Not a word that
was said escaped him, although it was right away in the garden that
this, to him, fearfully interesting conversation took place. "What is the matter?" he heard the woman say, and then the rough voice
replied to her--

"We are the police, my good woman, and we are in search of a man who is
hidden somewhere about this neighbourhood. Has any one come into your
place, or have you seen a tall man pass the cottage?" "No," said the woman. Todd breathed a little more freely. "It's very odd," said another voice; "for he must be about this spot,
that is quite clear, as he was dodging about the field at the back of
here, and hiding in the hedge. We must have passed him." "Well, he can't get away," said a third; "but after all, he may be lying
down somewhere in the garden, for all we know to the contrary." "I don't think it," said the woman. At this moment, the child began to cry violently. "Oh, confound you for a brat!" said Todd, "I wish it was only safe to
throttle you." "Is that your child?" said one of the officers. "Oh, yes--yes," said the young mother, and hastening into the cottage,
she placed a chair by the side of the cot, and began to rock it to and
fro, singing while she did so, to lull the child to sleep. "She will keep her word," thought Todd. "I feel confident that she will
keep her word, now, with me." "You look all round the garden, while I take a peep about the house,"
said the principal officer. "Oh, I am lost!" moaned Todd. "I am surely lost now! If the house should
be searched well, so obvious a place of concealment as a cupboard will
not escape them. All is lost now, indeed." He almost gave up all thought, now, of keeping life or liberty, and he
waited only for the fatal moment when the officers should approach and
place their hands upon that cupboard door to open it. The child still
cried, and the mother sang to it. "'Sleep, sleep, little baby--
      Oh, sleep all the day;
    The sunshine is hiding,
      The birds fly away. Away, away--far away. The sunshine is hiding,
      The birds fly away--'"

"Hilloa! What cupboard is that behind the child's cot?" "'And when they return
      You may open your eyes.' "Oh, it's where we keep our best crockery. Don't disturb the child--I do
think it is sickening with the measles. "'And see how the sunset
      Is gilding the skies,
          Away, away--far away. And see how the sunset
      Is gilding the skies.' "Have you found him in the garden? I shall be almost out of my wits,
now, till my husband comes home. Who is it that you are looking for, and
pray what has he done? He would need to be clever, indeed, to come in
here without my knowing it; and as for the garden, why, I was hanging
out the clothes there for the last half hour, I tell you." "Oh, he's not here," said the officer. "It would be no bad thing, marm,
for any one who could lend a helping hand to find him." "Ah, indeed?" "Yes. You have heard of Todd, the murderer? Well, that's the man we are
after, and we have every reason to think that he is somewhere about
here, and it is a large reward that is offered for him, I can tell you." "Ah! I should like to get it." "Not a doubt of it. Good-day, marm. If you should see any
suspicious-looking fellow about the fields, just give notice of it in
some sort of a way, if you can, for you may depend upon it, it will be
Todd." "Oh, yes, I will. How very fractious this little thing is to-day, to be
sure. I hardly ever knew it to be so before." "Ah, well, they will be so, at times. But I'm off. Mind, now, you get
the reward if you see anything of Todd." "Oh, yes. Trust me for that." The man left the room. What a reprieve from death that was for Todd! He
thought that during all the perils that he had passed through, he had
surely never been quite so near to destruction as then; and when he
found that he was saved, temporarily, he could hardly hold himself up in
the cupboard, and a sensation of faintness came over him. It was not safe for him yet, by any means, to think of emerging from his
place of concealment. Indeed, he felt that the young mother would be the
best judge upon that hand, so he did not stir nor speak, and at last he
heard the cot with the now sleeping child in it, being gently moved from
before the cupboard-door. Then it was opened, and Todd, with his face
pale and haggard, stepped out into the room. The young woman only pointed to the door of the little apartment
steadily and significantly. "What do you mean?" said Todd. "Go," she said. "I have done that which you require of me. Now go." "To death?" "No. Your enemies are no longer here. At the sacrifice of truth and of
feeling I saved you. It was all you asked of me, and now I tell you to
go, and no longer pollute this place by your presence. I know who and
what you are, now. You are Sweeney Todd, the murderer." "Well, and if I am, what then?" "Nothing--nothing! I ask nothing of you, but that you should leave this
house; I have kept my word. I will let the memory of this hour's work
sink deeply into my heart, and there remain untold to any one. Not even
to my husband will I breathe it. I only ask you to go." "I am going--I am going." Todd felt awed by her manner. He cowered before the look that, full of
horror, she bent upon him, and he crept towards the cottage door. But
the dread that some of his enemies might be lurking about the spot
detained him. "Tell me," he said, "oh! tell me truly--are they gone?" "Wait," she said, "and I will see again." She took the child in her arms, and left the cottage. Todd found, now
that the child was no longer in his power as a kind of hostage for the
faith of the mother, that he had trusted her too far; but it was too
late, now, for him to recede from the position in which he had placed
himself, and with all his terror, he had no resource but to
calmly--calmly as he could--wait her return. She came back again in a few moments. "You can go with safety. They are all away." "I will trust you, and take your word for it," said Todd. "I thank you
for the service you have rendered to me, and I am not ungrateful. Accept
of this in remembrance of me, and of this day's adventure." He took from his pocket a splendid gold watch and laid it upon the
table, in the outer room, but with vehemence, the woman cried--

"No--no! Take it up, I will not have it. Take it up, or even now I will
dare everything and call for help. I will take nothing from your
blood-stained hands. Take up the watch, or I will destroy it." "As you please," said Todd, as he placed the watch in his pocket again. "I wish not to force it upon you. I am gone." He went out into the little garden, but he looked about him very
nervously indeed, before he trusted himself to walk towards the little
white gate that opened upon the high road. Each moment, however, that
passed without any one springing upon and attacking him, was a moment of
confidence gained. He carried a pistol in his hand, and keeping his eyes
keenly around him, he reached the road.