Sam looked daggers, and probably he might have attempted some desperate
act in the pie-shop, if at the moment he had not caught the eye of Mrs.
Lovett, and he saw by the expression of that lady's face, that anything
in the shape of a riot would be speedily suppressed, so he darted out of
the place at once to carry his sorrows and his bitterness elsewhere. It was only between twelve and one o'clock that such a tremendous rush
and influx of visitors came to the pie-shop, for although there was a
good custom the whole day, and the concern was a money-making one from
morning till night, it was at that hour principally that the great
consumption of pies took place. Tobias knew from experience that Sweeney Todd was a skilful calculator
of the time it ought to take to go to different places, and accordingly
since he had occupied some portion of that most valuable of all
commodities at Mrs. Lovett's, he arrived quite breathless at his
master's shop. There sat the mysterious dog with the hat, and Tobias lingered for a
moment to speak to the animal. Dogs are great physiognomists; and as the
creature looked into Tobias's face he seemed to draw a favourable
conclusion regarding him, for he submitted to a caress. "Poor fellow!" said Tobias. "I wish I knew what had become of your
master, but it made me shake like a leaf to wake up last night and ask
myself the question. You shan't starve, though, if I can help it. I
haven't much for myself, but you shall have some of it." As he spoke, Tobias took from his pocket some not very tempting cold
meat, which was intended for his own dinner, and which he had wrapped up
in not the cleanest of cloths. He gave a piece to the dog, who took it
with a dejected air, and then crouched down at Sweeney Todd's door
again. Just then, as Tobias was about to enter the shop, he thought he heard
from within, a strange shrieking sort of sound. On the impulse of the
moment he recoiled a step or two, and then, from some other impulse, he
dashed forward at once, and entered the shop. The first object that presented itself to his attention, lying upon a
side table, was a hat with a handsome gold-headed walking cane lying
across it. The arm-chair in which customers usually sat to be shaved was vacant,
and Sweeney Todd's face was just projected into the shop from the back
parlour, and wearing a most singular and hideous expression. "Well, Tobias," he said, as he advanced, rubbing his great hands
together, "well, Tobias! so you could not resist the pie-shop?" "How does he know?" thought Tobias. "Yes, sir, I have been to the
pie-shop, but I didn't stay a minute." "Hark ye, Tobias! the only thing I can excuse in the way of delay upon
an errand is, for you to get one of Mrs. Lovett's pies; that I can look
over, so think no more about it. Are they not delicious, Tobias?" "Yes, sir, they are; but some gentleman seems to have left his hat and
stick." "Yes," said Sweeney Todd, "he has;" and lifting the stick he struck
Tobias a blow with it that felled him to the ground. "Lesson the second
to Tobias Ragg, which teaches him to make no remarks about what does not
concern him. You may think what you like, Tobias Ragg, but you shall say
only what I like." "I won't endure it," cried the boy; "I won't be knocked about in this
way, I tell you, Sweeney Todd, I won't." "You won't! have you forgotten your mother?" "You say you have a power over my mother; but I don't know what it is,
and I cannot and will not believe it; I'll leave you, and, come of it
what may, I'll go to sea or anywhere rather than stay in such a place as
this." "Oh, you will, will you? Then, Tobias, you and I must come to some
explanation. I'll tell you what power I have over your mother, and then
perhaps you will be satisfied. Last winter, when the frost had continued
eighteen weeks, and you and your mother were starving, she was employed
to clean out the chambers of a Mr. King, in the Temple, a cold-hearted,
severe man, who never forgave anything in all his life, and never will." "I remember," said Tobias; "we were starving and owed a whole guinea for
rent; but mother borrowed it and paid it, and after that got a situation
where she now is." "Ah, you think so. The rent was paid; but, Tobias, my boy, a word in
your ear--she took a silver candlestick from Mr. King's chambers to pay
it. I know it. I can prove it. Think of that, Tobias, and be discreet." "Have mercy upon us," said the boy; "they would take her life!" "Her life!" screamed Sweeney Todd; "ay, to be sure they would; they
would hang her--hang her, I say; and now mind, if you force me by any
conduct of your own, to mention this thing, you are your mother's
executioner. I had better go and be deputy hangman at once, and turn her
off." "Horrible, horrible!" "Oh, you don't like that? Indeed, that don't suit you, Master Tobias? Be
discreet then, and you have nothing to fear. Do not force me to show a
power which will be as complete as it is terrific." "I will say nothing--I will think nothing." "'Tis well; now go and put that hat and stick in yonder cupboard. I
shall be absent for a short time; and if any one comes, tell them I am
called out, and shall not return for an hour or perhaps longer, and mind
you take good care of the shop." Sweeney Todd took off his apron, and put on an immense coat with huge
lapels, and then, clapping a three-cornered hat on his head, and casting
a strange withering kind of look at Tobias, he sallied forth into the
street. CHAPTER V
                       THE MEETING IN THE TEMPLE. Alas! poor Johanna Oakley--thy day has passed away and brought with it
no tidings of him you love; and oh! what a weary day, full of fearful
doubts and anxieties, has it been! Tortured by doubts, hopes, and fears, that day was one of the most
wretched that poor Johanna had ever passed. Not even two years before,
when she had parted with her lover, had she felt such an exquisite pang
of anguish as now filled her heart, when she saw the day gliding away
and the evening creeping on apace, without word or token from Mark
Ingestrie. She did not herself know, until all the agony of disappointment had come
across her, how much she had counted upon hearing something from him on
that occasion; and when the evening deepened into night, and hope grew
so slender that she could no longer rely upon it for the least support,
she was compelled to proceed to her own chamber, and, feigning
indisposition to avoid her mother's questions--for Mrs. Oakley was at
home, and making herself and everybody else as uncomfortable as
possible--she flung herself on her humble couch and gave way to a
perfect passion of tears. "Oh, Mark, Mark!" she said, "why do you thus desert me, when I have
relied so abundantly upon your true affection? Oh, why have you not sent
me some token of your existence, and of your continued love? the merest
slightest word would have been sufficient, and I should have been
happy."