 CHAPTER XV Now that there was a great object to be gained by a second interview with Colonel Geoffrey, the anxiety of Johanna Oakley to have it became extremely great, and she counted the very hours until the period should arrive when she could again proceed to the temple gardens with something like a certainty of finding him. The object, of course, was to ask him for a description of Mr. Thornhill sufficiently accurate to enable her to come to something like a positive conclusion as to whether she ought to call him to her own mind as Mark ingestry or not. And Colonel Geoffrey was not a bit the less anxious to see her than she was to look upon him, for although in diverse lands he had looked upon many a fair face and heard many a voice that had sounded soft and musical to his ears, he had seen none that, to his mind, was so fair, and had heard no voice that he had considered really so musical and charming to listen to as Johanna Oakley's. A man of more admirable and strict sense of honour than Colonel Geoffrey could not have been found, and therefore it was that he allowed himself to admire the beautiful under any circumstances, because he knew that his admiration was of no dangerous quality, but that on the contrary it was one of those feelings which might exist in a bosom such as his, quite under-based by a meaner influence. We think it necessary, however, before he has his second interview with Johanna Oakley, to give such an explanation of his thoughts and feelings as is in our power. When first he met her the purity of her mind and the genuine and beautiful candour of all she said struck him most forcibly, as well as her great beauty which could not fail to be extremely manifest. After that he began to reason with himself as to what ought to be his feelings with regard to her, namely what portion of these ought to be suppressed and what ought to be encouraged. If Mark and Gestery were dead there was not a shadow of interference or dishonour in him, Colonel Geoffrey loving the beautiful girl, who was surely not to be shut out of the pale of all affections, because the first person to whom her heart had warmed with a pure and holy passion was no more. It may be he thought that she is incapable of feeling a sentiment which can at all approach that which once she felt, but still she may be happy and serene and may pass many joyous hours as the wife of another. He did not positively make these reflections as applicable to himself, although they had a tendency that way, and he was fast verging on a state of mind which might induce him to give them a more actual application. He did not tell himself that he loved her, no, the word admiration took the place of the more powerful term, but then can we not doubt that at this time the germ of a very pure and holy affection was lighted up in the heart of Colonel Geoffrey, for the beautiful creature who had suffered the pangs of so much disappointment, and who loved one so well, who, we almost fear if he was living, was scarcely the sort of person fully to require such an affection. But we know so little of Mark in gestory, and there appears to be so much doubt as to whether he be alive or dead, that we should not prejudge him upon such very insufficient evidence. Johanna Oakley did think of taking Arabella Wilmot with her to this meeting with Colonel Geoffrey, but she abandoned the idea, because it really looked as if she was either afraid of him or afraid of herself, so she resolved to go alone, and when the hour of appointment came she was there walking upon that broad, graveled path which has been trodden by some of the best and some of the most eminent as well as some of the worst of human beings. It was not likely that with the feelings of Colonel Geoffrey towards her he should keep her waiting. Indeed he was there a good hour before the time, and his only great dread was that she might not come. He had some reason for this dread, because it will be readily recollected by the reader, that she had not positively promised to come, so that all he had was a hope that way tending and nothing further. As minute after minute had passed away she came not, although the time had not really arrived, his apprehension that she would not give him the meeting had grown in his mind almost to a certainty, when he saw her timidly advancing along the garden walk. He rose to meet her at once, and for a few moments after he had greeted her with kind civility she could do nothing but look inquiringly in his face to know if he had any news to tell her of the object of her anxious solicitude. I have heard nothing, Miss Oakley, he said, that can give you any satisfaction concerning the fate of Mr. Thornhill, but we have much suspicion. I say we, because I have taken a friend into my confidence, that something serious must have happened to him, and that the barba, Sweeney Todd in Fleet Street, at whose door the dog so mysteriously took his post, knows something of that circumstance, be it what it may. He led her to a seat as he spoke, and when she had recovered sufficiently the agitation of her feelings to speak, she said in a timid, hesitating voice, had Mr. Thornhill fair hair and large, clear, grey eyes. Yes, he had such, and I think his smile was the most singularly beautiful I ever beheld in a man. Heaven help me, said Johanna. Have you any reason for asking that question regarding Thornhill? God grant I had not, but alas I have indeed. I feel that in Thornhill I must recognise Markingestry himself. You astonish me. It must be so, it must be so, you have described him to me, and I cannot doubt it. Markingestry and Thornhill are one. I knew that he was going to change his name when he went upon that wild adventure to the Indian Sea. I was well aware of that fact. I cannot think, Miss Oakley, that you are correct in that supposition. There are many things which induce me to think otherwise, and the first and foremost of them is that the ingenuous character of Mr. Thornhill forbids the likelihood of such a thing occurring. You may depend on it, it is not, cannot be as you suppose. The proofs are too strong for me, and I find I dare not doubt them. It is so, Colonel Geoffrey, as time per chance may show. It is sad, very sad to think that it is so, but I dare not doubt it, now that you have described him to me exactly as he lived. I must own that in giving an opinion on such a point to you, I may be accused of arrogance and assumption, for I have had no description of Markingestry, and never saw him, and although you never saw certainly Mr. Thornhill, yet I have described him to you, and therefore you are able to judge from that description something of him. I am indeed, and I cannot, dare not doubt. It is horrible to be positive on this point to me, because I do fear with you that something dreadful has occurred, and that the barber in Fleet Street could unravel a frightful secret, if he chose, connected with Markingestry's fate. I do sincerely hope from my heart that you are wrong. I hope it, because I tell you frankly, dim and obscure as is the hope that Markingestry may have been picked up from the wreck of his vessel, it is yet stronger than the supposition that Thornhill has escaped the murderous hands of Sweeney Todd the Barber. Johanna looked in his face so imploringly, and with such an expression of hopelessness, that it was most sad indeed to see her, and quite involuntarily he exclaimed, if the sacrifice of my life would be to you a relief, and save you from the pangs you suffer, believe me it should be made. She started as she said, No, no, heaven knows enough has been sacrificed already, more than enough, much more than enough. But do not suppose that I am ungrateful for the generous interest you have taken in me. Do not suppose that I think any the less of the generosity and nobility of soul that would offer a sacrifice, because it is one I would hesitate to accept, no, you believe me, Colonel Geoffrey, that among the few names that are enrolled in my breast, and such to me will ever be honoured, remember yours will be found while I live, but that will not be long, but that will not be long. Nay, do not speak so despairingly. Have I not cause for despair? Others have you for great grief, but yet scarcely for despair. You are young yet, and let me entertain a hope that even if a feeling of regret may mingle with your future thoughts, time will achieve something in tempering your sorrow, and if not great happiness you may know great serenity. I dare not hope it, but I know your words are kindly spoken, and most kindly meant. You may well assure yourself that they are so. I will ascertain his fate or perish. You alarm me by those words, as well as by your manner of uttering them, let me implore you, Miss Oakley, to attempt nothing rash. Remember how weak and inefficient must be the exertions of a young girl like yourself, one who knows so little of the world, and can really understand so little of its wickedness. Affection conquers all obstacles, and the weakest and most inefficient girl that ever stepped, if she have strong within her that love which in all its sacred intensity knows no fear, shall indeed accomplish much. I feel that in such a cause I could shake off all girlish terrors and ordinary alarms, and if there be danger I would ask what is life to me without all that could adorn it, and make it beautiful. This, indeed, is the very enthusiasm of affection when, believe me, it will lead you to some excess, to some romantic exercise of feeling, such as will bring great danger in its train to the unhappiness of those who love you. Those who love me, who is there to love me now? Johanna Oakley, I dare not, and will not utter words that come thronging to my lips, but which I fear might be unwelcome to your ears. I will not say that I can answer the questions you have asked, because it would sound ungenerous at such a time as this, when you have met me to talk of the fate of another. Oh, forgive me that hurried away by the feeling of a moment I have uttered these words, for I meant not to utter them. Johanna looked at him in silence, and it might be that there was the slightest possible tinge of reproach in her look, but it was very slight, for one glance at that ingenuous countenance would be sufficient to convince the most skeptical of the truth and single-mindedness of its owner. Of this there could be no doubt whatever, and if anything in the shape of her reproach was upon the point of coming from her lips, she forbore to utter it. May I hope, he added, that I have not lowered myself in your esteem, Miss Oakley, by what I have said? I hope, she said gently, you will continue to be my friend. She laid an emphasis on the word friend, and he fully understood what she meant to imply thereby, and after a moment's pause said, Heaven forbid that ever by word or by action, Johanna, I should do ought to deprive myself of that privilege. Let me be your friend, since—he left the sentence unfinished—but if he had added the words, since I can do you no more, he could not have made it more evident to Johanna that those were the words he intended to utter. And now, he added, that I hope and trust we understand each other better than we did, and you are willing to call me by the name of friend, let me once more ask you, by the privilege of such a title, to be careful of yourself, and not to risk much in order that you may perhaps have some remote chance of achieving very little. But can I endure this dreadful suspense? It is, alas, too common an affliction on human nature, pardon me for addressing you as Johanna. Nay, it requires no excuse, I am accustomed to so to be addressed by all who feel a kindly interest for me. Call me Johanna, if you will, and I shall feel a greater assurance of your friendship and your esteem. I will then avail myself of that permission, and again and again I will entreat you to leave to me the task of making what attempts may be made to discover the fate of Mr. Thornhill. There must be danger even in inquiring for him, if he has met with any foul play, and therefore I ask you to let that danger be mine. Johanna asked herself if she should or not tell him of the scheme of operations that had been suggested by Arabella Wilmot, but somehow or another she shrank most wonderfully from so doing, both on account of the censure which she concluded he would be likely to cast upon it, and the romantic, strange nature of the plan itself, so she said gently and quickly, I shall attempt nothing that shall not have some possibility of success attending it. I will be careful, you may depend for many considerations. My father, I know, sent us all his affections in me, and for his sake I will be careful. I shall be content then, and now may I hope that this day, week I may see you here again, in order that I may tell you if I have made any discovery, and that you may tell me the same, for my interest in Thornhill is that of a sincere friend, to say nothing of the deep interest in your happiness which I feel, and which has now become an element in the transaction of the highest value. I will come, said Johanna, if I can come. You do not doubt? No, no, I will come, and I hope to bring you some news of him in whom you are so much interested. It shall be no fault of mine if I come not. He walked with her from the gardens, and together they passed the shop of Sweeney Todd, but the door was closed shut, and they saw nothing of the barber, or that of the poor boy, his apprentice, who was so much to be pitied. He parted with Johanna near to her father's house, and he walked slowly away with his mind so fully impressed with the excellence and beauty of the Spectacle Maker's daughter, that it was quite clear, as long as he lived, he would not be able to rid himself of the favourable impression she had made upon him. I love her, he said. I love her, but she seems in no respect willing to enchain her affections. Alas! How sad it is for me that the being whom, above all others, I could wish to call my own. Instead of being a joy to me, I have only encountered that she might impart a pang to my heart. Beautiful and excellent, Johanna! I love you, but I can see that your own affections are withered for ever." CHAPTER XVI It would seem as if Sweeney Todd, after his adventure in trying to dispose of the string of pearls which he possessed, began to feel a little doubtful about his chances of success in that matter, for he waited patiently for a considerable period before he again made the attempt, and then he made it after a totally different fashion. Towards the close of night, on that same evening when Johanna Oakley had met Colonel Geoffrey for the second time in the Temple Gardens, and while Tobias sat alone in the shop in his usual deep dejection, a stranger entered the place with a large blue bag in his hand, and looked inquiringly about him. Hello, my lad, he said he. Is this Mr. Todd's? Yes, said Tobias, but he is not at home. What do you want? Well, I'll be hanged, said the man. If this don't beat everything, you don't mean to tell me he is a barber, do you? Indeed I do, don't you see? Yes, I see, to be sure, but I'll be shot if I thought of it beforehand. What do you think he has been doing? Doing, said Tobias, with animation, do you think he will be hanged? Why, no, I don't see it as a hanging matter, although you seem as if you wished it was, but I'll just tell you now we are artists at the west end of the town. Artists? Do you mean to say you draw pictures? No, no, we make clothes. But we call ourselves artists now because tailors are out of fashion. Oh, that's it, is it? Yes, that's it, and you would scarcely believe it, but he came to our shop actually and ordered a suit of clothes, which were to come to no less than some than thirty pounds, and told us to make them up in such a style that they were to do for any noble man, and he gave his name and address, as Mr. Todd, at this number in Fleet Street, but I hadn't the least idea that he was a barber, if I had, I am quite certain that the clothes would not have been finished in the style they are, but quite the reverse. Well, said Tobias, I can't think what he wants such clothing for, but I suppose it's all right. Was he a tall, ugly-looking fellow? As ugly as the very devil, I'll just show you the things as he is not at home. The coat is of the finest velvet, lined with silk, and trimmed with lace. Did you ever, in all your life, see such a coat for a barber? Indeed I never did, but it is some scheme of his, of course. It is a superb coat. Yes, and all the rest of the dress is of the same style. What on earth can he be going to do with it? I can't think, for it's only fit to go to court in. Oh, well, I know nothing about it, said Tobias, with a sigh. You can leave it, or not as you like, it is all one to me. Well, you seem to be the most melancholy wretch ever I came near. What's the matter with you? The matter with me? Oh, nothing, of course. I am as happy as I can be. Ain't I Sweeney Todd's apprentice, and ain't that enough to make anybody sing all day long? It may be, for all I know, but certainly you don't seem to be in a singing humour. But, however, we artists cannot waste our time, so just be so good as to take care of the clothes, and be sure you give them to your master, and so I wash my hands of the transaction. Very good, he shall have them, but do you mean to leave such valuable clothes without getting the money for them? Not exactly, for they are paid for. Ah, that makes all the difference, he shall have them. Scarcely had this tailor left the place, when a boy arrived with a parcel, and looking round him with undisguised astonishment, said, Isn't there some other, Mr. Todd in Fleet Street? Not that I know of, said Tobias, what have you got there? Silk stockings, gloves, lace, cravats, ruffles, and so on. The juice you have, I daresay it's all right. I shall leave them, they are paid for. This is the name, and this is the number. Now, stupid, this last exclamation arose from the fact that this boy, in going out, ran up against another who was coming in. Can't you see where you're going? said the new arrival. What's that to you? I have a good mind to punch your head. Do it, and then come down to our court, and see what a licking I'll give you. Will you? Why don't you? Only let me catch you, that's all. They stood, for some moment, so close together, that their nose is very nearly touched, and then after mutual assertions of what they would do if they caught each other, although, in either case, to stretch out an arm would have been quite sufficient to have accomplished that object, they separated, and the last comer said to Tobias, in a tone of irritation, probably consequent upon the misunderstanding he had just had with the Hosea's boy, you can tell Mr. Todd that the carriage will be ready at half-past seven precisely. And then he went away, leaving Tobias in a state of great bewilderment, as to what Sweeney Todd could possibly be about with such an amount of finery as that which was evidently coming home for him. I can't make it out, he said. It's some villainy, of course, but I can't make out what it is. I wish I knew I might thwart him in it. He is a villain, and neither could nor would project anything good. But what can I do? I am quite helpless in this, and will just let it take its course. I can only wish for a power of action I will never possess. Alas! Alas! I am very sad, and know not what will become of me. I wish that I was in my grave, and there I am sure I shall be soon, and as something happens to turn the tide of all this wretched evil fortune that has come upon me. It was in vain for Tobias to think of vexing himself with conjectures as to what Sweeney Todd was about to do with so much finery, for he had not the remotest foundation to go upon in the matter, and could not for the life of him imagine any possible contingency or chance which should make it necessary for the barber to deck himself in such gaudy apparel. All he could do was to lay down in his own mind a general principle as regarded Sweeney Todd's conduct, and that consisted in the fact that whatever might be his plans, and whatever might be his objects, they were for no good purpose. But on the contrary were most certainly intended for the accomplishment of some great evil which that most villainous person intended to perpetrate. I will observe all I can, thought Tobias to himself, and do what I can to put a stop to his mischiefs, but I fear it will be very little he will allow me to observe, and perhaps still less that he will allow me to do, but I can but try and do my best. Poor Tobias's best, as regarded achieving anything against Sweeney Todd, we may well suppose would be little indeed, for that individual was not the man to give anybody an opportunity of doing much, and possessed as he was of the most consummate art, as well as the greatest possible amount of unscrupulousness, there can be very little doubt but that any attempt poor Tobias might make would recoil upon himself. In about another half hour the barber returned, and his first question was, have any things been left for me? Yes, sir, said Tobias, here are two parcels, and a boy has been to say that the carriage will be ready at half past seven precisely. Tis well, said the barber, that will do, and Tobias you will be careful whilst I am gone of the shop, I shall be back in half an hour, mind you, and not later, and be sure I find you here at your post. But you may say if any one comes here on business that there will be neither shaving nor dressing to-night. You understand me? Yes, sir, certainly." Sweeney Todd then took the bundles which contained the costly apparel, and retired into the parlour with them, and as it was then seven o'clock, Tobias correctly enough to suppose that he had gone to dress himself, and he waited with a considerable amount of curiosity to see what sort of an appearance the barber would cut in his fine apparel. Tobias had not to control his impatience long, for in less than twenty minutes out came Sweeney Todd, a tired in the very height of fashion for the period. His waistcoat was something positively gorgeous, and his fingers were loaded with such costly rings that they quite dazzled the sight of Tobias to look upon. Then moreover he wore a sword with a dueled hilt, but it was one which Tobias really thought he had seen before, for he had a recollection that a gentleman had come in to have his hair dressed, and had taken it off, and laid just such a sword across his hat during the operation. Remember, said Sweeney Todd, remember your instructions, obey them to the letter, and no doubt you will ultimately become happy and independent. With these words Sweeney Todd left the place, and poor Tobias looked after him with a groan as he repeated the words, happy and independent, alas! What a mockery it is of this man to speak to me in such a way! I only wish that I were dead. But we will leave Tobias to his own reflections, and follow the more interesting progress of Sweeney Todd, who for some reason best known to himself was then playing so grand apart and casting away so large a sum of money. He made his way to a livery-stables in the immediate neighbourhood, and there, sure enough, the horses were being placed to a handsome carriage, and all being very soon in readiness, Sweeney Todd gave some whispered directions to the driver, and the vehicle started off westward. At that time Hyde Park Corner was very nearly out of town, and it looked as if you were getting a glimpse of the country, and actually seeing something of the peasantry of England when you got another couple of miles off, and that was the direction in which Sweeney Todd went, and as he goes we may as well introduce to the reader the sort of individual whom he was going to visit in so much state, and for whom he thought it necessary to go to such great expense. At that period the follies and vices of the nobility were somewhere about as great as they are now, and consequently extravagance induced on many occasions troublesome sacrifice of money, and it was found extremely convenient to apply to a man of the name of John Mundell, an exceedingly wealthy person, a Dutchman by extraction, who was reported to make immense sums of money by lending to the nobility, and others what they required on emergencies at enormous rates of interest. But it must not be supposed that John Mundell was so confiding as to lend his money without security, it was quite the reverse, for he took care to have the jewels, some costly plate, or the title-deeds of an estate, per chance, as security, before he would part with a single shilling of his cash. In point of fact John Mundell was nothing more than a pawnbroker on a very extensive scale, and although he had an office in town, he usually received his more aristocratic customers at his private residence, which was about two miles off on the Uxbridge Road. After this explanation it can very easily be imagined what was the scheme of Sweeney Todd, and that he considered if he borrowed from John Mundell a sum equal in amount to half the real value of the pearls, he should be well rid of a property which he certainly could not sufficiently well account for the possession of, to enable him to dispose of it openly to the highest bidder. We give Sweeney Todd great credit for the scheme he proposes, it was eminently calculated to succeed, and one which in the way he undertook it was certainly set about in the best possible way. During his ride he revolved in his mind exactly what he should say to John Mundell, and from what we know of him we may be well convinced that Sweeney Todd was not likely to fail from any amount of bashfulness in the transaction, but that on the contrary he was just the man to succeed in any scheme which required great assurance to carry it through, for he was certainly master of great assurance, and possessed of a kind of diplomatic skill which had fortunately placed him in a more elevated position of life, would no doubt have made a great man of him and gained him great political reputation. John Mundell's villa, which was called by the by Mundell House, was a large, handsome, and modern structure surrounded by a few acres of pleasure gardens, which, however, the moneylender never looked at, for his whole soul was too much engrossed by his love for cash to enable him to do so, and if he derived any satisfaction at all from it, that satisfaction must have been entirely owing to the fact that he had rung mansion, grounds, and all the costly furnishing of the former from an improvident debtor, who had been forced to fly the country and leave his property wholly in the hands of the moneylender and usurer. It was but a short drive, with the really handsome horses, that Sweeney Todd had succeeded in hiring for the occasion, and he soon found himself opposite the entrance gates of Mundell House. His great object now was that the usurer should see the equipage which he had brought down, and he accordingly desired the footman, who had accompanied him, at once to ring the bell at the entrance gate, and to say that a gentleman was waiting in his carriage to see Mr. Mundell. This was done, and when the moneylender's servant reported to him that the equipage was a costly one, and that in his opinion the visitor must be some nobleman of great rank, John Mundell made no difficulty about the matter, but walked down to the gate at once, where he immediately mentally subscribed to the opinion of his servant by admitting to himself that the equipage was faultless, and presumed at once that it did belong to some person of great rank. He was proportionally humble, as such men always are, and advancing to the side of the carriage he begged to know what commands his lordship, for so he called him at once, had for him. I wish to know, said Sweeney Todd, Mr. Mundell, if you are inclined to lay under an obligation a rather illustrious lady by helping her out of a little pecuniary difficulty. John Mundell glanced again at the equipage, and he likewise saw something of the rich dress of his visitor, who had not disputed the title which had been applied to him, of Lord, and he made up his mind accordingly that it was just one of the transactions that would suit him, provided the security that would be offered was of a tangible nature. That was the only point upon which John Mundell had the remotest doubt, but at all events he urgently pressed his visitor to a light and walk in. End of CHAPTER XVI. CHAPTER XVI. I myself accommodated the illustrious lady with the sum of money she requires, but as I could not do so without encumbering some estates, she positively forbade me to think of it. Certainly, said Mr. Mundell, she is a very illustrious lady, I presume, very illustrious indeed, but it must be a condition of this transaction, if you at all enter into it, that you are not to inquire precisely who she is, nor are you to inquire precisely who I am. It's not my usual way of conducting business, but if everything else be satisfactory, I shall not gavel at that. Very good. By everything else being satisfactory, I presume you mean the security offered? Why, yes, that is of great importance, my lord. I informed the illustrious lady that as the affair was to be wrapped up in something of a mystery, the security must be extremely ample. That's a very proper view to take of the matter, my lord. I wonder, thought John Mundell, if he is a duke, I'll call him your grace next time and see if he objects to it. Therefore, continued Sweeney Todd, the illustrious lady placed in my hand security to a third greater amount than she required. Certainly, certainly, a very proper arrangement, your grace. May I ask the nature of the prophet's security? Jewels. Highly satisfactory and unexceptionable security. They go into a small space and do not deteriorate in value. And if they do, said the barber, deteriorate in value, it would make no difference to you for the illustrious person's honor will be committed to their redemption. I don't doubt that, your grace, in the least. I merely made that remark incidentally, quite incidentally. Of course, of course. And I trust, before going further, that you are quite in a position to enter into this subject. Certainly I am, and I'm proud to say it to any amount, show me the money's worth, your grace, and I will show you the money. That's my way of doing business. And no one can say that John Mundell ever shrunk from a matter that was brought fairly before him, and that he considered worth his going into. It was by hearing of such a character of you that I was induced to come to you. What do you think of that? Sweeney Todd took from his pocket, with a careless air, the string of pearls, and cast them down before the eyes of the moneylender, who took them up and ran them rapidly through his fingers for a few seconds before he said, I thought there was but one string like this in the kingdom, and that those belong to the queen. Well, said Sweeney Todd, I humbly beg your grace's pardon. How much money does your grace require on these pearls? 12,000 pounds is their current value. If a sale of them was enforced, 8,000 are required of you on their security. 8,000 is a large sum. As a general thing, I lend but half the value upon anything. But in this case, to oblige your grace and this illustrious personage, I do not, of course, hesitate for one moment. But shall, for one month, lend the required amount. That will do, said Sweeney Todd, scarcely concealing the exaltation he felt at getting so much more from John Mundell than he expected, and which he certainly would not have caught if the moneylender had not been most fully and completely impressed with the idea that the pearls belong to the queen, and that he had actually at length majesty itself for a customer. He did not suppose for one moment that it was the queen who wanted the money. But his view of the case was that she had lent the pearls to this nobleman to meet some exigency of his own. And that, of course, they would be redeemed very shortly. Altogether, a more pleasant transaction for John Mundell could not have been imagined. It was just the sort of thing he was looking out for and had the greatest satisfaction in bringing to a conclusion. And he considered it was opening the door to the highest class of business in his way that he was capable of doing. In what name, your grace, he said, shall I draw a check upon my banker? In the name of Colonel George. Certainly, certainly. And if your grace will give me acknowledgment for 8,000 pounds, and please do understand that at the end of a month from this time, the transaction will be renewed if necessary, I will give you a check for 7,500 pounds. Why 7,500 pounds only when you mentioned 8,000 pounds? The 500 pounds is my little commission upon the transaction. Your grace will perceive that I appreciate highly the honor of your grace's custom and consequently charge the lowest possible price. I can assure your grace I could get more from my money by a great deal, but the pleasure of being able to meet your grace's view is so great that I am willing to make a sacrifice, and therefore it is that I say 500 when I really ought to say 1,000 pounds, taking into consideration the great scarcity of money at the present juncture. And I can assure your grace that peace, peace, said Sweeney Todd. Give me the money, and if it be not convenient to redeem the jewels at the end of a month from this time, you will hear from me most assuredly. I'm quite satisfied of that, said John Mundell. And he accordingly drew a check for 7,500 pounds, which he handed to Sweeney Todd, who put it in his pocket, not a little delighted that at last he has got rid of the spells, even at a price so far beneath the real value. I need scarcely urge upon you, Mr. Mundell, he said, the propriety of keeping this affair profoundly secret. Indeed, you'd need not your grace for it is part of my business to be discreet and cautious. I should very soon have nothing to do in my life, you grace may depend, if I were to talk about it. No, this transaction will forever remain locked up in my own breast, and no living soul but your grace, and I need to know what has occurred. With this, John Mundell showed Sweeney Todd to his carriage with abundance of respect. And in two minutes more, he was traveling along towards town with what might be considered a small fortune in his pocket. We should have noticed earlier that Sweeney Todd had upon the occasion of his going to sell the pearls to the lapidary in the city, made some great alterations in his appearance so that it was not likely he should be recognized again to a positive certainty. For example, having no whiskers whatever of his own, he had to put on a large black pair of false ones as well as mustachios, and he had given some color to his cheeks likewise, which had so completely altered his appearance that those who were most intimate with him would not have known him except by his voice, and that he took great care to alter in his intercourse with John Mundell so that it should not become a future means of detection. I thought that this would succeed. He muttered to himself as he went towards town, and I have not been deceived. Three months longer and only three, I will carry on business in Fleet Street so that any sudden alteration in my fortunes may not give rise to suspicion. He was then silent for some minutes during which he appeared to be revolving some very naughty question in his brain, and then suddenly, well, well, as regards Tobias, I think it will be safer unquestionably to put him out of the way by taking his life than to try to dispose of him in a madhouse. And I think there are one or two more persons whom it will be highly necessary to prevent being mischievous at all events at present. I must think. I must think. When such a man as Sweeney Todd said about thinking, there could be no possible doubt that some serious mischief was meditated, and anyone who could have watched his face during the ride home from the money lenders would have seen by its expression that the thoughts which agitated him were of a dark and a desperate character, and such as anybody but himself would have shrunk from ghast. But he was not a man to shrink from anything. And on the contrary, the more a set of circumstances presented themselves in a gloomy and a terrific aspect, the better they seemed to suit him and the peculiar constitution of his mind. There can be no doubt but that the love of money was the predominant feeling in Sweeney Todd's intellectual organization, and that by the amount it would deprive him of, he measured everything. With such a man then, no question of morality or ordinary feeling would arise. And there can be no doubt that he would quite willingly have sacrificed the whole human race if, by doing so, he could have achieved any of the objects of his ambition. And so on his road homeward, he probably made up his mind to plant still deeper into criminality, and perchance to indulge in acts that a man not so deeply versed in iniquity would have shrunk from with the most positive terror. And by a strange style of reasoning, such men as Sweeney Todd reconciled themselves to the most heinous crimes upon the ground of what they call policy. That is to say that having committed some serious offence, they are compelled to commit a great number more for the purpose of endeavoring to avoid the consequences of the First Lord. And hence, the continuance of criminality becomes a matter of necessary to self-defense and an essential ingredient in the consideration of self-preservation. Probably, Sweeney Todd had been for the greater part of his life, aiming at the possession of extensive pecuniary resources, and no doubt by the aid of a superior intellect and a mindful of craft and design, he had managed to make others subservient to his views. And now that those views were answered and that his underlings and accomplices were no longer required, they became positively dangerous. He was well aware of that cold-blooded policy which teaches that it is far safer to destroy them to cast away the tools by which a man carves his way to power and fortune. They shall die, said Sweeney Todd. Dead men tell no tales, no women, no boys, either, and they shall all die, after which they will, I think, be a serious fire on Fleet Street. Ha-ha! It may spread to what mischief it likes, always provided it stops not short of the entire destruction of my house and premises. Rare sport, rare sport will it be to me, for then I will at once commence a new career in which Barbara will be forgotten and the man of fashion only seen and remembered for with his last addition to my means I am fully capable of vying with the highest and the noblest, let them be who they may. This seemed a pleasant train of reflections to Sweeney Todd, and as the coach entered Fleet Street, there sat such a grim smile upon his countenance that he looked like some fiend in human shape who had just completed the destruction of a human soul. Then when he reached the livery stables to which he directed them to drive, instead off to his own shop he rewarded all who had gone with him musliberally, so that the coachmen and the footmen who were both servants out of place would have no objection for Sweeney Todd every day to have gone on some such expedition, so that they should receive asliberal wages for the small part they enacted in it as they did upon that occasion. He then walked from the stables towards his own house, but upon reaching there a little disappointment awaited him, for he found to his surprise that no light was burning, and when he placed his hand upon the shop door it opened, but there was no trace of Tobias, although he, Sweeney Todd, called loudly upon him the moment he set foot within the shop. Then a feeling of great approbation crept across the barber, and he croaked anxiously about for some matches, by the air of which he hoped to procure a light, and then an explanation of the mysterious absence of Tobias. But in order that we may in its proper form relate how it was that Tobias had had the daring, thus an open contradiction of his master, to be away from the shop, we must devote Tobias a chapter which will plead his extenuation. End of chapter 17. Chapter 18 of the String of Pearls This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org. The String of Pearls author unknown. Chapter 18. Tobias's adventures during the absence of Sweeney Todd. Tobias guessed, and guess rightly too, that when Sweeney Todd said he would be away half an hour he only mentioned that short period of time in order to keep the lads vigilance on the alert and to prevent him from taking advantage of a more protracted absence. The very style and manner in which he had gone out precluded the likelihood of it being for so short a period of time and that circumstance set Tobias seriously thinking over a situation which was becoming more intolerable every day. The lad had the sense to feel that he could not go on much longer as he was going on and that in a short time such a life would destroy him. It is beyond endurance he said and I know not what to do and since Sweeney Todd has told me that the boy he had before went out of his senses and is now in the cell of a madhouse I feel that such will be my fate and that I too shall come to that dreadful end and then no one will believe a word I utter. Hutt consider everything to me mere raving. After a time as the darkness increased he lit the lamp which hung in the shop and which until it was closed for the night usually shed a dim ray from the window. Then he sat down to think again and he said to himself if I could but summon courage to ask my mother about this robbery which Sweeney Todd imputes to her she might assure me it was false and that she never did such a deed but then it is dreadful for me to ask her such a question because it may be true and then how shocking it would be for her to be forced to confess to me her own son such a circumstance. These were the honourable feelings which prevented the buyers from questioning his mother as regarded Todd's accusation of her an accusation too dreadful to believe implicitly and yet sufficiently probable for him to have a strong suspicion that it might be true after all it is to be deeply regretted that Tobias's philosophy did not carry him a little further and make him see the moment the charge was made that he ought unquestionably to investigate it to the very utmost but still we could hardly expect from a mere boy that acute reasoning and power of action which depends so much on the knowledge of the world and an extensive practice in the usages of society it was sufficient if he felt correctly we could scarcely expect him to reason so but upon this occasion above all other he seemed completely overcome by the circumstances which surrounded him and from his excited manner one might almost have imagined that the insanity he himself predicted at the close of his career was really not far off he rung his hands and he whipped every now and then in sad speech bitterly bemoaning his situation until at length with the sudden resolution he sprung to his feet exclaiming this night shall end it I can endure it no more I will fly from this place and seek my fortune elsewhere any amount of distress danger or death itself even is preferably to the dreadful life I lead he walked some paces towards the door and then he paused as he said to himself in a low tone Todd will surely not be home yet for a while and why should I then neglect the only opportunity I may ever have of searching this house to satisfy my mind as regards any of the mysteries it contains he paused over this thought and considered well it's danger but dangerous indeed it was to no small extent but he was desperate and with a resolution that scarcely could have been expected from him he determined upon taking that first step above all others which Todd was almost certain to punish with death he closed the shop door and bolted it upon the inside so that he could not be suddenly interrupted and then he looked round him carefully for some weapon by the aid of which he should be able to break his way into the parlor which the barber always kept closed and locked in his absence a weapon that would answer the purpose of breaking any lock if Tobias chose to proceed so roughly to work was close at hand in the iron bar which when the place was closed at night secured a shutter brought up as he was to almost frenzy Tobias seized this bar and advancing towards the parlor door he with one blow smashed the lock to atoms and the door soon yielded the moment it did so there was a crash of glass and when Tobias entered the room he saw that upon his threshold lay a wine glass shattered to atoms and he felt certain it had been placed in some artful position by Swenny Todd as a detector when he should return of any attempt that had been made upon the door of the parlor and now Tobias felt that he was so far committed that he might as well go on with his work and accordingly he lit a candle which he found upon the parlor table and then proceeded to make what discoveries he could several of the cupboards in the room yielded at once to his hands and in them he found nothing remarkable but there was one that he could not open so without a moment's hesitation he had recourse to the bar of wine again and broke a clock when the door swung open and to his astonishment there tumbled out of this cupboard such a volley of hats of all sorts and descriptions some looped with silver some three cornered and some square that they formed quite a museum at that article of attire and excited the greatest surprise in the mind of Tobias at the same time that they tended very greatly to confirm some other thoughts and feelings which he had concerning Swenny Todd this was the only cupboard which was fast although there was another door which looked as if it opened into one but when Tobias broke that down with the bar of iron he found it was the door which led to the staircase conducting to the upper part of the house that upper part which Swenny Todd with all his evidence would never let and of which the shutters were kept continually closed so that the opposite neighbors never caught a glimpse into any of the apartments with cautious and slow steps which he adopted instantaneously although he knew that there was no one in the house but himself Tobias ascended the staircase I will go to the very top rooms first he said to himself and so examine them all as I come down and then if Todd should return suddenly I shall have a better chance of hearing him then if I began below and went upwards a thing upon this prudent scheme he went up to the Attics all the doors of which was swinging open and there was nothing in any one of them whatever he descended to the second floor with the life result and a feeling of great disappointment began to creep over him at the thought that after all the barber's house might not repay the trouble of examination but when he reached the first floor he soon found abundant reason to alter his opinion the doors were fast and he had to burst them open and when he got in he found that those rooms were partially furnished and that they contained a great quantity of miscellaneous property of all kinds and descriptions in one corner was an enormous quantity of walking sticks some of which were of a very costly and expensive character with gold and silver chase tops to them and in another corner was a great number of them burrellas in fact at least a hundred of them then there were boots and shoes lying upon the floor partially covered up as if to keep them from dirt there were 30 or 40 swords of different styles and patterns many of them appearing to be very firm blades and in one or two cases the scabbards were richly ornamented at one end of the front and larger of the two rooms was an old-fashioned looking bureau of great size and with as much woodwork in it as seemed required to make a least couple of such articles of furniture this was very securely locked and presented more difficulties in the way of opening it than any of the doors had done for the lock was of great strength and apparent durability moreover it was not so easily got it but at length by using the bar as a sort of lever instead of as a mere machine to strike with Tobias succeeded in forcing this bureau open and then his eyes were perfectly dazzled with the amount of jewelry and trinkets of all kinds and descriptions that were exhibited to his gaze there was a great number of watches gold chains silver and gold snuff boxes and a large assortment of rings shoe buckles and brooches these articles must have been of great value and Tobias could not help exclaiming aloud how could Sweeney Todd come by these articles except by the murder of their owners this indeed seemed but too probable as supposition and the more especially so as in a further part of this bureau a great quantity of apparel was found by Tobias he stood with a candle in his hand looking upon these various objects for more than a quarter of an hour and then as a sudden and natural thought came across him of how completely a few of them even would satisfy his wants and his mother's for a long time to come he stretched forth his hand towards the glittering mass but he drew it back again with a shutter saying no no these things are the plunder of the deed let Sweeney Todd keep them to himself and look upon them if he can with the eyes of enjoyment i will have none of them they would bring misfortune along with every guinea that they might be turned into as he spoke he heard St. Dunstan's clock strike nine and he started at the sound for it let him know that already Sweeney Todd had been away an hour beyond the time he said he would be absent so that there was probability of his quick return now and it would scarcely be safe to linger longer in his home i must be gone i must be gone i should like to look upon my mother's face once more before i leave London forever perhaps i may tell her of the danger she is in from Todd's knowledge of her secret no no i cannot speak to her of that i must go and leave her to those chances which i hope and trust will work favorably for her it was a strange and sudden whim that took him rather than a matter of reflection that induced him instead of his own hat to take one of those which were lying so indiscriminately at his feet and he did so by mere accident it turned out to be an exceedingly handsome hat of rich workmanship and material and then to Byers feeling terrified lest Sweeney Todd should return before he could leave the place paid no attention to anything but turned from the shop merely pulling the door after him and then darting over the road towards the temple like a hunted hare for his great wish was to see his mother and then he had an undefined notion that his best plan for escaping the clutches of Sweeney Todd would be to go to see in common with all boys of his age who know nothing whatever of the life of a sailor it presented itself in the most fascinating colors a sailor ashore and a sailor afloat are about as two different things as the will can present but to the imagination of Tobias Ragh as sailor with somebody who was always dancing horn pipes spending money and telling wonderful stories no wonder then that the profession presented itself under such fascinating colors to all such persons as Tobias and as it seemed and seemed still to be a sort of general understanding that the real condition of a sailor should be mystified in every possible way and shape both by novelist and dramatist it is no wonder that it requires actual experience to enable those parties who are in the habit of being carried away by just what they hear to come to a correct conclusion i will go to see ejaculated Tobias yes i will go to see as he spoke those words he passed out at the gate at the temple leading into whitefriars in which ancient vicinity his mother dwelt endeavoring to ek out a living as best she might she was very much surprised for she happened to be at home at the unexpected visit of her son Tobias and uttered a faint scream as she let fall a flat iron very nearly upon his toe mother he said i cannot stay with swenny Todd any longer so do not ask me not stay with a respectable man a respectable man mother alas alas how little you know of him but what am i saying i dare not speak oh that fatal fatal candlestick but how are you to live and what do you mean by a fatal candlestick forgive me i did not mean to say that fair well mother i am going to see to see what my dear said mrs rag who was much more difficult to talk to than even hamlets grave digger you don't know how much i am obliged to swenny Todd yes i do and that's what drives me mad to think of fair well mother perhaps forever if i can of course i will communicate with you but now i dare not stay oh what have you done Tobias what have you done nothing nothing but swenny Todd is what what no matter no matter nothing nothing and yet at this last moment i am almost tempted to ask you concerning a candlestick don't mention that said mrs rag i don't want to hear anything said about it it is true then yes but did mr Todd tell you he did he did i have now asked the question i never thought could have passed my lips farewell mother forever farewell Tobias rushed out of the place leaving old mrs rag astonished at his bearing and with a strong suspicion that some accession of insanity had come over him the lord had mercy upon us she said what shall i do i am astonished at mr Todd telling him about the candlestick it's true enough though for all that i recollect it as well as if it were yesterday it was a very hard winter and i was minding a set of chambers when Todd came to shave the gentleman and i saw him with my own eyes put a silver candlestick in his pocket then i went over to his shop and reasoned with him about it and he gave it me back and i brought it to the chambers and laid it down exactly on the spot where he took it from to be sure said mrs rag after a pause of a few moment to be sure he has been a very good friend to me ever since but that i suppose is for fear i should tell and get him hung or transported but however we must take the good with the bad and when Tobias comes to think of it he will go back again to his work i daresay for after all it's a very foolish thing for him to trouble his head whether mr Todd stole a silver candlestick or not end of chapter 18 chapter 19 at the string of pearls this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the string of pearls author unknown chapter 19 the strange odor in old st. Dunstan's church about this time and while these incidents of our most strange and eventful narrative were taking place the pious frequenters of old st. Dunstan's church began to perceive a strange and most abominable odor throughout that sacred edifice it was in vain that old women who came to hear the sermons although they were too deaf to catch a third part of them brought smelling bottles and other means of stifling their noses still that dreadful charnel house sort of smell would make itself most painfully and most disagreeable apparent and the reverend joseph stillingport who was the regular preacher smelt it in the pulpit and had been seen to sneeze in the midst of the most pious discourse indeed and to hold to his pious nose a hankerchief in which was some strong and pugnant essence for the purpose of trying to overcome the terrible efflu there the organ blower and the organ player were both nearly stifled for the horrible odor seemed to ascend to the upper part of the church although those who sat in what may be called the pit by no means escaped it the church wardens looked at each other in their pews with contorted countenances and were almost afraid to breathe and the only person who did not complain bitterly at the dreadful odor in st. Dunstan's church was an old woman who had been a pew opener for many years but then she had lost the fecalities of her nose which perhaps accounted satisfactorily for that circumstance at length however the nuisance became so intolerable that the beetle whose duty it was in the morning to open the church doors used to come up to them with a massive key in one hand and a cloth soaked in vinegar in the other just as the people used to do in the time at the great plague of London and when he had opened the doors he used to run over to the other side of the way ah Mr. Blunt he used to say to the bookseller who lived opposite ah Mr. Blunt I is obligated to cut over here least ways till the atmospheric air is mixed up all along with the stinking locations which come from the church by this it will be seen that the beetle was rather a learned man and no doubt went to some mechanics institution of those days where he learned something of everything but what was calculated to be of some service to him as might be supposed from the fact that this sort of thing had gone on for a few months it began to excite some attention with a view to a remedy for in the great city of London a nuisance of any sort of description requires to become venerable by age before anyone thinks of removing it and after that it is quite clear that that becomes a good argument against removing it at all but at last the church wardens began to have a fear that some pestilentual disease would be the result if they for any longer period of time put up with the horrible stench and that they might be among its first victims so they began to ask each other what could be done to obviate it probably if this frightful stench being suggested as it was of all sorts of horrors had been graciously pleased to confine itself to some poor locality nothing would have been heard of it but when it became actually offensive to a gentleman in a metropolitan pulpit and when it began to make itself perceptible to the sleepy peculiarities of the church wardens of St Dunstan's church in Fleet Street so as to prevent them even from dozing through the afternoon sermon it became a very serious matter indeed but what it was what could it be and what was to be done to get rid of it these were the anxious questions that were asked right and left as regarded the serious nuisance without the nuisance exceeding any reply but yet one thing seemed to be generally agreed and that was that it did come and must come somehow or other out of the bolts from beneath the church but then as the pious and hypocritical Mr. Batawig who lived opposite said how could that be when it was satisfactorily proved by the present books that nobody had been buried in the vault for some time and therefore it was a very odd thing that dead people after leaving off smelling and being disagreeable should all of a sudden burst out again in that line and be twice as bad as ever they were at first and on Wednesdays sometimes too when pious people were not satisfied with the Sunday's devotion but began again in the middle of the week the stench was positively horrific indeed so bad was it that some of the congregation were forced to leave and have been seen to slink into Bel Yard where Lovett's pie shop was situated and then and there relieve themselves with a pork or a veal pie in order that their mouths and noses should be full of delightful and agreeable flavor instead of one most peculiarly and decidedly the reverse at last there was a confirmation to be held at St Dunstan's church and so great a concourse of persons assembled for a sermon was to be preached by the bishop after the confirmation and a very great fuss indeed was to be made about really nobody knew what preparations as newspapers say upon an extensive scale and regardless of expense were made for the purpose of adding luster to the ceremony and surprising the bishop when he came with a good idea that the authorities of St Dunstan's church were somebody's and really worth confirming the confirmation was to take place at 12 o'clock and the bells ushered in the morning with their most pious tones for it was not every day that the authorities of St Dunstan succeeded in catching a bishop and when they did so they were determined to make the most of him and the numerous authorities including church wardens and even the very beetle were in an uncommon fluster and running about and impeding each other as authorities always do upon public occasions but of those who only look to the surface of things and who come to admire what was grand and magnificent in the preparations the beetle certainly carried away the palm for that functionary was a tired in a completely new cocked hat and coat and certainly looked very splendid and showy upon the occasion moreover the beetle had been well and judiciously selected and the parish authorities made no secret of it when there was an election for beetle that they threw all their influence into the scale of that candidate who happened to be the biggest and consequently who was calculated to wear the official costume with an air that no smaller man could possibly have aspired to on any account at half past 11 o'clock the bishop made his gracious appearance and was duly ushered into the vestry where there was a comfortable fire and on the table in which likewise were certain cold chickens and bottles of rare wines for confirming a number of people and preaching as sermon besides was considered no joke and might for all they knew be provocative of a great appetite in the bishop and with a bland and caught the air the bishop smiled as he ascended the steps of st. Dunstan's church how affable he was to the church wardens and he actually smiled upon a poor miserable charity boy who his eyes glaring wide open and his muffin cap in his hand was taking his first stare at a real live bishop to be sure the beetle knocked him down directly the bishop had passed for having the presumption to look at such a great personage but then that was to be expected fully and completely and only proved that the proverb which permits a cat to look at a king is not equally applicable to charity boys and bishops when the bishop got to the vestry some very complimentary words were uttered to him by the usual officiating clergyman but somehow or another the blind smile had left the lips of the great personage and interrupting the vicar in the midst of a fine flowing period he said that's all very well but what a terrible stink there is here the church wardens gave a groan that they had flattered themselves that perhaps the bishop would not notice the dreadful smell all that if he did he would think it was accidental and say nothing about it but now when he really did mention it they found all their hopes scattered to the winds and that it was necessary to say something is this horrid charnel how sort of smell always here i am afraid it is said one of the church wardens afraid said the bishop surely you know you seem to me to have a nose yes said the church warden in great confusion i have that honor and i have the pleasure of informing you my lord bishop i mean i have the honor of informing you that this smell is always here the bishop sniffed several times and then he said it is very dreadful and i hope that by the next time i come to st. Dunstan's you will have the pleasure and the honor both of informing me that it has gone the church warden bowed and got into an extreme corner saying to himself this is the bishop's last visit here and i don't wonder at it for as if it out a pure spite the smell is 10 times worse than ever today and so it was for it seemed to come up through the crevices of the flooring of the church with a power and perseverance that was positively dreadful isn't it dreadful did you ever before know the smell in st. Dunstan so bad before and everybody agreed that they had never known it anything like so bad for that it was positively awful and so indeed it was the anxiety of the bishop to get away was quite manifest and if he could decently have taken his departure without confirming anybody at all there is no doubt but that he would have willingly done so and left all the congregation to die and be something or another but this he could not do but he could cut it short and he did so the people found themselves confirmed before they almost knew where they were and the bishop would not go into the vestry again on any account but hurried down the steps of the church and into his carriage with the greatest precipitation in the world thus proving that holiness is no proof against a most abominable stench as may be well supposed after this the subject assumed a much more serious aspect and on the following day a solemn meeting was held of all the church authorities at which it was determined that men should be employed to make a thorough and searching examination of all the vaults of some dustins with the view of discovering if possible from whence particularly the abominable stench emanated and then it was decided that the stench was to be put down and that the bishop was to be apprised it was put down and that he might visit the church in perfect safety end of chapter 19 chapter 20 of the string of pearls this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information all to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the string of pearls author unknown chapter 20 Sweeney Todd's proceedings consequent upon the departure of Tobias we left the barber in his own shop much wondering that Tobias had not responded to the call which had made upon him but yet scarcely believing it possible that he could have ventured upon the height of iniquity which we know Tobias had really been guilty of he paused for a few moments and held up the light which he had procured and gazed around him with inquiring eyes for he could indeed scarcely believe it possible that Tobias had sufficiently cast off his dread of him Sweeney Todd to be enabled to achieve any act for his liberation but when he saw that the lock of the parlor door was open positive rage obtained presidents over every other feeling the villain he cried as he did really to consummate an act i thought he could not have dreamt of for a moment is it possible that he can have presumed so far as to search the house that Tobias however had presumed so far the barber soon discovered and when he went into his parlor and saw what had actually occurred and that likewise the door which led to the staircase and the upper part of the house had not escaped he got perfectly furious and it was sometime before he could sufficiently calm himself to reflect upon the probable and possible amount of danger he might run in consequence of these proceedings when he did his active mind at once told him that there was not much to be dreaded immediately for that most probably Tobias still having the fear before his eyes of what he might do is regarded his mother had actually run away and in all likelihood muttered the barber he has taken with him something which would allow me to fix upon him the stigma of robbery but that i must see to having fastened the shop door securely he took the light in his hands and ascended to the upper part of his house that is to say to the first floor where alone anything was to be found he saw it once the open bureau and all its glittering display of duels and as he gazed upon the heap he muttered i have not so accurate a knowledge of what is here as to be able to say if anything they extracted or not but i know the amount of money if i do not know the precise number of duels which this bureau contains he opened a small drawer which had entirely evaded the scrutiny of Tobias and proceeded to count a large number of guineas which were there these are correct he said when he had finished his examination these are correct and he has touched none of them he then opened another drawer in which were a great many packets of silver done up in paper and these likewise he carefully countered and was satisfied they were right it is strange he said that he has taken nothing but yet perhaps it is better that it should be so in as much as it shows a wholesome fear of me the slightest examination would have shown him these hordes of money and since he has not made the slight examination nor discovered any of them it seems to my mind decisive upon the subject that he has taken nothing and perchance I shall discover him easier than I imagine he repaired to the parlor again and carefully divested himself of everything which had enabled him so successfully to impose upon John Mundell and replaced them by his ordinary costume after which he fastened up his house and sailed forth taking his way direct to Mrs. Rags humble home in the expectation that there he would hear something of Tobias which would give him a clue where to search for him for to search for him he fully intended but what were his precise intentions perhaps he could hardly have told himself until he actually found him when he reached Mrs. Rags house and made his appearance abruptly before that lady who seemed somehow or another always to be ironing and always to drop the iron when anyone came in very near their toes he said where did your son Tobias go after he left you tonight Lord Mr. Todd is it you you are as good as a conjurer sir that he was here but bless you sir I know no more where he's gone to than the man in the moon he said he was going to see but I am sure I should not have thought it that I should not to see then the probability is that he would go down to the docks but surely not tonight do you not expect him back here to sleep well sir that's a very good thought of yours and he may come back here to sleep for all I know to the contrary but you do not know it for a fact he didn't say so but he may come you know sir for all that did he tell you his reason for leaving me indeed no sir he really did not and he seemed to me to be a little out of his senses ah Mrs. Rag said Sweeney Todd there you have it from the first moment that he came into my service I knew and felt confident that he was out of his senses there was the strangeness of behavior about him which soon convinced me of that fact and I am only anxious about him in order that some effort may be made to cure him of such a malady for it is a serious and a dreadful one and one which unless taken in time will yet be the death of Tobias these words were spoken with such solemn seriousness that they had a wonderful effect upon Mrs. Rag who like most ignorant persons began immediately to confirm that which she most dreaded oh it's too true she said it's too true he did say some extraordinary things tonight Mr. Todd and he said he had something to tell which was too horrid to speak of now the idea you know Mr. Todd of anybody having anything at all to tell and not telling it at once is quite singular it is and I am sure that his conduct is such as you never would be guilty of Mrs. Rag but Hark what's that it's a knock Mr. Todd hush stop a moment what if it to be Tobias goodness gracious it can't be him for he would have come in at once no I slipped the bolt of the door because I wish to talk to you without observation so it may be Tobias you perceive after all but let me hide somewhere so that I may hear what he says and be able to judge how his mind is affected I will not hesitate to do something for him let it cost me what it may there's the cupboard Mr. Todd to be sure there is some dirty saucepence and a frying pan in it and of course it ain't a fit place to ask you to go into never mind that never mind that only you'd be careful for the sake of Tobias's very life to keep secret that I am here the knocking at the door increased each moment in vehemence and just as Sweeney Todd had succeeded in getting into the cupboard along with Mrs. Rag's pots and pans and thoroughly concealing himself she opened the door and sure enough Tobias heated tired and looking ghastly pale staggered into the room mother he said I have taken a new thought and have come back to you well I thought you would Tobias and a very good thing it is that you have listen to me I thought of flying from England forever and of never setting foot upon its shores but I have altered that determination completely and I feel now that it is my duty to do something else to do what Tobias to tell all I know to make a clean breast mother and let the consequences be what they may to let justice take its course what do you mean Tobias mother I have come to a conclusion that what I have to tell is of such vast importance compared with any consequences that might arise from the petty robbery of the candlestick which you know of that I thought not to hesitate a moment in revealing everything but my dear Tobias remember that is a dreadful secret and one that must be kept it cannot matter it cannot matter and besides it is more than probable that by revealing what I actually know and which is of such great magnitude I may mother in a manner of speaking perchance completely exonerate you from the consequences of that transaction besides it was long ago and the prosecutor may have mercy but be that how it may and be the consequences what they may I must and will tell what I know now but what is it Tobias that you know something too dreadful for me to utter to you alone going to the temple mother to some of the gentlemen whose chambers you attend to and ask them to come to me and listen to what I have got to say they will be amply repaid for their trouble for they will hear that which may perhaps save their own lives he is quite gone thought Mrs. Rag and Mr. Todd is correct poor Tobias is as mad as he can be alas alas Tobias why don't you try to reason yourself into a better state of mind you don't know a fit what you are saying any more than the man in the moon I know I am half mad mother but yet I know what I am saying well so do not fancy that it is not to be relied upon but go and fetch someone at once to listen to what I have to relate perhaps thought Mrs. Rag if I were to pretend to humour him it would be as well and while I am gone Mr. Todd can speak to him this was a bright idea of Mrs. Rags and she forthwith proceeded to carry it into execution saying well my dear if it must be it must be and I will go but I hope while I have gone somebody will speak to you and convince you that you ought to try to quiet yourself these words Mrs. Rag uttered aloud for the special benefit of Sweeney Todd who she considered would have been there to take the hint accordingly it is needless to say he did hear them and how far he profited by them we shall quickly perceive as for poor Tobias he had not the remotest idea of the close proximity of his arc enemy if he had he would quickly have left that spot where he ought well to conjecture so much danger awaited him for all those Sweeney Todd under the circumstances probably felt that he dare not take Tobias's life still he might exchange something that could place it in his power to do so shortly without the least personal danger to himself the door closed after the retreating form of Mrs. Rag and as considering the mission she was going upon it was very clear some minutes must elapse before she could return Sweeney Todd did not feel there was any very particular hurry in the transaction what shall I do he said to himself shall I await his mother's coming again and get her to aid me or shall I of myself adopt some means which will put an end to trouble on this boy's account Sweeney Todd was a man tolerably rapid in thought and he contrived to make up his mind that the best plan unquestionably would be to lay hold on poor Tobias at once and so prevent the possibility of any appeal to his mother becoming effective to bias when his mother left the place as he imagined for the purpose of procuring someone to listen to what he considered to be Sweeney Todd's delinquencies rested his face upon his hands and gave himself up to painful and deep thought he felt that he had arrived at quite a crisis in his history and that the next few hours cannot but surely be very important to him in their results and so they were indeed but not certainly exactly in the way that he had all along anticipated that he thought of nothing but of the arrest and disconfiture of Todd little expecting how close was his proximity to the formidable personage surely thought Tobias I shall by disclosing all that I know about Todd gained some consideration for my mother and after all she may not be prosecuted for the robbery of the candlestick for how very trifling is that affair compared to the much more dreadful things which I more than suspect Sweeney Todd to be guilty of he is and must be from all that I have seen and heard a murderer although how he disposes of his victims is involved in the most complete mystery and it is to me a matter past all human power of comprehension I have no idea even upon that subject whatever this indeed was a great mystery for even admitting that Sweeney Todd was a murderer and it must be allowed that as yet we have only circumstantial evidence of that fact we can form no conclusion from such evidence as to how he perpetrated the deed or how afterwards he disposed of the body of his victim this great and principal difficulty in the way of committing murder with impunity namely the disposal of a corpse certainly did not seem at all to have any effect on Sweeney Todd for if he made corpses he had some means of getting rid of them with the most wonderful expedition as well as secrecy he is a murderer thought to bias I know he is although I have never seen him do the deed or seen any appearance in the shop of a deed of blood having been committed yet why is it that occasionally when a better dressed person than usual comes into the shop he sends me out on some errand to a distant part of the town Tobias did not forget to that on more than one occasion he had come back quicker doubtless than he had been expected and that he had caught Sweeney Todd in some little confusion and seen the hat the stick or perhaps the umbrella of the last customer quietly waiting there although the customer had gone and even if the glaring improbability of a man leaving his hat behind him in a barbershop was got over why did he not come back for it this was the circumstance which was entitled to all the weight which Tobias during his mental cogitation could give to it and there could be but one possible explanation of a man not coming back through his hat and that was that he had not the power to do so his house will be searched thought Tobias and all those things which must of course have belonged to so many different people will be found and then they will be identified and he will be required to say how he came by them which I think will be a difficult task indeed for Sweeney Todd to accomplish what a relief it will be to me to be sure when he is hanged as I think he is tolerably sure to be what a relief muttered Sweeney Todd as he slowly opened the cupboard door unseen by Tobias what a relief it will be to me when this boy is in his grave as he really will be soon or else I have forgotten all my moral learning and turned chicken hearted neither of them very likely circumstances end of chapter 20 chapter 21 of the string of pearls this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the string of pearls author unknown chapter 21 the misadventure of Tobias the madhouse on Peckham Rye Sweeney Todd pause for a moment at the cupboard door before he made up his mind as to whether he should pounce on poor Tobias at once or adopt a more creeping cautious mode of operation the latter course was by far the more congenial to him and so he adopted it in another moment or so and stole quietly from his place of concealment and with so little noise that Tobias could not have the least suspicion anyone was in the room but himself treading as if each step might involve some fearful consequences he thus at length got completely behind the chair on which Tobias was sitting and stood with folded arms and such a hideous smile upon his face that they together formed no inept representation of the methistophels of the German drama I shall at length murmur Tobias be free from my present dreadful state of mind by thus accusing Todd he is a murderer of that I have no doubt it is but a duty of mine to stand forward as his accuser Sweeney Todd stretched out his two brawny hands and clutched Tobias by the head which he turned round till the boy could see him and then he said indeed Tobias and did it never strike you that Todd was not so easily to be overcome as you would wish him a Tobias the shock of this astonishing and sudden appearance of Sweeney Todd was so great that for a few moments Tobias was deprived of all power of speech or action and with his head so strangely twisted as to seem to threaten the destruction of his neck he glared in the triumphant and malignant countenance of his persecutor as he would into that of the arc enemy of all mankind which probably he now began to think the barber really was if ought more than another was calculated to delight such a man as Todd it certainly was to perceive what a dreadful effect his presence had upon Tobias who remained about a minute and a half in this state before he ventured upon uttering a shriek which however when it did come almost frightened Todd himself it was one of those cries which can only come from a heart in its utmost agony a cry which might have heralded the spirit to another world and proclaimed as it very nearly did the destruction of the intellect forever the barber staggered back a pace or two as he heard it for it was too terrific even for him that it was for a very brief period that it had that stunning effect upon him and then with the full consciousness of the danger to which it subjected him he sprung upon poor Tobias as the tiger might be supposed to do upon a lamb and clutched him by the throat exclaiming such another cry and it is the last you ever lived to utter although it covered me with difficulties to escape the charge of killing you peace I say peace the exhortation was quite needless thought Tobias could not have uttered a word had he been ever so much inclined to do so the barber held his throat with such an iron clutch as if it had been in a vice villain growled Todd villain so this is the way in which you have dead to disregard my injunctions but no matter no matter you shall have plenty of leisure to reflect upon what you have done for yourself feel to think that you could cope with me sweaty Todd ha ha he burst into a laugh so much more hideous more than his ordinary efforts in that way that had Tobias heard it which he did not for his head had dropped upon his breast and he had become insensible it would have terrified him almost as much as sweaty Todd's sudden appearance had done so muttered the barber he has fainted has he dull child that is all the better for once in a way to bias I will carry you not to oblige you but to oblige myself by all that's damnable it was a lively thought that brought me here tonight or else I might by the dawn of the morning have had some very troublesome inquiries made of me he took Tobias up as easily as if he had been an infant and strode from the chambers with him leaving Mrs. Rag to draw whatever inference she chose from his absence but feeling convinced that she was too much under his control to take any steps of a nature to give him the smallest amount of uneasiness the woman he muttered to himself is a double distilled ass and can be made to believe anything so that I have no fear whatever of her I dare not kill Tobias because it is necessary in case of the matter being at any other period mentioned that his mother shall be in a position to swear that she saw him after this night alive and well the barber strode through the temple carrying the boy who seemed not at all in a hurry to recover from the nervous and partial state of suffocation into which he had fallen as they passed through the gate opening into Fleet Street the porter who knew the barber well by sight said hello Mr. Todd is that you why who are you carrying yes it's I said Todd and I'm carrying my apprentice boy Tobias Rage poor fellow poor fellow why what's the matter with him I can hardly tell you that he seems to me and to his mother to have gone out of his senses good night to you good night I'm looking for a coach good night Mr. Todd I don't think you'll get one nearer than the market what a kind thing now of him to carry the boy it ain't every master would do that but we must not judge of people by their looks and even Sweeney Todd though he has a face that one would not like to meet in a lonely place on a dark night maybe a kind-hearted person Sweeney Todd walked rapidly down Fleet Street towards Old Fleet Market which was then in all its glory if that could be called glory which consisted in all sorts of filth enough to produce a pestilence within the city of London when there he addressed a large bundle of great coats in the middle of which was supposed to be a hackney coachman of the regular old school and who was lounging over his vehicle which was as long and lumbering as a city barge Jarvie he said what will you take me to Peckham Rye for Peckham Rye you and the boy there ain't any more if you're waiting around the corner are there because you know that won't be fair no no no well don't be in a passion master I only asked you know so you need not be put out about it I will take you for 12 shillings and that's what I call remarkable cheap all things considered I'll give you half the amount said Sweeney Todd and you may consider yourself well paid half master that is cutting it low but how so ever I suppose I must put up with it and take you get in I must try and make it up by some better fare out of somebody else the barber paid no heed to these renewed remonstrances of the coachman but got into the vehicle carrying Tobias with him apparently with great care and consideration but when the coach door closed and no one was observing him he flung him down among the straw that was at the bottom of the vehicle and resting his immense feet upon him he gave one of his disagreeable laughs as he said well I think I have you now master Tobias your troubles will soon be over I am really very much afraid that you will die suddenly and then there will be an end of you all together which will be a very sad thing although I don't think I shall go into mourning because I have an opinion that that only keeps alive the bitterness of regret and that it's a great deal better done without master Tobias the Hackney coach swung about from side to side in the proper approved manner of Hackney coaches in the olden times when they used to be called bone shakers and to be thought wonderful if they made a progress of three miles and a half an hour this was the sort of vehicle then in which poor Tobias still perfectly insensible was rumbled over Blackfriars bridge and so on towards Peckham Rye and anyone acquainted with that locality is well aware that there are two roads the one to the left and the other to the right both of which are pleasantly enough stuttered with villa residences Sweeney Todd directed the coachman to take the road to the left which he accordingly did and they pursued it for a distance of about a mile and a half it must not be supposed that this pleasant district of country was then in the state it is now as regards inhabitants or cultivation on the contrary it was rather a wild spot on which now and then a serious robbery had been committed and which had witnessed some of the exploits of those highway men whose adventures in the present day if one may judge from the public patronage they may receive are viewed with a great amount of interest there was a lonely large rambling old looking house by the wayside on the left a high wall surrounded it which only allowed the topmost portion of it to be visible and that presented great symptoms of decay in the delipidated character of the chimney pots and the general appearance of discomfort which pervaded it then Sweeney Todd directed the coachman to stop and when the vehicle after swinging to and fro for several minutes did indeed at last resolve itself into a state of repose Sweeney Todd got out himself and rang a bell the handle of which hung invitingly at the gate he had to wait several minutes before an answer was given to this summons but at length the noise proceeded from within as if several bars and bolts were being withdrawn and presently the door was opened and a huge rough looking man made his appearance on the threshold well what is it now he cried I have a patient for Mr Fogg said Sweeney Todd I want to see him immediately oh well the more the merrier it don't matter to me a bit have you got him with you and is he tolerably quiet it's a mere boy and he is not violently mad but very decidedly so as regards what he says oh that's it is it he can say what he likes here it can make no difference in the world to us bringing in Mr Fogg is in his own room I know the way you take charge of the lad and I will go and speak to Mr Fogg about him but stay give the coachman these six shillings and discharge him the doorkeeper of the lunatic asylum for such it was went out to obey the injunctions of Sweeney Todd while that rascally individual himself walked along a wide passage to a door which was at the further extremity of it and I'll check the 21