The Gift of the Sailor: The String of Pearls & Sweeney Todd, the Demon 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.

upon any business out of doors, two persons from me will come to hide themselves in that cupboard.” “They will use the watch-word?” “Yes, certainly; and you will so dispose any movable article in the shop, as to take away any idea that the cupboard had been visited, or in the slightest degree interfered with.” “That I can easily do.” “Well, here we are, then, in Fleet Street again; and mind all this that I have planned has nothing to do with your proceedings to call for assistance, if any special or unforeseen danger should occur to you.” Johanna, upon this, showed him the jagged stone she had in her pocket, to cast through the window. “Yes, that would do,” said Sir Richard; “but I would gladly supply you with arms. Do you think you could manage a pistol, if you had one.” “Yes. I have often looked at some fire-arms that my father had in his shop to sell once, and I have seen them used.” “T am glad of that,” continued Sir Richard. “Here are two very small pistols loaded. They may be thoroughly depended upon in a room; but they would not carry any distance, in consequence of the shortness of the barrel. If, however, you should be in any sudden and extreme danger from Todd, anywhere else than in the shop, or there, if you are pushed for time, one of these fired in his face will be tolerably effective. You can keep them both in your pocket.” The magistrate, as he spoke, handed to Johanna a pair of very small, but exquisitely made pistols, encircled with silver mounting, and she carefully concealed them, feeling still more secure from any treachery upon the part of Todd, now that she held his life as much, if not more, in her hands, than he held hers in his. She shook her kind friend warmly by the hand, and then hastened to the barber’s shop. As she got near to it, she saw the tall thin man who had so perplexed Todd about the religious tract, come out, and Todd followed him to the door, looking after him with such an expression of deadly malice, that Johanna could not but pause a moment to look at him. He suddenly turned his eyes towards her, and saw her. He beckoned with his finger, and she entered the shop. “Well, Charley,” he said, with quite an affectation of good humour. “You are a good lad.” “T am glad you think so, sir,” she replied, seeing that Todd paused for an answer. “T cannot but think so. I shall have to look over some accounts in the parlour this morning, and if anybody—any female, I mean— comes for me, say I have gone to the city, and that, after that, I said I would call in Bell Yard before I came home. You well remember that, Bell Yard. Be vigilant and discreet, and you shall have the reward that I have all along intended for you, and which you should not miss upon any account.” “T am much beholden to you, sir. But if any one should come to be shaved while you are in the parlour, what shall I say to them?” “You can say I have gone to the Temple to dress Mr. Block’s new wig, if you like, so that you got rid of them, for I must not be disturbed on any consideration.” “Very well, sir.” “Put another turf on the fire, Charley, and make yourself quite comfortable.” What inconsistent amenity this was upon the part of Todd. It seemed as though he had turned over a new leaf completely, and intended to put an end to all suspicions, if he had any, of Charley Green; and after that—after that, Todd still preserved his kind intention of cutting his throat with one of the razors. “The very best thing you can do with people,” muttered Todd to himself, as he went into the parlour, “is to cut their throats as soon as they cease to be useful to you, for from that moment, if you do not put them out of the way, they are almost certain to be mischievous to you.” What a pleasant lot of maxims Todd had, and what a beautiful system of moral philosophy his was, to be sure! One thing was quite evident, and that was that he fully expected and dreaded the visit of Mrs. Lovett upon money matters. It will be recollected that ten o’clock was named as about the hour when that lady was to bring in her little account in the partnership affair of Todd, Lovett, & Co.; and as he (Todd) had for once in his life been fairly bothered to make any further excuses to so pertinacious a creditor as Mrs. Lovett, he had hit upon the plan of trying to put her off during the day by one means or another, and at night he would, at an earlier hour than he had before intended, be off and away. Everything was in readiness, and he considered Mrs. Lovett his only hindrance—a danger he scarcely thought her—for, at the very worst, he could not conceive that even her passion would be sufficient to induce her to sacrifice herself, for the sake of revenge upon him. His house was prepared so that a match would at any moment suffice to give the touch that would set it in a blaze; and then, as he said—“Who shall say where the conflagration among the old well-dried wooden houses of Fleet Street may reach to?” His passage in the Hamburgh ship was secure—the fearful proceeds of his life of rapine and murder were in her hold. How uncommonly safe Todd thought himself, and how well he considered he had managed his affairs. Short-sighted mortals that we are! How often we mistake the shifting morass of difficulty for the terra firma of prosperity, and how often do we weep for those events, which, in themselves and their results, form the ground-work of the happiness of a life! Truly we are “Such things as air is made of.” If Todd now for one moment could have imagined that his plunder, which he believed was so safe on board the Hamburgh ship, was CORniclooo S CO)