'A good plan,' said Sweeney Todd, 'but I wonder you don't contrive that your own private room should be free from the annoyance of hearing such sounds as those that have been coming upon my ears for then last five or ten minutes.'
'It's impossible; you cannot get out of the way if you live in the house at all; and you see, as regards these mad fellows, they are quite like a pack of wolves, and when once one of them begins howling and shouting, the others are sure to chime in, in full chorus, and make no end of a disturbance till we stop them, as I have already told you we do, with a strong hand.'
'While I think of it,' said Sweeney Todd, as he drew from his pocket a leathern bag, 'while I think of it, I may as well pay you the year's money, for the lad I have brought you; you see, I have not forgot the excellent rule you have of being paid in advance. There is the amount.
'Ah, Mr Todd,' said the madhouse keeper, as he counted the money, and then placed it in his pocket, 'it's a pleasure to do business with a thorough business man like yourself. The bottle stands with you, Mr Todd, and I beg you will not spare it. Do you know, Mr Todd, this is a line of life which I have often thought would have suited you; I am certain you have a genius for such things.'
'Not equal to you,' said Todd; 'but as I am fond, certainly, of what is strange and out of the way, some of the scenes and characters you come across would, I have no doubt, be highly entertaining to me.'
'Scenes and characters, I believe you! During the course of a business like ours, we come across all sorts of strange things; and if I chose to do it, which, of course, I don't, I could tell a few tales which would make some people shake in their shoes; but I have no right to tell them, for I have been paid, and what the deuce is it to me?'
'Oh, nothing, of course, nothing. But just while we are sipping our wine, now, couldn't you tell me something that would not be betraying anybody else's confidence?'
'I could, I could; I don't mean to say that I could not, and I don't much care if I do, to you.'
XXV. Mr. Fogg's Story at the Madhouse
After a short pause, during which Mr Fogg appeared to be referring to the cells of his memory, with the view of being refreshed m a matter that had long since been a bygone, but which he desired to place as clearly before his listener as he could, in fact, to make if possible that relation real to him, and to omit nothing during its progress that should be told; or possibly that amiable individual was engaged in considering if there were any salient points that might incriminate himself, or give even a friend a handle to make use of against him, but apparently there was nothing of the kind, for, after a loud 'hem!' he filled the glasses, saying,
'Well, now, as you are a friend, I don't mind telling you how we do business here - things that have been done, you know, by others; but I have had my share as well as others - I have known a thing or two, Mr Todd, and I may say I have done a thing or two, too.'
'Well, we must all live and let live,' said Sweeney Todd, 'there s no going against that, you know; if all I have done could speak, why - but no matter, I am listening to you - however, if deeds could speak, one or two clever things would come out, rather, I think.'
'Ay, 'tis well they don't,' said Mr Fogg, with much solemnity, 'if they did, they would constantly be speaking at times when it would be very inconvenient to hear them, and dangerous besides.'
'So it would,' said Sweeney, 'a still tongue makes a wise head - but, then the silent system would bring no grist to the mill, and we must speak when we know we are right and among friends.'
'Of course,' said Fogg, 'of course, that's the right use of speech, and one may as well be without it as to have it and not use it; but come - drink, and fill again before I begin, and then to my tale. But we may as well have sentiment. Sentiment, you know,' continued Fogg, 'is the very soul of friendship. What do you say to "The heart that can feel for another"?'
'With all my soul,' said Sweeney Todd; 'it's very touching - very touching indeed. "The heart that can feel for another!"' and as he spoke, he emptied the glass, which he pushed towards Fogg to refill.
'Well,' said Fogg, as he complied, 'we have had the sentiment, we may as well have the exemplification.'
'Ha! ha! ha!' said Todd, 'very good, very good indeed; pray go on, that will do capitally.'
'I may as well tell you the whole matter, as it occurred; I will then let you know all I know, and in the same manner. None of the parties are now living, or, at least, they are not in this country, which is just the same thing, so far as I am concerned.'
'Then that is an affair settled and done with,' remarked Sweeney Todd parenthetically.
'Yes, quite. Well, it was one night - such a one as this, and pretty well about the same hour, perhaps somewhat earlier than this. However, it doesn't signify a straw about the hour; but it was quite night, a dark and wet night too, when a knock came at the street door - a sharp double knock it was. I was sitting alone, as I might have been now, drinking a glass or two of wine; I was startled, for I was thinking about an affair I had on hand at that very moment, of which there was a little stir.
'However, I went to the door, and peeped through a grating that I had there, and saw only a man; he had drawn his horse inside the gate, and secured him; he wore a large Whitney riding coat with a cape that would have thrown off a deluge.
'I fancied, or I thought I could tell, that he meant no mischief; so I opened the door at once and saw a tall gentlemanly man, but wrapped up so, that you could not tell who or what he was; but my eyes are sharp, you know, Mr Todd: we haven't seen so much of the world without learning to distinguish what kind of person one has to deal with.'
'I should think not,' said Todd.
"Well," said I, "what is your pleasure?"
'The stranger paused a moment or two before he made any reply to me.
'"Is your name Fogg?" he said.
"Yes, it is," said I, "what is your pleasure, sir?"
'"Why," said he, after another pause, during which he fixed his eye very hard upon me - "why, I wish to have a little private conversation with you, if you can spare so much time, upon a very important matter which I have in hand."
"Walk in, sir," said I, as soon as I heard what it was he wanted, and he followed me in. "It is a very unpleasant night, and it's coming on to rain harder: I think it is fortunate you have got housed."
'He came into this very parlour, and took a seat before the fire, with his back to the light, so that I couldn't see his face very well.
'However, I was determined that I would be satisfied in those particulars, and so, when he had taken off his hat, I stirred up the fire, and made a blaze that illuminated the whole room, and which showed me the sharp, thin visage of my visitor, who was a dark man with keen grey eyes that were very restless.
'"Will you have a glass of wine?" said I; "the night is cold as well as wet."
'"Yes, I will," he replied; "I am cold with riding. You have a lonely place about here; your house, I see, stands alone too. You have not many neighbours."
"No, sir," said I; "we hadn't need, for when any of the poor things set to screaming, it would make them feel very uncomfortable indeed."
'"So it would; there is an advantage in that both to yourself as well as to them. It would be disagreeable to you to know that you were disturbing your neighbours, and they would feel equally uncomfortable in being disturbed, and yet you must do your duty."
'"Ay! to be sure," said I; "I must do my duty, and people won't pay me for letting madmen go, though they may for keeping them; and besides that, I think some on 'em would get their throats cut if I did."
'"You