358 Oh the Pleasures of Body-Snatching. 



shoving up with all his might the ponderous mass. " I wish to God, 

 Betson," said he, " yon had brought that lazy young rascal, your son, 

 with you, to hold the lamp ; for I think I shall break my legs among 

 these cursed stones !" " I'll hold it, Sir !" said I, stepping forward, and 

 taking the lamp from his hand. At the sound of a strange, or at least 



unexpected voice, Mr. L had well liigb dropped his burthen ; and, 



indeed, as it seemed to me at the moment, was uncertain, for about the 

 twinkling of a lancet, whether he should not scramble over the wall, and 

 leave the living and the dead together. But turning back his head for an 

 instant, and seeing, by the sharp light of the lamp, the pale features and 

 wild-staring eyes of his apprentice, his dismay was converted into simple 

 vexation. " D thee !" said he, clenching his teeth; and these were' 

 the only words that passed between us till, with our prize, we had reached 

 his own house. I did not sleep well that night : I was hot, but not fever- 

 ish or e l s e it was a sweating fever. After the first trial, I dared not 

 sleep again ; for, in my dreams, the church-yard scene was repeated even 

 more distinctly than in my waking recollections, and one does not like too 

 much of a good thing* I thought the sun had forgotten to rise. But, at 

 last, when I fell into the early morning dose which usually follows a 

 sleepless night, and opened my eyes once more in the clear and joyful 

 light of day, my fears left me ; and 1 got up from the bed, which was not 

 merely damp, but absolutely wet with perspiration smoking and yet 

 shivering pale and yet proud with heaviness in my eyes, but joy at my 

 heart. At night we were to reap the fruits of our enterprise; I was to 

 be present, with my master's permission, for the first time at a dissection. 

 It was necessary to preserve the most profound secrecy on a circumstance, 

 which, if known to the swinish multitude, would probably have been the 



means of getting Mr. L and myself torn to pieces, and the house 



razed to the foundation not to talk of the consequent destruction of my 

 master's manuscripts ; and our measures were taken accordingly. I pre- 

 tended to retire to bed about ten o'clock, putting out my candle, arid bolt- 

 ing my door as usual. I could hear the sounds of men dying away in the 

 streets and in the house. Every thing was silent, except the ticking of 

 the house-clock, whose iron tongue telling twelve was to be the signal of 

 meeting. I thought the clock was not so lazy as the sun had been in the 

 morning ; for, after a very trifling lapse of time, the important hour 

 sounded. A Londoner can form no conception of the associations that 

 are attached to the dead and awful hour of twelve in the country. In 

 town,, it is' the funniest of the four-and-twenty. I shivered as I counted 

 the ominous strokes, but, mustering all-my resolution, cautiously unbolted 

 my door, and groped my way to my master's study. I tapped gently at 

 the door, and he let me in. I warmed myself at the fire for a few minutes, 



and then Mr. L said, in a jocular manner, " You can go in to the 



closet, if you like, and pay your respects to your friend till 1 am ready." 

 My pride was touched ; for, when a man is frightened, jocularity in 

 another is as bad as a tweak by the nose. So, forcing a smile in reply. I 

 made for the closet-door, and opening it, went in. The cursed door, which 

 was accommodated with a weight and pulley, instantaneously took advan- 

 tage of my back being turned, and shut itself again with a clap that made 

 me spring two feet from the ground. A table was in the middle of the 

 floor, on which wore two lighted candles, and something covered with a 

 white sheet. My eyes sparkled at the sight, but my feet would not 

 budge; till, recollecting that Mr. L had scut me in for the express' 



