Kelly and his companion were
a second time placed in the dock of the Manchester Police Office.
There is reason to believe that means had previously been found of
acquainting them with the plans of their friends outside, but this
hypothesis is not necessary to explain the coolness and _sang froid_
with which they listened to the proceedings before the magistrate.
Hardly had the prisoners been put forward, when the Chief Inspector
of the Manchester Detective Force interposed. They were both, he said,
connected with the Fenian rising, and warrants were out against them
for treason-felony. "Williams," he added, with a triumphant air, "is
Colonel Kelly, and Whyte, his confederate, is Captain Deasey." He
asked that they might again be remanded, an application which was
immediately granted. The prisoners, who imperturbably bowed to the
detective, as he identified them, smilingly quitted the dock, and were
given in charge to Police Sergeant Charles Brett, whose duty it was to
convey them to the borough gaol.

The van used for the conveyance of prisoners between the police office
and the gaol was one of the ordinary long black boxes on wheels, dimly
lit by a grating in the door and a couple of ventilators in the roof.
It was divided interiorly into a row of small cells at either side,
and a passage running the length of the van between; and the practice
was, to lock each prisoner into a separate cell, Brett sitting in
charge on a seat in the passage, near the door. The van was driven
by a policeman; another usually sat beside the driver on the box; the
whole escort thus consisting of three men, carrying no other arms than
their staves; but it was felt that on the present occasion a stronger
escort might be necessary. The magistrates well knew that Kelly
and Deasey had numerous sympathisers amongst the Irish residents in
Manchester, and their apprehensions were quickened by the receipt of
a telegram from Dublin Castle, and another from the Home Office in
London, warning them that a plot was on foot for the liberation of the
prisoners. The magistrates doubted the truth of the information, but
they took precautions, nevertheless, for the frustration of any such
enterprise. Kelly and Deasey were both handcuffed, and locked in
separate compartments of the van; and, instead of three policemen,
not less than twelve were entrusted with its defence. Of this body,
five sat on the box-seat, two were stationed on the step behind, four
foll