"I'll be hanged if I know," said another, "and yet I feel sure that they came this way. I thought how it would be when they took to all these streets. Lord bless you, we might have passed them in some doorway1 easy enough—a dozen times."
"So we might," said the other voice. "All we can do now, is to go round to the different outlets2 of the city, and give an alarm."
"Well, I won't give it up yet," said a third person; "I feel quite sure they are lingering somewhere about here, and I'll be on the watch yet for a time, and hunt about quietly. You be off and give the notice to the watch, and leave Johnson and I to do what we can."
"Very good—I wish you luck."
There was a scuffle of feet, and it was quite clear that some of the men had gone off at a quick pace, leaving, no doubt, the two only in the street.
"Well," whispered Lupin. "Well, my friend, what do you think of all this?"
"I don't know what to think," said Todd. "I'm very tired."
"Ah, and so am I, but that can't be helped. I ain't used to such a run as we have had. But it won't do us any harm. If we can get off, it will be a world's wonder, I can tell you. It ain't now every day that a fellow gives Newgate the go-by."
"No—no, and I must say that I did not myself expect it. But I was prepared to cheat the hangman."
"Pho! That's a poor-enough look out."
"Yes, but it's a something. She did it."
"She? Who the deuce is she?"
"Mrs. Lovett."
"Oh, I recollect3. I have heard of her—I have heard of her. She was the nice creature who lived in Bell Yard, wasn't she, and accommodated the folks with pies?"
"Yes," said Todd, and if Lupin had seen the horrible contortion4 of visage with which he accompanied the word, even he, with all his nerve in such matters, might well have been excused for a sudden accession of terror. "Well," added Todd, after a pause, "you are a man of judgment5 Mr. Lupin, and all I want to know now, is what you mean to do?"
"Get away from here as soon as possible. But it won't be quite safe to try it yet. This house is very quiet, and no doubt everybody is in bed and asleep, so I shall get a light and look about a little. It would be quite a providential thing to find something to eat."
"Yes, and to drink," said Todd.
"Just so. I would give something handsome now, if I had it, for a good glass of brandy. That run has made me first hot and then shivery all over; but who knows what luck may be in store for us? Come now—here's a light, and we shall soon, by the help of providence6, see what sort of a crib we have got into."
It was lucky for them both that Lupin had retained about him the means of getting a light, for if he had not, they would have been left to conjectures7 merely regarding their position. He ignited one of the little pieces of wax-ends, and when the small flame rose and began to burn steadily8, he held up the piece of candle, so they both looked curiously9 about them.
The hall of the house in which they were was well got up. A handsome table and some old carved chairs were in it, with some crests10 upon the backs, and upon numerous pegs11 hung hats, cloaks, and coats.
"Humph," said Lupin, "this is the very place for us, I shall take the great liberty of making free with some gentleman's coat and hat, and I think you had better do the same."
Todd at once practically acquiesced12 in the suggestion, by slipping on a large cloak with sleeves, and placing upon his head a hat richly bound with silver lace.
"Upon my word," said Lupin, "you almost look respectable."
"Do I?" said Todd. "It isn't then on account of the company I am in."
Lupin smiled, as he said—
"Very good—very good, but the less we cut at each other, my friend, the better."
"You began it," said Todd.
"So I did, so we will say no more about it, as yours was the hardest hit. How do I look in the cloak and hat?"
Lupin laughed again.
"Come," he said. "Now that we have a little time to spare, let us see if these people keep a good larder14. If they do and they lock it up at night, they will find that the cat has been at it by the morning, I rather think. Tread as lightly as you can, Todd, and keep down your voice as you have done. Sounds go so far in the night time."
"They do," said Todd. "I have heard them at odd times."
Lupin led the way along the hall, at the end of which was the staircase, and to the right of that a door which was not fast, so that they passed on quite easily to the domestic portion of the house, and soon found the way to a kitchen, which was upon the same floor. Then they opened a door that led into a little sort of outhouse, paved with red bricks, and in one corner of that was a larder, or safe, well stocked with provisions. Lupin took from it a magnificent quarter of venison, with scarcely a quarter of a pound cut from it; and that, with some bread were the only viands15 that he felt disposed to take from the larder.
"It will be wholesome," he said, "and do us a world of good, by the aid of Providence; and we don't know what we may have to go through yet, in this world of woe16. Amen!"
"Dear me; yes, I do—I do. Well, well, it don't matter—it don't matter. Come, friend Todd. Let us recruit ourselves a little. Oh, that I could find the way to the wine cellar of these people; and yet that should not be a difficult matter. Let us think. It must be somewhere hereabouts."
"There is a door," said Todd, pointing to one at the end of the outhouse. "It seems to be locked, and if so, it is no doubt that of the cellar."
"We will try it," said Lupin.
With this he quickly opened the door, by the aid of his picklocks, which no ordinary lock could withstand the fascinations18 of for a moment, and then sure enough the supposition of Todd was found to be correct, for a goodly collection of bottles in long rows presented themselves to the eye. Lupin at once laid hold of a bottle, and breaking off the neck of it he decanted19 a quantity of its contents into his throat, rubbing his stomach as he did so in a most ludicrous kind of way, to indicate how much he enjoyed the draught20.
"Nectar," he said, when he took the bottle from his mouth to enable himself to breathe; "nectar."
"Is it?" said Todd, as he seized upon another bottle. "I am partial generally to something a trifle stronger than wine; but if it be really good, I have no particular objection to a drop."
With this Todd finished off half a bottle of the rich and rare old port that was in the cellar. They then worked away at the haunch of venison; and having made a very hearty21 meal, they looked at each other as though they would both say—"What next?"
"You say you have money?" said Lupin.
"True," said Todd.
"But not here of course, my friend; and who knows what difficulties we may find in our way before we reach your nice little hoard22? Where did you say it was?"
"Hidden beneath a tree in Caen Wood, close to the village of Hampstead. I went one night, and myself placed the cash there in case of accidents."
"And how much do you suppose, my friend, there is?"
"I know what there is. I put away two thousand pounds, and that you know will be a thousand pounds for you, and another for me. I purpose in that manner equitably23 to share it, for I am not ungrateful for the great assistance you have been to me in this escape from Newgate."
If Mr. Lupin had not swallowed two-thirds of a bottle of old port-wine, the probability is that he would have detected that Todd was deceiving him, by the whining24 canting tone in which he spoke25. The fact was, that Todd had not one farthing hidden in Caen Wood; but he thought it highly desirable while there existed any danger, and while Mr. Lupin was likely to be useful to him, to keep up such a delusion26.
"Well," added Lupin, "you really are a liberal fellow; but as, I say, there is no knowing what good a trifle may be to us before we reach your snug27 two thousand pounds in Caen Wood, I propose to see what we can get in this house. People who keep such a good cellar, and such a capital larder, ought to have something in the place worth the taking in the way of cash."
"Yes, but I am afraid it will be hazardous," said Todd.
"That is possible. Well, if anything worth having is to be got, let us set about it at once; for I think we have spent time enough in this house; and no doubt our friends are upon the move off, if they have not gone long before this."
"Come on, then."
They both left the kitchen, and each being armed with a knife, they cautiously opened all the room doors on that floor; but they only found the usual furniture of such apartments, and it was quite clear that no cash was to be had in that portion of the premises29.
"Come up stairs," said Lupin, with a look of savage30 determination. "Come on, Todd; we will see what can be done up stairs."
They carefully ascended31 the staircase, but they only just peeped into the drawing-room, and then they went up to the floor upon which the bed-rooms were situated32. They paused at the first door they came to, and Lupin very carefully tried the lock. It was only on the latch33, and in the room a rushlight was burning. They both crept in, and their footsteps made no noise upon the soft carpeting of the apartment. A bed was in the room, and upon it lay a young lady. Lupin gave a hideous34 grin as he looked at her, and then stooping down by the bed-side he said, in a whisper—
"If you scream, everybody in this house will be murdered!—If you scream, everybody in this house will be murdered! If you—Oh, that will do."
The young lady awakened35 with a start, but the words that were twice repeated still rung in her ears, and scream she did not, but she looked half dead from fright.
"Now, my dear," said Lupin, "Providence has brought us to your bed-side, and if you make any disturbance36, we mean to submit you and the whole of the family to the operation of a carving-knife, the Lord willing. All we want is money, and if we can get that quietly, we will go and not so much as ask your pretty little lips for a kiss."
The Murderers In The Young Lady's Chamber.
"Oh, Heaven protect me!" said the young lady.
"A—men!" said Lupin. "Now my dear, who is in the house besides you?"
"My father, the alderman, and my mother, and the servants above stairs.—Oh, spare my parents."
"Very good, where can any money be got hold of?"
"Will a hundred pounds content you?"
"Yes," said Todd, putting his head between the curtains at the foot of the bed. The young lady gave a faint cry, and Mr. Lupin flourished the carving-knife over her—"Where are the hundred pounds?" he said, "and we will go."
"In my father's room. It is the next room. His purse is on the dressing-table. If you will let me go and get it, I will give it to you upon your promise then to leave the house."
"How are we to trust you not to say that we are here?"
"I swear by all that is holy—I use the name of the great God. Oh, indeed you may trust me."
"Go," said Lupin.
The young lady got out of bed, and both Todd and Lupin followed her from the room. She crossed the landing, and at once opened the door of a room. Then they heard a man's voice say—"Who's that?" and the young lady replied—"Only me, father. I want something out of your room. I shall not be a minute." "Bless the girl," said a female voice—"What can she want?"
In a minute or two the young lady came back to the landing where Todd and Lupin were waiting for her.
"Now," said Lupin in a low voice—"Now, my little dear, have you got it?"
"Quick—quick!" said Todd, "or you die. I am half a mind to cut your throat as it is, just for the pleasure of the thing."
The young lady stood just upon the threshold of the door of her father's room, and then as Lupin held up his light, she raised both her hands, in each of which was a horse-pistol, and presenting one at Lupin's head and one at Todd's, she said—
"Thieves! thieves! thieves!"
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1
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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outlets
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| n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店 | |
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3
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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4
contortion
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| n.扭弯，扭歪，曲解 | |
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5
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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6
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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8
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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9
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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10
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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11
pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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12
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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14
larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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15
viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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16
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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17
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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18
fascinations
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| n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 )；有魅力的东西；迷恋；陶醉 | |
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19
decanted
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| v.将（酒等）自瓶中倒入另一容器( decant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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21
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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equitably
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| 公平地 | |
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24
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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25
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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26
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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27
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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28
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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29
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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31
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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33
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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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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35
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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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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