The String of Pearls; or, The Barber of Fleet Street — page 343: what you’re looking at

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

pee eh a ge THE STRING OF PEARLS. _ 335 “Good-bye, madam ; I only hope you will be able to carry your benevolent intentions into effect—and,”’ added the cook to himself, “that 1 may some ty fine morning have the pleasure of seeing you hanged.” My ‘‘ Farewell,’’ said Mrs. Lovett; and she, too, had her aside as she ascended it the stairs, for she muttered—“ If I were only a little better assured than I am Rg that you meditated something dangerous, I would steal upon you while you; | 4 li slept, and with a knife soon put an end to all trouble regarding you.” : au, Now, it happened that when Mrs. Lovett reached her shop, she saw three! | people outside the window. The actions of these people attracted her obser-| rT vation. One was a big stout man, of such a.size as was rarely seen in the] | i al streets of London. The other was a young girl, nicely attired, but with a look| | of great grief and agitation upon her countenance. The third person of the| | group was a gentlemanly-looking man, attired in a great coat which was but-| | ro toned up to his chin. The big stout man was making a kind of movement] | towards the door of the pie-shop, and the gentleman with the great-coat was| | holding up his hand and shaking his head, as though forbidding him, The! | be i big stout man then looked angry; and then Mrs. Lovett saw the young girl] | mel, t cling to him, and heard her say— & CO ‘““Oh, no—no ; I said I wanted nothing.—Come away.’ E | Then the gentleman with the great-coat pulled his collar down a little; upon| | which the young girl sprang towards him, and, clasping his arm, cried in tones| | of intense interest— | ‘ Ah, sir, is it indeed you? ‘Tell me is she saved—ch, is she saved ?” bee ‘She will be,’”’ was the reply of the gentleman in the great-coat. ‘‘ Come! ote | away.’’ . % tte The big stout man appeared to be getting rather furious at the ideal | rd ith | of the gentleman with the great-coat dictating what he and the young girl] by be i| should do; but she by a few words pacified him; and then, as if they were| | ty det | the best friends in the world, they all walked away towards the Strand, con-| | vel fa versing very seriously and rapidly. 7 ‘‘ What does this mean ?” said Mrs. Lovett. | Terror overspread her countenance. Oh, conscience! conscience! how truly] | dost thou make | — eee ee ~ “ Cowards of us all!” What could compensate Mrs. Lovett for the abject terrors that came over] | re her now? What could recompense her for the pang that shot across her| | ws heart, at the thought that something was amiss in the fine-drawn web of sub-| | bp ht | tlety that she and Sweeney Todd had drawn? Alas! was the money in| | | | the Bank of England, upon which she expected to enjoy herself in a foreign) | ie land, now any set-off against that shuddering agony of soul with which she said| | | to herself— : pete | ‘«Ts all discovered ?” . oa Her strength forsook her. She quite forgot all about the cook, and the | | | ||brandy she had promised him—ske forgot even how necessary it was, in case| | | any one should come, for her to keep up the appearance of composure; and.| | eal tottering into the back-parlour, she sunk upon her knees on the floor, and shook| | play as though the spirit of twenty azues possessed her. So it will be seen that} | » Todd was not quite alone in his sufferings from those compunctious visitations, | | » form is whieh we have seen at times come over him in his shop. But we will leave} | be | Mrs. Lovett to her reflections, hoping that even she may be made a little wiser] | we ‘and a little better by those soft “‘ Whisperings of awakened sense ;’’ po |}and that she may find some one among the invisible hosts of spirits of another| | | || world who may whisper to her— '| © Repent! repent!—it is not yet too late.” | Let us look at those three persons whose mysterious conduct at the shop| | windows had, like a match applied to gunpowder, at once awakened a fever a a ee eter tte, SR NE NY ee YS a renee ene; Mea, comicbooks.com