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, to 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 evaded 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.'
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 to 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 always to be ironing and always to drop the iron when anyone came in very near their toes, he said,-
'Where did your son Tobias go after he left you tonight?'
'Lor! Mr Todd, is it you? you are as good as a conjurer, 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 tonight. 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 yet be 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 tonight, 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 as 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?'
'Goodness gracious! 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 me 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 ain't 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 just as Sweeney Todd had succeeded in getting into the cupboard along with Mrs Ragg's pots and pans, and thoroughly concealing himself, 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 setting foot upon its shores, but 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 might 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 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 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 gentlemen whose 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
