第54章 BOOK THE SECOND：THE GOLDEN THREAD(37)

'What d'ye mean？What are you hooroaring at？What do you want to conwey to your own father，you young Rip！This boy is a getting too many for me！'said Mr. Cruncher，surveying him.'Him and his hooroars！Don't let me hear no more of you，or you shall feel some more of me.D'ye hear？'

'I warn't doing no harm，'Young Jerry protested，rubbing his cheek.

'Drop it then，'said Mr. Cruncher；'I won't have none of your no harms.Get a top of that there seat，and look at the crowd.'

His son obeyed，and the crowd approached；they were bawling and hissing round a dingy hearse and dingy mourning coach，inwhich mourning coach there was only one mourner，dressed in the dingy trappings that were considered essential to the dignity of the position. The position appeared by no means to please him，however，with an increasing rabble surrounding the coach，deriding him，making grimaces at him，and incessantly groaning and calling out：'Yah！Spies！Tst！Yaha！Spies！'with many compliments too numerous and forcible to repeat.

Funerals had at all times a remarkable attraction for Mr. Cruncher；he always pricked up his senses，and became excited，when a funeral passed Tellson's.Naturally，therefore，a funeral with this uncommon attendance excited him greatly，and he asked of the first man who ran against him：

'What is it，brother？What's it about？'

'I don't know，'said the man.'Spies！Yaha！Tst！Spies！'

He asked another man.'Who is it？'

'I don't know，'returned the other man，clapping his hands to his mouth，nevertheless，and vociferating in a surprising heat and with the greatest ardour，'Spies！Yaha！Tst，tst！Spi-ies！'

At length，a person better informed on the merits of the case，tumbled against him，and from this person he learned that the funeral was the funeral of one Roger Cly.

'Was He a spy？'asked Mr. Cruncher.

'Old Bailey spy，'returned his informant.'Yaha！Tst！Yah！Old Bailey Spi-i-ies！'

'Why，to be sure！'exclaimed Jerry，recalling the Trial at which he had assisted.'I've seen him. Dead，is he？'

'Dead as mutton，'returned the other，'and can't be too dead. Have'em out，there！Spies！Pull'em out，there！Spies！'

The idea was so acceptable in the prevalent absence of anyidea，that the crowd caught it up with eagerness，and loudly repeating the suggestion to have'em out，and to pull'em out，mobbed the two vehicles so closely that they came to a stop. On the crowd's opening the coach doors，the one mourner scuffled out of himself and was in their hands for a moment；but he was so alert，and made such good use of his time，that in another moment he was scouring away up by a by-street，after shedding his cloak，hat，long hatband，white pocket-handkerchief，and other symbolical tears.

These，the people tore to pieces and scattered far and wide with great enjoyment，while the tradesmen hurriedly shut up their shops；for a crowd in those times stopped at nothing，and was a monster much dreaded. They had already got to the length of opening the hearse to take the coffin out，when some brighter genius proposed instead，its being escorted to its destination amidst general rejoicing.Practical suggestions being much needed，this suggestion，too，was received with acclamation，and the coach was immediately filled with eight inside and a dozen out，while as many people got on the roof of the hearse as could by any exercise of ingenuity stick upon it.Among the first of these volunteers was Jerry Cruncher himself，who modestly concealed his spiky head from the observation of Tellson's，in the further corner of the mourning coach.

The officiating undertakers made some protest against these changes in the ceremonies；but，the river being alarmingly near，and several voices remarking on the efficacy of cold immersion in bringing refractory members of the profession to reason，the protest was faint and brief. The remodelled procession started，with a chimney-sweep driving the hearse—advised by the regulardriver，who was perched beside him，under close inspection，for the purpose—and with a pie-man，also attended by his cabinet minister，driving the mourning coach.A bear-leader，a popular street character of the time，was impressed as an additional ornament，before the cavalcade had gone far down the Strand；and his bear，who was black and very mangy，gave quite an Undertaking air to that part of the procession in which he walked.

Thus，with beer-drinking，pipe-smoking，song-roaring，and infinite caricaturing of woe，the disorderly procession went its way，recruiting at every step，and all the shops shutting up before it. Its destination was the old church of Saint Pancras，far off in the fields.It got there in course of time；insisted on pouring into the burial-ground；finally，accomplished the interment of the deceased Roger Cly in its own way，and highly to its own satisfaction.

The dead man disposed of，and the crowd being under the necessity of providing some other entertainment for itself，another brighter genius（or perhaps the same）conceived the humour of impeaching casual passers-by，as Old Bailey spies，and wreaking vengeance on them. Chase was given to some scores of inoffensive persons who had never been near the Old Bailey in their lives，in the realisation of this fancy，and they were roughly hustled and maltreated.The transition to the sport of window-breaking，and thence to the plundering of public-houses，was easy and natural.At last，after several hours，when sundry summer-houses had been pulled down，and some area-railings had been torn up，to arm the more belligerent spirits，a rumour got about that the Guards were coming.Before the rumour，the crowd gradually melted away，and perhaps the Guards came，and perhaps they never came，and thiswas the usual progress of a mob.