Then down came his spectacles again,
and taking up the string of pearls he rapidly examined every one of
them, after which, he exclaimed,--

"Real, real, by Heaven! All real!" Then he pushed his spectacles up again to the top of his head, and took
another long stare at Sweeney Todd. "I know they are real," said the latter. "Will you deal with me or will
you not?" "Will I deal with you? Yes; I am not quite sure they are real. Let me
look again. Oh, I see, counterfeits; but so well done, that really for
the curiosity of the thing, I will give fifty pounds for them." "I am fond of curiosities," said Sweeney Todd, "and as they are not
real, I will keep them; they will do for a present to some child or
another." "What give those to a child? you must be mad--that is to say, not mad,
but certainly indiscreet. Come, now, at a word, I'll give you one
hundred pounds for them." "Hark ye," said Sweeney Todd, "it neither suits my inclination nor my
time to stand here chaffing with you. I know the value of the pearls,
and, as a matter of ordinary and every-day business, I will sell them to
you so that you may get a handsome profit." "What do you call a handsome profit?" "The pearls are worth twelve thousand pounds, and I will let you have
them for ten. What do you think of that for an offer?" "What odd noise was that?" "Oh, it was only I who laughed. Come, what do you say, at once; are we
to do business or are we not?" "Hark ye, my friend; since you do know the value of your pearls, and
this is to be a downright business transaction, I think I can find a
customer who will give eleven thousand pounds for them, and if so, I
have no objection to give you eight thousand pounds." "Give me the eight thousand pounds," said Sweeney Todd, "and let me go. I hate bargaining." "Stop a bit; there are some rather important things to consider. You
must know, my friend, that a string of pearls of this value are not be
bought like a few ounces of old silver of anybody who might come with
it. Such a string of pearls as these are like a house, or an estate, and
when they change hands, the vendor must give every satisfaction as to
how he came by them, and prove how he can give to the purchaser a good
right and title to them." "Pshaw!" said Sweeney Todd, "who will question you, you are well known
to be in the trade, and to be continually dealing in such things?" "That's all very fine; but I don't see why I should give you the full
value of an article without evidence as to how you came by it." "In other words you mean, you don't care how I came by them, provided I
sell them to you at a thief's price, but if I want their value you mean
to be particular." "My good sir, you may conclude what you like. Show me that you have a
right to dispose of the pearls, and you need go no further than my shop
for a customer." "I am no disposed to take that trouble, so I shall bid you good night,
and if you want any pearls again, I would certainly advise you not to be
so wonderfully particular where you get them." Sweeney Todd strode towards the door, but the lapidary was not going to
part with him so easy, so springing over his counter with an agility one
would not have expected from so old a man, he was at the door in a
moment, and shouted at the top of his lungs--

"Stop thief! Stop thief! Stop him! There he goes! The big fellow with
the three-cornered hat! Stop thief! Stop thief!" These cries, uttered with great vehemence as they were, could not be
totally ineffectual, but they roused the whole neighbourhood, and before
Sweeney Todd had proceeded many yards a man made an attempt to collar
him, but was repulsed by such a terrific blow in the face, that another
person, who had run half-way across the road with a similar object,
turned and went back again, thinking it scarcely prudent to risk his own
safety in apprehending a criminal for the good of the public. Having got
rid thus of one of his foes, Sweeney Todd, with an inward determination
to come back some day and be the death of the old lapidary, looked
anxiously about for some court down which he could plunge, and so get
out of sight of the many pursuers who were sure to attack him in the
public streets. His ignorance of the locality, however, was a great bar
to such a proceeding, for the great dread he had was, that he might get
down some blind alley, and so be completely caged, and at the mercy of
those who followed him. He pelted on at a tremendous speed, but it was
quite astonishing to see how the little old lapidary ran after him,
falling down every now and then, and never stopping to pick himself up,
as people say, but rolling on and getting on his feet in some miraculous
manner, that was quite wonderful to behold, particularly in one so aged
and so apparently unable to undertake any active exertion. There was one
thing, however, he could not continue doing, and that was to cry "stop
thief!" for he had lost his wind, and was quite incapable of uttering a
word. How long he would have continued the chase is doubtful, but his
career was suddenly put an end to, as regards that, by tripping his foot
over a projecting stone in the pavement, and shooting headlong down a
cellar which was open. But abler persons than the little old lapidary
had taken up the chase, and Sweeney Todd was hard pressed; and, although
he ran very fast, the provoking thing was, that in consequence of the
cries and shouts of his pursuers, new people took up the chase, who were
fresh and vigorous and close to him. There is something awful in seeing
a human being thus hunted by his fellows; and although we can have no
sympathy with such a man as Sweeney Todd, because, from all that has
happened, we begin to have some very horrible suspicion concerning him,
still, as a general principle, it does not decrease the fact, that it is
a dreadful thing to see a human being hunted through the streets. On he
flew at the top of his speed, striking down whoever opposed him, until
at last many who could have outrun him gave up the chase, not liking to
encounter the knock-down blow which such a hand as his seemed capable of
inflicting. His teeth were set, and his breathing became short and
laborious, just as a man sprung out at a shop-door and succeeded in
laying hold of him. "I have got you, have I?" he said. Sweeney Todd uttered not a word, but, putting forth an amount of
strength that was perfectly prodigious, he seized the man by a great
handful of his hair, and by his clothes behind, and flung him through a
shop-window, smashing glass, framework, and everything in its progress. The man gave a shriek, for it was his own shop, and he was a dealer in
fancy goods of the most flimsy texture, so that the smash with which he
came down among his stock-in-trade, produced at once what the
haberdashers are so delighted with in the present day, namely, a ruinous
sacrifice.