CHAPTER XVII.

SWEENEY TODD'S PROCEEDINGS CONSEQUENT UPON THE DEPARTURE OF TOBIAS.

We left the barber in his own shop, much wondering that Tobias had not

responded to the call which he had made upon him, but yet scarcely

believing it possible that he could have ventured upon the height of

iniquity, which we know Tobias had really been guilty of. He paused for

a few moments, and held up the light which he had procured, and gazed

around him with inquiring eyes, for he could, indeed, scarcely believe

it possible that Tobias had sufficiently cast off his dread of him,

Sweeney Todd, to be enabled to achieve any act for his liberation. But

when he saw that the lock of the parlour-door was open, positive rage

obtained precedence over every other feeling.

"The villain!" he cried, "has he dared really to consummate an act I

thought he could not have dreamt of for a moment? Is it possible that he

can have presumed so far as to have searched the house?"

That Tobias, however, had presumed so far, the barber soon discovered,

and when he went into his parlour and saw what had actually occurred,

and that not only was every cupboard door broken open, but that likewise

the door which led to the staircase and the upper part of the house had

not escaped, he got perfectly furious, and it was some time before he

could sufficiently calm himself to reflect upon the probable and

possible amount of danger he might run in consequence of these

proceedings. When he did, his active mind at once told him that there

was not much to be dreaded immediately, for that most probably Tobias,

still having the fear before his eyes of what he might do as regarded

his mother, had actually run away; and, "in all likelihood," muttered

the barber, "he has taken with him something which would allow me to fix

upon him the stigma of robbery, but that I must see to."

Having fastened the shop-door securely, he took the light in his hands,

and ascended to the upper part of his house--that is to say, the first

floor, where alone anything was to be found. He saw at once the open

bureau, with all its glittering display of jewels, and as he gazed upon

the heap, he muttered--

"I have not so accurate a knowledge of what is here as to be able to say

if anything be extracted or not, but I know the amount of money, if I do

not know the precise number of jewels which this bureau contains."

He opened a small drawer which had entirely escaped the scrutiny of

Tobias, and proceeded to count a large number of guineas which were

there.

"These are correct," he said, when he had finished his

examination--"these are correct, and he has touched none of them."

He then opened another drawer, in which were a great many packets of

silver done up in paper, and these likewise he carefully counted, and

was satisfied they were right.

"It is strange," he said, "that he has taken nothing, but yet perhaps it

is better that it should be so, inasmuch as it shows a wholesome fear of

me. The slightest examination would have shown him these hoards of

money; and since he has not made that slight examination, nor discovered

any of them, it seems to my mind decisive upon the subject, that he has

taken nothing, and perchance I shall discover him easier than I

imagine."

[Illustration: Tobias Discovers The Barber's Hidden Plunder.]

He repaired to the parlour again, and carefully divested himself of

everything which had enabled him so successfully to impose upon John

Mundel, and replaced them by his ordinary costume, after which he

fastened up his house and sallied forth, taking his way direct to Mrs.

Ragg's humble home, in the expectation that there he would hear

something of Tobias, which would give him a clue where to search for

him, for search for him he fully intended; but what were his precise

intentions perhaps he could hardly have told himself, until he actually

found him. When he reached Mrs. Ragg's house, and made his appearance

abruptly before that lady, who seemed somehow or another to be always

ironing and always to drop the iron when any one came in, very near

their toes, he said--

"Where did your son Tobias go after he left you to-night?"

"Lor! Mr. Todd, is it you? You are as good as a conjuror, sir, for he

was here; but bless you, sir, I know no more where he is gone to, than

the man in the moon. He said he was going to sea, but I am sure I should

not have thought it, that I should not."

"To sea!--then the probability is that he would go down to the docks,

but surely not to-night. Do you not expect him back here to sleep?"

"Well, sir, that's a very good thought of yours; and he may come back

here to sleep, for all I know to the contrary."

"But you do not know it for a fact?"

"He didn't say so; but he may come, you know, sir, for all that."

"Did he tell you his reason for leaving me?"

"Indeed no, sir; he really did not, and he seemed to me to be a little

bit out of his senses."

"Ah! Mrs. Ragg," said Sweeney Todd, "there you have it. From the first

moment that he came into my service, I knew and felt confident that he

was out of his senses. There was a strangeness of behaviour about him,

which soon convinced me of that fact, and I am only anxious about him,

in order that some effort may be made to cure him of such a malady, for

it is a serious, and a dreadful one, and one which, unless taken in

time, will be yet the death of Tobias."

These words were spoken with such solemn seriousness, that they had a

wonderful effect upon Mrs. Ragg, who, like most ignorant persons, began

immediately to confirm that which she most dreaded.

"Oh, it's too true," she said, "it's too true. He did say some

extraordinary things to-night, Mr. Todd, and he said he had something to

tell, which was too horrid to speak of. Now the idea, you know, Mr.

Todd, of anybody having anything at all to tell, and not telling it at

once, is quite singular."

"It is!--and I am sure that his conduct is such you never would be

guilty of, Mrs. Ragg;--but hark! what's that?"

"It's a knock, Mr. Todd."

"Hush, stop a moment--what if it be Tobias?"

"Gracious goodness! it can't be him, for he would have come in at once."

"No; I slipped the bolt of the door, because I wished to talk to you

without observation; so it may be Tobias, you perceive, after all. But

let me hide somewhere, so that I may hear what he says, and be able to

judge how his mind is affected. I will not hesitate to do something for

him, let it cost what it may."

"There's the cupboard, Mr. Todd. To be sure there is some dirty

saucepans and a frying-pan in it, and of course it aint a fit place to

ask you to go into."

"Never mind that--never mind that; only you be careful, for the sake of

Tobias's very life, to keep secret that I am here."

The knocking at the door increased each moment in vehemence, and

scarcely had Sweeney Todd succeeded in getting into the cupboard along

with Mrs. Ragg's pots and pans, and thoroughly concealed himself, when

she opened the door; and, sure enough--Tobias, heated, tired, and

looking ghastly pale--staggered into the room.

"Mother," he said, "I have taken a new thought, and have come back to

you."

"Well, I thought you would, Tobias; and a very good thing it is that you

have."

"Listen to me: I thought of flying from England for ever, and of never

again setting foot upon its shores. I have altered that determination

completely, and I feel now that it is my duty to do something else."

"To do what, Tobias?"

"To tell all I know--to make a clean breast, mother, and, let the

consequences be what they may, to let justice take its course."

"What do you mean, Tobias?"

"Mother, I have come to a conclusion, that what I have to tell is of

such vast importance, compared with any consequences that may arise from

the petty robbery of the candlestick, which you know of, that I ought

not to hesitate a moment in revealing everything."

"But, my dear Tobias, remember that that is a dreadful secret, and one

that must be kept."

"It cannot matter--it cannot matter; and, besides, it is more than

probable that by revealing what I actually know, and which is of such

great magnitude, I may, mother, in a manner of speaking, perchance

completely exonerate you from the consequences of that transaction.

Besides, it was long ago, and the prosecutor may have mercy; but, be all

that how it may, and be the consequences what they may, I must and will

tell what I now know."

"But what is it Tobias, that you know?"

"Something too dreadful for me to utter to you alone. Go into the

Temple, mother, to some of the chambers you attend to, and ask them to

come to me, and listen to what I have got to say. They will be amply

repaid for their trouble, for they will hear that which may, perhaps,

save their own lives."

"He is quite gone," thought Mrs. Ragg, "and Mr. Todd is correct; poor

Tobias is as mad as he can be!" "Alas, alas, Tobias, why don't you try

to reason yourself into a better state of mind! You don't know a bit

what you are saying, any more than the man in the moon."

"I know I am half mad, mother, but yet I know what I am saying well; so

do not fancy that it is not to be relied upon, but go and fetch some one

at once to listen to what I have to relate."

"Perhaps," thought Mrs. Ragg, "if I were to pretend to humour him, it

would be as well, and, while I am gone, Mr. Todd can speak to him."

This was a bright idea of Mrs. Ragg's, and she forthwith proceeded to

carry it into execution, saying--

"Well, my dear, if it must be, it must be--and I will go; but I hope

while I have gone, somebody will speak to you, and convince you that you

ought to try to quiet yourself."

These words Mrs. Ragg uttered aloud, for the special benefit of Sweeney

Todd, who, she considered, would have been there to take the hint

accordingly. It is needless to say he did hear them, and how far he

profited by them, we shall quickly perceive. As for poor Tobias, he had

not the remotest idea of the close proximity of his arch enemy; if he

had, he would quickly have left that spot, where he might well to

conjecture so much danger awaited him; for although Sweeney Todd, under

the circumstances, probably felt that he dared not take Tobias's life,

still he might exchange something that could place it in his power to do

so shortly, with the least personal danger to himself. The door closed

after the retreating form of Mrs. Ragg, and as, considering the mission

she was gone upon, it was very clear some minutes must elapse before she

could return, Sweeney Todd did not feel that there was any very

particular hurry in the transaction.

"What shall I do?" he said to himself. "Shall I await his mother's

coming again, and get her to aid me, or shall I of myself adopt some

means which will put an end to trouble on this boy's account?"

Sweeney Todd was a man tolerably rapid in thought, and he contrived to

make up his mind that the best plan, unquestionably, would be to lay

hold of Tobias at once, and so prevent the possibility of any appeal to

his mother becoming effective. Tobias, when his mother left the place,

as he imagined, for the purpose of procuring some one to listen to what

he considered to be Sweeney Todd's delinquencies, rested his face upon

his hands, and gave himself up to painful and deep thought. He felt that

he had arrived at quite a crisis in his history, and that the next few

hours could not surely but be very important to him in their results;

and so they were indeed, but not certainly exactly in the way that he

all along anticipated, for he thought of nothing but of the arrest and

discomfiture of Todd, little expecting how close was his proximity to

that formidable personage.

"Surely," thought Tobias, "I shall, by disclosing all that I know about

Todd, gain some consideration for my mother, and after all, she may not

be prosecuted for the robbery of the candlestick, for how very trifling

is that affair compared to the much more dreadful things which I more

than suspect Sweeney Todd to be guilty of. He is and must be, from all

that I have seen and heard, a murderer, although how he disposes of his

victims is involved in the most complete mystery, and is to me a matter

past all human power of comprehension. I have no idea even upon that

subject whatever."

This, indeed, was a great mystery; for, even admitting that Sweeney Todd

was a murderer, and it must be allowed that as yet we have only

circumstantial evidence of that fact, we can form no conclusion from

such evidence as to how he perpetrated the deed, or how afterwards he

disposed of the body of his victim. This grand and principal difficulty

in the way of committing murder with impunity, namely, the disposal of a

corpse, certainly did not seem at all to have any effect upon Sweeney

Todd; for if he made corpses, he had some means of getting rid of them

with the most wonderful expedition as well as secrecy.

"He is a murderer," thought Tobias. "I know he is, although I have never

seen him do the deed, or seen any appearances in the shop of a deed of

blood having been committed. Yet why is it that occasionally, when a

better dressed person than usual comes into the shop, that he sends me

out on some errand to a distant part of the town?"

Tobias did not forget, too, that on more than one occasion he had come

back quicker than he had been expected, and that he had caught Sweeney

Todd in some little confusion, and seen the hat, the stick, or perhaps

the umbrella of the last customer quietly waiting there, although the

customer had gone; and even if the glaring improbability of a man

leaving his hat behind him in a barber's shop was got over, why did he

not come back for it? This was a circumstance which was entitled to all

the weight which Tobias, during his mental cogitations, could give to

it, and there could be but one possible explanation of a man not coming

back for his hat, and that was that he had not the power to do so.

"This house will be searched," thought Tobias, "and all those things,

which of course must have belonged to so many different people, will be

found, and then they will be identified, and he will be required to say

how he came by them, which, I think, will be a difficult task indeed for

Sweeney Todd to accomplish. What a relief it will be to me, to be sure,

when he is hanged, as I think he is tolerably sure to be!"

"What a relief," muttered Sweeney Todd, as he slowly opened the door,

unseen by Tobias--"what a relief it will be to me when this boy is in

his grave, as he will be soon, or else I have forgotten all my moral

learning, and turned chicken-hearted--neither of them very likely

circumstances."