shifty doings are afoot,

The quotation is "it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good." This is from Shakespeare. An "ill" wind would be a bad or unpleasant wind - but the quote means that even a bad wind can result in good things in the end.

The saying, 'it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good' means that bad events or misfortunes usually benefit some other people, for example, after storms, some people earn jobs to rebuild the destroyed houses.

A fart

'Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good - 1912 was released on:

USA: 12 February 1912