The String of Pearls; or, The Barber of Fleet Street — page 324: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Pe an i — te ee owe ——t Pm mets. ee ance crete st ec ALLE ALI ALLE - oo eee — RRsat mms Soe tesa nang anesecncuoeh aaicoess cave onuenscunnpacguionrnrs-cintagdanpanie: ecscatatipres asia tonmeecaee en ee ae Sir Richard Blunt sheok his head. v7, Vasa Te eee ‘‘Do you think that Sweeney Todd would leave such relics within such easy acquisition and inspection? Is he the sort of man, think you, to expose himself to such danger? Oh, Miss Wilmot, this is indeed a hair-brained scheme.” ‘¢ Tt is—it is, and I have come to you for aid, and———~” ‘Hush! Is the secret of this expedition entirely confined to you and to Miss Oakley ?”’ ‘s It is—it is.” ‘«* Will her friends not miss her?” «‘No—no. All has been arranged with what now I cannot help calling a horrible ingenuity. She is like one led to slaughter, and she will pass away from the world, leaving the secret of her disappearance to you andto meonly. Sir, [ am young, and there are those in this great city who love me, but if Johanna be not saved, I will no longer live to be the most wretched of beings. If there’ can be found a poison that will let me leave the world, to cast myself at the feet of God, and of Johanna in another, I will take it.” Sir Richard looked at his watch. « An hour and a half, you say ?” ‘More than that. Let methink. It was twelve—yes, it was twelve. More you see, sir, than that. “Tell me, sir. Tell me at once what can be done. Speak—oh speak to me, What will you do 2?” ‘JT don’t know, Miss Wilmot.” With a deep sigh Arabella fainted. % * % x * *% It was seldom indeed that, even amid his adventurous ‘life, the magistrate found acircumstance that affected him so strongly as that which Arabella Wilmot had related to him. Fora short time, even he, with all his powers of rapid thought, and with all the means and appliances which natural skill and practice. had given him to meet any emergency, could not think of any mode of escape, from the peculiarly awkward position into which this frightfully imprudent step of Johanna had plunged him. ‘‘ My good girl,” he said. ‘* Oh, she has fainted.” : He rung a hand-bell, and, when a man appeared in answer to the summons, e sald— ‘¢Ts Mrs. Long within ?” “’ Yes, Sir Richard.” ‘Then bring her here, and tell her to pay every attention to this young lady, who is a friend of mine ; and whenshe recovers, say to her that I shall return in an hour.” ** Certainly, Sir Richard.” In a few moments a matronly-looking woman; who acted in that house as a sort of general manager, made her appearance, and had Arabella removed toa chamber. Before that, the magistrate had hastily put on his hat, and at a quick pace was walking towards Fleet Street. What he intended to do in the emer- gency—for emergency he evidently thought it was—we shall see quickly. Cer- tain it is that, even by that time, he had made up his mind to some plan of | proceeding, and our readers have sufficient knowledge of him to feel that it is likely to be the very best that could be adopted under the circumstances. Cer- tainly Johanna. had, by the bold step she had taken, brought affairs to something like a crisis, much earlier than he, Sir Richard Blunt, expected. What the result will be remains to be seen. Sr Ae cea a es a ee 316 THE STRING OF PEARLS. | aces : iia iam rs comicbooks.com