His habits of military discipline, and the long
life he had led in camps, where anything in the shape of hurry and
confusion is much reprobated, made him pause before he decided upon any
particular course of action; and this pause was not one contingent upon
a belief, or even a surmise in the danger of the course that suggested
itself, for such a consideration had no effect whatever upon him; and if
some other mode had suddenly suggested itself, which, while it placed
his life in the most imminent peril, would have seemed more likely to
accomplish his object, it would have been at once most gladly welcomed. And now, therefore, he set about thinking deeply over what could
possibly be done further in a matter that as yet appeared to be involved
in the most profound of possible mysteries. That the barber's boy, who
had been addressed by him, and by his friend, the captain, knew
something of an extraordinary character, which fear prevented him from
disclosing, he had no doubt, and, as the colonel remarked--

"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 dispelled; 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 tavern, 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, alas! for him, poor fellow, already been treated by Sweeney Todd
as we have described by being incarcerated 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 awakened 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 doom 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 virtue, and her
noble perseverance 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 fixed
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 avow 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 sincerity 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 sufficiently 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." "I thank you for the kind feeling towards me, my friend, which has
dictated that speech, but--"

"Hush!" said the captain, suddenly, "hush! look at the barber!" "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 fumbling, 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 alleviated, he had been compelled to give up all chance of
such a thing, and as no conveyance 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.