upon them, and then Heaven only knows what might have been the result;
but he turned suddenly, and went into the parlour, muttering to
himself--

"It is not worth while now, and this night ends it all--yes, this night
ends it all." He slammed the door violently behind him, and Johanna was relieved from
the horror which his gaze had awakened, in her heart. She stood still,
but gradually she recovered her former calmness--if calmness it could at
all be called, seeing that it was only a stiller species of agitation. But she now began to recall the words of Sir Richard Blunt to the effect
that measures had been taken that no more murders could be committed by
Todd, and she began to feel comforted. "There is something that I do not know yet," she said; "Sir Richard
should have told me how there could be no more murders done here, and
then I should not have suffered what I did, and what I still suffer with
the thought that almost before my eyes a fellow creature has been
hurried into eternity; and yet I ought to have faith, and in defiance of
all the seeming evidences of a horrible deed about me, I ought, I
suppose, to believe that it has been prevented in some most strange and
miraculous way." The more Johanna thought over this promise of Sir Richard Blunt's the
more she became convinced that he would never have given utterance to it
if he had not felt perfectly sure it would be fulfilled, and so she got
comforted, and once again resolved to play her part in that dreadful
drama of real life, in the vortex of which, with the purest and the
holiest of motives, she had plunged recklessly, we will admit, but yet
from motives entitling her to sympathy on earth, and protection in
heaven. Todd remained for a considerable time in the parlour; and when he came
out, Johanna saw that he had made some alteration in his apparel. The
first words he uttered were--

"Keep a good fire, Charley." "Yes, sir." "Did you ever see a house on fire, my boy?" "I never did, sir." "Ah! It must be an amusing sight--a very amusing sight, especially if
the conflagration spreads, and one has an opportunity of viewing it from
the water. Talking of water, the lady who was here this morning--Mrs.
Lovett--was very fond of water, and now she has got plenty of it. Ah!" "Really, sir? Has she gone to the sea-side?" Johanna looked Todd rather hard in the face as she spoke these words,
and the close observation seemed to anger him, for he spoke hastily and
sharply--

"What is it to you? Get out of my way, will you? and you may begin to
think of shutting up, I think, for we shall have no more customers
to-night. I am tired and weary. You are to sleep under the counter, you
know." "Yes, sir, you told me so. I daresay I shall be very comfortable there." "And you have not been peeping and prying about, have you?" "Not at all." "Not looking even into that cupboard, I suppose, eh? It's not locked,
but that's no reason why you should look into it--not that there is any
secrets in it; but I object to peeping and prying upon principle." Todd, as he spoke, advanced towards the cupboard, and Johanna thought
that in another moment a discovery would undoubtedly take place of the
two officers who were there concealed; and probably that would have been
the case, had not the handle of the shop door been turned at that
moment, and a man presented himself, when Todd turned quickly, and saw
that he was a substantial-looking farmer, with dirty top-boots, as if he
had just come off a journey. "Well, master," said the visitor, "I wants a clean shave." "Oh," said Todd, not in the best of humours, "it's rather late; but I
suppose you would not like to wait till morning, for I don't know if I
have any hot water." "Oh, cold will do." "Cold? Oh, dear no; we never shave in cold water; and if you must, you
must; so sit down, sir, and we will soon settle the business." "Thank you, thank you. I can't go to bed comfortable without a clean
shave, do you see? I have come up from Braintree with beasts on
commission, and I'm staying at the Bull's Head, you see." "Oh, indeed," said Todd, as he adjusted the shaving cloth, "the Bull's
Head." "Yes, master; why I brought up a matter o' 220 beasts, I did, do you
see, and was on my _pooney_, as good a stepper as you'd wish to see; and
I sold 'em all, do you see, for 550 _pun_. Ho, ho! good work that, do
you see, and only forty-two on 'em was my beasts, do you see; I've got a
missus at home, and a daughter; my girl's called Johanna--a-hem!" Up to this point Johanna had not suspected that the game had begun, and
that this was no other than Sir Richard himself, most admirably
disguised, who had come to put an end to the mal-practices of Sweeney
Todd; but his marked pronunciation of her name at once opened her eyes
to that fact, and she knew that something interesting must soon happen. "And so you sold them all?" said Todd. "Yes, master, I did, and I've got the money in my pocket now, in
bank-notes; I never leaves my money about at inns, do you see, master;
safe bind, safe find, you see; I carries it about with me." "A good plan, too," said Todd; "Charley, some hot water; that's a good
lad--and--and--Charley?" "Yes, sir." "While I am finishing off this gentleman, you may as well just run to
the Temple to Mr. Serjeant Toldrunis and ask for his wig; we shall have
to do it in the morning, and may as well have it the first thing in the
day to begin upon; and you need not hurry, Charley, as we shall shut up
when you come back." "Very good, sir." Johanna walked out, but went no further than the shop window, close to
which she placed her eyes, so that, between a pomatum jar and a lot of
hair brushes, she could clearly see what was going on. "A nice-looking little lad, that," said Todd's customer. "Very, sir; an orphan boy; I took him out of charity, poor little
fellow; but then, we ought to try to do all the good we can." "Just so; I'm glad I have come to be shaved here. Mine's rather a strong
beard, I think, do you see." "Why, sir, in a manner of speaking," replied Todd, "it is a strong
beard. I suppose you didn't come to London alone, sir?" CHAPTER CX. TODD'S HOUR HAS COME. The hideous face that Todd made above the head of his customer at this
moment, was more like that which Mephistopheles might have made, after
achieving the destruction of a human soul, than anything human. Sir
Richard Blunt quickly replied to Todd's question, by saying--

"Oh, yes, quite alone; except the drovers I had no company with me; why
do you ask?" "Why, sir, I thought if you had any gentleman with you who might be
waiting at the Bull's Head, you would recommend him to me if anything
was wanting in my way, you know, sir; you might have just left him,
saying you were going to Todd the barber's, to have a clean shave, sir."