Big Java Early Objects 5th Edition Horstmann Test Bank
Big Java Early Objects 5th Edition Horstmann Test Bank
Big Java Early Objects 5th Edition Horstmann Test Bank
Big Java Early Objects 5th Edition Horstmann Test Bank
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5. Chapter 10: Interfaces
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following statements about a Java interface is NOT true?
a) A Java interface defines a set of methods that are required.
b) A Java interface must contain more than one method.
c) A Java interface specifies behavior that a class will implement.
d) All methods in a Java interface must be abstract.
Answer: b
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: Which statement about a Java interface is NOT true?
Difficulty: Medium
2. A method that has no implementation is called a/an ____ method.
a) interface
b) implementation
c) overloaded
d) abstract
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: What is a method with no implementation called?
Difficulty: Easy
3. Which statement about methods in an interface is true?
a) All methods in an interface are automatically private.
b) All methods in an interface are automatically public.
c) All methods in an interface are automatically static.
d) All methods in an interface must be explicitly declared as private or public.
Answer: b
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: Which statement about methods in an interface is true?
Difficulty: Medium
6. 4. Which of the following statements about abstract methods is true?
a) An abstract method has a name, parameters, and a return type, but no code in the body
of the method.
b) An abstract method has parameters, a return type, and code in its body, but has no
defined name.
c) An abstract method has a name, a return type, and code in its body, but has no
parameters.
d) An abstract method has only a name and a return type, but no parameters or code in its
body.
Answer: a
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: Which statement about abstract methods is true?
Difficulty: Hard
5. Which of the following statements about an interface is true?
a) An interface has methods and instance variables.
b) An interface has methods but no instance variables.
c) An interface has neither methods nor instance variables.
d) An interface has both public and private methods.
Answer: b
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: Which statement about an interface is true?
Difficulty: Medium
6. Which of the following statements about interfaces is NOT true?
a) Interfaces can make code more reusable.
b) Interface types can be used to define a new reference data type.
c) Interface types can be used to express common operations required by a service.
d) Interfaces have both private and public methods.
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: Which statement about interfaces is NOT true?
Difficulty: Medium
7. To use an interface, a class header should include which of the following?
a) The keyword extends and the name of an abstract method in the interface
7. b) The keyword extends and the name of the interface
c) The keyword implements and the name of an abstract method in the interface
d) The keyword implements and the name of the interface
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: To use an interface, what must a class header include?
Difficulty: Medium
8. ____ can reduce the coupling between classes.
a) Static methods
b) Abstract methods
c) Interfaces
d) Objects
Answer: c
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: ____ can reduce the coupling between classes.
Difficulty: Easy
9. Consider the following code snippet:
public class Inventory implements Measurable
{
. . .
public double getMeasure();
{
return onHandCount;
}
}
Why is it necessary to declare getMeasure as public ?
a) All methods in a class are not public by default.
b) All methods in an interface are private by default.
c) It is necessary only to allow other classes to use this method.
d) It is not necessary to declare this method as public.
Answer: a
Section Reference: Common Error 9.1
Title: Why is it necessary to declare getMeasure as public?
Difficulty: Hard
8. 10. Which of the following statements about interfaces is NOT true?
a) Interfaces can make code more reusable.
b) An interface provides no implementation.
c) A class can implement only one interface type.
d) Interfaces can reduce the coupling between classes.
Answer: c
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: Which statement about interfaces is NOT true?
Difficulty: Medium
11. ____ methods must be implemented when using an interface.
a) Abstract.
b) Private.
c) Public.
d) Static
Answer: a
Section Reference: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
Title: ____ methods must be implemented when using an interface.
Difficulty: Easy
12. Suppose you are writing an interface called Resizable, which includes one void
method called resize.
public interface Resizable
{
_________________________
}
Which of the following can be used to complete the interface declaration correctly?
a) private void resize();
b) protected void resize();
c) void resize();
d) public void resize() { System.out.println("resizing ..."); }
Answer: c
Title: Identify correct method declaration in interface
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference 1: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
9. 13. Consider the following declarations:
public interface Encryptable
{
void encrypt(String key);
}
public class SecretText implements Encryptable
{
private String text;
_____________________________
{
// code to encrypt the text using encryption key goes here
}
}
Which of the following method headers should be used to complete the SecretText
class?
a) public void encrypt()
b) public void encrypt(String aKey)
c) public String encrypt(String aKey)
d) void encrypt(String aKey)
Answer: b
Title: Identify correct method header to use when implementing interface
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference 1: 10.1 Using Interfaces for Algorithm Reuse
14. Consider the following code snippet:
public class Inventory implements Measurable
{
. . .
double getMeasure();
{
return onHandCount;
}
}
What is wrong with this code?
a) The getMeasure() method must be declared as private.
b) The getMeasure() method must include the implements keyword.
c) The getMeasure() method must be declared as public.
d) The getMeasure() method must not have any code within it.
10. Answer: c
Section Reference: Common Error 10.1
Title: What is wrong with this code about interfaces?
Difficulty: Medium
15. Consider the following code snippet:
public interface Sizable
{
int LARGE_CHANGE = 100;
int SMALL_CHANGE = 20;
void changeSize();
}
Which of the following statements is true?
a) LARGE_CHANGE and SMALL_CHANGE are automatically public static final.
b) LARGE_CHANGE and SMALL_CHANGE are instance variables
c) LARGE_CHANGE and SMALL_CHANGE must be defined with the keywords private
static final.
d) LARGE_CHANGE and SMALL_CHANGE must be defined with the keywords public static
final.
Answer: a
Section Reference: Special Topic 10.1
Title: Which statement about interface definitions is true?
Difficulty: Hard
16. Consider the following code snippet:
public class Inventory implements Measurable
{
. . .
double getMeasure();
{
return onHandCount;
}
}
The compiler complains that the getMeasure method has a weaker access level than the
Measurable interface. Why?
a) All of the methods in a class have a default access level of package access, while the
methods of an interface have a default access level of private.
b) All of the methods in a class have a default access level of package access, while the
methods of an interface have a default access level of public.
11. c) The variable onHandCount was not declared with public access.
d) The getMeasure method was declared as private in the Measurable interface.
Answer: b
Section Reference: Common Error 10.1
Title: What is wrong with this code implementing an interface?
Difficulty: Hard
17. Which of the following is true regarding a class and interface types?
a) You can convert from a class type to any interface type that is in the same package as
the class.
b) You can convert from a class type to any interface type that the class implements.
c) You can convert from a class type to any interface type that the class defines.
d) You cannot convert from a class type to any interface type.
Answer: b
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: Which is true regarding a class and interface types?
Difficulty: Hard
18. Consider the following code snippet.
public interface Measurable
{
double getMeasure();
}
public class Coin implements Measurable
{
public double getMeasure()
{
return value;
}
...
}
public class DataSet
{
...
public void add()
{
...
}
}
public class BankAccount
{
12. ...
public void add()
{
...
}
}
Which of the following statements is correct?
a)
Coin dime = new Coin(0.1, "dime");
Measurable x = dime;
b)
Coin dime = new Coin(0.1, "dime");
Dataset x = dime;
c)
Coin dime = new Coin(0.1, "dime");
DataSet x == (Measureable)dime;
d)
Coin dime = new Coin(0.1, "dime");
BankAccount x = dime;
Answer: a
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: Which code statement is correct?
Difficulty: Medium
19. Which of the following statements about converting between types is true?
a) When you cast number types, you take a risk that an exception will occur.
b) When you cast number types, you will not lose information.
c) When you cast object types, you take a risk of losing information.
d) When you cast object types, you take a risk that an exception will occur.
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: Which statement about converting between types is true?
Difficulty: Medium
20. Which of the following statements about interfaces is true?
a) You can define an interface variable that refers to an object of any class in the same
package.
b) You cannot define a variable whose type is an interface.
c) You can instantiate an object from an interface class.
13. d) You can define an interface variable that refers to an object only if the object belongs
to a class that implements the interface.
Answer: d
Section Reference: Common Error 10.2
Title: Which statement about interfaces is true?
Difficulty: Hard
21. You have created a class named Motor that implements an interface named
Measurable. You have declared a variable of type Measureable named
motorTemperature. Which of the following statements is true?
a) The object to which motorTemperature refers has type Measurable.
b) The object to which motorTemperature refers has type Motor.
c) This declaration is illegal.
d) You must construct a motorTemperature object from the Measurable interface.
Answer: b
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: Which statement about a variable whose type is an interface variable is true?
Difficulty: Medium
22. ____ occurs when a single class has several methods with the same name but
different parameter types.
a) Casting
b) Polymorphism
c) Overloading
d) Instantiation
Answer: c
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: ____ occurs when a single class has several methods with the same name.
Difficulty: Easy
23. Consider the following code snippet:
public class Demo
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Point[] p = new Point[4];
14. p[0] = new Colored3DPoint(4, 4, 4, Color.BLACK);
p[1] = new ThreeDimensionalPoint(2, 2, 2);
p[2] = new ColoredPoint(3, 3, Color.RED);
p[3] = new Point(4, 4);
for (int i = 0; i < p.length; i++)
{
String s = p[i].toString();
System.out.println("p[" + i + "] : " + s);
}
return;
}
}
This code is an example of ____.
a) overloading
b) callback
c) early binding
d) polymorphism
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: his code is an example of ____.
Difficulty: Medium
24. If you have multiple classes in your program that have implemented the same
interface in different ways, how is the correct method executed?
a) The Java virtual machine must locate the correct method by looking at the class of the
actual object.
b) The compiler must determine which method implementation to use.
c) The method must be qualified with the class name to determine the correct method.
d) You cannot have multiple classes in the same program with different implementations
of the same interface.
Answer: a
Section Reference: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
Title: How does the correct method get called?
Difficulty: Medium
25. Consider the following declarations:
public interface Displayable
{
15. void display();
}
public class Picture implements Displayable
{
private int size;
public void increaseSize()
{
size++;
}
public void decreaseSize()
{
size--;
}
public void display()
{
System.out.println(size);
}
public void display(int value)
{
System.out.println(value * size);
}
}
What method invocation can be used to complete the code segment below?
Displayable picture = new Picture();
picture._________________;
a) increaseSize()
b) decreaseSize()
c) display()
d) display(5)
Answer: c
Title: Identify legal method invocation for variable of interface type
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference 1: 10.2 Working with Interface Variables
26. Which of the following can potentially be changed when implementing an interface?
a) The parameters of a method in the interface.
b) The name of a method in the interface.
c) The return type of a method in the interface.
d) You cannot change the name, return type, or parameters of a method in the interface.
16. Answer: d
Section Reference: Common Error 10.3
Title: Which can be changed when implementing an interface?
Difficulty: Medium
27. Consider the following class:
public class Player implements Comparable
{
private String name;
private int goalsScored;
// other methods go here
public int compareTo(Object otherObject)
{
__________________________________
return (goalsScored – otherPlayer.goalsScored);
}
}
What statement can be used to complete the compareTo() method?
a) Player otherPlayer = otherObject;
b) Object otherPlayer = otherObject;
c) Player otherPlayer = (Player) otherObject;
d) Object otherPlayer = (Player) otherObject;
Answer: c
Title: Identify correct statement to complete compareTo() method in sample class
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference 1: 10.3 The Comparable Interface
28. The method below is designed to print the smaller of two values received as
arguments. Select the correct expression to complete the method.
public void showSmaller(Comparable value1, Comparable value2)
{
if ( _________________________ )
System.out.println(value1 + " is smaller.");
else
System.out.println(value2 + " is smaller.");
}
a) value1 < value2
17. b) value1.compareTo(value2) > 0
c) value1.compareTo(value2) == 0
d) value1.compareTo(value2) < 0
Answer: d
Title: Identify correct statement to compare two Comparable objects
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference 1: 10.3 The Comparable Interface
29. Which of the following statements about a callback is NOT true?
a) A callback can allow you to implement a new method for a class that is not under your
control.
b) A callback can be implemented using an interface.
c) A callback is a mechanism for specifying code to be executed later.
d) A callback method declared in an interface must specify the class of objects that it will
manipulate.
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.4 Using Interfaces for Callbacks
Title: Which statement about a callback is NOT true?
Difficulty: Medium
30. In Java, ____ can be used for callbacks.
a) Objects
b) Interfaces
c) Classes
d) Operators
Answer: b
Section Reference: 10.4 Using Interfaces for Callbacks
Title: In Java, ____ can be used for callbacks.
Difficulty: Easy
31. You wish to implement a callback method for an object created from a system class
that you cannot change. What approach does the textbook recommend to accomplish
this?
a) Create a new class that mimics the system class.
b) Extend the system class.
c) Use an inner class in the interface.
18. d) Use a helper class that implements the callback method.
Answer: d
Section Reference: 10.4 Using Interfaces for Callbacks
Title: How to implement a callback method for a system class.
Difficulty: Medium
32. Which of the following statements about helper classes is true?
a) Helper classes must be inner classes.
b) Helper classes must implement interfaces.
c) Helper classes help reduce coupling.
d) Helper classes cannot contain instance variables.
Answer: c
Section Reference: 10.4 Using Interfaces for Callbacks
Title: Which statement about helper classes is true?
Difficulty: Easy
33. Consider the following declarations:
public interface Measurer
{
int measure(Object anObject);
}
public class StringLengthMeasurer implements Measurer
{
public int measure(_________________)
{
String str = (String) anObject;
return str.length();
}
}
What parameter declaration can be used to complete the callback measure method?
a) Object anObject
b) String anObject
c) Object aString
d) String aString
Answer: a
19. Title: Identify correct parameter declaration to complete callback method
Difficulty: Easy
Section Reference 1: 10.4 Using Interfaces for Callbacks
34. Assuming that interface Resizable is declared elsewhere, consider the following
class declaration:
public class InnerClassExample
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
class SizeModifier implements Resizable
{
// class methods
}
__________________________ // missing statement
}
}
Which of the following declarations can be used to complete the main method?
a) Resizable something = new Resizable();
b) Resizable something = new SizeModifier();
c) Resizable something = new InnerClassExample();
d) SizeModifier something = new Resizable();
Answer: b
Title: Identify correct declaration using inner class to complete main method
Difficulty: Medium
Section Reference 1: 10.5 Inner Classes
35. Which of the following statements about an inner class is true?
a) An inner class can only be defined within a specific method of its enclosing class.
b) An inner class can only be defined outside of any method within its enclosing class.
c) An inner class must implement an interface.
d) An inner class may be anonymous.
Answer: d
Section 10.5 Inner Classes
Title: Which statement about an inner class is true?
Difficulty: Easy
21. about the lodging, but that, if he could give a reference in London,
we would still have him for a lodger."
"Very well. That will be only civil, and if he says he can't, but must
send to Cambridge—"
"Why then, my dear, you must say that he may stay till he writes,
and I'll be guided by his looks. If I give you a nudge, so, with my
elbow, you may consider that it's pretty right."
"Very well, my dove."
22. CHAPTER XXXVIII.
SIR RICHARD PRIES INTO TODD'S SECRETS.
Crotchet soon reached the attic floor of the shoemaker's house, and
although in profound darkness, he managed, as he thought, to
touch the right door. Tap! tap! went Crotchet's knuckles, and as he
did so he followed a habit very general, when the knock is only a
matter of ceremony, and opened the door at the same moment. He
popped his head into a room where there was a light, and said—
"Here yer is."
A scream was the reply to him, and then Crotchet saw, by the state
of affairs there, that he had made a little mistake in the topography
of the attic landing. The attic in which he found himself, for he had
crossed the threshold, was in the occupation of an elderly gaunt-
looking female, who was comforting her toes by keeping them
immersed in a pan of water by the side of a little miserable fire,
which was feebly pretending to look cheerful in the little grate.
"Lor, mum!" said Crotchet. "Who'd a thought o' seeing of you?"
"Oh, you monster. You base man, what do you want here?"
"Nothink!"
"Be off with you, or else I'll call the perlice."
"Oh, I'm a going, mum. How do you bring it in, mum, in a general
way?"
"Help! Murder!"
23. "Lord bless us, what a racket. Don't you go for to fancy, mum, that I
comed up these here attic stairs for to see you. Quite the rewerse,
mum."
"Then, pray who did you come to see, you big ugly monster you?
The other attic is empty. Oh, you base infidel. I believe I knows what
men are by this time."
"No doubt on it, mum. Howsomedever this here's the wrong door, I
take it. No harm done, mum. I wish you and your toes, mum, a
remarkably good evening."
"Crotchet," said a voice.
"Here yer is."
Sir Richard Blunt had been attentively listening for Crotchet, and
when he heard the screams of the old lady in the next attic, he
opened the door of his apartment, and looked out. He soon
discovered what was amiss, and called out accordingly.
"Bless us, who's that?"
"The Emperor o' Russia, mum," said Crotchet. "He's took that 'ere
attic next to you, cos he's heard so much o' the London chumbley
pots, and he wants to have a good look at them at his leisure."
With these words Mr. Crotchet left the old lady's attic, and closed the
door carefully, leaving her, no doubt, in a considerable state of
bewilderment. In another moment he was with the magistrate.
"Crotchet," said Sir Richard, "I thought I told you to do this thing as
quietly as you possibly could."
"Down as a hammer, sir."
"I think it is anything but down."
"Right as a trivet, sir, with a hextra leg. Lots o' fear, but no danger.
Now for it, Sir Richard. What lay is we to go on?"
It certainly never occurred to Sir Richard Blunt to hold any argument
with Mr. Crotchet. He had long since found out that he must, if he
24. would avail himself of his services—and for courage and fidelity he
was unequalled—put up with his eccentricities; so upon this occasion
he said no more about Crotchet's mistake, but, after a few moments'
pause, pointing to the attic door, he said—
"Secure it."
"All's right."
Crotchet took a curious little iron instrument from his pocket, and
secured it into the wall by the side of the door. It did not take him
more than a moment to do so, and then, fully satisfied of the
efficacy of his work, he said—
"Let 'em get over that if they can."
While he was so occupied. Sir Richard Blunt himself had opened the
window, and fastened it open securely.
"Now, Crotchet," he said, "look to your pistols."
"All's right, sir."
The magistrate carefully examined the priming of his own arms, and
seeing that all was right, he at once emerged from the attic through
the window on to the parapet of the house. He might have crept
along the gutter just within the parapet, but the gutter aforesaid was
not exactly in the most salubrious condition. Indeed, from its filthy
state, one might have fancied it to be peculiarly under the direction
of the city commissioners of sewers. Crotchet followed Sir Richard
closely, and in a moment or two they had traversed a sufficient
portion of the parapet to find themselves at the attic window of
Todd's house. It would have been next thing to a miracle if they had
been seen in their progress, for the roof was very dark coloured, and
the night had fairly enough set in, so that if any one had by chance
looked up from the street below, they would scarcely have
discovered that there was anybody creeping along the parapet. Now
there was a slight creaking noise for about half a minute, and then
the window of Sweeney Todd's attic swung open.
25. "Come on," said Sir Richard, and he softly alighted in the apartment.
Crotchet followed him, and then the magistrate carefully closed the
window again, and left it in such a way, that a touch from within
would open it. Then they were in profound darkness, and as it was
no part of the policy of Sir Richard Blunt to run any unnecessary
risks, he did not move one inch from the place upon which he stood
until he had lighted a small hand lantern, which had a powerful
reflector and a tin shade, which in a moment could be passed over
the glass, so as to hide the light upon an emergency.
"Now, Crotchet," he said, "we shall see where we are."
"Reether," said Crotchet.
By holding the light some height up, they were able to command a
good view of the attic. It was a miserable looking room: the walls
were in a state of premature decay, and in several places lumps of
mortar had fallen from the ceiling, making a litter of broken plaster
upon the floor. It was entirely destitute of furniture, with the
exception of an old stump bedstead, upon which there lay what
looked like a quantity of old clothes.
"Safe enough," said Sir Richard.
"Stop!" said Crotchet.
"What's the matter?"
"There's something odd on the floor here. Don't you see as the dust
has got into a crevice as is bigger nor all the other crevices, and
goes right along this ways and then along that ways? Don't you
move, sir. I'll be down upon it in a minute."
Mr. Crotchet laid himself down flat upon the floor, and then crept on
until he came to that part of the flooring which had excited his
suspicions. As soon as he pressed upon it with both his hands it
gave way under them plainly, by the elevation of the other end of
the three boards of which this trap was composed, proclaiming that
it was a moveable portion of the floor, revolving or turning upon one
of the joists as a centre.
26. "Oh dear, how clever!" said Crotchet. "If Mr. Todd goes on a cutting
away his joists in this here way he'll bring his blessed old house
down with a run some day. How nice and handy, now, if any one
was to step upon here—they'd go down into the room below, and
perhaps break their blessed legs as they went."
The Secret Trap Discovered In Todd's House.
"Escape the first for us!" said Sir Richard.
"Oh, lor, yes. Now this here Todd thinks, by putting this here man-
trap here, as he has perwided again any accidents; but we ain't
them 'ere sort o' birds as is catched by chaff, not we. Why he must
27. have spilted his blessed ceiling down below to make this here sort of
a jigamaree concern."
"It's not a bad contrivance though, Crotchet. Its own weight, you
see, restores it to its place again, and so there's no trouble with it."
"Oh dear, no. It's a what I calls a self-acting catch-'em-who-can sort
o' machine. Yes, Sir Richard, I never did think that 'ere Todd was
wery green. He don't know quite so much as we know; but yet he's
a rum 'un."
"No doubt of it. Do you think, Crotchet, there is anything else in this
attic to beware of?"
"Not likely; when he'd finished this here nice little piece of
handywork, I dare say he said to himself—'This will catch 'em,' and
so down stairs he toddled, and grinned like a monkey as has
swallowed a whole nut by haccident, and gived himself a pain in the
side in consekence. 'That'll catch 'em,' says he."
Mr. Crotchet seemed so much amused at the picture he drew to
himself of the supposed exultation of Todd, that for some moments
he did nothing but laugh. The reader must not suppose, however,
that in the circumstances of peril in which they were, he indulged in
a regular "Ha! ha!"—quite the contrary. He had a mode of laughing
under such circumstances that was entirely his own, and which,
while it made no noise, shook his huge frame as though some
commotion had taken sudden possession of it, and the most
ridiculous part of the process was the alarming suddenness with
which he would become preternaturally serious again. But Sir
Richard Blunt knew his peculiarities, and paid no attention to them,
unless they very much interfered with business.
"We must not waste time. Come on, Crotchet."
Sir Richard walked to the door of the attic and tried it. It was as fast
as though it had been part of the wall itself.
"So—so," he said. "Master Todd has taken some precautions against
being surprised from the top of his house. He has nailed up this door
28. as surely as any door was ever nailed up."
"Has he really, though?"
"Yes. Quick, Crotchet. You have your tools about you, I suppose."
"Never fear," said Crotchet. "I'm the indiwedal as never forgets
nothink, and if I don't have the middle panel out o' this door a'most
as soon as look at it, it's only cos it takes more time."
With this philosophical and indisputable remark, Mr. Crotchet
stooped down before the door, and taking various exquisitely made
tools from his pocket, he began to work at the door. He knocked
nearly noiselessly, and it looked like something little short of magic
to see how the panel was forced out of the door without any of the
hammering and flustering which a carpenter would have made of it.
"All's right," he said. "If we can't creep through here, we are bigger
than I think we is."
"That will do. Hush!"
They both listened attentively, for Sir Richard thought he heard a
faint noise from the lower part of the house. As, however, five
minutes of attentive listening passed away, and no repetition of it
occurred, they thought it was only some one of those accidental
sounds which will at times be heard in all houses whether occupied
or not. Crotchet took the lead by creeping clearly enough through
the opening that he had made in the door of the attic, and Sir
Richard followed him. They were both, now, at the head of the
staircase, and Sir Richard held up the lantern so as to have a good
look around him. The walls looked damp and neglected. There were
two other doors opening from that landing, but neither of them was
fastened, so that they entered the rooms easily. They took care,
though, not to go beyond the threshold for fear of accidents,
although it was very unlikely that Todd would take the trouble to
construct a trap-door in any other attic than the one which was so
easily accessible from the parapet.
29. "Old clothes—old clothes!" said Crotchet. "There seems to be
nothing else in these rooms."
"So it would appear," said Sir Richard.
He lifted up some of the topmost of a heap of garments upon the
floor, and a cloud of moths flew upwards in confusion.
"There's the toggery," said Mr. Crotchet, "of the smugged 'uns!"
"You really think so."
"Knows it."
"Well, Crotchet, I don't think from what I know myself that we shall
disagree about Todd's guilt. The grand thing is to discover how, and
in what way he is guilty."
"Just so. I'm quite sure we have seed all as there is to see up here,
so suppose we toddle down stairs now, sir. There's, perhaps, quite a
lot o' wonders and natur', and art, down below."
"Stop a bit. Hold the lamp."
Crotchet did so, while Sir Richard took from his pocket a pair of thick
linsey-woolsey stockings, and carefully drew them on over his boots,
for the purpose of deadening the sound of his footsteps; and then
he held the light, while Mr. Crotchet, who was similarly provided with
linsey-woolseys, went through the same process. After this, they
moved like spectres, so perfectly noiseless were their footsteps upon
the stairs. Sir Richard went first, while Crotchet now carried the
light, holding it sufficiently high that the magistrate could see the
stairs before him very well, as he proceeded. It was quite evident,
from the state of those stairs, as regarded undisturbed dust, that
they had not been ascended for a considerable time; and indeed,
Todd, considering the top of his house as perfectly safe after the
precautions he had taken, did not trouble himself to visit it. Our
adventurers reached the landing upon the second floor in perfect
safety; and after giving a few minutes more to the precautionary
measure of listening, they opened the first door that presented itself
to the observation, and entered the room. They both paused in
30. astonishment, for such a miscellaneous collection of matters as was
in this room, could only have been expected to be met with in the
shop of a general dealer. Several chairs and tables were loaded with
wearing apparel of all kinds and conditions. The corners of the room
were literally crowded with mobs of swords, walking sticks, and
umbrellas; while a countless heap of hats lay upon the floor in
disorder. You could not have stepped into that room for
miscellaneous personal appointments of one sort or another; and Mr.
Crotchet and Sir Richard Blunt trod upon the hats as they walked
across the floor, from sheer inability to get out of the way.
"Well," said Crotchet, "if so be as shaving should go out of fashion,
Todd could set up a clothier's shop, and not want for stock to begin
with."
"I can imagine," muttered the magistrate to himself, "what a trouble
and anxiety all these things must be to Todd, and woollen goods are
so difficult to burn. Crotchet, select some of the swords, and look if
there are maker's names upon the blades."
While Crotchet was preparing this order. Sir Richard was making a
hasty but sufficiently precise examination of the room.
31. CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE MYSTERIOUS CUPBOARD.
"Here they are," said Crotchet. "Some of these are worth
something."
"Get a cane or two, likewise."
"All's right, sir. I tell you what it is, sir. If there's such things as
ghosts in the world, I wonder how this Todd can sleep o' nights, for
he must have a plaguy lot of 'em about his bed of a night."
"Perhaps he satisfied himself upon that head, Crotchet, before he
began his evil practices, for all we know; but let us make our way
into another room, for I think we have seen all there is to see in this
one."
"Not a doubt of it. It's only a kind of store-room, this, and from the
size of it, I should say it ain't the largest on this floor."
Sir Richard walked out of the room on to the landing place. All was
perfectly still in the barber's house, and as he had heard nothing of
the bugle sound in Fleet-street, he felt quite satisfied that Todd had
not returned. It was a great thing, in all his daring exploits in
discovering criminals, and successfully ferreting out their haunts,
that he (Sir Richard) could thoroughly depend upon his
subordinates. He knew they were not only faithful but brave. He
knew that, let what might happen, they would never leave him in
the lurch. Hence, in the present instance, he felt quite at his ease in
the house of Todd, so long as he did not hear the sound of the
bugle. Of course, personal danger he did not consider, for he knew
he was, if even he had been alone, more than a match for Todd; but
32. what he wanted was, not to overcome Sweeney Todd, but to find
out exactly what were his practices. He could, upon the information
he already had, have walked into Todd's shop at any time, and have
apprehended him, but that would not have answered. What he
wanted to do was to
"Pluck out the heart of his mystery,"
and, in order to do that, it was not only necessary that Todd should
be at large, but that he should have no hint that such a person as
he, Sir Richard Blunt, had his eyes wide open to his actions and
manoeuvres. Hence was it that, in this examination of the house, he
wished to keep himself so secret, and free from any observation.
There were three rooms upon the second floor of Todd's house, and
the very next one they met with, was the one immediately beneath
the trap in the floor of the attic. A glance at the ceiling enabled them
easily to perceive it. This room was larger than the other
considerably, and in it were many boxes and chests, as well as in the
centre an immense old-fashioned counting-house desk, with six
immense flaps to it, three upon each side, while a brass railing went
along the middle.
"Ah!" said Sir Richard, "here will be something worth the examining,
I hope."
"Let's take the cupboards first," said Crotchet. "There are two here,
and as they are the first we have seen, let's look at 'em, Sir Richard.
I never likes to be in a strange room long, without a peep in the
cupboard."
"Very well, Crotchet. Look in that one to the left, while I look in this
one to the right."
Sir Richard opened a cupboard door to the right of the fire-place in
this room, while Crotchet opened one to the left.
"More clothes," said Sir Richard. "What's in yours, Crotchet?"
33. "Nothing at all. Yet stay. There's a something high up here. I don't
know what it is, but I'll try and reach it if I can."
Crotchet went completely into the cupboard, but he had no sooner
done so, than Sir Richard Blunt heard a strange crushing sound, and
then all was still.
"Hilloa! What's that, Crotchet?"
He hastily stepped to the cupboard. The door had swung close. It
was evidently hung upon its hinges in a manner to do so. With his
disengaged hand, the magistrate at once pulled it open. Crotchet
was gone. The astonishment of Sir Richard Blunt for a moment was
excessive. There was the flooring of the cupboard perfectly safe, but
no Crotchet. Nothing to his eyes had looked so like a magical
disappearance as this, and with the trap in his hand, he stood while
any one might have counted twenty, completely motionless and
transfixed by astonishment. Starting then from this lethargic
condition, he drew a pistol from his pocket, and rushed to the door
of the room. At this instant, he heard the bugle sound clearly and
distinctly in the street. Before the echo of the sound had died away,
the magistrate was upon the landing-place outside the door of the
second floor. He listened intently, and heard some one below
coughing. It was not the cough of Crotchet. What was he to do? If
he did not make a signal to the officers in the street that all was
safe, the house would soon be stormed, and, for all he knew, that
might ensure the destruction of Crotchet, instead of saving him. For
a moment, the resolution to go down the staircase at all hazards and
face Todd—for he had no doubt but that he had come home—
possessed him, but a moment's reflection turned the scale of
thought in another direction. If the officers, not finding him make a
signal that he was safe, did attack the house, they would not do so
for some minutes. It was their duty not to be precipitate. He leant
on the balustrade, and listened with an intentness that was perfectly
painful. He heard the cough again from quite the lower part of the
house, and then he became aware that some one was slowly
creeping up the stairs. He had placed the slide over the bull's eye of
34. his little lamp, so that all was darkness, but he heard the breathing
of the person who was coming up towards him. He shrunk back
close to the wall, determined to seize, and with an iron hand, any
one who should reach the landing. Suddenly, from quite the lower
part of the building, he heard the cough again. The thought, then,
that it must be Crotchet who was coming up, impressed itself upon
him, but he would not speak. In a few moments some one reached
the landing, and stretching out his right arm, Sir Richard caught
whoever it was, and said in a whisper—
"Any resistance will cost you your life."
"Crotchet it is," said the new comer.
"Ah, how glad I am it is you!"
"Reether. Hush. The old 'un is below. Ain't I shook a bit. It's a
precious good thing as my bones is in the blessed habit o' holding
on, one of 'em to the rest and all the rest to one, or else I should
have tumbled to bits."
"Hush! hush!"
"Oh, he's a good way off. That 'ere cupboard has got a descending
floor with ropes and pullies, so down I went and was rolled out into
a room below and up went the bit of flooring again. I was very
nearly startled a little."
"Nearly?"
"Reether, but here I is. I got out and crept up stairs as soon as I
could, cos, says I, the governor will wonder what the deuce has
become of me."
"I did, indeed."
"Just as I thought. Sir Richard, just listen to me! I've got a fancy for
Todd."
"A fancy for Todd?"
"Yes, and I want to stay here a few hours—yes, go and let them as
is outside know all's right, and leave me here, I think somehow I
35. shall like to be in this crib alone with Todd for an hour or two. You
have got other business to see to, you know, so just leave me here;
and mind yer, if I don't get here by six in the morning, just consider
as he's got the better of me."
"No, Crotchet, I cannot."
"Can't what?"
"Consent to leave you here alone."
"Bother! what's the row, and where's the danger, I should like to
know? Who's Todd? Who am I? Gammon!"
Sir Richard shook his head, although Crotchet could not very well
see him shake it, and after a pause he added—
"I don't suppose exactly that there is much danger, Crotchet, but, at
all events, I don't like it said that I brought you into this place and
then left you here."
"Bother!"
"You go and leave me."
"A likely joke that. No, I tell yer what it is, Sir Richard. You knows
me and I knows you, so what does it matter what other folks say?
Business is business I hope, and don't you believe that I'm going to
be such a flat as to throw away my life upon such a fellow as Todd. I
think I can do some good by staying here; if I can't I'll come away,
but I don't think, in either case, that Todd will see me. If he does I
shall, perhaps, be forced to nab him, and that, after all, is the worst
that can come of it."
"Well, Crotchet, you shall have your own way."
"Good."
"I will return to the attic as soon as I conveniently can, and, let what
will happen to you, remember that you are not deserted."
"I knows it."
"Good bye. Take care of yourself, old friend."
36. "I means it."
"I should be indeed afflicted if anything were to happen to you."
"Gammon."
Sir Richard left him his own pistols, in addition to the pair which he,
Crotchet, always had about him, so that he was certainly well-
armed, let what would happen to him in that house of Sweeney
Todd's, which had now become something more than a mere object
of suspicion to the police. Well, they knew Todd's guilt—it was the
mode in which he was guilty only that still remained a mystery. The
moment Sir Richard Blunt reached the attic again, he held his arm
out at full length from the window, and waved to and fro the little
lantern as a signal to the officers in the street that he was safe. This
done, he would not return to the room he had hired of the
bootmaker, but he resolved to wait about ten minutes longer in case
anything should happen in the house below that might sound
alarming. After that period of time, he resolved upon leaving for an
hour or two, but he, of course, would not do so without apprising his
officers of Crotchet's situation. During the time that had been passed
by Crotchet and Sir Richard Blunt in Sweeney Todd's house, the
shoemaker and his wife had had an adventure which created in their
minds abundance of surprise. It will be recollected that the
shoemaker's wife had decided upon what was to be done regarding
the new lodger—namely, that under the pretence that a Mr. Jones
was a more satisfactory lodger, he was to be asked to be so good as
to quit the attic he had so strangely taken. The arrival of Mr.
Crotchet with so different a story from that told by Sir Richard Blunt
certainly had the effect of engendering many suspicions in the minds
of Sir Richard's new landlord and landlady.
"Well, my dear," said the shoemaker, "if you are willing to come up
stairs, I will say what you wish to this man, particularly as his
pretended friend don't seem to be coming down stairs again."
"Very well, my dear; I'll take the kitchen poker and follow you, and
while I am behind you, if I think he is a pleasant man, you know,
37. and we had better let him stay, I will give you a slight poke."
"A-hem! Thank you—yes."
Armed with the poker, the lady of the mansion followed her husband
up the staircase, and perhaps we may fairly say that curiosity was as
strong a feeling with her as any other in the business. To tell the
truth, the shoemaker did not half like the job; but what will a man,
who is under proper control at home, not do to keep up the shallow
treaty of peace which his compliance produces between him and his
better half? Is there anything which a hen-pecked husband dares
say he will not do, when the autocrat of his domestic hearth bids
him do it? Up—up the long dark staircase they went! Our ancestors,
as one of their pieces of wisdom, had a knack of making steep dark
staircases; and, to tell the truth, there are many modern architects
equally ingenious. At length the attic landing was reached. The
shoemaker knew the localities of his house better than to make such
a mistake as Crotchet had done; so the old lady, with her feet in the
pan of water, was saved such another interruption as had already
taken place into her peaceful domains.
"Now, my dear, knock boldly," said the lady of the mansion. "Knock
like a man."
"Yes, my love."
The shoemaker tapped at the door with about the energy of a fly.
The soft appeal produced no effect whatever, and the lady growing
impatient, then poised the poker, and dealt the door a blow which
induced her husband to start aside, lest the lodger should open it
quickly, and rush out in great wrath. All was profoundly still,
however; and then they tried the lock, and found it fast.
"He's gone to bed," said the shoemaker.
"He can't," said the lady, "for there are no sheets on the bed.
Besides, they have not both gone to bed. I tell you what it is.
There's some mystery in this that I should like to find out. Now, all
the keys of all the attics are alike. Just wait here, and I'll borrow
Mrs. Macconikie's."
38. The shoemaker waited in no small amount of trepidation, while this
process of key-borrowing from the old lady who enjoyed a pan of
water, took place upon the part of his wife.
39. CHAPTER XL.
CROTCHET ASTONISHES MR. TODD.
The key was soon procured, but it will be recollected that Crotchet
had fastened the door rather too securely for it to be opened by any
such ordinary implement as a key, and so disappointment was the
portion of the shoemaker's wife.
"Don't you think, my love," said the shoemaker, "that it will be just
as well to leave this affair until the morning, before taking any
further notice of it?"
"And pray, then, am I to sleep all night, if I don't know the rights of
it, I should like to know? Perhaps, if you can tell me that, you are a
little wiser than I think you. Marry, come up!"
"Oh, well, I only—"
"You only! Then only don't. That's the only favour I ask of you, sir, is
to only don't."
What extraordinary favour this was, the lady did not condescend to
explain any more particulars, but it was quite enough for the
husband to understand that a storm was brewing, and to become
humble and submissive accordingly.
"Well, my dear, I'm sure I only wish you to do just what you like;
that's all, my dear, I'm sure."
"Very good."
After this, she made the most vigorous efforts to get into the attic,
and if any one had been there—which at that juncture there was not
—they might truly have asked "Who's that knocking at the door?"
40. Finding that all her efforts were ineffectual, she took to peeping
through the key-hole, but nothing was to be seen; and then, for the
first time, the idea struck her that there was something supernatural
about the business, and in a few moments this notion gained
sufficient strength to engender some lively apprehensions.
"I tell you what," she said to her husband, "if you don't fetch a
constable at once, and have the door opened, and see all about, I'm
afraid—indeed I'm quite sure—I shall be very ill."
"Oh, dear—oh, dear."
"It's of no use your standing here and saying 'Oh, dear,' like a great
stupid as you are—always was and always will be. Go for a
constable, at once."
"A constable?"
"Yes, There's Mr. Otton, the beadle of St. Dunstan's, lives opposite,
as you well know, and he's a constable. Run over the way and fetch
him, this minute."
She began hastily to descend the stairs, and the shoemaker followed
her, remonstrating, for the idea of fetching a constable, and making
him and his house the talk of the whole neighbourhood, was by no
means a proposition that met with his approval. The lady was
positive, however, and Mr. Otton, the beadle of St. Dunstan's, was
brought from over the way, and the case stated to him at length.
"Conwulsions!" exclaimed Otton, "what can I do?"
"Burst open the door," said the lady.
"Burst a door open, mum! What is you a thinking on? Why, that's
contrary to Habus Corpus, mum, and all that sort of thing.
Conwulsions, mum! you mustn't do it. But I tell you what, now, will
be the thing."
Here Mr. Otton put his finger to the side of his nose, and looked so
cunning that you would hardly have believed it possible.
"What?—what?"
41. "Why, suppose, mum, we ask Mr. Todd, next door, to give us leave to
go up into his attic, and get out at the window and look in at yours,
mum?"
"That'll do. Run in—"
"Me!" cried the shoemaker. "Oh, M—Mr. Todd is a strange man—a
very strange man—not at all a neighbourly sort of man, and I don't
like to go to him.—I won't go, that's flat—unless, my love, you
particularly wish it."
"Conwulsions!" cried the beadle. "Ain't I a-going with you? Ain't I a
constabulary force, I should like to know? Conwulsions! What is yer
afeard on? Come on. Lor, what's the meaning o' that, I wonders,
now; I should just like to take that ere fellow up. Whoever heard of
a horn being blowed at such a rate, in the middle o' Fleet-street,
afore, unless it was somethin' as consarned the parish? Conwulsions!
it's contrary to Habus Corpus, it is. Is me a constabulary force, or is
me not?"
This was the bugle sound which warned Sir Richard Blunt and his
friend Crotchet that Sweeney Todd had returned to his shop; and, in
fact, while this very conversation was going on at the shoemaker's,
Todd had lit the lamp in his shop, and actually opened it for business
again, as the evening was by no means very far advanced. Mr. Otton
went to the door, and looked about for the audacious bugle player,
but he was not to be seen; so he returned to the back parlour of the
shoemaker, uttering his favourite expletive of "Conwulsions" very
frequently.
"Now, if you is ready," he said, "I is; so let's come at once, and
speak to Mr. Todd. He may be a strange man, but for all that, he
knows, I dessay, what's proper respect to a beetle."
With this strange transformation of his own title upon his lips, Mr.
Otton stalked on rather majestically, as he thought, to the street,
and thence to Todd's shop door, with the shoemaker following him.
The gait of the latter expressed reluctance, and there was a dubious
expression upon his face, which was quite amusing to behold.
42. "Really, Mr. Otton," he said, "don't you think, after all, it would be
better to leave this affair alone till the morning? We can easily tell
my wife, you know, that Mr. Todd won't let us into his attic. That
must satisfy her, for what can she say to it?"
"Sir," said the beadle, "when you call in the constabullary force, you
must do just what they say, or lasteways you acts contrary to Habus
Corpuses. Come on. Conwulsions! is we to be brought over the
street, and then is we to do nothing to go down to prosperity?"
The beadle uttered these words with such an air of pomposity and
importance that the shoemaker, who had a vague idea that Habus
Corpus was some fearful engine of the law at the command of all its
administrators, no longer offered any opposition, but, as meekly as
any lamb, followed Mr. Otton into Sweeney Todd's shop. The door
yielded to a touch, and Mr. Otton presented his full rubicund
countenance to the gaze of Sweeney Todd, who was at the further
end of the shop, as though he had just come from the parlour at the
back of it, or was just going there. He did not at first see the
shoemaker, who was rather obscured by the portly person of the
beadle, and Todd's first idea was, the most natural one in the world,
namely, that the beadle came upon an emergency to be shaved.
Giving him an hideous leer, Todd said—
"A fine night for a clean shave."
"Werry. In course, Mr. T., you is the best judge o' that 'ere, but I
does for myself."
As he spoke, Mr. Otton rubbed his chin, to intimate that it was to his
shaving himself that he alluded just then.
"Hair cut?" said Todd, giving a snap to the blades of a large pair of
scissors, that made Mr. Otton jump again, and nearly induced the
shoemaker to run out of the shop into the street.
"No," said the beadle; and taking off his hat, he felt his hair, as
though to satisfy himself that it was all there, just as usual. "No."
43. Todd looked as though he would have shaved him with extreme
pleasure, and advancing a few steps, he added—
"Then what is it that you bring your wieldy carcase here for, you
gross lump of stupidity? Ha! ha! ha!"
"What? Conwulsions!"
"Pho!—Pho! Can't you take a joke, Mr. Otton? I know you well
enough. It's my funny way to call people, whom I admire very much,
all the hard names I can think of."
"Is it?"
"Oh, dear, yes. I thought you and all my neighbours knew that well
enough. I'm one of the drollest dogs alive. That I am. Won't you sit
down?"
"Well, Mr. Todd, a joke may be a joke." The beadle looked very
sententious at this discovery. "But you have the oddest way of
poking your fun at any one that ever I heard of; but, I comes to you
now as a respectable parishioner, to—"
"Oh," said Todd, putting his hands, very deliberately into his pockets,
"how much?"
"It ain't anything to pay. It's a mere trifle. I just want to go up to
your front attic, and—"
"What?"
"Your front attic, and get out of the window to look into the front
attic next door. We won't trouble you if you will oblige us with a
candle. That's all."
Todd advanced two steps further towards the beadle and looked
peeringly in his face. All the suspicious qualities of his nature rose up
in alarm. Every feeling of terror regarding the instability of his
position, and the danger by which he was surrounded, rushed upon
him. At once he conjectured that danger was approaching him, and
that in this covert manner the beadle was intent upon getting into
the house, for the purpose of searching it to his detriment. As the
44. footpad sees in each bush an officer, so, in the most trivial
circumstances, even the acute intellect of Sweeney Todd saw
dangers, and rumours of dangers, which no one but himself could
have had the remotest idea of. He glared upon the beadle with
positive ferocity, and so much affected was Otton by that lynx-like
observation of Sweeney Todd's, that he stepped aside and disclosed
that he was not alone. If anything could have confirmed Todd in his
suspicions that there was a dead-set at him, it was finding that the
beadle was not alone. And yet the shoemaker was well known to
him. But what will lull such suspicion as Sweeney Todd had in his
mind? Once engendered, it was like the jealousy that—
"Makes the meat it feeds on!"
He advanced, step by step, glaring upon the beadle and upon the
shoemaker. Reaching up his hand, he suddenly turned the lamp that
hung from the ceiling clear round, so that, in lieu of its principal light
falling upon him, it fell upon the faces of those who had paid him so
unceremonious a visit.
"Lawks!" said the beadle.
"Excuse us, Mr. Todd," said the shoemaker, "I assure you we only
meant—"
"What?" thundered Todd. Then suddenly softening his voice, he
added—"You are very welcome here indeed. Pray what do you
want?"
"Why, sir," said Otton, "you must know that this gentleman has a
lodger."
"A what?"
"A lodger, sir, and so you see that's just the case. You understand
that this lodger—lor, Mr. Todd, this is your neighbour the shoemaker,
you know. The front attic, you know, and all that sort of thing. After
this explanation, I hope you'll lend us a candle at once, Mr. Todd,
and let us up to the attic."
45. Todd shaded his eyes with his hands, and looked yet more earnestly
at the beadle.
"Why, Mr. Otton," he said, "indeed you do want a shave."
"A shave?"
"Yes, Mr. Otton, I have a good razor here that will go over your chin
like a piece of butter. Only take a seat, sir, and if you, neighbour, will
go home comfortably to your own fireside, I will send for you when
Mr. Otton is shaved."
"But really," said the beadle, rubbing his chin, "I was shaved this
morning, and as I do for myself always, you see, why I don't think I
require. Conwulsions! Mr. Todd, why do you look at a man so?
Remember the Habus Corpus. That's what we call the paladermius
of the British Constitution, you know."
By this time the beadle had satisfied himself that he did not at all
require shaving, and turning to the shoemaker, he said—
"Why don't you be shaved?"
"Well, I don't care if I do, and perhaps, in the meantime you, Mr.
Otton, will go up to the attic, and take a peep into the next one, and
see if my lodger is up or in bed, or what the deuce has become of
him. It's a very odd thing, Mr. Todd, that a man should take one's
attic, and then disappear without coming down stairs."
"Disappear without coming down stairs?" said Todd.
"Yes, and my wife says—"
Todd made an impatient gesture.
"Gentlemen, I will look in my attic myself. The fact is, that the
flooring is rather out of order, and unless you know exactly where to
step you will be apt to fall through a hole into the second floor."
"The deuce you are!" said Otton.
"Yes; so I would not advise either of you to make the attempt. Just
remain there, and I'll go at once."
46. The proposition suited both parties, and Mr. Todd immediately
passed through a door at the back of his shop, which he
immediately closed behind him again. Instead of going up stairs,
however, he slid aside a small opening in the panel of this door, and
placed his ear to it. "If people say anything impudent, it is the
moment they are free from the company that has held them in
check," was one of Sweeney Todd's maxims. His first notion that the
beadle and the shoemaker had come covertly to search his house,
had given way a little, and he wanted to convince himself of the
innocency or the reverse of their intentions, before he put himself to
any further trouble.
"I don't like it," said the shoemaker.
"Like what? Conwulsions! what don't you like?"
"Intruding upon Mr. Todd. What does he care about my lodgers? It
ain't as if he let any of his own house, and had a fellow feeling with
us."
"Werry good," said the beadle, "but you send for me, and you ask
me what's best, and I tell yer that Habus Corpus, and one thing and
another, what I advised was the only thing, that was to get into Mr.
Todd's attic, and then get on the parapet and into yours. But if so be
as there's holes in Mr. Todd's attic, that will alter the affair, you
know."
"Fool—fool!" muttered Todd. "After all, they only come upon their
own twaddling affairs, and I was idiot enough to suspect such
muddy pated rascals."
In an instant he was in the shop again.
"Nobody there, gentlemen; I have looked into the attic, and there's
nobody there."
"Well, I'm very much obliged to you, Mr. Todd," said the shoemaker,
"for taking so much trouble. I'll go, and rather astonish my wife, I
think."
47. "Conwulsions!" said the beadle. "It's an odd thing, but you know, Mr.
Todd, Habus Corpus must have his way."
48. CHAPTER XLI.
TODD'S VISION.
When they had left, Todd remained for some minutes in an attitude
of thought.
"Is this an accident?" he said, "or is it but the elaboration of some
deep design to entrap me. What am I to think?"
Todd was an imaginative man quite. He was just the individual to
think, and think over the affair until he made something of it, very
different from what it really was, and yet there was some hope that
the matter was no more than what it appeared to be, by the
character of the parties who had come upon the mission. If anything
serious had come to the ears of the authorities, he thought, that
surely two such people as the beadle of St. Dunstan's, and his
neighbour the shoemaker, would not be employed to unravel such a
mystery. He sat down in an arm chair and rested his head upon his
hand, and while he was in that attitude the door of his shop opened,
and a man in the dress of a carter made his appearance.
"Be this Mister Todd's?"
"Well," said Todd, "what then?"
"Why, then, this be for him like. It's a letter, but larning waren't
much i' the fashion in my young days, so I can't read what's on it."
Todd stretched out his hand. An instant examination showed him it
bore the Peckham post-mark.
"Ah!" he muttered, "from Fogg. Thank you, my man, that will do.
That will do. What do you wait for?"
49. "Please to remember the carter, your honour!"
Todd looked daggers at him, and slowly handed out twopence,
which the man took with a very ill grace.
"What," said Todd, "would you charge me more for carrying a letter
than King George the Third does, you extortionate rascal?"
The carter gave a nod.
"Get out with you, or by—"
Todd snatched up a razor, and the carter was off like a shot, for he
really believed, from the awful looks of Todd, that his life was not
worth a minute's purchase. Todd opened the letter with great
gravity.—It contained the following words:—
"Dear Sir,"
"The lad, T. R., I grieve to say, is no more. Let us hope he is gone where the
weary are at rest, and where there is neither sin nor sorrow.
"I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
"Jacob B. Fogg."
"Humph!" said Todd.
He held the letter in the flame of the lamp until it fell a piece of airy
tinder at his feet.
"Humph!" he repeated, and that humph was all that he
condescended to say of poor Tobias Ragg, whom the madhouse-
keeper had thought proper to say was dead; hoping that Todd might
never be undeceived, for the barber was a good customer.
If, however, Tobias should turn up to the confusion of Fogg and of
Todd, what could the latter do for the deceit that had been practised
upon him?—literally nothing.
"No sooner," said Todd, "does one cloud disappear from my route
than another takes its place. What can that story mean about the
attic next door? It sounds to my ears strange and portentous. What
am I to think of it?"
50. He rose and paced his shop with rapid strides. At length he paused
as though he had come to a determination.
"The want of a boy is troublesome to me," he said. "I must get one,
but for the present this must suffice."
He wrote upon a small slip of paper the words—"Gone to the Temple
—will return shortly." He then, by the aid of a wafer, affixed this
announcement to the upper part of the half-glass door leading into
his shop. Locking this door securely on the inside, and starting a
couple of bolts into their sockets, he lit a candle and left his shop.
With a stealthy, cat-like movement, Todd passed through the room
immediately behind his business apartment, and opening another
door he made his way towards the staircase. Then he paused a
moment. He thought some sound from above had come upon his
ears, but he was not quite sure. To suspect, however, was with such
a man as Todd to be prepared for the worst, and accordingly he
went back to the room behind his shop again, and from a table-
drawer he took a knife, such as is used by butchers in their trade,
and firmly clutching it in his right hand, while he carried the candle
in his left, he once more approached the staircase.
"I do not think," he said, "that for nine years now any mortal
footsteps, but my own, have trod upon these stairs or upon the
flooring of the rooms above. Woe be to those who may now attempt
to do so. Woe, I say, be to them, for their death is at hand."
These words were spoken in a deep hollow voice, that sounded like
tones from a sepulchre, as they came from the lips of that man of
many crimes. To give Todd his due, he did not seem to shrink from
the unknown and dimly appreciated danger that might be up stairs
in his house. He was courageous, but it was not the high-souled
courage that nerves a man to noble deeds. No, Sweeney Todd's
courage was that of hate—hatred to the whole human race, which
he considered, with a strange inconsistency, had conspired against
him; whereas he had been the one to place an impassable barrier
between himself and the amenities of society. He ascended the stairs
with great deliberation. When he reached the landing upon the first
51. floor, he cast his eyes suspiciously about him, shading the light as he
did so with his hand—that same hand that held the knife, the
shadow of which fell upon the wall in frightful proportions.
"All is still," he said. "Is fancy, after all, only playing me such tricks
as she might have played me twenty years ago? I thought I was too
old for such freaks of the imagination."
Todd did not suspect that there was a second period in his life, when
the mental infirmities of his green youth might come back to him,
with many superadded horrors accumulated, with a consciousness of
guilt. He slowly approached a door and pushed it open, saying as he
did so—
"No—no—no. Above all things, I must not be superstitious. If I were
so, into what a world of horrors might I not plunge. No—no, I will
not people the darkness with horrible phantasies, I will not think that
it is possible that men with
"Twenty murders on their heads,"
can revisit this world to drive those who have done them to death
with shrieking madness—this world do I say? There is no other. Bah!
Priests may talk, and the weak-brained fools who gape at what they
do not understand, may believe them, but when man dies—when
the electric condition that has imputed to his humanity what is called
life, flies, he is indeed
"Dust to dust!"
Ha! ha! I have lived as I will die, fearing nothing and believing
nothing."
As he uttered those words—words which found no real echo in his
heart, for at the bottom of it lay a trembling belief in, and a dread of
the great God that rules all things, and who is manifest in the
meanest seeming thing that crawls upon the earth—he entered one
of the rooms upon that floor, and glanced uneasily around him. All
52. was still. There were trunks—clothes upon chairs, and a vast amount
of miscellaneous property in this room, but nothing in the shape of a
human being. Todd's spirits rose, and he held the long knife more
carelessly than he had done.
"Pho! pho!" he said. "I do, indeed, at times make myself the slave of
a disturbed fancy. Pho! pho! I will no more listen to vague sounds,
meaning nothing; but wrapping myself up in my consciousness of
having nothing to fear, I will pursue my course, hideous though it
may be."
He turned and took his way towards the landing place of the
staircase again. He was now carrying both the light and the knife
rather carelessly, and everybody knows that when a candle is held
before a person's face, that but little indeed can be seen in the hazy
vapour that surrounds it. So it was with Todd. He had got about two
paces from the door, when a strange consciousness of something
being in his way came over him. He immediately raised his hand—
that hand that still carried the knife, to shade the light, and then,
horror! horror! He saw standing upon the landing a figure attired in
faded apparel, whose face was dabbled in blood, and the stony eyes
which were fixed upon the face of Todd, with so awful an
expression, that had the barber's heart been made of much more
flinty materials than it was, he could not have resisted the terrors of
that awful moment. With a shriek that echoed through the house,
Todd fell upon the landing. The light rolled from stair to stair until it
was finally extinguished, and all was darkness.
53. Sweeney Todd Astonished By Crotchet, The Bow-Street
Officer.
"Good," said Crotchet, for it was he who had enacted the ghost.
"Good! I'm blessed if I didn't think that ere would nail him. These
sort o' chaps are always on the look-out for something or another to
be frightened at, and you have only to show yourself to put 'em
almost out of their seven senses. It was a capital idea that of me to
cut my finger a little, and get some blood to smear over my face. It's
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