CHAPTER CLXXIII.

THE CONCLUSION.

We have little to say in conclusion, now that the chief actor in the

fearful Domestic Drama it has been our fate to record, is no more. Todd

was buried in the old church-yard at Brighton, but no record of the spot

where the murderer's bones decayed was preserved.

Sir Richard Blunt lived long to enjoy the respect and the admiration of

all who knew him, and died full of years and honours.

The sunshine of the existence of Johanna and Mark was perfectly

unclouded, and the colonel and Arabella, likewise, presented a true

picture of connubial felicity. In due time Tobias was married to her

whom he loved so well; and as he got older and more used to the world,

that timidity of disposition that Todd by his cruelties had induced,

entirely left him.

Ben did not marry after all, and he never ceased to congratulate himself

upon his escape. Mr. and Mrs. Oakley were happy in the happiness of

Johanna.

The mad-house at Peckham was completely pulled down, and in the well at

the back of it was found the skeleton of the wretched victim of Fogg's

villany. It was by his own hand that Fogg really died.

Often as Johanna would sit on a winter's evening, with her children

climbing upon her knee, she would, with a faltering voice, tell them

what their dear father had suffered to procure for her and for them THE

STRING OF PEARLS.

PUBLISHED BY E. LLOYD, SALISBURY-SQUARE, FLEET-STREET.

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Transcriber's note:

Archaic and colloquial spelling and punctuation were retained.

Chapter numbers were retained, even when mis-numbered.

Missing or obscured punctuation was corrected.

Typographical errors were silently corrected. Three unpaired

double quotation marks could not be corrected with confidence.