ten in the morning
I have no friends , else might I show that I was not in Islington that day ; so also might I show that at that hour they name I was above a league away , seeing I was at Wapping Old Stairs ; yea more , my King , for I could show , that whilst they say I was TAKING life , I was SAVING it . A drowning boy -- '' `` Peace ! Sheriff , name the day the deed was done ! '' `` At ten in the morning , or some minutes later , the first day of the New Year , most illustrious -- '' `` Let the prisoner go free -- it is the King 's will ! '' Another blush followed this unregal outburst , and he covered his indecorum as well as he could by adding -- `` It enrageth me that a man should be hanged upon such idle , hare-brained evidence ! '' A low buzz of admiration swept through the assemblage . It was not admiration of the decree that had been delivered by Tom , for the propriety or expediency of pardoning a convicted poisoner was a thing which few there would have felt justified in either admitting or admiring -- no , the admiration was for the intelligence and spirit which Tom had displayed .