It was, however, some
satisfaction to him to feel that he had got rid of Tobias, who, from
what he had done as regarded the examination of the house, had become
extremely troublesome indeed, and perhaps the most serious enemy that
Sweeney Todd had ever had. "Ha!" he said, as he came within sight of his shop in
Fleet-street,--"ha! Master Tobias is safe enough; he will give me no
more trouble, that is quite clear. What a wonderfully convenient thing
it is to have such a friend as Fogg, who for a consideration will do so
much towards ridding one of an uncomfortable encumbrance. It is possible
enough that that boy might have compassed my destruction. I wish I dared
now chance, with the means I have for the sale of the string of pearls,
joined to my other resources, leaving business, and so not be obliged to
run the risk and have the trouble of another boy." Yes, Sweeney Todd would have been glad now to shut up his shop in
Fleet-street at once and for ever, but he dreaded that when John Mundel
found that his customer did not come back to him to redeem the pearls,
that he (John Mundel) would proceed to sell them, and that then their
beauty and great worth would excite much attention, and some one might
come forward who knew more about their early history than he did. "I must keep quiet," he thought,--"I must keep quiet; for although I
think I was pretty well disguised, and it is not at all likely that any
one--no, not even the acute John Mundel himself--would recognise in
Sweeney Todd, the poor barber of Fleet-street, the nobleman who came
from the queen to borrow £8,000 upon a string of pearls; yet there is a
remote possibility of danger; and should there be a disturbance about
the precious stones, it is better that I should remain in obscurity
until that disturbance is completely over." This was no doubt admirable policy on the part of Todd, who, although he
found himself a rich man, had not, as many people do when they make that
most gratifying and interesting discovery, forgotten all the prudence
and tact that made him one of that most envied class of personages. He
was some few minutes before he could get the key to turn in the lock of
his street door, but at length he effected that object and disappeared
from before the eyes of the colonel and his friend into his own house,
and the door was instantly again closed upon him. "Well," said Colonel Jeffery, "what do you think of that?" "I don't know what to think, further than that your friend Todd has been
out of town, as the state of his boots abundantly testifies." "They do, indeed, and he has the appearance of having been a
considerable distance, for the mud that is upon his boots is not London
mud." "Certainly not; it is quite of a different character altogether. But
see, he is coming out again." Sweeney Todd strode out of his house, bareheaded now, and proceeded to
take down the shutters of his shop, which, there being but three, he
accomplished in a few seconds of time, and walked in again with them in
his hand, along with the iron bar which had secured them, and which he
had released from the inside. This was all the ceremony that took place
at the opening of Sweeney Todd's shop, and the only surprise our
friends, who were at the public-house window, had upon the subject was,
that having a boy, he, Todd, should condescend to make himself so useful
as to open his own shop. And nothing could be seen of the lad, although
the hour, surely, for his attendance must have arrived; and Todd,
equally surely, was not the sort of man to be so indulgent to a boy,
whom he employed to make himself generally useful, as to allow him to
come when all the dirty work of the early morning was over. But yet such
to all appearance would seem to be the case, for presently Todd appeared
with a broom in his hand, sweeping out his shop with a rapidity and a
vengeance which seemed to say, that he did not perform that operation
with the very best grace in the world. "Where can the boy be?" said the captain. "Do you know, little reason as
I may really appear to have for such a supposition, I cannot help in my
own mind connecting Todd's having been out of town somehow with the fact
of that boy's non-appearance this morning." "Indeed!--the coincidence is curious, for such was my own thought
likewise upon the occasion; and the more I do think of it, the more I
feel convinced that such must be the case, and that our watch will be a
fruitless one completely. Is it likely--for possible enough it is--that
the villain has found out that we have been asking some questions of the
boy, and has thought proper to take his life?" "Do not let us go too far," said the captain, "in mere conjecture;
recollect that as yet, let us suspect what we may, we know nothing, and
that the mere facts of our not being able to trace Thornhill beyond the
shop of this man, will not be sufficient to found an action upon." "I know all that, and I feel how very cautious we must be; and yet to my
mind the whole of the circumstances have been day by day assuming a most
hideous air of probability, and I look upon Todd as a murderer already." "Shall we continue our watch?" "I scarcely see its utility. Perchance we may see some proceedings which
may interest us; but I have a powerful impression that we certainly
shall not see the boy we want. But, at all events, the barber, you
perceive, has a customer already." As they looked across the way, they saw a well dressed looking man, who,
from a certain air and manner which he had, could be detected not to be
a Londoner. He rather resembled some substantial yeoman, who had come to
town to pay or to receive money, and, as he came near to Sweeney Todd's
shop he might have been observed to stroke his chin, as debating in his
mind the necessity or otherwise of a shave. The debate, if it were
taking place in his mind, ended by the ayes having it, for he walked
into Todd's shop, being most unquestionably the first customer which he
had had that morning. Situated as the colonel and his friend were, they
could not see into Todd's shop, even if the door had been opened, but
they saw that after the customer had been in for a few moments, it was
closed, so that, had they been close to it, all the interior of the
shaving establishment would have been concealed. They felt no great
degree of interest in this man, who was a commonplace personage enough,
who had entered Sweeney Todd's shop; but when an unreasonable time had
elapsed, and he did not come out, they did begin to feel a little
uneasy. And when another man, went in and was only about five minutes
before he emerged, shaved, and yet the first man did not come, they knew
not what to make of it, and looked at each other for some few moments in
silence. At length the colonel spoke--and he did so in a tone of
excitement, saying--

"My friend, have we waited here for nothing now?