"I will get the tea,
directly, sir." She left the room, and as she went down the stairs, she said to
herself--

"What a pearl of a lodger, to be sure! He pays for everything over and
over again. I should not, now, in the least wonder but the dear old
gentleman will quite forget the change out of this guinea; if he does,
it is not for me to vex him by putting him in mind of it. I know well,
that old people never like it to be supposed that their memory fails
them; so if he says nothing about it, I am sure I shall not. Oh, dear,
no!" "Wretch!" muttered Todd, as he crept out of the back room into the
front. "Wretch, I find that money will purchase anything in this house;
but am I surprised at that? Oh, no--no. Will not money purchase anything
in this great world? Of course it will. Why, then, should this house be
an exception to the rule so general? No--no. It is no exception; and I
may be very safe for a few guineas well spent; and they are well spent,
indeed. Oh, so well!" Todd then, as he flung himself into the depths of an easy chair, that
was really easy for a wonder, considering that it was in a
lodging-house, began to arrange in his own mind his course of proceeding
for the night. "Let me think--let me think," he muttered. "I am now very much refreshed
indeed, and feel quite strong and well, and equal to any emergency. That
sleep has done me a world of good, and it is strange, too, that it has
been the calmest and the quietest sleep I have enjoyed for many a month. I hope it is not prophetic of some coming evil." He shuddered at the thought. Todd was each day--ay, each hour, becoming
more and more superstitious. "No--no. I will not think that. I will not be so mad as to disarm myself
of my courage, by thinking that for a moment. I will take my tea here,
and then I will sally forth, telling this woman that I will soon return,
and then, after a dose of brandy, I will hire a boat and take to the
river. What is that?" The wind with a sudden gust came dashing against the windows, giving
them such a shake, that it seemed as if it were intent upon getting into
the room to buffet Todd. He immediately rose, and going to the window, he placed his hideous face
close to one of the panes, and looked out. The sky was getting very black, and huge clouds were careering about it. The wind was evidently rising, and there was every appearance of its
being most squally and tempestuous. Todd bit his lips with vexation. "Always something!" he said. "Always something to annoy me, and to cross
me. Always--always!" "The tea, sir, if you please." Todd turned round so suddenly, that he almost upset the servant with the
tea equipage. "Oh, very well. That will do--that will do. You are the servant of the
house?" "If you please, sir." "Ah, you will then have to attend upon me while I am here, my dear, I
presume?" "Yes, sir, if you please." "Very good--very good. You are a very nice young woman, and there's
half-a-guinea for you. Eugh! I shall give you that sum every week while
I stay here, you know." "Lor, sir, will you?" "Yes, yes. You can go now. Is the tea all right?" "Oh, dear, yes, sir. You are very good indeed. Misses said as you was a
very good lodger, which I knowed to mean as you didn't be _petikler_
about your money, and now I sees you ain't. Thank you, sir, for me. I'll
get up in the night if you want anythink." CHAPTER CLIX. TODD MAKES A VIGOROUS ATTEMPT TO REACH GRAVESEND. The servant was so profuse in her acknowledgments for the half-guinea,
that she seemed as if she would never get out of the room, and Todd had
to say--

"There--there, that will do. Now leave me, my good girl--that will do,"
before she, with a curtsey at every step, withdrew. "Well," she said, as she went down stairs. "If I tell misses of this,
I'm a Prussian. Oh, dear, I keeps it to myself and says nothing to
nobody, excepting to my Thomas as is in the horse-guards. Ah, he is a
nice fellow, and out o' this I'll make him a present of a most elegant
watch-ribbon, that he can put a bullet at the end of, and let it hang
out of his fob all as if he had a real watch in his pocket." "Humph!" said Todd. "I have bought her good opinion cheap. It was well
worth ten-and-sixpence not to have the servant watching me, with, for
all I know to the contrary, eyes of suspicion--well worth it." It was not very often that Todd indulged himself with a cup of tea. Something stronger was commonly more congenial to his appetite; but upon
this occasion, after his long sleep, the tea had upon him a most
refreshing effect, and he took it with real pleasure. Mrs. Hardman, in
consideration of the guinea she had received beforehand, had done him
justice, as far as the quality of the tea was concerned, and he had it
good. "Well," he said, after his third cup, "I did not think that there was so
much virtue in a cup of tea, after all; but of a surety, I feel
wonderfully refreshed at it. How the wind blows." The wind did, indeed, blow, for all the while that Todd was taking his
tea it banged and buffeted against the window at such a rate, that it
was really quite a fearful thing to listen to it. A couple of candles had been lighted and brought into the room, but the
gale without soon laid hold of their little flames, and tossed them
about so, that they gave but a dim and sepulchral kind of light. Todd rose again, and went to the window--again he placed his face close
to the pane of glass, and shading his eyes with his hands, he looked
out. A dashing rain was falling. "They say that when the rain comes the wind moderates," he muttered;
"but I see no signs of that, yet, it is almost a gale already." At that moment there came such a gust of wind howling down the street,
that Todd mechanically withdrew his head, as though it were some
tangible enemy come to seek him. "Always something to foil me here," he said; "always something; but out
I must go. Let it look as strange as it may, I cannot stay a night in
this house, for if I were to do so, that would involve the staying a day
likewise; and it would be this time to-morrow before I dared venture
abroad; and who knows what awful things might happen in that space of
time? No, I must go to-night. I must go to-night." He could not help feeling that his going out while the weather was in
such a state would excite a great amount of wonder in the house; but
that was a minor event in comparison to what might possibly ensue from
remaining, so he put on his hat. Tap--tap! came against the panel of his door. Todd muttered an awful oath, and then said,--

"Come in." Mrs. Hardman entered the room. "I hope I don't intrude upon you, sir, but I was so very anxious to know
if the tea was just as you like it, sir?" "Oh, yes--yes. I am going out a little way, my good madam. Only a little
way." "Out, sir?" "Yes, and why not?--why not? Oh, dear me! How bad my cough is to be
sure, to-night. Eugh!--eugh!" "Goodness gracious! my dear sir, you will not think of venturing out
to-night? Oh, sir!" "Why not, madam?"