared to him as if he beheld those men for the first time. That continuation
of regular and systematic movements - that silent perseverance, faintly shadowed
forth amidst the obscurity of the night, at length assumed so sin-[-127-]gular a character, that the surgeon felt as if he beheld three
demons disinterring a doomed one to carry him off to hell!
He was aroused from this painful reverie by the Resurrection
Man, who said to him, "Come and help us remove the stone."
The surgeon applied all his strength to this task; and the
huge flag-stone was speedily moved upon two wooden rollers away from the mouth
of the grave.
"You are certain that this is the place?" said the
Resurrection Man.
"As certain as one can be who stood by the grave for a
quarter of an hour in day-light, and who has to recognise it again in total
darkness," answered the surgeon. " Besides, the mortar was soft —"
"There might have been another burial close by,"
interrupted the Resurrection Man; "but we will soon find out whether you
are right or not, sir. Was the coffin a wooden one?"
"Yes! an elm coffin, covered with black cloth," replied
the surgeon. "I gave the instructions for the funeral myself, being the
oldest friend of the family."
The Resurrection Man took one of the long flexible rods which
we have before noticed, and thrust it down into the vault. The point penetrated
into the lid of a coffin. He drew it back, put the point to his tongue, and
tasted it.
"Yes," he said, smacking his lips, "the coffin in
this vault is an elm one, and is covered with black cloth."
"I thought I could not be wrong," observed the
surgeon.
The body-snatchers then proceeded to raise the coffin, by
means of ropes passed underneath it. This was a comparatively easy portion of
their task; and in a few moments it was placed upon the flag-stones of the
church.
The Resurrection Man took a chisel and opened the lid with
considerable care. He then lighted his candle a second time; and the glare fell
upon the pale features of the corpse in its narrow shell.
"This is the right one," said the surgeon, casting a
hasty glance upon the face of the dead body, which was that of a young girl of
about sixteen.
The Resurrection Man extinguished the light ; and he and his
companions proceeded to lift the corpse out of the coffin.
The polished marble limbs of the deceased were rudely grasped
by the sacrilegious hands of the body-snatchers; and, having stripped the corpse
stark asked, they tied its neck and heels together by means of a strong cord.
They then thrust it into a large sack made for the purpose.
The body-snatchers then applied themselves to the restoration
of the vault to its original appearance.
The lid of the coffin was carefully fastened down; and that
now tenantless bed was lowered into the tomb. The stone was rolled over the
mouth of the vault; and one of the small square boxes previously alluded to,
furnished mortar wherewith to fill up the joints. The Resurrection Man lighted
his candle a third time, and applied the cement in such a way that even the very
workman who laid the stone down after the funeral would not have known that it
had been disturbed. Then, as this mortar was a shade fresher and lighter than
that originally used, the Resurrection Man scattered over it a thin brown
powder, which was furnished by the second box brought away from his house on
this occasion. Lastly, a light brush was swept over the scene of these operations, and the necessary precautions were
complete.
The clock struck three as the surgeon and the body-snatchers
issued from the church, carrying the sack containing the corpse between them.
They reached the wall at the back of the churchyard, and
there deposited their burden, while the Cracksman hastened to see if the
surgeon's carriage had arrived.
In a few minutes he returned to the railing, and said in a
low tone, "All right!"
The body was lifted over the iron barrier and conveyed to the
vehicle.
The surgeon counted ten sovereigns into the hands of each of
the body-snatchers; and, having taken his seat inside the vehicle, close by his
strange freight, was whirled rapidly away towards his own abode.
The three body-snatchers retraced their steps to the house in
the vicinity of the Bird-cage Walk and the Cracksman and Buffer, having
deposited the implements of their avocation in the corner of the front room,
took their departure.
The moment the Resurrection Man was thus relieved from the
observation of his companions, he seized the candle and hastened into the back
room, where be expected to find the corpse of Richard Markham stripped and
washed.
To his surprise the room was empty.
"What the devil has the old fool been up to?" he
exclaimed : then, hastening to the foot of the stairs, he cried, "Mummy,
are you awake?"
In a few moments a door on the first floor opened, and the
old woman appeared in her night gear at the head of the stairs.
"Is that you, Tony?" she exclaimed.
"Yes! who the hell do you think it could be? But what have
you done with the fresh 'un?"
"The fresh 'un came alive again —"
"Gammon! Where is the money? how much was there? and is
his skull fractured?" demanded the Resurrection Man.
"I tell you that he came to his senses," returned the old
hag: "and that he sprung upon me like a tiger when I went into the back
room after you was gone."
"Damnation! what a fool I was not to stick three inches
of cold steel into him!" ejaculated the Resurrection Man, stamping his foot.
"So I suppose he got clear away - money and all ?- gone, may be, to fetch the
traps!" "Don't alarm yourself, Tony," said the old
hag, with a
horrible cackling laugh; "he's safe enough, I'll warrant it!"
"Safe! where - where?"
"Where his betters have been afore him," answered the
Mummy.
"What! - in the well in the yard?" exclaimed the
Resurrection Man, in a state of horrible suspense.
"No - in the hole under the stairs."
"Wretch! - drivelling fool! - idiot that you are!" cried
the Resurrection Man in a voice of thunder:
"you decoyed him into the very place from which he was
sure to escape!"
"Escape!" exclaimed the Mummy, in a tone of profound
alarm.
"Yes - escape!" repeated the Resurrection Man. " Did I
not tell you a month or more ago that the wall between the hole arid the saw-pit
in the empty house next door had given way!"
"No - you never told me! I'll swear you never told me!"
cried the old hag, now furious in her turn. "You only say so to throw all
the blame on me: it's just like you."
"Don't provoke me, mother!" said the Resurrection Man,
grinding his teeth. " You know that I told you about the wall falling down;
and you [-128-] know that I spoke to you about not using the place any more!"
"It's false!" exclaimed the Mummy.
"It's true; for I said to you at the time that I must
brick up the wall myself some night, before any new people take the carpenter's
yard, or they might wonder what the devil we could want with a place under
ground like that; and it would be the means of blowing us!"
"It a a lie! you never told me a word about it,"
persisted the old harridan doggedly.
"Perdition take you!" cried the man. "The affair of
this cursed Markham will be the ruin of us both!"
The Resurrection Man still had a hope left: the subterranean
pit beneath the stairs was deep, and Markham might have been stunned by the
fail.
He hastened to the trap-door, and raised it. The vivid light
of his candle was thrown to the very bottom of the pit by means of the bright
reflector of tin.
The hole was empty.
Maddened by disappointment - a prey to the most terrible
apprehensions - and uncertain whether to flee or remain in his den, the
Resurrection Man paced the passage in a state of mind which would not have been
envied by even a criminal on his way to execution.
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