The String of Pearls (1850), p. 430

"Pass through," cried Mrs. Lovett sternly, "I for one will not abandon the business upon which I came, except with my life. It is more than life to me, and I will go upon it, let it lead me where it may."
"And I," said Todd, in a voice of great indifference, "I, too, am of precisely that opinion. So through the bridge me must go at any risk, if you, my men, will take us."
"Pull away, Bill," was the only reply of the waterman. "Pull away, Bill, nd keep her steady. On we go."
By this time a curious throng of persons had assembled on the bridge to watch the wherry, for previous to its approach two others had declined the
dangerous passage of the arch, and had landed their passengers at a small stairs some distance from the strong eddying current that leaped and bubbled through
the arch. It was therefore something of a treat for the crowd to see their boat make for the dreaded spot, an evident determination on the part of the rowers
to shoot through the arch of the bridge if it were possible so to do. No one spoke on board the boat. The watermen pulled very steady into the
current, keeping over their shoulders a wary eye upon the head of the boat. Todd's eyes gleamed like two coals of fire, and Mrs. Lovett was as pale as death
itself.
Perhaps at that moment she reflected that she had trusted herself with all her sins on board that little boat amid the wild rush of waters; but if she did, she
said nothing. Neither by word nor by action did she give indication of the fear that was tugging at her heart.
And now the little wherry was floating in the boiling surge that flew towards the arch, and made when it got there such a battle to get through. There was
no occasion for pulling. The only gog/i they could now do with their oars was to steady the little craft, and so far as was possible to keep her head to the current.
That this was done by the two watermen with admirable and practised skill, every one who watched the progress of the party from the bridge or elsewhere
could perceive ; and now the critical moment was at hand, and the boat being caught like a reed, was swept under the bridge by the rapid current.
"Easy, Bill," cried one of the men.
"Easy it is," said the other.
"You will upset us, my dear madam," said Todd, "if you move;" and then, while the two men were fully engaged with the boat, and by far too much occupied with the necessary movements for the preservation of themselves and their little craft, Todd, with one blow upon the head, struck Mrs. Lovett overboard.
She uttered a piercing shriek.
"What's that?—what's that?" cried the boatmen.
The boat scraped against the side of the arch for a moment, and then shot through it with a terrific bound into the comparatively still water on the other side of the bridge.
"Im afraid,' said Todd, "that the ladv has fallen overboard."
"Afraid!" cried one of the watermen. "Why, good God! don't you see she has; and there she goes, along with the stream. Pull away. Bill; don't you see her? There she goes!"
"Alas, poor thing!" said Todd.
He affected to be overcome by his feelings, and to be compelled to rest his head upon his hands, while he kept his hot-looking blood-shot eyes fixed upon
the form of Mrs. Lovett in the water.
And now a scene ensued of deep interest to Todd—a scene which he watched with the greatest attention. It was a scene upon the issue of which he felt that
his life depended.
If Mrs. Lovett were saved, his life would not be worth an hour's purchase. If she were drowned, he was, so he fancied, a free man; and he saw that from the shore several boats put off after her, while the two men in his wherry pulled as though their lives depended upon hers.