The hangman followed. And then so many rushed upon their track, that the
fire got trodden down and thinly strewn about the street; but there was
no need of it now, for, inside and out, the prison was in flames.
Chapter 65
During the whole course of the terrible scene which was now at its
height, one man in the jail suffered a degree of fear and mental torment
which had no parallel in the endurance, even of those who lay under
sentence of death.
When the rioters first assembled before the building, the murderer
was roused from sleep--if such slumbers as his may have that blessed
name--by the roar of voices, and the struggling of a great crowd. He
started up as these sounds met his ear, and, sitting on his bedstead,
listened.
After a short interval of silence the noise burst out again. Still
listening attentively, he made out, in course of time, that the jail was
besieged by a furious multitude. His guilty conscience instantly arrayed
these men against himself, and brought the fear upon him that he would
be singled out, and torn to pieces.
Once impressed with the terror of this conceit, everything tended to
confirm and strengthen it. His double crime, the circumstances under
which it had been committed, the length of time that had elapsed, and
its discovery in spite of all, made him, as it were, the visible object
of the Almighty's wrath.
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