"Little drops of kindness like this always touch me.

You shall have a little drop too, my boy, presently." I tried feebly to laugh at the joke; but I couldn't, whereupon he got very sulky, and bundled me down the stairs without another word.
By the dim light of a few candles placed about the room I could see that the Chamber of Horrors was packed by a dense crowd of sightseers, who occupied seats on the floor of the court, and sat impatiently whispering together, expecting my arrival.
As I stumbled up the steps of the Old Bailey dock (where room had been made for me between Burke and Hare) the usual thrill of sensation passed round the court.

I could see Henry the Eighth and his wives opposite me in the small dock, while the other crowned heads jostled one another on the platform of the guillotine.

There, too, was the old hermit peeping out through the bars of his cage, and the warder in charge of the condemned cell was sweeping his place out and changing the sheets on the bed.
"Now then," said Henry the Eighth, when all the bustle had subsided, "wire in, somebody! Let's begin." "You'd better get a jury first," said King John.

"That's one of the first things I insist upon in Magna Charta." "Order in the court!" cried Henry, "and Magna Charta be bothered! I shall do as I like!" "Do have a jury, love," said Catherine Parr; "it's _such_ fun when they come in with their verdict!" "Oh, all right; have it your own way.