The String of Pearls; or, The Barber of Fleet Street — page 66: what you’re looking at

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

| LL LE CIC OE I AONE EE AE es, tents de oe ae ee pen sane ete es : 58 THE STRING OF PEARLS. You may take one pie.” pees | The half-famished, miserable-looking man seized upon a pie, and devoured it in | ate an % an instant. is “My name,” he sal So saying, he walked from the shop, and wken he was gone, a strange ex- pression came across the countenance of Mrs. Lovett, and she said in a low tone} to herself=~ “He might suit for a few months, like the rest, and is is clear that we must get rid of the one we have; I must think OF HY? : F : There is a cellar of vast extent, and of dim and sepulchral aspect-some rough | red tiles are laid upon the floor, and pieces of flint and large jagged stones have || been hammered into the earthen walls to strengthen them; while here and there | rough huge pillars made by beams of timber rise perpendicularly from the floor, || and prop large flat pieces of wood against the ceiling, to support it. Here and || | there gleaming lights seem to be peeping out from furnaces, and there is a strange |, hissing, simmering sound going on, while the whole air is impregnated with a ‘rich and savoury vapour. ‘This is Lovett’s pie manufactory beneath the pave- || ment of Bell-yard, and at this time a night-batch of some thousands is being |, made for the purpose of being sent by carts the first thing in the morning all over |, the suburbs of London. By the earliest dawn of day a erowd of itmerant hawkers || of pies would make their appearance, carrying off a large quantity to regular | customers who had them daily, and no more thought of being without them, than of forbidding the milkman or the baker to call at their residences. It will be seen and understood, therefore, that the retail patt of Mrs. Lovett’s businéss, which | took place principally between the hours of twelve and one, was by no means the | | most important or profitable portion of a concern which was really of immense || magnitude, and which brought in a large yearly income. To stand in the eellar || _when this immense manufacture of what, at first sight, would appear such || a trivial article was carried on, and to look about as far as the eye could reach, was by no means to have a sufficient idea of the extent of the place; for there were as many doors in different directions and singular low-arched entrances to different vaults, which all appeared as black as midnight, that one might almost suppose the imhabitants of all the surrounding neighbourhood had, by common consent given up their cellars to Lovett’s pie factory. There is but one miserable light, except the occasional fitful glare that comes from the ovens where the pies are stewing, hissing, and spluttering in their own luscious gravy. There is but one man, too, throughout all the place, and he is sifting on a low three-legged stool in one corner, with his head resting upon his hands, and gently rocking fo and fro, as he utters scarcely audible moans. He is but lightly clad; in fact, he seems to have but little on him except a shirt and a pair of loose canvas trousers: The sleeves of the former are turned up beyond his elbows, and on his head he has a white night-cap. It Seems astonishing that such a man, even with the assistance of Mrs. Lovett, could “make so many pies as are required in a day; but then, system does wonders, and in those cellars there are various mechanical contrivances for kneading the dough, ‘chopping up the meat, &e., which greatly reduced the labour. But what a— miserable object is that man—-what a sad and soul-striken wretch he looks! His face is pale and haggard, his eyes deeply sunken; and, as he removes his hands from before his visage, and looks about him, a more perfect picture of horror could not have been found. wt I mast leave to-night,” he said, in course accents==“I must leave to-night. _know too much—my brain is full of horrors. I have not slept now for five pen, nor dare I eat anything but the raw flour. 1 will leave to-night if they do not wateh me too closely. Oh! if I could but get into the streets—if I could i re “* tt nse ol a en cg me nea Seeing? {| d, “is Jarvis Williams; I’ll be here, never fear, Mrs. Lovett, | in two hours; and, notwithstanding all you have said, you shall find no change in my behaviour because I may be well kept and better clothed ; but if 1 should feel ' dissatisfied with my situation, I will leave it, and no harm done.” ee ed ese | | eee le comicbooks.com nes sae