the village of hampstead was, at the time of which we write, really a village. it still retains many of its old houses and picturesque beauties, but it is not quite such a little retired spot as it was. if ever any one walked through hampstead, however, who was less inclined than another to pause and speculate upon its beauties, certainly that man was our doubtful acquaintance, sweeney todd.
he did not think it quite prudent to stop in the high street to solace himself with any worldly comforts, although he saw several public-houses very temptingly open, but passing right on, he descended red lion hill, and paused at a little inn at the foot of it, that is to say, on the london side of the pretty village.
brandy was todd's request, and he was met by a prompt, "yes, sir;" but todd had, among his varied experiences, to find out what hampstead brandy was, and the moment he placed a portion of it in his mouth, his eyes goggled furiously, and spitting it out, he said, in a voice of anger—
"this is some mistake."
"mistake, sir?"
"yes; i asked for brandy, and you have given me the rinsings of some bottles and dirty glasses."
"oh, dear no, sir; that brandy is the very best that you will get in all hampstead."
"the best in all hampstead!" repeated todd, with a groan; "what must the worst be, i wonder?"
"i assure you, sir, it is considered to be very good."
"considered?" said todd. "then, my friend, there's your money, and as the brandy is considered to be so good, you can drink it; but having some respect, from old companionship, for my inside, i decline it. good evening."
with these words, todd laid a shilling upon the bar, and strode away.
"well," said the publican, "how singular! that's the eighth person who has refused that one quartern of brandy and paid for it. here, wife, put this back into the bottle again, and shake it up well."
todd pursued his route down haverstock hill, until he came to the then straggling district of camden town, and there he did find a house at which he got just a tolerable glass of brandy, and feeling very much invigorated by the drop, he walked on more rapidly still; and a thought took possession of him, which, although it was perhaps not unattended with danger, might turn out to be a very felicitous one.
during his career in the shop in fleet street, he had collected a number of watches from the pockets of the murdered persons, but he had always been afraid to attempt the disposal of the best of them.
the fact was, that at that time everybody had not a watch as at present. it was an expensive article, and mr. so-and-so's watch was as well known as mr. so-and-so himself; so that it would have been one of the most hazardous things possible for todd to have brought suspicion upon himself by going about disposing of the watches of his victims. it was the same, too, with some other costly articles, such as rings, lockets, and so on; and as he had realised as much money as he could previous to his arrangements for leaving england, todd had left some of this description of property to perish in the fire, which he hoped to be the means of igniting in old fleet street upon his departure.
now, as he crept along by tottenham-court-road, he mused upon the state of things.
"if," he muttered, "i could only get into my late house in fleet street, i know where to lay my hand upon portable property, which was not worth my consideration while i had thousands of pounds in gold, but which now would be a fortune to me in my reduced circumstances. if i could but lay my hand upon it!"
the more todd thought over this proposition, the more pleased he was with it; and by the time he had indulged himself with two more glasses of brandy, it began to assume, to his mind, a much more tangible shape.
"it may be done," he said, "it surely may be done. if i could only make my way in the church it might be done well, and surely one of these picklocks that i have about me might enable me to do that."
the picklock he alluded to was one that he had put in his pocket to accommodate mr. lupin, when they were both so intent upon their escape from newgate, and when mr. lupin was foolish enough to believe that todd really had two thousand pounds buried in caen wood, hampstead. there was one thing, however, which made todd pause. he did not think he was sufficiently disguised to venture into the locality of his old residence, and, unfortunately for him, he was rather a peculiar-looking man. his great chance, however, was, that in fleet street surely no one would now think of looking for sweeney todd.
"i must be bold," he said, "i must be bold and resolute. it will not do to shrink now. i will buy a knife."
this was a pleasant idea to todd. buying a knife seemed almost like getting half-way to his revenge, and he went into an obscure cutler's shop, and bought a long double-edged knife, for which he gave two shillings. he then carefully concealed it in his clothing.
after this, he hit upon a plan of operations which he thought would have the effect of disguising him. at that period, wigs were so commonly worn that it was nothing at all particular for a person to go into a wig-makers, and select one—put it on—pay for it—and go away!
"yes," said todd, "i will buy a wig; for i have art enough and knowledge of wigs to enable me to do so—as shall produce the greatest possible change in my appearance. a wig, a wig will be the thing."
todd had hardly well made this declaration than he came upon a wig-makers, and in he went. pointing to a wig that was on a block, and which had a very clerical kind of look, he inquired the price of it.
"oh, my dear sir," said the wig-maker, "that is much too old looking a perriwig for you. let me recommend you a much younger wig. now, sir, here's one that will take a matter of ten years off your age in a moment."
todd had discretion enough to know well that he could not make up young, so he merely pointed to the wig again and enquired the price.
"well, sir, it is a couple of guineas, but—"
without another word, todd laid down the couple of guineas, and putting the wig upon his head he left the shop, certainly having given the wig-maker an impression that he was the oddest customer he had had for some time; but little did he suspect that that odd customer was the criminal with whose name all london was ringing, and upon whose head—with or without a wig—so heavy a price was set.
after this, todd made his way to a shop where second-hand clothing was bought and sold, and there he got accommodated with an old gray coat that reached down to the calves of his legs, and he bought likewise a very voluminous white cravat; and when he got into the street with these articles, and purchased at another shop a walking cane, with a great silver top to it, and put one hand behind his back and stooped very much, and moved along as if he were afflicted with all the corns and bunions that his toes could carry, and by bending his knees, decreased his height six inches, no one could have known him.
at least, so todd flattered himself.
in this way he tottered on until he got to the immediate neighbourhood of fleet street. to be sure, with all his coolness and courage, he could not help shaking a little when he came to that well remembered neighbourhood.
"and i," he thought to himself, "and i by this time hoped and expected to be far over the sea, instead of being such a wretch as i am now, crawling about, as it were, amid pitfalls and all sorts of dangers! alas! alas!"
he really shook now, and it was quite astonishing how, with his old wig, and his old gray coat and his stick, and his stooping posture, old and venerable, yes, positively venerable, sweeney todd actually looked.
"ain't you well, sir?" said a respectable man, stepping up to him. "can i assist you?"
todd perpetrated about half a dozen wheezing coughs, and then, not sorry for an opportunity of trying his powers of imitation of age, he replied in a tremulous voice—
"ah, sir! yes—old age—old age, sir—eugh!—eugh!—oh, dear me, i feel that i am on my last legs, and that they are on the shake—old age, sir, will come on; but it's a comfort to look back upon a long life well spent in deeds of charity!"
"not a doubt of it," said the stranger. "i was only afraid, sir, you were taken suddenly ill, as you stood there."
"oh, no—no—eugh!—no. thank you, sir."
"good evening, sir."
"good evening, my good sir. oh, if i had you only in my old shop with a razor at your throat, wouldn't i polish you off!" muttered todd, as the stranger left him.
in the course of another minute, todd was on the fleet street side of temple bar.
he could almost see his old house—that house in which he had passed years of deep iniquity, and which he had hoped, ere that time, would have been a heap of ruins. there it was, tall, dismal, and gaunt looking. the clock of st. dunstan's struck eleven.
"eleven," he muttered. "a good hour. the streets are getting deserted now, and no one will know me. i will stoop yet more, and try to look older—older still."
todd a little over acted his part, as he tottered down fleet street, so that some individuals turned to look after him, which was a thing he certainly did not wish, as his great object was to escape all observation if possibly he could; so he corrected that, and went on rather more strongly; and finally he came exactly opposite to his own house, and getting partially into a door-way, he looked long and fixedly at it.
what thoughts, at that time, chased each other through the guilty mind of that man, it is hard to say; but he stood like a statue, fixing his regards upon the house for the space of about a quarter of an hour.
once only he clapped his teeth together, and gave a sort of savage growl.
it was lucky for todd that no one saw him just then, or they would have thought him rather an extraordinary old man.
the house was perfectly dark from top to bottom. the shutters of the shop, of course, were all up, and the shutters of the first-floor windows were likewise closed. the other windows had their old dingy blinds all down; and, to all outward appearance, that den of murder was deserted.
but todd could not believe such to be the case. in his own mind, he felt fully sure, that sir richard blunt was not the man to leave the house without some sort of custody; and he quite settled with himself, that there was some one or more persons minding it, and, no doubt, by order, sitting there in one of the back rooms, so that no light should show in front.
"curses on them all!" he muttered.
"ah! you are looking at old todd's house, sir?" said a voice.
todd started; and close to him was a person smoking a pipe, and looking as jolly as possible.
"yes—yes," stammered todd, for he was taken by surprise rather. "oh, yes, sir. i am amazed at the great wickedness of human nature."
"you may well, sir—you may well! lord bless me! i never thought him a good looking man, but i never thought any ill of him neither, and i have seen him lots of times."
"indeed, sir? pray, what sort of man was he? i never saw him, as i live in soho; and i am so much in years now, that in the bustling day-time i don't care to come into streets like this; for you see, sir, i can't move about as i could sixty years ago; and the people—god help them—are all in such a hurry now, and they push me here and there in such a way, that my failing breath and limbs won't stand it; and—and—eugh!—eugh! oh, dear."
"poor old gentleman! i don't wonder at your not liking the crowds. how old may you be, sir?'"
"a matter of eighty-nine, sir. it's an old age to get to, but i—i am younger than my brother, yet—ha! ha! oh dear, if it wasn't now for the rheumatism and the lumbago and a pain in my shoulder, and a few other little things, i should get on very well."
"not a doubt of it. but you asked me what todd was like, and i'll tell you, sir. he was nigh upon six feet high, and his face was two feet of it. he was just as ugly as any one you would wish to see for a pattern in that way, and that's his house where he murdered all the people."
"peace be to their souls!"
"amen! and there are underground places that lead right away through the vaults of st. dunstan's to bell-yard, where mrs. lovett's pie-shop was, you know, sir."
"i have heard. ah, dear—dear, i have heard. a very wicked woman, indeed—very wicked; and yet, sir, it is to be hoped she has found mercy in another world."
"there would need be plenty of it," said the man with the pipe, "if mrs. lovett is to be accommodated with any."
"my friend," said todd, "don't be profane; and now i must go, as i don't like being out late."
"and so must i, for my pipe's out. i shall turn in, now. good night, sir, and a pleasant walk home to you."
"thank you, sir, thank you—eugh! eugh! i think if it were not for my cough, i should do very well."
todd hobbled away, and the man, who lived in bouverie street, went home. todd had not got any real information from this man; but the brief conversation he had had with him, had given him a sort of confidence in his disguise, and in his power of acting, that he had not had before, so that, upon the whole, he was not sorry for the little incident.
and now it was quite evident that the streets were getting very much deserted. during the whole length of fleet street there was not half a dozen persons to be seen at all, and todd, after casting a rapid glance around him to note if he were observed, suddenly crossed the way, and boldly went up to the door of old st. dunstan's church.
when once close to the door of the old building, he was so much in shadow that he felt tolerably secure from observation, but still he lingered a little, for he did not want to do anything so hastily as to rob it of its caution.
with his back against the church-door he glanced right and left, and then for the space of five minutes he bent all his faculties to the one task of ascertaining if any one was sufficiently near to watch him, and he got perfectly satisfied that such was not the case. he stood securely against the old church-door.
"so far," he muttered, "i am safe—quite safe."
