And while he lay groaning in the streets, they left one of
their number in charge, while the others proceeded to get handcuffs
and chains, in which they bound him, and dragged him, as it were,
the distance of four squares to the guard-house. What a sublime
picture for the meditations of a people who boast of their bravery
and generosity!
CHAPTER XIX.
THE NEXT MORNING, AND THE MAYOR'S VERDICT.
SHORTLY after daylight, Tommy fell into a dozing sleep, from which
he was awakened by the mustering of the prisoners who had been
brought up during the night, and were to appear before the mayor at
nine o'clock. A few minutes before eight o'clock, an officer opened
the cell-door, and they were ordered to march out into a long room.
In this room they found all the prisoners gathered. There were three
blacks and five whites, who had been arrested on different charges;
and as the mayor's court was merely a tribunal of commitment-not
judgment-if the charges upon which the prisoners were brought up
were sustained-which they generally were, because the policeman who
made the arrest was the important witness, they were committed to
await the tardy process of the law.
Considerable uneasiness had been felt on board of the Janson for
Tommy, and the Captain suggested that he might have got astray among
the dark lanes of the city, and that the mate had better send some
of the crew to look for him.
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