The Gift of the Sailor: The String of Pearls & Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street — page 305: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER XC. TODD RECEIVES TWO EXTRAORDINARY LETTERS. TITLE AS PRINTED: Mrs. Lovett Is Wide Awake. Todd looked the picture of amazement. “Two letters!” he muttered, “two letters to me, who seldom receive any? To me who have no acquaintances—no relations? Bah! It must be some mistake, or perhaps, after all, some infernal nonsense about the parish.” He tore open the last received one, and read as follows:— “Colonel Jeffery informs Sweeney Todd that, although from a variety of reasons he may not think proper to prosecute him for his recent outrage at his house, he will upon a repetition of such conduct, at once hand him over to the police.” Todd’s countenance, during the perusal of this brief note, betrayed a variety of emotions; and when he had concluded it, he let it drop from his hands, and knitting his brows, he muttered— “What does this mean?” That there was—that there must be—something much more than met the eye in this boasted clemency of the colonel towards him, he felt quite convinced, but what it was, he was puzzled to think for a time. At length, brightening up he said— “Yes, I have it. It is Tobias—it is Tobias. He cannot rid himself from the idea that I have some mysterious power of injuring his mother; and perhaps, after all, he may have made no disclosures to the colonel injurious to me.” Comforted by this wide supposition, Todd picked up the letter again, and put it in his pocket carefully. “Tt is as well,” he said, “for I shall not now be hurried. No, I shall not be at all hurried now, which I might have been.—Charley.” “Yes, sir.” “Trim the lamp.” Johanna did so; and while the process was going on, Todd opened the other letter. It was as follows:— Sir,—We beg to inform you that our Hamburgh vessel in which you have done us the favour to take passage, will not sail until to-morrow night at four, God willing, and that consequently there will be no occasion for your coming on board earlier.—We are, SIF, Your obedient servants, Brown, Buccins, Muccs, AND SCREAMER. To Mr. S. Todd. Todd ground his teeth together in a horrible manner. He dashed the letter to the floor, and stamped upon it. “Curse Brown and Buggins!” he cried. “I only wish I could dash out Muggs and Screamer’s brains with Brown and Buggins’s skulls. Confound them and their ships. May they all go to the bottom when I am out of them, and be smashed and damned!” Johanna was amazed at this sudden torrent of wrath. She could not imagine what had produced it, for Todd had read the letter in a muttering tone, that effectually prevented her from hearing any of it. Suddenly he rose and rushed into the back room, and bolted the door upon himself. He went to think what was best to be done. When he was alone he read both the letters again, and then he burst out into such a torrent of wrath against the ship-owners, that it was a mercy Johanna’s ears were spared the dreadful words that came from his lips. Suddenly he saw a postscript at the foot of the ship-owner’s letter, which he had at first overlooked. P.S.—The ship is removed to Crimmins’s Wharf, but will be at her old moorings at time mentioned above. “Damn Crimmins and his wharf, too!” cried Todd. He flung himself into a chair, and sat for a time profoundly still. During that period he tried to make up his mind as to what it would be best for him, under the circumstances, to do. Many plans floated through his imagination. He could not for a long time bring himself to believe that the letter of the colonel’s was anything but a feint to throw him off his guard in some way. At length he got into a calmer frame of mind. “Shall I leave at once, or stay till to-morrow night, that is the question?” He argued this with himself, pro and con. If he left, he would have to secret himself somewhere all the following day, and the fact of his having left would make an active search, safe to be instituted for him, which would possibly be successful. Besides, how was he to conveniently set fire to his house, CORniclooo S CO)