Page:Devonshire Characters and Strange Events.djvu/799

 the prisoners were much further up the square, and part of the guards had charged their bayonets towards the prisoners to force them down, and almost at the same moment he, this informant, heard the report of a musket discharged. &hellip; That he, this informant, did not hear any person give orders to fire. That several muskets were fired in the Market Square, and immediately after the firing had ceased he heard Capt. Shortland call for turnkeys to take up the wounded. &hellip; That this informant did not observe anything thrown by the prisoners at the military, nor see the prisoners armed with any offensive weapons."

Richard Arnold, one of the turnkeys, after stating the fact of the hole in the wall and Captain Shortland's examination of it: "This informant then returned to the Market Square leaving Capt. Shortland in the barrack-yard, and the horn was then sounding for the prisoners to turn into their respective prisons, when he observed a large body of prisoners collected between the iron railing in the front of the prisons, and they were attempting to force the gates. &hellip; That this informant went away to call the guard, and met Capt. Shortland at the upper gate. That the guard was outside the guard-house drawn out, and Capt. Shortland called to them to follow him, and this informant returned with him, and by this time the prisoners had forced the gate, and many hundreds had assembled in the Market Square. That Capt. Shortland desired the soldiers to draw up, be steady, and keep their ground, and the soldiers formed across the square. That this informant saw Capt. Shortland go up in front of the military and heard him desire the prisoners to go in,