As Jerry Cruncher watches from his post before Tellson's
Bank with his "grisly urchin," young Jerry, near him, young Jerry calls out as a crowd
comes down Fleet street. Since funerals hold the attention of Jerry, he becomes greatly
excited as he sees the dingy hearse and mourning coach in which there is a single
mourner. But, behind these coaches a rabble forms, calling out, "Yah! Spies! Tst!
Yaha!" As one person comes by, Jerry learns from him that the funeral is for "a one
Roger Cly." When Jerry inquires if he were a spy, his informant tells him, "Old Bailey
spy,...Yaha! Tst!Yah! Old Bailey Spi-i-ies!"
It is then
that Jerry realizes that he is acquainted with Roger Cly who was present at the trial of
Charles Darnay and testified against him. Again the crowd "was a monster dreaded" that
ripped things and "stopped at nothing." Men jump on top of the mourning coach and
ride. In fact, they commandeer the coach. After Roger Cly is buried, the crowd finds a
new diversion with which to entertain themselves: They begin to harrass passers-by, but
the Guards finally come and disperse the crowd.
Talking to
himself, Jerry Cruncher tells himself that Roger Cly is a young and straight made
un." So, he hurries to the surgeon to tell him that he has an excellent specimen for the
experiments of the medical field; that is, he has a new body on which he may try his
trade.
This exposure of Roger Cly becomes important to the
development of the plot of Dickens's novel. For, Roger Cly is the spy who testifies
against Charles Darnay,and Jerry goes out at night to dig up his grave. This incident
is a parody of the resurrection scene in the subplot and foreshadows Cly's reappearance
in the narrative.
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