it was on the 7th of november, if i recollect rightly, that fleming and marables were called up to trial at the old bailey, and i was in the court, with mr drummond and the dominie, soon after ten o’clock. after the judge had taken his seat, as their trial was first on the list, they were ushered in. they were both clean and well dressed. in fleming i could perceive little difference; he was pale, but resolute; but when i looked at marables i was astonished. mr drummond did not at first recognise him—he had fallen away from seventeen stone to, at the most, thirteen—his clothes hung loosely about him—his ruddy cheeks had vanished—his nose was becoming sharp, and his full round face had been changed to an oblong. still there remained that natural good-humoured expression in his countenance, and the sweet smile played upon his lips. his eyes glanced fearfully round the court—he felt his disgraceful situation—the colour mounted to his temples and forehead, and he then became again pale as a sheet, casting down his eyes as if desirous to see no more.
after the indictment had been read over, the prisoners were asked by the clerk whether they pleaded guilty or not guilty.
“not guilty,” replied fleming, in a bold voice.
“john marables—guilty or not guilty?”
“guilty,” replied marables—“guilty, my lord;” and he covered his face with his hands.
fleming was indicted on three counts;—an assault, with intent to murder; having stolen goods in his possession; and for a burglary in a dwelling-house, on such a date; but i understand that they had nearly twenty more charges against him, had these failed. marables was indicted for having been an accessary to the last charge, as receiver of stolen goods. the counsel for the crown, who opened the trial, stated that fleming, alias barkett, alias wenn, with many more aliases, had for a long while been at the head of the most notorious gang of thieves which had infested the metropolis for many years; that justice had long been in search of him, but that he had disappeared, and it had been supposed that he had quitted the kingdom to avoid the penalties of the law, to which he had subjected himself by his enormities. it appeared however, that he had taken a step which not only blinded the officers of the police, but at the same time had enabled the gang to carry on their depredations with more impunity than ever. he had concealed himself in a lighter on the river, and appearing in her as one diligently performing his duty, and earning his livelihood as an honest man had by such means been enabled to extend his influence, the number of his associates, and his audacious schemes. the principal means of detection in cases of burglary was by advertising the goods, and the great difficulty on the part of such miscreants was to obtain a ready sale for them—the receivers of stolen goods being aware that the thieves were at their mercy, and must accept what was offered. now, to obviate these difficulties, fleming had, as we before observed, concealed himself from justice on board of a river barge, which was made the receptacle for stolen goods: those which had been nefariously obtained at one place being by him and his associates carried up and down the river in the craft, and disposed of at a great distance, by which means the goods were never brought to light, so as to enable the police to recognise or trace them. this system had now been carried on with great success for upwards of twelve months, and would, in all probability, have not been discovered even now, had it not been that a quarrel as to profits had taken place, which had induced two of his associates to give information to the officers; and these two associates had also been permitted to turn king’s evidence, in a case of burglary, in which fleming was a principal, provided that it was considered necessary. but there was a more serious charge against the prisoner,—that of having attempted the life of a boy, named jacob faithful, belonging to the lighter, and who, it appeared, had suspicions of what was going on, and, in duty to his master, had carefully watched the proceedings, and given notice to others of what he had discovered from time to time. the lad was the chief evidence against the prisoner fleming, and also against marables, the other prisoner, of whom he could only observe, that circumstances would transpire, during the trial, in his favour, which he had no doubt would be well considered by his lordship. he would not detain the gentlemen of the jury any longer, but at once call on his witnesses.
i was then summoned, again asked the same questions as to the nature of an oath, and the judge being satisfied with my replies, i gave my evidence as before; the judge as i perceived, carefully examining my previous disposition, to ascertain if anything i now said was at variance with my former assertions. i was then cross-examined by the counsel for fleming, but he could not make me vary in my evidence, i did, however, take the opportunity, whenever i was able, of saying all i could in favour of marables. at last the counsel said he would ask me no more questions. i was dismissed; and the police-officer who had picked me up, and other parties who identified the various property as their own, and the manner in which they had been robbed of it, were examined. the evidence was too clear to admit of doubt. the jury immediately returned a verdict of guilty against fleming and marables, but strongly recommended marables to the mercy of the crown. the judge rose, put on his black cap, and addressed the prisoners as follows. the court was so still, that a pin falling might have been heard:—
“you, william fleming, have been tried by a jury of your countrymen, upon the charge of receiving stolen goods, to which you have added the most atrocious crime of intended murder. you have had a fair and impartial trial, and have been found guilty; and it appears that, even had you escaped in this instance, other charges, equally heavy, and which would equally consign you to condign punishment, were in readiness to be preferred against you. your life has been one of guilt, not only in your own person, but also in abetting and stimulating others to crime; and you have wound up your shameful career by attempting the life of a fellow-creature. to hold out to you any hope of mercy is impossible. your life is justly forfeited to the offended laws of your country; and your sentence is that you be removed from this court to the place from whence you came, and from thence to the place of execution, there to be hanged by the neck till you are dead; and may god, in his infinite goodness, have mercy on your soul!
“you, john marables, have pleaded guilty to the charges brought against you; and it has appeared, during the evidence brought out on the trial, that, although you have been a party to these nefarious transactions, you are far from being hardened in your guilt.” (“no, no!” exclaimed marables.) “i believe sincerely that you are not, and much regret that one who, from the evidence brought forward, appears to have been, previously to this unfortunate connection, an honest man, should now appear in so disgraceful a situation. a severe punishment is, however, demanded by the voice of justice, and by that sentence of the law you must now be condemned: at the same time i trust that an appeal to the mercy of your sovereign will not be made in vain.”
the judge then passed the sentence upon marables, the prisoners were led out of court, and a new trial commenced; while mr drummond and the dominie conducted me home. about a week after the trial, fleming suffered the penalty of the law; while marables was sentenced to transportation for life, which, however, previous to his sailing, was commuted to seven years.
in a few days the lighter returned. her arrival was announced to me one fine sunny morning as i lay in bed, by a voice whose well-known notes poured into my ear as i was half dozing on my pillow:—
“bright are the beams of the morning sky,
and sweet the dew the red blossoms sip,
but brighter the glances of dear woman’s eye—
“tom, you monkey, belay the warp, and throw the fenders over the side. be smart, or old fuzzle will be growling about his red paint.
“and sweet is the dew on her lip.”
i jumped out of my little crib, threw open the window, the panes of which were crystallised with the frost in the form of little trees, and beheld the lighter just made fast to the wharf, the sun shining brightly, old tom’s face as cheerful as the morn, and young tom laughing, jumping about, and blowing his fingers. i was soon dressed, and shaking hands with my barge-mates.
“well, jacob, how do you like the old bailey? never was in it but once in my life, and never mean to go again if i can help it; that was when sam bowles was tried for his life, but my evidence saved him. i’ll tell you how it was. tom, look a’ter the breakfast; a bowl of tea this cold morning will be worth having. come, jump about.”
“but i never heard the story of sam bowles,” answered tom.
“what’s that to you? i’m telling it to jacob.”
“but i want to hear it—so go on, father. i’ll start you. well, d’ye see, sam bowles—”
“master tom, them as play with bowls may meet with rubbers. take care i don’t rub down your hide. off, you thief, and get breakfast.”
“no, i won’t: if i don’t have your bowles you shall have no bowls of tea. i’ve made my mind up to that.”
“i tell you what, tom; i shall never get any good out of you until i have both your legs ampitated. i’ve a great mind to send for the farrier.”
“thanky, father; but i find them very useful.”
“well,” said i, “suppose we put off the story till breakfast time; and i’ll go and help tom to get it ready.”
“be it so, jacob. i suppose tom must have his way, as i spoiled him myself. i made him so fond of yarns, so i was a fool to be vexed.
“oh, life is a river, and man is the boat
that over its surface is destined to float;
and joy is a cargo so easily stored,
that he is a fool who takes sorrow on board.
“now i’ll go on shore to master, and find out what’s to be done next. give me my stick, boy, and i shall crawl over the planks a little safer. a safe stool must have three legs, you know.”
old tom then stumped away on shore. in about a quarter of an hour he returned, bringing half-a-dozen red herrings.
“here, tom, grill these sodgers. jacob, who is that tall old chap, with such a devil of a cutwater, which i met just now with master? we are bound for sheerness this trip, and i’m to land him at greenwich.”
“what, the dominie?” replied i, from old tom’s description.
“his name did begin with a d, but that wasn’t it.”
“dobbs?”
“yes, that’s nearer; he’s to be a passenger on board of us, going down to see a friend who’s very ill. now, tom, my hearty, bring out the crockery, for i want a little inside lining.”
we all sat down to our breakfast, and as soon as old tom had finished, his son called for the history of sam bowles.
“well, now you shall have it. sam bowles was a shipmate of mine on board of the greenlandman; he was one of our best harpooners, and a good, quiet, honest messmate as ever slung a hammock. he was spliced to as pretty a piece of flesh as ever was seen, but she wasn’t as good as she was pretty. we were fitting out for another voyage, and his wife had been living on board with him some weeks, for sam was devilish spoony on her, and couldn’t bear her to be out of his sight. as we ’spected to sail in a few days, we were filling up our complement of men, and fresh hands came on board every day.
“one morning, a fine tall fellow, with a tail as thick as a hawser, came on board and offered himself; he was taken by the skipper, and went on shore again to get his traps. while he was still on deck i went below, and seeing sam with his little wife on his knee playing with his love-locks, i said that there was a famous stout and good-looking fellow that we should have as a shipmate. sam’s wife, who, like all women, was a little curious, put her head up the hatchway to look at him. she put it down again very quick, as i thought, and made some excuse to go forward in the eyes of her, where she remained some time, and then, when she came aft, told sam that she would go on shore. now, as it had been agreed that she should remain on board till we were clear of the river, sam couldn’t think what the matter was; but she was positive, and go away she did, very much to sam’s astonishment and anger. in the evening, sam went on shore and found her out, and what d’ye think the little jezebel told him?—why, that one of the men had been rude to her when she went forward, and that’s why she wouldn’t stay on board. sam was in a devil of a passion at this, and wanted to know which was the man; but she fondled him, and wouldn’t tell him, because she was afraid that he’d be hurt. at last she bamboozled him, and sent him on board again quite content. well, we remained three days longer, and then dropped down the river to greenwich, where the captain was to come on board, and we were to sail as soon as the wind was fair. now, this fine tall fellow was with us when we dropped down the river, and as sam was sitting down on his chest eating a basin o’ soup, the other man takes out a ’baccy pouch of seal-skin;—it was a very curious one, made out of the white and spotted part of a young seal’s belly. ‘i say, shipmate,’ cries sam, ‘hand me over my ’baccy pouch. where did you pick it up?’
“‘your pouch!’ says he to him; ‘i killed the seal, and my fancy girl made the pouch for me.’
“‘well, if that ain’t cool! you’d swear a man out of his life, mate. tom,’ says he to me, ‘ain’t that my pouch which my wife gave me when i came back last trip?’
“i looked at it, and knew it again, and said it was. the tall fellow denied it, and there was a devil of a bobbery. sam called him a thief, and he pitched sam right down the main hatchway among the casks. after that there was a regular set-to, and sam was knocked all to shivers, and obliged to give in. when the fight was over, i took up sam’s shirt for him to put on. ‘that’s my shirt,’ cried the tall fellow.
“‘that’s sam’s shirt,’ replied i; ‘i know it’s his.’
“‘i tell you it’s mine,’ replied the man; ‘my lass gave it to me to put on when i got up this morning. the other is his shirt.’
“we looked at the other, and they both were sam’s shirts. now when sam heard this, he put two and two together, and became very jealous and uneasy: he thought it odd that his wife was so anxious to leave the ship when this tall fellow came on board; and what with the pouch and the shirt he was puzzled. his wife had promised to come down to greenwich and see him off. when we anchored, some of the men went on shore—among others the tall fellow. sam, whose head was swelled up like a pumpkin, told one of his shipmates to say to his wife that he could not come on shore, and that she must come off to him. well, it was about nine o’clock, dark, and all the stars were twinkling, when sam says to me, ‘tom, let’s go on shore; my black eyes can’t be seen in the dark.’ as we hauled up the boat, the second mate told sam to take his harpoon-iron on shore for him, to have the hole for the becket punched larger. away we went, and the first place, of course, that sam went to, was the house where he knew that his wife put up at, as before. he went upstairs to her room, and i followed him. the door was not made fast, and in we went. there was his little devil of a wife, fast asleep in the arms of the tall fellow. sam couldn’t command his rage, and having the harpoon-iron in his hand, he drove it right through the tall fellow’s body before i could prevent him. it was a dreadful sight: the man groaned, and his head fell over the side of the bed. sam’s wife screamed, and made sam more wroth by throwing herself on the man’s body, and weeping over it. sam would have pulled out the iron to run her through with, but that was impossible. the noise brought up the people of the house, and it was soon known that murder had been committed. the constable came, sam was thrown into prison, and i went on board and told the whole story. well, we were just about to heave up, for we had shipped two more men in place of sam, who was to be tried for his life, and the poor fellow he had killed, when a lawyer chap came on board with what they call a suppeny for me; all i know is, that the lawyer pressed me into his service, and i lost my voyage. i was taken on shore, and well fed till the trial came on. poor sam was at the bar for murder. the gentleman in his gown and wig began his yarn, stating that how the late fellow, whose name was will errol, was with his own wife when sam harpooned him.
“‘that’s a lie!’ cried sam; ‘he was with my wife. false papers! here are mine;’ and he pulled out his tin case, and handed them to the court.
“the judge said that this was not the way to try people and that sam must hold his tongue; so the trial went on, and at first they had it all their own way. then our turn came, and i was called up to prove what had passed, and i stated how the man was with sam’s wife, and how he, having the harpoon-iron in his hand, had run it through his body. then they compared the certificates, and it was proved that the little jezebel had married them both; but she had married sam first, so he had the most right to her; but fancying the other man afterwards, she thought she might as well have two strings to her bow. so the judge declared that she was sam’s wife, and that any man, even without the harpoon in his hand, would be justified in killing a man whom he found in bed with his own wife. so sam went scot-free; but the judge wouldn’t let off sam’s wife, as she had caused murder by her wicked conduct; he tried her a’terwards for biggery, as they call it, and sent her over the water for life. sam never held up his head a’terwards; what with having killed an innocent man, and the ’haviour of his wife, he was always down. he went out to the fishery, and a whale cut the boat in two with her tail; sam was stunned, and went down like a stone. so you see the mischief brought about by this little jezebel, who must have two husbands, and be damned to her.”
“well, that’s a good yarn, father,” said tom, as soon as it was finished. “i was right in saying i would hear it. wasn’t i?”
“no,” replied old tom, putting out his large hand, and seizing his son by the collar; “and now you’ve put me in mind of it, i’ll pay you off for old scores.”
“lord love you, father, you don’t owe me anything,” said tom.
“yes, i do; and now i’ll give you a receipt in full.”
“o lord! they’ll be drowned,” screamed tom, holding up both his hands with every symptom of terror.
old tom turned short round to look in the direction, letting go his hold. tom made his escape, and burst out a-laughing. i laughed also, and so at last did his father.
i went on shore, and found that old tom’s report was correct—the dominie was at breakfast with mr drummond. the new usher had charge of the boys, and the governors had allowed him a fortnight’s holiday to visit an old friend at greenwich. to save expense, as well as to indulge his curiosity, the old man had obtained a passage down in the lighter. “never yet, jacob, have i put my feet into that which floateth on the watery element,” observed he to me; “nor would i now, but that it saveth money, which thou knowest well is with me not plentiful. many dangers i expect, many perils shall i encounter; such have i read of in books; and well might horace exclaim—‘ille robur et aes triplex,’ with reference to the first man who ventured afloat. still doth mr drummond assure me that the lighter is of that strength as to be able to resist the force of the winds and waves; and, confiding in providence, i intend to venture, jacob, ‘te duce.’”
“nay, sir,” replied i, laughing at the idea which the dominie appeared to have formed of the dangers of river navigation, “old tom is the dux.”
“old tom; where have i seen that name? now i do recall to mind that i have seen the name painted in large letters upon a cask at the tavern bar of the inn at brentford; but what it did intend to signify i did not inquire. what connection is there?”
“none,” replied i; “but i rather think they are very good friends. the tide turns in half-an-hour, sir; are you ready to go on board?”
“truly am i, and well prepared, having my habiliments in a bundle, my umbrella and my great-coat, as well as my spencer for general wear. but where i am to sleep hath not yet been made known to me. peradventure one sleepeth not—‘tanto in periculo.’”
“yes, sir, we do. you shall have my berth, and i’ll turn in with young tom.”
“hast thou, then, a young tom as well as an old tom on board?”
“yes, sir; and a dog, also, of the name of tommy.”
“well, then, we will embark, and thou shalt make me known to this triad of thomases. ‘inde tomos dictus locus est.’ (cluck, cluck.) ovid, i thank thee.”
