"You must have both, for we are not to be parted," he said, presenting
his pistol at me; "and then I had only time to escape from the effect of
the shot. I struck the pistol up with my riding-whip, and the bullet
passed by my temples, and almost stunned me. I cocked and fired; he did
the same, but I hit him, and he fell. He fired, however, but missed me. I was down upon him; he begged hard for life." "Did you give it him?" "Yes; I dragged him to the side of the road, and then left him. Having
done so much, I mounted my horse and came away as fast as I could, and
then I made for London, and spent a merry day or two there." "I can imagine you must enjoy your trips into the country, and then you
must have still greater relish for the change when you come to
London--the change is so great and so entire." "So it is; but have you never any run of luck in your line? I should
think you must at times succeed in tricking the public." "Yes, yes," said Todd, "now and then we do--but I tell you it is only
now and then; and I have been afraid of doing too much. In small sums I
have been a gainer; but I want to do something grand. I tried it on, but
at the same time I have failed." "That is bad; but you may have more opportunities by and by. Luck is all
chance." "Yes," said Todd, "that is true, but the sooner the better, for I am
growing impatient." Conversation now went on; each man speaking of his exploits, which were
always some species of rascality and robbery, accompanied by violence
generally; some were midnight robbers and breakers into people's houses;
in fact, all the crimes that could be imagined. This place was, in fact,
a complete house of rendezvous for thieves, cutpurses, highwaymen,
footpads, and burglars of every grade and description--a formidable set
of men of the most determined and desperate appearance. Sweeney Todd
hardly knew how to rise and leave the place, though it was now growing
very late, and he was most anxious to get safe out of the den he was in;
but how to do that, was a problem yet to be solved. "What is the time?" he muttered to the man next to him. "Past midnight," was the reply. "Then I must leave here," he answered, "for I have work that I must be
at in a very short time, and I shall not have too much time." So saying he watched his opportunity, and rising, walked up to the door,
which he opened and went out; after that he walked up the five steps
that led to the passage, and this latter had hardly been gained when the
street-door opened, and another man came in at the same moment, and met
him face to face. "What do you do here?" "I am going out," said Sweeney Todd. "You are going back; come back with me." "I will not," said Todd. "You must be a better man than I am, if you
make me; I'll do my best to resist your attack, if you intend one." "That I do," replied the man; and he made a determined rush upon
Sweeney, who was scarcely prepared for such a sudden onslaught, and was
pushed back till he came to the head of the stairs, where a struggle
took place, and both rolled down the steps. The door was thrown open,
and every one rushed out to see what was the matter, but it was some
moments before they could make it out. "What does he do here?" said the first, as soon as he could speak, and
pointing to Sweeney Todd. "It's all right." "All wrong, I say." "He's a sham-pearl maker, and has shown us a string of sham pearls that
are beautiful." "Psha!" "I will insist upon seeing them; give them to me," he said, "or you do
not leave this place." "I will not," said Sweeney. "You must. Here, help me--but I don't want help, I can do it by myself." As he spoke, he made a desperate attempt to collar Sweeney and pull him
to the earth, but he had miscalculated his strength when he imagined
that he was superior to Todd, who was by far the more powerful man of
the two, and resisted the attack with success. Suddenly, by an Herculean
effort, he caught his adversary below the waist, and lifting him up, he
threw him upon the floor with great force; and then, not wishing to see
how the gang would take this--whether they would take the part of their
companion or of himself he knew not--he thought he had an advantage in
the distance, and he rushed up stairs as fast as he could, and reached
the door before they could overtake him to prevent him. Indeed, for more
than a minute they were irresolute what to do; but they were somehow
prejudicial in favour of their companion, and they rushed up after
Sweeney just as he had got to the door. He would have had time to escape
them, but, by some means, the door became fast, and he could not open
it, exert himself how he would. There was no time to lose; they were
coming to the head of the stairs, and Sweeney had hardly time to reach
the stairs, to fly upwards, when he felt himself grasped by the throat. This he soon released himself from; for he struck the man who seized him
a heavy blow, and he fell backwards, and Todd found his way up to the
first floor, but he was closely pursued. Here was another struggle; and
again Sweeney Todd was the victor, but he was hard pressed by those who
followed him--fortunately for him there was a mop left in a pail of
water, this he seized hold of, and, swinging it over his head, he
brought it full on the head of the first man who came near him. Dab it
came, soft and wet, and splashed over some others who were close at
hand. It is astonishing what an effect a new weapon will sometimes have. There was not a man among them, who would not have faced danger in more
ways than one, that would not have rushed headlong upon deadly and
destructive weapons, but who were quite awed when a heavy wet mop was
dashed into their faces. They were completely paralysed for a moment;
indeed, they began to look upon it as something between a joke and a
serious matter and either would have been taken just as they might be
termed. "Get the pearls!" shouted the man who had first stopped him; "seize the
spy! seize him--secure him--rush at him! You are men enough to hold one
man!" Sweeney Todd saw matters were growing serious, and he plied his mop most
vigorously upon those who were ascending, but they had become somewhat
used to the mop, and it had lost much of its novelty, and was by no
means a dangerous weapon. They rushed on, despite the heavy blows
showered by Sweeney, and he was compelled to give way stair after stair. The head of the mop came off, and then there remained but the handle,
which formed an efficient weapon, and which made fearful havoc on the
heads of the assailants; and despite all that their slouched hats could
do in the way of protecting them, yet the staff came with a crushing
effect. The best fight in the world cannot last for ever; and Sweeney
again found numbers were not to be resisted for long; indeed, he could
not have physical energy enough to sustain his own efforts, supposing he
had received no blows in return.