The String of Pearls; or, The Barber of Fleet Street — page 264: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

eee ean be 256 THE STRING OF PEARLS. a i Lovett’s house after that lady had retired, as he had the full sanction of the law ee i to use every means he could think of in bringing the culprits to justice. About 0 ae eleven o’clock Mrs. Lovett was seen in her bedroom, with a candle in her hand, | aay a and making every preparation for retiring; in a few minutes the light was put wee out, and everything seemed still as death. Nothing was to be heard in the . id a adjoining streets but the monotonous tread of the watchmen, with an occasional Mh aaa an drawling forth of the hour of the night. This was the time Sir Richard had tp! Oe rang | waited for—it:was the time for him to act. He approached the street door and dq) Bea | applied his implements with success, for the door yielded to the baronet’s tools, N) ae cee | | and he soon was in the shop of the piemaker. As complete a silence reigned hi ee an | j within as was maintained without. ay Pee : He waited for some time yet, though, before he moved. Finding, at length, b Gea || that all was profoundly still, and feeling quite convinced that Mrs. Lovett had d haa {j really retired for the night, the magistrate set about procuring a light. By the Uy a aid of some chemical matches that he had with him, this was soon accomplished, ee Cd and a faint blue light shone upon the various articles in the pie-shop of Mrs, Ee ae a te Lovett. He then took a small piece of wax taper from his pocket, and lit it, ns Let Ea: 1] This gave him sufficient light to enable him to distinguish with accuracy any \ ye aE || object in the place. Once again he listened, in order to be quite sure that Mrs. fl HPD Uh al | Lovett was not stirring, and then, finding himself perfectly satisfied upon that +) Wa ; | head, he fearlessly commenced an examination of the shop. There was nothing fA Pe | |} to excite any very particular attention, except the apparatus for lowering the «| Pee || platform upon which the pies were sent up from the ovens below, and in a few |, ' ae '} moments the whole attention of Sir Richard Blunt was concentrated upon that F 1 eC ey SHEE EE || contrivance. He did not meddle with it further, than looking at it sufficiently to 1 roi a || fully comprehend it, for he had other views just then. After, then, making § 1a || himself quite master of the details of that piece of machinery, he turned his c i ae a || whole attention to the parlour. By the aid ofa skeleton-key which he took " be en ge || from his pocket, he opened the deor with ease, and at once entered that room, b Pie de || where lay the remains of the supper which Mrs. Lovett had so liberally pro- : Ri ie aa hs || vided for Sweeney Todd. This parlour was rather a large rambling-room, with P Vee || a number of snug, handy looking cupboards ia various corners. It was to- i ee | || wards those cupboards that Sir Richard Blunt directed his attention. They We ae | were all locked, but with the means he had with him, ordinary locks presented hae Tate || no impediment to the prosecution of his research. | fay ea CHAPTER LY. 7 iF Fil TOBIAS IS MUCH BETTER. : +f a SUDDENLY he heard, or fancied he heard a noise above in the house, like the Ht By | sudden shutting of a door. 1 uaa 1} “Oh,” thought Sir Richard, “allis safe. She is shutting herself in for iJ He a ae || the night, I suppose. Well, Mrs. Lovett, we will see what we can find in zy eu ea | ;] your cupboards.” ud Ae et i] The little bit of wax light, which Sir Richard had lighted, gave but a weak | He 1] kind of twilight while he moved about with it in his hand, but when he stuck L 4 | it 4 {| it on acorner of the mantel-shelf it burnt much clearer, and was sufficient to ff qa iit | || enable him just to see what he was about. So thoroughly impressed was he b) | i Va 1} with the idea that Mrs. Lovett had retired to rest, that he paid no sort of atten- Pi meee a }| tion to the house, and may be said, in a manner of speaking, to have-negligently , } HF La {| shut his ears to all sounds that did not violently attack them. He opened a 0 aa ean }| cupboard, in which were some books, and on the top-shelf, lying in a confused i mie i| kind of heap, were some watches, and several sets of very rich buckles for shoes. Tee a a There were, likewise, several snuff-boxes in the lot. Were these little trifles comicbooks.com