nine o'clock
The tricks of this man Dunn were well known to those , connected with the police and sheriff 's office ; but , instead of being displaced for his many offences , he was looked upon by them as the best officer upon the rolls ; and in fishing for mischievous niggers he was held as a perfect paragon . In this instance he was not contented with the outrages he had inflicted upon Manuel at the Dutch grog-shop , which he had forced him into , but he would stop in the public street to hold conversation with every cove he met , and keep the poor man standing for public gaze , like chained innocence awaiting the nod of a villain . The picture would have been complete , if a monster in human form were placed in the foreground applying the lash , according to the statute laws of South Carolina . IT is nine o'clock , on the morning of the 24th March , 1852 . Manuel was marched into the sheriff 's office , situated in the court-house , on the corner of Broad and Meeting streets . A large table stood in the centre of the room , covered with sundry old papers and an inkstand . At one side was an old sofa , bearing strong evidence of its being worn out at the expense of the State .