"If fear keeps that lad silent upon the subject, fear may make him speak; and I do not see why we should not endeavour to make ourselves a match for Sweeney Todd in such a matter."
"What do you propose then?" said the captain.
"I should say that the best plan would be, to watch the barber's shop, and take possession of the boy, as we may chance to find an opportunity of so doing."
"Carry him off?"
"Yes, certainly; and as in all likelihood his fear of the barber is but a visionary affair after all, it can easily, when we have him to ourselves, be dispelled13; and then, when he finds that we can and will protect him, we shall hear all he has to say."
After some further conversation, the plan was resolved upon; and the captain and the colonel, after making a careful "reconnoissance," as they called it, of Fleet-street, found that by taking up a station at the window of a tavern14, which was nearly opposite to the barber's shop, they should be able to take such effectual notice of whoever went in and came out, that they would be sure to see the boy some time during the course of the day. This plan of operations would no doubt have been greatly successful, and Tobias would have fallen into their hands, had he not, alas15! for him, poor fellow, already been treated by Sweeney Todd as we have described by being incarcerated16 in that fearful madhouse on Peckham Rye, which was kept by so unscrupulous a personage as Fogg. And we cannot but consider that it was most unfortunate for the happiness of all those persons in whose fate we take so deep an interest—and in whom we hope, as regards the reader, we have likewise awakened17 a feeling of great sympathy—if Tobias had not been so infatuated as to make the search he did of the barber's house, but had waited even for twenty-four hours before doing so; in that case, not only would he have escaped the dreadful doom18 which had awaited him, but Johanna Oakley would have been saved from much danger which afterwards befel her. But we must not anticipate; and the fearful adventures which it was her doom to pass through, before she met with the reward of her great virtue19, and her noble perseverance20 will speak for themselves, trumpet-tongued indeed. It was at a very early hour in the morning that the two friends took up their station at the public-house so nearly opposite to Sweeney Todd's, in Fleet street; and then, having made an arrangement with the landlord of the house, that they were to have undisturbed possession of the room as long as they liked, they both sat at the window, and kept an eye upon Todd's house. It was during the period of time there spent, that Colonel Jeffery first made the captain acquainted with the fact of his great affection for Johanna, and that in her he thought he had at length fixed21 his wandering fancy, and found, really, the only being with whom he thought he could, in this world taste the sweets of domestic life, and know no regret.
"She is all," he said, "in beauty that the warmest imagination can possibly picture, and along with these personal charms, which certainly are most peerless, I have seen enough of her to feel convinced that she has a mind of the purest order that ever belonged to any human being in the world."
"With such sentiments and feelings towards her, the wonder would be," said the captain, "if you did not love her, as you now avow22 you do."
"I could not be insensible to her attractions. But, understand me, my dear friend, I do not, on account of my own suddenly-conceived partiality for this young and beautiful creature, intend to commit the injustice of not trying might and main, and with heart and hand, to discover if, as she supposes, it be true that Thornhill and Mark Ingestrie be one and the same person; and when I say that I love her with a depth and a sincerity23 of affection that makes her happiness of greater importance to me than my own—you know, I think, enough of me to feel convinced that I am speaking only what I really feel."
"I can," said the captain, "and I do give you credit for the greatest possible amount of sincerity, and I feel sufficiently24 interested myself in the future fate of this fair young creature to wish that she may be convinced her lover is no more, and may so much better herself, as I am quite certain she would, by becoming your wife; for all we can hear of this Ingestrie seems to prove that he is not the most stable-minded of individuals the world ever produced, and perhaps not exactly the sort of man—however, of course, she may think to the contrary, and he may in all sincerity think so likewise—to make such a girl as Johanna Oakley happy."
"The barber? Sweeney Todd?"
"Yes, yes, there he is; do you not see him? There he is, and he looks as if he had come off a long journey. What can he have been about, I wonder? He is draggled in mud!"
Yes, there was Sweeney Todd, opening his shop from the outside with a key, that after a vast amount of fumbling27, he took from his pocket; and, as the captain said, he did indeed look as if he had come off a long journey, for he was draggled with mud, and his appearance altogether was such as to convince any one that he must have been out in most of the heavy rain which had fallen during the early part of the morning upon London and its suburbs. And this was just the fact, for after staying with the madhouse-keeper in the hope that the bad weather which had set in would be alleviated28, he had been compelled to give up all chance of such a thing, and as no conveyance29 of any description was to be had, he enjoyed the pleasure, if it could be called such, of walking home up to his knees in the mud of that dirty neighbourhood. It was, however, some satisfaction to him to feel that he had got rid of Tobias, who, from what he had done as regarded the examination of the house, had become extremely troublesome indeed, and perhaps the most serious enemy that Sweeney Todd had ever had.
"Ha!" he said, as he came within sight of his shop in Fleet-street,—"ha! Master Tobias is safe enough; he will give me no more trouble, that is quite clear. What a wonderfully convenient thing it is to have such a friend as Fogg, who for a consideration will do so much towards ridding one of an uncomfortable encumbrance30. It is possible enough that that boy might have compassed my destruction. I wish I dared now chance, with the means I have for the sale of the string of pearls, joined to my other resources, leaving business, and so not be obliged to run the risk and have the trouble of another boy."
Yes, Sweeney Todd would have been glad now to shut up his shop in Fleet-street at once and for ever, but he dreaded31 that when John Mundel found that his customer did not come back to him to redeem32 the pearls, that he (John Mundel) would proceed to sell them, and that then their beauty and great worth would excite much attention, and some one might come forward who knew more about their early history than he did.
"I must keep quiet," he thought,—"I must keep quiet; for although I think I was pretty well disguised, and it is not at all likely that any one—no, not even the acute John Mundel himself—would recognise in Sweeney Todd, the poor barber of Fleet-street, the nobleman who came from the queen to borrow ￡8,000 upon a string of pearls; yet there is a remote possibility of danger; and should there be a disturbance33 about the precious stones, it is better that I should remain in obscurity until that disturbance is completely over."
This was no doubt admirable policy on the part of Todd, who, although he found himself a rich man, had not, as many people do when they make that most gratifying and interesting discovery, forgotten all the prudence34 and tact35 that made him one of that most envied class of personages. He was some few minutes before he could get the key to turn in the lock of his street door, but at length he effected that object and disappeared from before the eyes of the colonel and his friend into his own house, and the door was instantly again closed upon him.
"Well," said Colonel Jeffery, "what do you think of that?"
"I don't know what to think, further than that your friend Todd has been out of town, as the state of his boots abundantly testifies."
"They do, indeed, and he has the appearance of having been a considerable distance, for the mud that is upon his boots is not London mud."
"Certainly not; it is quite of a different character altogether. But see, he is coming out again."
Sweeney Todd strode out of his house, bareheaded now, and proceeded to take down the shutters36 of his shop, which, there being but three, he accomplished37 in a few seconds of time, and walked in again with them in his hand, along with the iron bar which had secured them, and which he had released from the inside. This was all the ceremony that took place at the opening of Sweeney Todd's shop, and the only surprise our friends, who were at the public-house window, had upon the subject was, that having a boy, he, Todd, should condescend38 to make himself so useful as to open his own shop. And nothing could be seen of the lad, although the hour, surely, for his attendance must have arrived; and Todd, equally surely, was not the sort of man to be so indulgent to a boy, whom he employed to make himself generally useful, as to allow him to come when all the dirty work of the early morning was over. But yet such to all appearance would seem to be the case, for presently Todd appeared with a broom in his hand, sweeping39 out his shop with a rapidity and a vengeance40 which seemed to say, that he did not perform that operation with the very best grace in the world.
"Where can the boy be?" said the captain. "Do you know, little reason as I may really appear to have for such a supposition, I cannot help in my own mind connecting Todd's having been out of town somehow with the fact of that boy's non-appearance this morning."
"Indeed!—the coincidence is curious, for such was my own thought likewise upon the occasion; and the more I do think of it, the more I feel convinced that such must be the case, and that our watch will be a fruitless one completely. Is it likely—for possible enough it is—that the villain41 has found out that we have been asking some questions of the boy, and has thought proper to take his life?"
"Do not let us go too far," said the captain, "in mere conjecture42; recollect43 that as yet, let us suspect what we may, we know nothing, and that the mere facts of our not being able to trace Thornhill beyond the shop of this man, will not be sufficient to found an action upon."
"I know all that, and I feel how very cautious we must be; and yet to my mind the whole of the circumstances have been day by day assuming a most hideous44 air of probability, and I look upon Todd as a murderer already."
"Shall we continue our watch?"
"I scarcely see its utility. Perchance we may see some proceedings45 which may interest us; but I have a powerful impression that we certainly shall not see the boy we want. But, at all events, the barber, you perceive, has a customer already."
As they looked across the way, they saw a well dressed looking man, who, from a certain air and manner which he had, could be detected not to be a Londoner. He rather resembled some substantial yeoman, who had come to town to pay or to receive money, and, as he came near to Sweeney Todd's shop he might have been observed to stroke his chin, as debating in his mind the necessity or otherwise of a shave. The debate, if it were taking place in his mind, ended by the ayes having it, for he walked into Todd's shop, being most unquestionably the first customer which he had had that morning. Situated46 as the colonel and his friend were, they could not see into Todd's shop, even if the door had been opened, but they saw that after the customer had been in for a few moments, it was closed, so that, had they been close to it, all the interior of the shaving establishment would have been concealed47. They felt no great degree of interest in this man, who was a commonplace personage enough, who had entered Sweeney Todd's shop; but when an unreasonable48 time had elapsed, and he did not come out, they did begin to feel a little uneasy. And when another man, went in and was only about five minutes before he emerged, shaved, and yet the first man did not come, they knew not what to make of it, and looked at each other for some few moments in silence. At length the colonel spoke—and he did so in a tone of excitement, saying—
"My friend, have we waited here for nothing now? What can have become of that man whom we saw go into the barber's shop; but who, I suppose, we feel ourselves to be in a condition to take our oaths never came out?"
"I could take my oath; and what conclusion can we come to?"
"None, but that he met his death there; and that, let his fate be what it may, it is the same which poor Thornhill has suffered. I can endure this no longer. Do you stay here, and let me go alone."
"Not for worlds—you would rush into an unknown danger; you cannot know what may be the powers of mischief49 that man possesses. You shall not go alone, colonel, you shall not indeed; but something must be done."
"Desperate emergencies require desperate remedies; and yet I think that in this case everything is to be lost by precipitation, and nothing is to be gained. We have to do with one who, to all appearance, is keen and subtle, and if anything is to be accomplished contrary to his wishes, it is not to be done by that open career, which for its own sake, under ordinary circumstances, both you and I would gladly embrace."
"Well, well," said the colonel, "I do not and will not say but you are right."
"I know I am—I am certain I am; and now hear me: I think we have gone quite far enough unaided in this transaction, and that it is time we drew some others into the plot."
"I do not understand what you mean."
"I will soon explain. I mean, that if in the pursuit of this enterprise, which grows each moment to my mind more serious, anything should happen to you and me, it is absolutely frightful51 to think that there would then be an end of it."
"True, true; and as for poor Johanna and her friend Arabella, what could they do?"
"Nothing, but expose themselves to great danger. Come, now, colonel, I am glad to see that we understand each other better about this business; you have heard, of course, of Sir Richard Blunt?"
"Sir Richard Blunt—Blunt—oh, you mean the magistrate52?"
"I do; and what I propose is that we have a private and confidential53 interview with him about the matter—that we make him possessed54 of all the circumstances, and take his advice what to do. The result of placing the affair in such hands will, at all events, be that if, in anything we may attempt, we may by force or fraud be overpowered, we shall not fall wholly unavenged."
"Reason backs your proposition."
"I knew it would, when you came to reflect. Oh, Colonel Jeffery, you are too much a creature of impulse."
"Well," said the colonel, half jestingly, "I must say that I do not think the accusation55 comes well from you, for I have certainly seen you do some rather impulsive56 things, I think."
"We won't dispute about that; but since you think with me upon the matter, you will have no objection to accompany me at once to Sir Richard Blunt's?"
"None in the least; on the contrary, if anything is to be done at all, for Heaven's sake let it be done quickly. I am quite convinced that some fearful tragedy is in progress, and that, if we are not most prompt in our measures, we shall be too late to counteract57 its dire58 influence upon the fortunes of those in whom we have become deeply interested."
"Agreed, agreed! Come this way, and let us now for a brief space, at all events, leave Mr. Todd and his shop to take care of each other, while we take an effectual means of circumventing59 him. Why do you linger?"
"I do linger. Some mysterious influence seems to chain me to the spot."
"Some mysterious fiddlestick! Why, you are getting superstitious60, colonel."
"No, no! Well, I suppose I must come with you. Lead the way, lead the way; and believe me that it requires all my reason to induce me to give up a hope of making some important discovery by going to Sweeney Todd's shop."
"Yes, you might make an important discovery; and only suppose now that the discovery you did make was that he murdered some of his customers. If he does so, you may depend that such a man takes good care to do the deed effectually, and you might make the discovery just a little too late. You understand that?"
"I do, I do. Come along, for I positively61 declare, that if we see anybody else go into the barber's, I shall not be able to resist rushing forward at once, and giving an alarm."
It was certainly a good thing that the colonel's friend was not quite so enthusiastic as he was, or from what we happen actually to know of Sweeney Todd, and from what we suspect, the greatest amount of danger might have befallen Jeffery, and instead of being in a position to help others in unravelling62 the mysteries connected with Sweeney Todd's establishment, he might himself have been past all help, and most absolutely one of the mysteries. But such was not to be.
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1
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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incarcerated
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| 钳闭的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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alleviated
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| 减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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encumbrance
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| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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43
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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45
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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48
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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49
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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51
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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52
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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53
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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54
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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55
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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56
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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57
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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58
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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59
circumventing
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| v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的现在分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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62
unravelling
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| 解开，拆散，散开( unravel的现在分词 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚 | |
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