Oliver Twist Capitulo XVI y XVII

CHAPTER XVI

RELATES WHAT BECAME OF OLIVER TWIST, AFTER HE HAD BEEN

CLAIMED BY

NANCY

The narrow streets and courts, at length, terminated in a large open space; scattered

about which, were pens for beasts, and other indications of a cattle-market. Sikes

slackened his pace when they reached this spot: the girl being quite unable to support

any longer, the rapid rate at which they had hitherto walked. Turning to Oliver, he

roughly commanded him to take hold of Nancy's hand.

'Do you hear?' growled Sikes, as Oliver hesitated, and looked round.

They were in a dark corner, quite out of the track of passengers.

Oliver saw, but too plainly, that resistance would be of no avail. He held out his hand,

which Nancy clasped tight in hers.

'Give me the other,' said Sikes, seizing Oliver's unoccupied hand. 'Here, Bull's-Eye!'

The dog looked up, and growled.

'See here, boy!' said Sikes, putting his other hand to Oliver's throat; 'if he speaks ever so

soft a word, hold him! D'ye mind!'

The dog growled again; and licking his lips, eyed Oliver as if he were anxious to attach

himself to his windpipe without delay.

'He's as willing as a Christian, strike me blind if he isn't!' said Sikes, regarding the

animal with a kind of grim and ferocious approval. 'Now, you know what you've got to

expect, master, so call away as quick as you like; the dog will soon stop that game. Get

on, young'un!'

Bull's-eye wagged his tail in acknowledgment of this unusually endearing form of

speech; and, giving vent to another admonitory growl for the benefit of Oliver, led the

way onward.

It was Smithfield that they were crossing, although it might have been Grosvenor

Square, for anything Oliver knew to the contrary. The night was dark and foggy. The

lights in the shops could scarecely struggle through the heavy mist, which thickened

every moment and shrouded the streets and houses in gloom; rendering the strange

place still stranger in Oliver's eyes; and making his uncertainty the more dismal and

depressing.

They had hurried on a few paces, when a deep church-bell struck the hour. With its first

stroke, his two conductors stopped, and turned their heads in the direction whence the

sound proceeded.

'Eight o' clock, Bill,' said Nancy, when the bell ceased.

'What's the good of telling me that; I can hear it, can't I!' replied Sikes.

'I wonder whether THEY can hear it,' said Nancy.

'Of course they can,' replied Sikes. 'It was Bartlemy time when I was shopped; and

there warn't a penny trumpet in the fair, as I couldn't hear the squeaking on. Arter I was

locked up for the night, the row and din outside made the thundering old jail so silent,

that I could almost have beat my brains out against the iron plates of the door.'

'Poor fellow!' said Nancy, who still had her face turned towards the quarter in which the

bell had sounded. 'Oh, Bill, such fine young chaps as them!'

'Yes; that's all you women think of,' answered Sikes. 'Fine young chaps! Well, they're

as good as dead, so it don't much matter.'

With this consolation, Mr. Sikes appeared to repress a rising tendency to jealousy, and,

clasping Oliver's wrist more firmly, told him to step out again.

'Wait a minute!' said the girl: 'I wouldn't hurry by, if it was you that was coming out to

be hung, the next time eight o'clock struck, Bill. I'd walk round and round the place till

I dropped, if the snow was on the ground, and I hadn't a shawl to cover me.'

'And what good would that do?' inquired the unsentimental Mr. Sikes. 'Unless you

could pitch over a file and twenty yards of good stout rope, you might as well be

walking fifty mile off, or not walking at all, for all the good it would do me. Come on,

and don't stand preaching there.'

The girl burst into a laugh; drew her shawl more closely round her; and they walked

away. But Oliver felt her hand tremble, and, looking up in her face as they passed a

gas-lamp, saw that it had turned a deadly white.

They walked on, by little-frequented and dirty ways, for a full half-hour: meeting very

few people, and those appearing from their looks to hold much the same position in

society as Mr. Sikes himself. At length they turned into a very filthy narrow street,

nearly full of old-clothes shops; the dog running forward, as if conscious that there was

no further occasion for his keeping on guard, stopped before the door of a shop that was

closed and apparently untenanted; the house was in a ruinous condition, and on the door

was nailed a board, intimating that it was to let: which looked as if it had hung there for

many years.

'All right,' cried Sikes, glancing cautiously about.

Nancy stooped below the shutters, and Oliver heard the sound of a bell. They crossed

to the opposite side of the street, and stood for a few moments under a lamp. A noise,

as if a sash window were gently raised, was heard; and soon afterwards the door softly

opened. Mr. Sikes then seized the terrified boy by the collar with very little ceremony;

and all three were quickly inside the house.

The passage was perfectly dark. They waited, while the person who had let them in,

chained and barred the door.

'Anybody here?' inquired Sikes.

'No,' replied a voice, which Oliver thought he had heard before.

'Is the old 'un here?' asked the robber.

'Yes,' replied the voice, 'and precious down in the mouth he has been. Won't he be glad

to see you? Oh, no!'

The style of this reply, as well as the voice which delivered it, seemed familiar to

Oliver's ears: but it was impossible to distinguish even the form of the speaker in the

darkness.

'Let's have a glim,' said Sikes, 'or we shall go breaking our necks, or treading on the

dog. Look after your legs if you do!'

'Stand still a moment, and I'll get you one,' replied the voice. The receding footsteps of

the speaker were heard; and, in another minute, the form of Mr. John Dawkins,

otherwise the Artful Dodger, appeared. He bore in his right hand a tallow candle stuck

in the end of a cleft stick.

The young gentleman did not stop to bestow any other mark of recognition upon Oliver

than a humourous grin; but, turning away, beckoned the visitors to follow him down a

flight of stairs. They crossed an empty kitchen; and, opening the door of a low earthysmelling

room, which seemed to have been built in a small back-yard, were received

with a shout of laughter.

'Oh, my wig, my wig!' cried Master Charles Bates, from whose lungs the laughter had

proceeded: 'here he is! oh, cry, here he is! Oh, Fagin, look at him! Fagin, do look at

him! I can't bear it; it is such a jolly game, I cant' bear it. Hold me, somebody, while I

laugh it out.'

With this irrepressible ebullition of mirth, Master Bates laid himself flat on the floor:

and kicked convulsively for five minutes, in an ectasy of facetious joy. Then jumping

to his feet, he snatched the cleft stick from the Dodger; and, advancing to Oliver,

viewed him round and round; while the Jew, taking off his nightcap, made a great

number of low bows to the bewildered boy. The Artful, meantime, who was of a rather

saturnine disposition, and seldom gave way to merriment when it interfered with

business, rifled Oliver's pockets with steady assiduity.

'Look at his togs, Fagin!' said Charley, putting the light so close to his new jacket as

nearly to set him on fire. 'Look at his togs! Superfine cloth, and the heavy swell cut!

Oh, my eye, what a game! And his books, too! Nothing but a gentleman, Fagin!'

'Delighted to see you looking so well, my dear,' said the Jew, bowing with mock

humility. 'The Artful shall give you another suit, my dear, for fear you should spoil that

Sunday one. Why didn't you write, my dear, and say you were coming? We'd have got

something warm for supper.'

At his, Master Bates roared again: so loud, that Fagin himself relaxed, and even the

Dodger smiled; but as the Artful drew forth the five-pound note at that instant, it is

doubtful whether the sally of the discovery awakened his merriment.

'Hallo, what's that?' inquired Sikes, stepping forward as the Jew seized the note. 'That's

mine, Fagin.'

'No, no, my dear,' said the Jew. 'Mine, Bill, mine. You shall have the books.'

'If that ain't mine!' said Bill Sikes, putting on his hat with a determined air; 'mine and

Nancy's that is; I'll take the boy back again.'

The Jew started. Oliver started too, though from a very different cause; for he hoped

that the dispute might really end in his being taken back.

'Come! Hand over, will you?' said Sikes.

'This is hardly fair, Bill; hardly fair, is it, Nancy?' inquired the Jew.

'Fair, or not fair,' retorted Sikes, 'hand over, I tell you! Do you think Nancy and me has

got nothing else to do with our precious time but to spend it in scouting arter, and

kidnapping, every young boy as gets grabbed through you? Give it here, you avaricious

old skeleton, give it here!'

With this gentle remonstrance, Mr. Sikes plucked the note from between the Jew's

finger and thumb; and looking the old man coolly in the face, folded it up small, and

tied it in his neckerchief.

'That's for our share of the trouble,' said Sikes; 'and not half enough, neither. You may

keep the books, if you're fond of reading. If you ain't, sell 'em.'

'They're very pretty,' said Charley Bates: who, with sundry grimaces, had been affecting

to read one of the volumes in question; 'beautiful writing, isn't is, Oliver?' At sight of

the dismayed look with which Oliver regarded his tormentors, Master Bates, who was

blessed with a lively sense of the ludicrous, fell into another ectasy, more boisterous

than the first.

'They belong to the old gentleman,' said Oliver, wringing his hands; 'to the good, kind,

old gentleman who took me into his house, and had me nursed, when I was near dying

of the fever. Oh, pray send them back; send him back the books and money. Keep me

here all my life long; but pray, pray send them back. He'll think I stole them; the old

lady: all of them who were so kind to me: will think I stole them. Oh, do have mercy

upon me, and send them back!'

With these words, which were uttered with all the energy of passionate grief, Oliver fell

upon his knees at the Jew's feet; and beat his hands together, in perfect desperation.

'The boy's right,' remarked Fagin, looking covertly round, and knitting his shaggy

eyebrows into a hard knot. 'You're right, Oliver, you're right; they WILL think you

have stolen 'em. Ha! ha!' chuckled the Jew, rubbing his hands, 'it couldn't have

happened better, if we had chosen our time!'

'Of course it couldn't,' replied Sikes; 'I know'd that, directly I see him coming through

Clerkenwell, with the books under his arm. It's all right enough. They're soft-hearted

psalm-singers, or they wouldn't have taken him in at all; and they'll ask no questions

after him, fear they should be obliged to prosecute, and so get him lagged. He's safe

enough.'

Oliver had looked from one to the other, while these words were being spoken, as if he

were bewildered, and could scarecely understand what passed; but when Bill Sikes

concluded, he jumped suddenly to his feet, and tore wildly from the room: uttering

shrieks for help, which made the bare old house echo to the roof.

'Keep back the dog, Bill!' cried Nancy, springing before the door, and closing it, as the

Jew and his two pupils darted out in pursuit. 'Keep back the dog; he'll tear the boy to

pieces.'

'Serve him right!' cried Sikes, struggling to disengage himself from the girl's grasp.

'Stand off from me, or I'll split your head against the wall.'

'I don't care for that, Bill, I don't care for that,' screamed the girl, struggling violently

with the man, 'the child shan't be torn down by the dog, unless you kill me first.'

'Shan't he!' said Sikes, setting his teeth. 'I'll soon do that, if you don't keep off.'

The housebreaker flung the girl from him to the further end of the room, just as the Jew

and the two boys returned, dragging Oliver among them.

'What's the matter here!' said Fagin, looking round.

'The girl's gone mad, I think,' replied Sikes, savagely.

'No, she hasn't,' said Nancy, pale and breathless from the scuffle; 'no, she hasn't, Fagin;

don't think it.'

'Then keep quiet, will you?' said the Jew, with a threatening look.

'No, I won't do that, neither,' replied Nancy, speaking very loud. 'Come! What do you

think of that?'

Mr. Fagin was sufficiently well acquainted with the manners and customs of that

particular species of humanity to which Nancy belonged, to feel tolerably certain that it

would be rather unsafe to prolong any conversation with her, at present. With the view

of diverting the attention of the company, he turned to Oliver.

'So you wanted to get away, my dear, did you?' said the Jew, taking up a jagged and

knotted club which law in a corner of the fireplace; 'eh?'

Oliver made no reply. But he watched the Jew's motions, and breathed quickly.

'Wanted to get assistance; called for the police; did you?' sneered the Jew, catching the

boy by the arm. 'We'll cure you of that, my young master.'

The Jew inflicted a smart blow on Oliver's shoulders with the club; and was raising it

for a second, when the girl, rushing forward, wrested it from his hand. She flung it into

the fire, with a force that brought some of the glowing coals whirling out into the room.

'I won't stand by and see it done, Fagin,' cried the girl. 'You've got the boy, and what

more would you have?--Let him be--let him be--or I shall put that mark on some of you,

that will bring me to the gallows before my time.'

The girl stamped her foot violently on the floor as she vented this threat; and with her

lips compressed, and her hands clenched, looked alternately at the Jew and the other

robber: her face quite colourless from the passion of rage into which she had gradually

worked herself.

'Why, Nancy!' said the Jew, in a soothing tone; after a pause, during which he and Mr.

Sikes had stared at one another in a disconcerted manner; 'you,--you're more clever than

ever to-night. Ha! ha! my dear, you are acting beautifully.'

'Am I!' said the girl. 'Take care I don't overdo it. You will be the worse for it, Fagin, if

I do; and so I tell you in good time to keep clear of me.'

There is something about a roused woman: especially if she add to all her other strong

passions, the fierce impulses of recklessness and despair; which few men like to

provoke. The Jew saw that it would be hopeless to affect any further mistake regarding

the reality of Miss Nancy's rage; and, shrinking involuntarily back a few paces, cast a

glance, half imploring and half cowardly, at Sikes: as if to hint that he was the fittest

person to pursue the dialogue.

Mr. Sikes, thus mutely appealed to; and possibly feeling his personal pride and

influence interested in the immediate reduction of Miss Nancy to reason; gave utterance

to about a couple of score of curses and threats, the rapid production of which reflected

great credit on the fertility of his invention. As they produced no visible effect on the

object against whom they were discharged, however, he resorted to more tangible

arguments.

'What do you mean by this?' said Sikes; backing the inquiry with a very common

imprecation concerning the most beautiful of human features: which, if it were heard

above, only once out of every fifty thousand times that it is uttered below, would render

blindness as common a disorder as measles: 'what do you mean by it? Burn my body!

Do you know who you are, and what you are?'

'Oh, yes, I know all about it,' replied the girl, laughing hysterically; and shaking her

head from side to side, with a poor assumption of indifference.

'Well, then, keep quiet,' rejoined Sikes, with a growl like that he was accustomed to use

when addressing his dog, 'or I'll quiet you for a good long time to come.'

The girl laughed again: even less composedly than before; and, darting a hasty look at

Sikes, turned her face aside, and bit her lip till the blood came.

'You're a nice one,' added Sikes, as he surveyed her with a contemptuous air, 'to take up

the humane and gen--teel side! A pretty subject for the child, as you call him, to make a

friend of!'

'God Almighty help me, I am!' cried the girl passionately; 'and I wish I had been struck

dead in the street, or had changed places with them we passed so near to-night, before I

had lent a hand in bringing him here. He's a thief, a liar, a devil, all that's bad, from this

night forth. Isn't that enough for the old wretch, without blows?'

'Come, come, Sikes,' said the Jew appealing to him in a remonstratory tone, and

motioning towards the boys, who were eagerly attentive to all that passed; 'we must

have civil words; civil words, Bill.'

'Civil words!' cried the girl, whose passion was frightful to see. 'Civil words, you

villain! Yes, you deserve 'em from me. I thieved for you when I was a child not half as

old as this!' pointing to Oliver. 'I have been in the same trade, and in the same service,

for twelve years since. Don't you know it? Speak out! Don't you know it?'

'Well, well,' replied the Jew, with an attempt at pacification;

'and, if you have, it's your living!'

'Aye, it is!' returned the girl; not speaking, but pouring out the words in one continuous

and vehement scream. 'It is my living; and the cold, wet, dirty streets are my home; and

you're the wretch that drove me to them long ago, and that'll keep me there, day and

night, day and night, till I die!'

'I shall do you a mischief!' interposed the Jew, goaded by these reproaches; 'a mischief

worse than that, if you say much more!'

The girl said nothing more; but, tearing her hair and dress in a transport of passion,

made such a rush at the Jew as would probably have left signal marks of her revenge

upon him, had not her wrists been seized by Sikes at the right moment; upon which, she

made a few ineffectual struggles, and fainted.

'She's all right now,' said Sikes, laying her down in a corner.

'She's uncommon strong in the arms, when she's up in this way.'

The Jew wiped his forehead: and smiled, as if it were a relief to have the disturbance

over; but neither he, nor Sikes, nor the dog, nor the boys, seemed to consider it in any

other light than a common occurance incidental to business.

'It's the worst of having to do with women,' said the Jew, replacing his club; 'but they're

clever, and we can't get on, in our line, without 'em. Charley, show Oliver to bed.'

'I suppose he'd better not wear his best clothes tomorrow, Fagin, had he?' inquired

Charley Bates.

'Certainly not,' replied the Jew, reciprocating the grin with which Charley put the

question.

Master Bates, apparently much delighted with his commission, took the cleft stick: and

led Oliver into an adjacent kitchen, where there were two or three of the beds on which

he had slept before; and here, with many uncontrollable bursts of laughter, he produced

the identical old suit of clothes which Oliver had so much congratulated himself upon

leaving off at Mr. Brownlow's; and the accidental display of which, to Fagin, by the Jew

who purchased them, had been the very first clue received, of his whereabout.

'Put off the smart ones,' said Charley, 'and I'll give 'em to Fagin to take care of. What

fun it is!'

Poor Oliver unwillingly complied. Master Bates rolling up the new clothes under his

arm, departed from the room, leaving Oliver in the dark, and locking the door behind

him.

The noise of Charley's laughter, and the voice of Miss Betsy, who opportunely arrived

to throw water over her friend, and perform other feminine offices for the promotion of

her recovery, might have kept many people awake under more happy circumstances

than those in which Oliver was placed. But he was sick and weary; and he soon fell

sound asleep.

CHAPTER XVII

OLIVER'S DESTINY CONTINUING UNPROPITIOUS, BRINGS A GREAT MAN

TO

LONDON TO INJURE HIS REPUTATION

It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas, to present the tragic

and the comic scenes, in as regular alternation, as the layers of red and white in a side of

streaky bacon. The hero sinks upon his straw bed, weighed down by fetters and

misfortunes; in the next scene, his faithful but unconscious squire regales the audience

with a comic song. We behold, with throbbing bosoms, the heroine in the grasp of a

proud and ruthless baron: her virtue and her life alike in danger, drawing forth her

dagger to preserve the one at the cost of the other; and just as our expectations are

wrought up to the highest pitch, a whistle is heard, and we are straightway transported

to the great hall of the castle; where a grey-headed seneschal sings a funny chorus with

a funnier body of vassals, who are free of all sorts of places, from church vaults to

palaces, and roam about in company, carolling perpetually.

Such changes appear absurd; but they are not so unnatural as they would seem at first

sight. The transitions in real life from well-spread boards to death-beds, and from

mourning-weeds to holiday garments, are not a whit less startling; only, there, we are

busy actors, instead of passive lookers-on, which makes a vast difference. The actors in

the mimic life of the theatre, are blind to violent transitions and abrupt impulses of

passion or feeling, which, presented before the eyes of mere spectators, are at once

condemned as outrageous and preposterous.

As sudden shiftings of the scene, and rapid changes of time and place, are not only

sanctioned in books by long usage, but are by many considered as the great art of

authorship: an author's skill in his craft being, by such critics, chiefly estimated with

relation to the dilemmas in which he leaves his characters at the end of every chapter:

this brief introduction to the present one may perhaps be deemed unnecessary. If so, let

it be considered a delicate intimation on the part of the historian that he is going back to

the town in which Oliver Twist was born; the reader taking it for granted that there are

good and substantial reasons for making the journey, or he would not be invited to

proceed upon such an expedition.

Mr. Bumble emerged at early morning from the workhouse-gate, and walked with

portly carriage and commanding steps, up the High Street. He was in the full bloom

and pride of beadlehood; his cocked hat and coat were dazzling in the morning sun; he

clutched his cane with the vigorous tenacity of health and power. Mr. Bumble always

carried his head high; but this morning it was higher than usual. There was an

abstraction in his eye, an elevation in his air, which might have warned an observant

stranger that thoughts were passing in the beadle's mind, too great for utterance.

Mr. Bumble stopped not to converse with the small shopkeepers and others who spoke

to him, deferentially, as he passed along. He merely returned their salutations with a

wave of his hand, and relaxed not in his dignified pace, until he reached the farm where

Mrs. Mann tended the infant paupers with parochial care.

'Drat that beadle!' said Mrs. Mann, hearing the well-known shaking at the garden-gate.

'If it isn't him at this time in the morning! Lauk, Mr. Bumble, only think of its being

you! Well, dear me, it IS a pleasure, this is! Come into the parlour, sir, please.'

The first sentence was addressed to Susan; and the exclamations of delight were uttered

to Mr. Bumble: as the good lady unlocked the garden-gate: and showed him, with great

attention and respect, into the house.

'Mrs. Mann,' said Mr. Bumble; not sitting upon, or dropping himself into a seat, as any

common jackanapes would: but letting himself gradually and slowly down into a chair;

'Mrs. Mann, ma'am, good morning.'

'Well, and good morning to YOU, sir,' replied Mrs. Mann, with many smiles; 'and

hoping you find yourself well, sir!'

'So-so, Mrs. Mann,' replied the beadle. 'A porochial life is not a bed of roses, Mrs.

Mann.'

'Ah, that it isn't indeed, Mr. Bumble,' rejoined the lady. And all the infant paupers might

have chorussed the rejoinder with great propriety, if they had heard it.

'A porochial life, ma'am,' continued Mr. Bumble, striking the table with his cane, 'is a

life of worrit, and vexation, and hardihood; but all public characters, as I may say, must

suffer prosecution.'

Mrs. Mann, not very well knowing what the beadle meant, raised her hands with a look

of sympathy, and sighed.

'Ah! You may well sigh, Mrs. Mann!' said the beadle.

Finding she had done right, Mrs. Mann sighed again: evidently to

the satisfaction of the public character: who, repressing a

complacent smile by looking sternly at his cocked hat, said,

'Mrs. Mann, I am going to London.'

'Lauk, Mr. Bumble!' cried Mrs. Mann, starting back.

'To London, ma'am,' resumed the inflexible beadle, 'by coach. I and two paupers, Mrs.

Mann! A legal action is a coming on, about a settlement; and the board has appointed

me--me, Mrs. Mann--to dispose to the matter before the quarter-sessions at Clerkinwell.

And I very much question,' added Mr. Bumble, drawing himself up, 'whether the

Clerkinwell Sessions will not find themselves in the wrong box before they have done

with me.'

'Oh! you mustn't be too hard upon them, sir,' said Mrs. Mann, coaxingly.

'The Clerkinwell Sessions have brought it upon themselves, ma'am,' replied Mr.

Bumble; 'and if the Clerkinwell Sessions find that they come off rather worse than they

expected, the Clerkinwell Sessions have only themselves to thank.'

There was so much determination and depth of purpose about the

menacing manner in which Mr. Bumble delivered himself of these

words, that Mrs. Mann appeared quite awed by them. At length she

said,

'You're going by coach, sir? I thought it was always usual to send them paupers in

carts.'

'That's when they're ill, Mrs. Mann,' said the beadle. 'We put the sick paupers into open

carts in the rainy weather, to prevent their taking cold.'

'Oh!' said Mrs. Mann.

'The opposition coach contracts for these two; and takes them cheap,' said Mr. Bumble.

'They are both in a very low state, and we find it would come two pound cheaper to

move 'em than to bury 'em--that is, if we can throw 'em upon another parish, which I

think we shall be able to do, if they don't die upon the road to spite us. Ha! ha! ha!'

When Mr. Bumble had laughed a little while, his eyes again encountered the cocked hat;

and he became grave.

'We are forgetting business, ma'am,' said the beadle; 'here is your porochial stipend for

the month."

Mr. Bumble produced some silver money rolled up in paper, from his pocket-book; and

requested a receipt: which Mrs. Mann wrote.

'It's very much blotted, sir,' said the farmer of infants; 'but it's formal enough, I dare say.

Thank you, Mr. Bumble, sir, I am very much obliged to you, I'm sure.'

Mr. Bumble nodded, blandly, in acknowledgment of Mrs. Mann's curtsey; and inquired

how the children were.

'Bless their dear little hearts!' said Mrs. Mann with emotion, 'they're as well as can be,

the dears! Of course, except the two that died last week. And little Dick.'

'Isn't that boy no better?' inquired Mr. Bumble.

Mrs. Mann shook her head.

'He's a ill-conditioned, wicious, bad-disposed porochial child that,' said Mr. Bumble

angrily. 'Where is he?'

'I'll bring him to you in one minute, sir,' replied Mrs. Mann.

'Here, you Dick!'

After some calling, Dick was discovered. Having had his face put under the pump, and

dried upon Mrs. Mann's gown, he was led into the awful presence of Mr. Bumble, the

beadle.

The child was pale and thin; his cheeks were sunken; and his eyes large and bright. The

scanty parish dress, the livery of his misery, hung loosely on his feeble body; and his

young limbs had wasted away, like those of an old man.

Such was the little being who stood trembling beneath Mr. Bumble's glance; not daring

to lift his eyes from the floor; and dreading even to hear the beadle's voice.

'Can't you look at the gentleman, you obstinate boy?' said Mrs.

Mann.

The child meekly raised his eyes, and encountered those of Mr.

Bumble.

'What's the matter with you, porochial Dick?' inquired Mr.

Bumble, with well-timed jocularity.

'Nothing, sir,' replied the child faintly.

'I should think not,' said Mrs. Mann, who had of course laughed very much at Mr.

Bumble's humour.

'You want for nothing, I'm sure.'

'I should like--' faltered the child.

'Hey-day!' interposed Mr. Mann, 'I suppose you're going to say

that you DO want for something, now? Why, you little wretch--'

'Stop, Mrs. Mann, stop!' said the beadle, raising his hand with a show of authority.

'Like what, sir, eh?'

'I should like,' said the child, 'to leave my dear love to poor Oliver Twist; and to let him

know how often I have sat by myself and cried to think of his wandering about in the

dark nights with nobody to help him. And I should like to tell him,' said the child

pressing his small hands together, and speaking with great fervour, 'that I was glad to

die when I was very young; for, perhaps, if I had lived to be a man, and had grown old,

my little sister who is in Heaven, might forget me, or be unlike me; and it would be so

much happier if we were both children there together.'

Mr. Bumble surveyed the little speaker, from head to foot, with indescribable

astonishment; and, turning to his companion, said, 'They're all in one story, Mrs. Mann.

That out-dacious Oliver had demogalized them all!'

'I couldn't have believed it, sir' said Mrs Mann, holding up her hands, and looking

malignantly at Dick. 'I never see such a hardened little wretch!'

'Take him away, ma'am!' said Mr. Bumble imperiously. 'This must be stated to the

board, Mrs. Mann.

'I hope the gentleman will understand that it isn't my fault, sir?' said Mrs. Mann,

whimpering pathetically.

'They shall understand that, ma'am; they shall be acquainted with the true state of the

case,' said Mr. Bumble. 'There; take him away, I can't bear the sight on him.'

Dick was immediately taken away, and locked up in the coal-cellar. Mr. Bumble

shortly afterwards took himself off, to prepare for his journey.

At six o'clock next morning, Mr. Bumble: having exchanged his cocked hat for a round

one, and encased his person in a blue great-coat with a cape to it: took his place on the

outside of the coach, accompanied by the criminals whose settlement was disputed; with

whom, in due course of time, he arrived in London.

He experienced no other crosses on the way, than those which originated in the perverse

behaviour of the two paupers, who persisted in shivering, and complaining of the cold,

in a manner which, Mr. Bumble declared, caused his teeth to chatter in his head, and

made him feel quite uncomfortable; although he had a great-coat on.

Having disposed of these evil-minded persons for the night, Mr. Bumble sat himself

down in the house at which the coach stopped; and took a temperate dinner of steaks,

oyster sauce, and porter. Putting a glass of hot gin-and-water on the chimney-piece, he

drew his chair to the fire; and, with sundry moral reflections on the too-prevalent sin of

discontent and complaining, composed himself to read the paper.

The very first paragraph upon which Mr. Bumble's eye rested, was the following

advertisement.

'FIVE GUINEAS REWARD

'Whereas a young boy, named Oliver Twist, absconded, or was enticed, on Thursday

evening last, from his home, at Pentonville; and has not since been heard of. The above

reward will be paid to any person who will give such information as will lead to the

discovery of the said Oliver Twist, or tend to throw any light upon his previous history,

in which the advertiser is, for many reasons, warmly interested.'

And then followed a full description of Oliver's dress, person, appearance, and

disappearance: with the name and address of Mr. Brownlow at full length.

Mr. Bumble opened his eyes; read the advertisement, slowly and carefully, three several

times; and in something more than five minutes was on his way to Pentonville: having

actually, in his excitement, left the glass of hot gin-and-water, untasted.

'Is Mr. Brownlow at home?' inquired Mr. Bumble of the girl who opened the door.

To this inquiry the girl returned the not uncommon, but rather evasive reply of 'I don't

know; where do you come from?'

Mr. Bumble no sooner uttered Oliver's name, in explanation of his errand, than Mrs.

Bedwin, who had been listening at the parlour door, hastened into the passage in a

breathless state.

'Come in, come in,' said the old lady: 'I knew we should hear of him. Poor dear! I knew

we should! I was certain of it. Bless his heart! I said so all along.'

Having heard this, the worthy old lady hurried back into the parlour again; and seating

herself on a sofa, burst into tears. The girl, who was not quite so susceptible, had run

upstairs meanwhile; and now returned with a request that Mr. Bumble would follow her

immediately: which he did.

He was shown into the little back study, where sat Mr. Brownlow and his friend Mr.

Grimwig, with decanters and glasses before them. The latter gentleman at once burst

into the exclamation:

'A beadle. A parish beadle, or I'll eat my head.'

'Pray don't interrupt just now,' said Mr. Brownlow. 'Take a seat, will you?'

Mr. Bumble sat himself down; quite confounded by the oddity of

Mr. Grimwig's manner. Mr. Brownlow moved the lamp, so as to

obtain an uninterrupted view of the beadle's countenance; and

said, with a little impatience,

'Now, sir, you come in consequence of having seen the advertisement?'

'Yes, sir,' said Mr. Bumble.

'And you ARE a beadle, are you not?' inquired Mr. Grimwig.

'I am a porochial beadle, gentlemen,' rejoined Mr. Bumble proudly.

'Of course,' observed Mr. Grimwig aside to his friend, 'I knew he was. A beadle all

over!'

Mr. Brownlow gently shook his head to impose silence on his friend, and resumed:

'Do you know where this poor boy is now?'

'No more than nobody,' replied Mr. Bumble.

'Well, what DO you know of him?' inquired the old gentleman. 'Speak out, my friend, if

you have anything to say. What DO you know of him?'

'You don't happen to know any good of him, do you?' said Mr. Grimwig, caustically;

after an attentive perusal of Mr. Bumble's features.

Mr. Bumble, catching at the inquiry very quickly, shook his head with portentous

solemnity.

'You see?' said Mr. Grimwig, looking triumphantly at Mr.

Brownlow.

Mr. Brownlow looked apprehensively at Mr. Bumble's pursed-up countenance; and

requested him to communicate what he knew regarding Oliver, in as few words as

possible.

Mr. Bumble put down his hat; unbuttoned his coat; folded his arms; inclined his head in

a retrospective manner; and, after a few moments' reflection, commenced his story.

It would be tedious if given in the beadle's words: occupying, as it did, some twenty

minutes in the telling; but the sum and substance of it was, that Oliver was a foundling,

born of low and vicious parents. That he had, from his birth, displayed no better

qualities than treachery, ingratitude, and malice. That he had terminated his brief career

in the place of his birth, by making a sanguinary and cowardly attack on an unoffending

lad, and running away in the night-time from his master's house. In proof of his really

being the person he represented himself, Mr. Bumble laid upon the table the papers he

had brought to town. Folding his arms again, he then awaited Mr. Brownlow's

observations.

'I fear it is all too true,' said the old gentleman sorrowfully, after looking over the

papers. 'This is not much for your intelligence; but I would gladly have given you treble

the money, if it had been favourable to the boy.'

It is not improbable that if Mr. Bumble had been possessed of this information at an

earlier period of the interview, he might have imparted a very different colouring to his

little history. It was too late to do it now, however; so he shook his head gravely, and,

pocketing the five guineas, withdrew.

Mr. Brownlow paced the room to and fro for some minutes; evidently so much

disturbed by the beadle's tale, that even Mr. Grimwig forbore to vex him further.

At length he stopped, and rang the bell violently.

'Mrs. Bedwin,' said Mr. Brownlow, when the housekeeper appeared;

'that boy, Oliver, is an imposter.'

'It can't be, sir. It cannot be,' said the old lady

energetically.

'I tell you he is,' retorted the old gentleman. 'What do you mean by can't be? We have

just heard a full account of him from his birth; and he has been a thorough-paced little

villain, all his life.'

'I never will believe it, sir,' replied the old lady, firmly.

'Never!'

'You old women never believe anything but quack-doctors, and lying story-books,'

growled Mr. Grimwig. 'I knew it all along. Why didn't you take my advise in the

beginning; you would if he hadn't had a fever, I suppose, eh? He was interesting, wasn't

he? Interesting! Bah!' And Mr. Grimwig poked the fire with a flourish.

'He was a dear, grateful, gentle child, sir,' retorted Mrs. Bedwin, indignantly. 'I know

what children are, sir; and have done these forty years; and people who can't say the

same, shouldn't say anything about them. That's my opinion!'

This was a hard hit at Mr. Grimwig, who was a bachelor. As it extorted nothing from

that gentleman but a smile, the old lady tossed her head, and smoothed down her apron

preparatory to another speech, when she was stopped by Mr. Brownlow.

'Silence!' said the old gentleman, feigning an anger he was far from feeling. 'Never let

me hear the boy's name again. I rang to tell you that. Never. Never, on any pretence,

mind! You may leave the room, Mrs. Bedwin. Remember! I am in earnest.'

There were sad hearts at Mr. Brownlow's that night.

Oliver's heart sank within him, when he thought of his good friends; it was well for him

that he could not know what they had heard, or it might have broken outright.

Capitulo XIV y XV Oliver Twist

CHAPTER XIV

COMPRISING FURTHER PARTICULARS OF OLIVER'S STAY AT MR.

BROWNLOW'S, WITH THE REMARKABLE PREDICTION WHICH ONE MR.

GRIMWIG

UTTERED CONCERNING HIM, WHEN HE WENT OUT ON AN ERRAND

Oliver soon recovering from the fainting-fit into which Mr. Brownlow's abrupt

exclamation had thrown him, the subject of the picture was carefully avoided, both by

the old gentleman and Mrs. Bedwin, in the conversation that ensued: which indeed

bore no reference to Oliver's history or prospects, but was confined to such topics as

might amuse without exciting him. He was still too weak to get up to breakfast; but,

when he came down into the housekeeper's room next day, his first act was to cast an

eager glance at the wall, in the hope of again looking on the face of the beautiful lady.

His expectations were disappointed, however, for the picture had been removed.

'Ah!' said the housekeeper, watching the direction of Oliver's eyes. 'It is gone, you see.'

'I see it is ma'am,' replied Oliver. 'Why have they taken it away?'

'It has been taken down, child, because Mr. Brownlow said, that as it seemed to worry

you, perhaps it might prevent your getting well, you know,' rejoined the old lady.

'Oh, no, indeed. It didn't worry me, ma'am,' said Oliver. 'I liked to see it. I quite loved

it.'

'Well, well!' said the old lady, good-humouredly; 'you get well as fast as ever you can,

dear, and it shall be hung up again. There! I promise you that! Now, let us talk about

something else.'

This was all the information Oliver could obtain about the picture at that time. As the

old lady had been so kind to him in his illness, he endeavoured to think no more of the

subject just then; so he listened attentively to a great many stories she told him, about an

amiable and handsome daughter of hers, who was married to an amiable and handsome

man, and lived in the country; and about a son, who was clerk to a merchant in the West

Indies; and who was, also, such a good young man, and wrote such dutiful letters home

four times a-year, that it brought the tears into her eyes to talk about them. When the

old lady had expatiated, a long time, on the excellences of her children, and the merits

of her kind good husband besides, who had been dead and gone, poor dear soul! just

six-and-twenty years, it was time to have tea. After tea she began to teach Oliver

cribbage: which he learnt as quickly as she could teach: and at which game they played,

with great interest and gravity, until it was time for the invalid to have some warm wine

and water, with a slice of dry toast, and then to go cosily to bed.

They were happy days, those of Oliver's recovery. Everything was so quiet, and neat,

and orderly; everybody so kind and gentle; that after the noise and turbulence in the

midst of which he had always lived, it seemed like Heaven itself. He was no sooner

strong enough to put his clothes on, properly, than Mr. Brownlow caused a complete

new suit, and a new cap, and a new pair of shoes, to be provided for him. As Oliver

was told that he might do what he liked with the old clothes, he gave them to a servant

who had been very kind to him, and asked her to sell them to a Jew, and keep the money

for herself. This she very readily did; and, as Oliver looked out of the parlour window,

and saw the Jew roll them up in his bag and walk away, he felt quite delighted to think

that they were safely gone, and that there was now no possible danger of his ever being

able to wear them again. They were sad rags, to tell the truth; and Oliver had never had

a new suit before.

One evening, about a week after the affair of the picture, as he was sitting talking to

Mrs. Bedwin, there came a message down from Mr. Brownlow, that if Oliver Twist felt

pretty well, he should like to see him in his study, and talk to him a little while.

'Bless us, and save us! Wash your hands, and let me part your hair nicely for you,

child,' said Mrs. Bedwin. 'Dear heart alive! If we had known he would have asked for

you, we would have put you a clean collar on, and made you as smart as sixpence!'

Oliver did as the old lady bade him; and, although she lamented grievously, meanwhile,

that there was not even time to crimp the little frill that bordered his shirt-collar; he

looked so delicate and handsome, despite that important personal advantage, that she

went so far as to say: looking at him with great complacency from head to foot, that she

really didn't think it would have been possible, on the longest notice, to have made

much difference in him for the better.

Thus encouraged, Oliver tapped at the study door. On Mr. Brownlow calling to him to

come in, he found himself in a little back room, quite full of books, with a window,

looking into some pleasant little gardens. There was a table drawn up before the

window, at which Mr. Brownlow was seated reading. When he saw Oliver, he pushed

the book away from him, and told him to come near the table, and sit down. Oliver

complied; marvelling where the people could be found to read such a great number of

books as seemed to be written to make the world wiser. Which is still a marvel to more

experienced people than Oliver Twist, every day of their lives.

'There are a good many books, are there not, my boy?' said Mr. Brownlow, observing

the curiosity with which Oliver surveyed the shelves that reached from the floor to the

ceiling.

'A great number, sir,' replied Oliver. 'I never saw so many.'

'You shall read them, if you behave well,' said the old gentleman kindly; 'and you will

like that, better than looking at the outsides,--that is, some cases; because there are

books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.'

'I suppose they are those heavy ones, sir,' said Oliver, pointing to some large quartos,

with a good deal of gilding about the binding.

'Not always those,' said the old gentleman, patting Oliver on the head, and smiling as he

did so; 'there are other equally heavy ones, though of a much smaller size. How should

you like to grow up a clever man, and write books, eh?'

'I think I would rather read them, sir,' replied Oliver.

'What! wouldn't you like to be a book-writer?' said the old gentleman.

Oliver considered a little while; and at last said, he should think it would be a much

better thing to be a book-seller; upon which the old gentleman laughed heartily, and

declared he had said a very good thing. Which Oliver felt glad to have done, though he

by no means knew what it was.

'Well, well,' said the old gentleman, composing his features. 'Don't be afraid! We won't

make an author of you, while there's an honest trade to be learnt, or brick-making to

turn to.'

'Thank you, sir,' said Oliver. At the earnest manner of his reply, the old gentleman

laughed again; and said something about a curious instinct, which Oliver, not

understanding, paid no very great attention to.

'Now,' said Mr. Brownlow, speaking if possible in a kinder, but at the same time in a

much more serious manner, than Oliver had ever known him assume yet, 'I want you to

pay great attention, my boy, to what I am going to say. I shall talk to you without any

reserve; because I am sure you are well able to understand me, as many older persons

would be.'

'Oh, don't tell you are going to send me away, sir, pray!' exclaimed Oliver, alarmed at

the serious tone of the old gentleman's commencement! 'Don't turn me out of doors to

wander in the streets again. Let me stay here, and be a servant. Don't send me back to

the wretched place I came from. Have mercy upon a poor boy, sir!'

'My dear child,' said the old gentleman, moved by the warmth of Oliver's sudden appeal;

'you need not be afraid of my deserting you, unless you give me cause.'

'I never, never will, sir,' interposed Oliver.

'I hope not,' rejoined the old gentleman. 'I do not think you ever will. I have been

deceived, before, in the objects whom I have endeavoured to benefit; but I feel strongly

disposed to trust you, nevertheless; and I am more interested in your behalf than I can

well account for, even to myself. The persons on whom I have bestowed my dearest

love, lie deep in their graves; but, although the happiness and delight of my life lie

buried there too, I have not made a coffin of my heart, and sealed it up, forever, on my

best affections. Deep affliction has but strengthened and refined them.'

As the old gentleman said this in a low voice: more to himself than to his companion:

and as he remained silent for a short time afterwards: Oliver sat quite still.

'Well, well!' said the old gentleman at length, in a more cheerful tone, 'I only say this,

because you have a young heart; and knowing that I have suffered great pain and

sorrow, you will be more careful, perhaps, not to wound me again. You say you are an

orphan, without a friend in the world; all the inquiries I have been able to make, confirm

the statement. Let me hear your story; where you come from; who brought you up; and

how you got into the company in which I found you. Speak the truth, and you shall not

be friendless while I live.'

Oliver's sobs checked his utterance for some minutes; when he was on the point of

beginning to relate how he had been brought up at the farm, and carried to the

workhouse by Mr. Bumble, a peculiarly impatient little double-knock was heard at the

street-door: and the servant, running upstairs, announced Mr. Grimwig.

'Is he coming up?' inquired Mr. Brownlow.

'Yes, sir,' replied the servant. 'He asked if there were any muffins in the house; and,

when I told him yes, he said he had come to tea.'

Mr. Brownlow smiled; and, turning to Oliver, said that Mr. Grimwig was an old friend

of his, and he must not mind his being a little rough in his manners; for he was a worthy

creature at bottom, as he had reason to know.

'Shall I go downstairs, sir?' inquired Oliver.

'No,' replied Mr. Brownlow, 'I would rather you remained here.'

At this moment, there walked into the room: supporting himself by a thick stick: a

stout old gentleman, rather lame in one leg, who was dressed in a blue coat, striped

waistcoat, nankeen breeches and gaiters, and a broad-brimmed white hat, with the sides

turned up with green. A very small-plaited shirt frill stuck out from his waistcoat; and a

very long steel watch-chain, with nothing but a key at the end, dangled loosely below it.

The ends of his white neckerchief were twisted into a ball about the size of an orange;

the variety of shapes into which his countenance was twisted, defy description. He had

a manner of screwing his head on one side when he spoke; and of looking out of the

corners of his eyes at the same time: which irresistibly reminded the beholder of a

parrot. In this attitude, he fixed himself, the moment he made his appearance; and,

holding out a small piece of orange-peel at arm's length, exclaimed, in a growling,

discontented voice.

'Look here! do you see this! Isn't it a most wonderful and extraordinary thing that I

can't call at a man's house but I find a piece of this poor surgeon's friend on the

staircase? I've been lamed with orange-peel once, and I know orange-peel will be my

death, or I'll be content to eat my own head, sir!'

This was the handsome offer with which Mr. Grimwig backed and confirmed nearly

every assertion he made; and it was the more singular in his case, because, even

admitting for the sake of argument, the possibility of scientific improvements being

brought to that pass which will enable a gentleman to eat his own head in the event of

his being so disposed, Mr. Grimwig's head was such a particularly large one, that the

most sanguine man alive could hardly entertain a hope of being able to get through it at

a sitting--to put entirely out of the question, a very thick coating of powder.

'I'll eat my head, sir,' repeated Mr. Grimwig, striking his stick upon the ground. 'Hallo!

what's that!' looking at Oliver, and retreating a pace or two.

'This is young Oliver Twist, whom we were speaking about,' said Mr. Brownlow.

Oliver bowed.

'You don't mean to say that's the boy who had the fever, I hope?' said Mr. Grimwig,

recoiling a little more. 'Wait a minute! Don't speak! Stop--' continued Mr. Grimwig,

abruptly, losing all dread of the fever in his triumph at the discovery; 'that's the boy who

had the orange! If that's not the boy, sir, who had the orange, and threw this bit of peel

upon the staircase, I'll eat my head, and his too.'

'No, no, he has not had one,' said Mr. Brownlow, laughing.

'Come! Put down your hat; and speak to my young friend.'

'I feel strongly on this subject, sir,' said the irritable old gentleman, drawing off his

gloves. 'There's always more or less orange-peel on the pavement in our street; and I

KNOW it's put there by the surgeon's boy at the corner. A young woman stumbled over

a bit last night, and fell against my garden-railings; directly she got up I saw her look

towards his infernal red lamp with the pantomime-light. "Don't go to him," I called out

of the window, "he's an assassin! A man-trap!" So he is. If he is not--' Here the

irascible old gentleman gave a great knock on the ground with his stick; which was

always understood, by his friends, to imply the customary offer, whenever it was not

expressed in words. Then, still keeping his stick in his hand, he sat down; and, opening

a double eye-glass, which he wore attached to a broad black riband, took a view of

Oliver: who, seeing that he was the object of inspection, coloured, and bowed again.

'That's the boy, is it?' said Mr. Grimwig, at length.

'That's the boy,' replied Mr. Brownlow.

'How are you, boy?' said Mr. Grimwig.

'A great deal better, thank you, sir,' replied Oliver.

Mr Brownlow, seeming to apprehend that his singular friend was about to say

something disagreeable, asked Oliver to step downstairs and tell Mrs. Bedwin they were

ready for tea; which, as he did not half like the visitor's manner, he was very happy to

do.

'He is a nice-looking boy, is he not?' inquired Mr. Brownlow.

'I don't know,' replied Mr. Grimwig, pettishly.

'Don't know?'

'No. I don't know. I never see any difference in boys. I only knew two sort of boys.

Mealy boys, and beef-faced boys.'

'And which is Oliver?'

'Mealy. I know a friend who has a beef-faced boy; a fine boy, they call him; with a

round head, and red cheeks, and glaring eyes; a horrid boy; with a body and limbs that

appear to be swelling out of the seams of his blue clothes; with the voice of a pilot, and

the appetite of a wolf. I know him! The wretch!'

'Come,' said Mr. Brownlow, 'these are not the characteristics of young Oliver Twist; so

he needn't excite your wrath.'

'They are not,' replied Mr. Grimwig. 'He may have worse.'

Here, Mr. Brownlow coughed impatiently; which appeared to afford Mr. Grimwig the

most exquisite delight.

'He may have worse, I say,' repeated Mr. Grimwig. 'Where does he come from! Who is

he? What is he? He has had a fever. What of that? Fevers are not peculiar to good

peope; are they? Bad people have fevers sometimes; haven't they, eh? I knew a man

who was hung in Jamaica for murdering his master. He had had a fever six times; he

wasn't recommended to mercy on that account. Pooh! nonsense!'

Now, the fact was, that in the inmost recesses of his own heart, Mr. Grimwig was

strongly disposed to admit that Oliver's appearance and manner were unusually

prepossessing; but he had a strong appetite for contradiction, sharpened on this occasion

by the finding of the orange-peel; and, inwardly determining that no man should dictate

to him whether a boy was well-looking or not, he had resolved, from the first, to oppose

his friend. When Mr. Brownlow admitted that on no one point of inquiry could he yet

return a satisfactory answer; and that he had postponed any investigation into Oliver's

previous history until he thought the boy was strong enough to hear it; Mr. Grimwig

chuckled maliciously. And he demanded, with a sneer, whether the housekeeper was in

the habit of counting the plate at night; because if she didn't find a table-spoon or two

missing some sunshiny morning, why, he would be content to--and so forth.

All this, Mr. Brownlow, although himself somewhat of an impetuous gentleman:

knowing his friend's peculiarities, bore with great good humour; as Mr. Grimwig, at tea,

was graciously pleased to express his entire approval of the muffins, matters went on

very smoothly; and Oliver, who made one of the party, began to feel more at his ease

than he had yet done in the fierce old gentleman's presence.

'And when are you going to hear at full, true, and particular account of the life and

adventures of Oliver Twist?' asked Grimwig of Mr. Brownlow, at the conclusion of the

meal; looking sideways at Oliver, as he resumed his subject.

'To-morrow morning,' replied Mr. Brownlow. 'I would rather he was alone with me at

the time. Come up to me to-morrow morning at ten o'clock, my dear.'

'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver. He answered with some hesitation, because he was confused

by Mr. Grimwig's looking so hard at him.

'I'll tell you what,' whispered that gentleman to Mr. Brownlow;

'he won't come up to you to-morrow morning. I saw him hesitate.

He is deceiving you, my good friend.'

'I'll swear he is not,' replied Mr. Brownlow, warmly.

'If he is not,' said Mr. Grimwig, 'I'll--' and down went the stick.

'I'll answer for that boy's truth with my life!' said Mr.

Brownlow, knocking the table.

'And I for his falsehood with my head!' rejoined Mr. Grimwig, knocking the table also.

'We shall see,' said Mr. Brownlow, checking his rising anger.

'We will,' replied Mr. Grimwig, with a provoking smile; 'we will.'

As fate would have it, Mrs. Bedwin chanced to bring in, at this moment, a small parcel

of books, which Mr. Brownlow had that morning purchased of the identical bookstallkeeper,

who has already figured in this history; having laid them on the table, she

prepared to leave the room.

'Stop the boy, Mrs. Bedwin!' said Mr. Brownlow; 'there is something to go back.'

'He has gone, sir,' replied Mrs. Bedwin.

'Call after him,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'it's particular. He is a poor man, and they are not

paid for. There are some books to be taken back, too.'

The street-door was opened. Oliver ran one way; and the girl ran another; and Mrs.

Bedwin stood on the step and screamed for the boy; but there was no boy in sight.

Oliver and the girl returned, in a breathless state, to report that there were no tidings of

him.

'Dear me, I am very sorry for that,' exclaimed Mr. Brownlow; 'I particularly wished

those books to be returned to-night.'

'Send Oliver with them,' said Mr. Grimwig, with an ironical smile; 'he will be sure to

deliver them safely, you know.'

'Yes; do let me take them, if you please, sir,' said Oliver.

'I'll run all the way, sir.'

The old gentleman was just going to say that Oliver should not go out on any account;

when a most malicious cough from Mr. Grimwig determined him that he should; and

that, by his prompt discharge of the commission, he should prove to him the injustice of

his suspicions: on this head at least: at once.

'You SHALL go, my dear,' said the old gentleman. 'The books are on a chair by my

table. Fetch them down.'

Oliver, delighted to be of use, brought down the books under his arm in a great bustle;

and waited, cap in hand, to hear what message he was to take.

'You are to say,' said Mr. Brownlow, glancing steadily at Grimwig; 'you are to say that

you have brought those books back; and that you have come to pay the four pound ten I

owe him. This is a five-pound note, so you will have to bring me back, ten shillings

change.'

'I won't be ten minutes, sir,' said Oliver, eagerly. Having buttoned up the bank-note in

his jacket pocket, and placed the books carefully under his arm, he made a respectful

bow, and left the room. Mrs. Bedwin followed him to the street-door, giving him many

directions about the nearest way, and the name of the bookseller, and the name of the

street: all of which Oliver said he clearly understood. Having superadded many

injunctions to be sure and not take cold, the old lady at length permitted him to depart.

'Bless his sweet face!' said the old lady, looking after him. 'I can't bear, somehow, to let

him go out of my sight.'

At this moment, Oliver looked gaily round, and nodded before he turned the corner.

The old lady smilingly returned his salutation, and, closing the door, went back, to her

own room.

'Let me see; he'll be back in twenty minutes, at the longest,' said Mr. Brownlow, pulling

out his watch, and placing it on the table. 'It will be dark by that time.'

'Oh! you really expect him to come back, do you?' inquired Mr.

Grimwig.

'Don't you?' asked Mr. Brownlow, smiling.

The spirit of contradiction was strong in Mr. Grimwig's breast, at the moment; and it

was rendered stronger by his friend's confident smile.

'No,' he said, smiting the table with his fist, 'I do not. The boy has a new suit of clothes

on his back, a set of valuable books under his arm, and a five-pound note in his pocket.

He'll join his old friends the thieves, and laugh at you. If ever that boy returns to this

house, sir, I'll eat my head.'

With these words he drew his chair closer to the table; and there the two friends sat, in

silent expectation, with the watch between them.

It is worthy of remark, as illustrating the importance we attach to our own judgments,

and the pride with which we put forth our most rash and hasty conclusions, that,

although Mr. Grimwig was not by any means a bad-hearted man, and though he would

have been unfeignedly sorry to see his respected friend duped and deceived, he really

did most earnestly and strongly hope at that moment, that Oliver Twist might not come

back.

It grew so dark, that the figures on the dial-plate were scarcely discernible; but there the

two old gentlemen continued to sit, in silence, with the watch between them.

CHAPTER XV

SHOWING HOW VERY FOND OF OLIVER TWIST, THE MERRY OLD JEW AND

MISS

NANCY WERE

In the obscure parlour of a low public-house, in the filthiest part of Little Saffron Hill; a

dark and gloomy den, where a flaring gas-light burnt all day in the winter-time; and

where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer: there sat, brooding over a little pewter

measure and a small glass, strongly impregnated with the smell of liquor, a man in a

velveteen coat, drab shorts, half-boots and stockings, whom even by that dim light no

experienced agent of the police would have hesitated to recognise as Mr. William Sikes.

At his feet, sat a white-coated, red-eyed dog; who occupied himself, alternately, in

winking at his master with both eyes at the same time; and in licking a large, fresh cut

on one side of his mouth, which appeared to be the result of some recent conflict.

'Keep quiet, you warmint! Keep quiet!' said Mr. Sikes, suddenly breaking silence.

Whether his meditations were so intense as to be disturbed by the dog's winking, or

whether his feelings were so wrought upon by his reflections that they required all the

relief derivable from kicking an unoffending animal to allay them, is matter for

argument and consideration. Whatever was the cause, the effect was a kick and a curse,

bestowed upon the dog simultaneously.

Dogs are not generally apt to revenge injuries inflicted upon them by their masters; but

Mr. Sikes's dog, having faults of temper in common with his owner, and labouring,

perhaps, at this moment, under a powerful sense of injury, made no more ado but at

once fixed his teeth in one of the half-boots. Having given in a hearty shake, he retired,

growling, under a form; just escaping the pewter measure which Mr. Sikes levelled at

his head.

'You would, would you?' said Sikes, seizing the poker in one hand, and deliberately

opening with the other a large clasp-knife, which he drew from his pocket. 'Come here,

you born devil! Come here! D'ye hear?'

The dog no doubt heard; because Mr. Sikes spoke in the very harshest key of a very

harsh voice; but, appearing to entertain some unaccountable objection to having his

throat cut, he remained where he was, and growled more fiercely than before: at the

same time grasping the end of the poker between his teeth, and biting at it like a wild

beast.

This resistance only infuriated Mr. Sikes the more; who, dropping on his knees, began

to assail the animal most furiously. The dog jumped from right to left, and from left to

right; snapping, growling, and barking; the man thrust and swore, and struck and

blasphemed; and the struggle was reaching a most critical point for one or other; when,

the door suddenly opening, the dog darted out: leaving Bill Sikes with the poker and

the clasp-knife in his hands.

There must always be two parties to a quarrel, says the old adage. Mr. Sikes, being

disappointed of the dog's participation, at once transferred his share in the quarrel to the

new comer.

'What the devil do you come in between me and my dog for?' said Sikes, with a fierce

gesture.

'I didn't know, my dear, I didn't know,' replied Fagin, humbly; for the Jew was the new

comer.

'Didn't know, you white-livered thief!' growled Sikes. 'Couldn't you hear the noise?'

'Not a sound of it, as I'm a living man, Bill,' replied the Jew.

'Oh no! You hear nothing, you don't,' retorted Sikes with a fierce sneer. 'Sneaking in

and out, so as nobody hears how you come or go! I wish you had been the dog, Fagin,

half a minute ago.'

'Why?' inquired the Jew with a forced smile.

'Cause the government, as cares for the lives of such men as you, as haven't half the

pluck of curs, lets a man kill a dog how he likes,' replied Sikes, shutting up the knife

with a very expressive look; 'that's why.'

The Jew rubbed his hands; and, sitting down at the table, affected to laugh at the

pleasantry of his friend. He was obviously very ill at ease, however.

'Grin away,' said Sikes, replacing the poker, and surveying him with savage contempt;

'grin away. You'll never have the laugh at me, though, unless it's behind a nightcap.

I've got the upper hand over you, Fagin; and, d--me, I'll keep it. There! If I go, you go;

so take care of me.'

'Well, well, my dear,' said the Jew, 'I know all that; we--we--have a mutual interest,

Bill,--a mutual interest.'

'Humph,' said Sikes, as if he though the interest lay rather more on the Jew's side than

on his. 'Well, what have you got to say to me?'

'It's all passed safe through the melting-pot,' replied Fagin,

'and this is your share. It's rather more than it ought to be,

my dear; but as I know you'll do me a good turn another time,

and--'

'Stow that gammon,' interposed the robber, impatiently. 'Where is it? Hand over!'

'Yes, yes, Bill; give me time, give me time,' replied the Jew, soothingly. 'Here it is! All

safe!' As he spoke, he drew forth an old cotton handkerchief from his breast; and

untying a large knot in one corner, produced a small brown-paper packet. Sikes,

snatching it from him, hastily opened it; and proceeded to count the sovereigns it

contained.

'This is all, is it?' inquired Sikes.

'All,' replied the Jew.

'You haven't opened the parcel and swallowed one or two as you come along, have

you?' inquired Sikes, suspiciously. 'Don't put on an injured look at the question; you've

done it many a time. Jerk the tinkler.'

These words, in plain English, conveyed an injunction to ring the bell. It was answered

by another Jew: younger than Fagin, but nearly as vile and repulsive in appearance.

 

Bill Sikes merely pointed to the empty measure. The Jew, perfectly understanding the

hint, retired to fill it: previously exchanging a remarkable look with Fagin, who raised

his eyes for an instant, as if in expectation of it, and shook his head in reply; so slightly

that the action would have been almost imperceptible to an observant third person. It

was lost upon Sikes, who was stooping at the moment to tie the boot-lace which the dog

had torn. Possibly, if he had observed the brief interchange of signals, he might have

thought that it boded no good to him.

'Is anybody here, Barney?' inquired Fagin; speaking, now that that Sikes was looking

on, without raising his eyes from the ground.

'Dot a shoul,' replied Barney; whose words: whether they came from the heart or not:

made their way through the nose.

'Nobody?' inquired Fagin, in a tone of surprise: which perhaps might mean that Barney

was at liberty to tell the truth.

'Dobody but Biss Dadsy,' replied Barney.

'Nancy!' exclaimed Sikes. 'Where? Strike me blind, if I don't honour that 'ere girl, for

her native talents.'

'She's bid havid a plate of boiled beef id the bar,' replied Barney.

'Send her here,' said Sikes, pouring out a glass of liquor. 'Send her here.'

Barney looked timidly at Fagin, as if for permission; the Jew reamining silent, and not

lifting his eyes from the ground, he retired; and presently returned, ushering in Nancy;

who was decorated with the bonnet, apron, basket, and street-door key, complete.

'You are on the scent, are you, Nancy?' inquired Sikes, proffering the glass.

'Yes, I am, Bill,' replied the young lady, disposing of its

contents; 'and tired enough of it I am, too. The young brat's

been ill and confined to the crib; and--'

'Ah, Nancy, dear!' said Fagin, looking up.

Now, whether a peculiar contraction of the Jew's red eye-brows, and a half closing of

his deeply-set eyes, warned Miss Nancy that she was disposed to be too communicative,

is not a matter of much importance. The fact is all we need care for here; and the fact is,

that she suddenly checked herself, and with several gracious smiles upon Mr. Sikes,

turned the conversation to other matters. In about ten minutes' time, Mr. Fagin was

seized with a fit of coughing; upon which Nancy pulled her shawl over her shoulders,

and declared it was time to go. Mr. Sikes, finding that he was walking a short part of

her way himself, expressed his intention of accompanying her; they went away together,

followed, at a little distant, by the dog, who slunk out of a back-yard as soon as his

master was out of sight.

The Jew thrust his head out of the room door when Sikes had left it; looked after him as

we walked up the dark passage; shook his clenched fist; muttered a deep curse; and

then, with a horrible grin, reseated himself at the table; where he was soon deeply

absorbed in the interesting pages of the Hue-and-Cry.

Meanwhile, Oliver Twist, little dreaming that he was within so very short a distance of

the merry old gentleman, was on his way to the book-stall. When he got into

Clerkenwell, he accidently turned down a by-street which was not exactly in his way;

but not discovering his mistake until he had got half-way down it, and knowing it must

lead in the right direction, he did not think it worth while to turn back; and so marched

on, as quickly as he could, with the books under his arm.

He was walking along, thinking how happy and contented he ought to feel; and how

much he would give for only one look at poor little Dick, who, starved and beaten,

might be weeping bitterly at that very moment; when he was startled by a young woman

screaming out very loud. 'Oh, my dear brother!' And he had hardly looked up, to see

what the matter was, when he was stopped by having a pair of arms thrown tight round

his neck.

'Don't,' cried Oliver, struggling. 'Let go of me. Who is it?

What are you stopping me for?'

The only reply to this, was a great number of loud lamentations from the young woman

who had embraced him; and who had a little basket and a street-door key in her hand.

'Oh my gracious!' said the young woman, 'I have found him! Oh! Oliver! Oliver! Oh

you naughty boy, to make me suffer such distress on your account! Come home, dear,

come. Oh, I've found him. Thank gracious goodness heavins, I've found him!' With

these incoherent exclamations, the young woman burst into another fit of crying, and

got so dreadfully hysterical, that a couple of women who came up at the moment asked

a butcher's boy with a shiny head of hair anointed with suet, who was also looking on,

whether he didn't think he had better run for the doctor. To which, the butcher's boy:

who appeared of a lounging, not to say indolent disposition: replied, that he thought

not.

'Oh, no, no, never mind,' said the young woman, grasping Oliver's hand; 'I'm better now.

Come home directly, you cruel boy! Come!'

'Oh, ma'am,' replied the young woman, 'he ran away, near a month ago, from his

parents, who are hard-working and respectable people; and went and joined a set of

thieves and bad characters; and almost broke his mother's heart.'

'Young wretch!' said one woman.

'Go home, do, you little brute,' said the other.

'I am not,' replied Oliver, greatly alarmed. 'I don't know her. I haven't any sister, or

father and mother either. I'm an orphan; I live at Pentonville.'

'Only hear him, how he braves it out!' cried the young woman.

'Why, it's Nancy!' exclaimed Oliver; who now saw her face for the first time; and started

back, in irrepressible astonishment.

'You see he knows me!' cried Nancy, appealing to the bystanders. 'He can't help

himself. Make him come home, there's good people, or he'll kill his dear mother and

father, and break my heart!'

'What the devil's this?' said a man, bursting out of a beer-shop, with a white dog at his

heels; 'young Oliver! Come home to your poor mother, you young dog! Come home

directly.'

'I don't belong to them. I don't know them. Help! help! cried Oliver, struggling in the

man's powerful grasp.

'Help!' repeated the man. 'Yes; I'll help you, you young rascal!

What books are these? You've been a stealing 'em, have you? Give 'em here.' With

these words, the man tore the volumes from his grasp, and struck him on the head.

'That's right!' cried a looker-on, from a garret-window. 'That's the only way of bringing

him to his senses!'

'To be sure!' cried a sleepy-faced carpenter, casting an approving look at the garretwindow.

'It'll do him good!' said the two women.

'And he shall have it, too!' rejoined the man, administering another blow, and seizing

Oliver by the collar. 'Come on, you young villain! Here, Bull's-eye, mind him, boy!

Mind him!'

Weak with recent illness; stupified by the blows and the suddenness of the attack;

terrified by the fierce growling of the dog, and the brutality of the man; overpowered by

the conviction of the bystanders that he really was the hardened little wretch he was

described to be; what could one poor child do! Darkness had set in; it was a low

neighborhood; no help was near; resistance was useless. In another moment he was

dragged into a labyrinth of dark narrow courts, and was forced along them at a pace

which rendered the few cries he dared to give utterance to, unintelligible. It was of little

moment, indeed, whether they were intelligible or no; for there was nobody to care for

them, had they been ever so plain.

* * * * * * * * *

The gas-lamps were lighted; Mrs. Bedwin was waiting anxiously at the open door; the

servant had run up the street twenty times to see if there were any traces of Oliver; and

still the two old gentlemen sat, perseveringly, in the dark parlour, with the watch

between them.