Trial of John Jasper, lay precentor of Cloisterham Cathedral in the County of Kent, for the murder of Edwin Drood, engineer

by England) Dickens Fellowship (London

Mr. Walters: You hated him?

Witness: Yes.

Mr. Walters: And you wanted his money?

Witness: Yes. He was always a-listening.

Mr. Walters: I thought it was you listening?

Witness: Sometimes I would listen, and once he spoke to me of a hazardous journey, and he said, “I did it a hundred million times; I did it so often, that when it came to be really done, it was not worth the doing, it was done so soon, and when it comes to be real, it was so short that for the first time it seemed to be unreal. No struggle, no sign of danger, no consciousness of peril! I never dreamt that before.” That’s what he said, my deary dear.

Mr. Walters: Well, he said, when it came to be done it was so short it was not worth doing?

Witness: He said it was not real for the first time.

Mr. Walters: He talked about a real thing?

Witness: He says, deary, “When it comes to be real it seems to be unreal for the first time,” my deary dear.