 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Chapter 50 The Pursuit and Escape Near to that part of the Thames on which the church at Rotherhithe abots, where the buildings on the banks are dirtiest and the vessels on the river blackest with the dust of colliers and the smoke of close-built, low-roofed houses, there exists the filthiest, the strangest, the most extraordinary of the many localities that are hidden in London, wholly unknown, even by name, to the great mass of its inhabitants. To reach this place the visitor has to penetrate through a maze of close, narrow and muddy streets, thronged by the roughest and poorest of water-side people and devoted to the traffic they may be supposed to occasion. The cheapest and least delicate provisions are heaped in the shops, the coarsest and commonest articles of wearing apparel dangle at the salesman's door, and stream from the house peripettant windows, jostling with unemployed labourers of the lowest class, ballast heavers, coal-whippers, brazen women, ragged children, and the raff and refuse of the river, he makes his way with difficulty along, assailed by offensive sights and smells from the narrow alleys which branch off on the right and left, and deafened by the clash of ponderous wagons that bear great piles of merchandise from the stacks of warehouses that rise from every corner. Arriving at length in streets remotor and less frequented than those through which he has passed, he walks beneath tottering house fronts projecting over the pavement, dismantled walls that seem to totter as he passes, chimneys half crushed, half hesitating to fall, windows guarded by rusty iron bars that time and dirt have almost eaten away, every imaginable sign of desolation and neglect. In such a neighbourhood beyond Dockhead in the borough of Sotheck stands Jacob's Island, surrounded by a muddy ditch, six or eight feet deep and fifteen or twenty wide when the tide is in, once called Mill Pond, but known in the days of this story as Folly Ditch. It is a creek or inlet from the Thames, and can always be filled at high water by opening the sluices at the lead mills from which it took its old name. At such times a stranger, looking from one of the wooden bridges thrown across it at Mill Lane, will see the inhabitants of the houses on either side, lowering from their back doors and windows, buckets, pails, domestic utensils of all kinds, in which to haul the water up, and when his eye is turned from these operations to the houses themselves, his utmost astonishment will be excited by the scene before him. Crazy wooden galleries, common to the backs of half a dozen houses, with holes from which to look upon the slime beneath, windows broken and patched with poles thrust out, on which to dry the linen that is never there, rooms so small, so filthy, so confined, that the air would seem too tainted even for the dirt and squalor which they shelter. Wooden chambers thrusting themselves out above the mud, and threatening to fall into it, as some have done, dirt-besmeared walls and decaying foundations, every repulsive liniment of poverty, every loathsome indication of filth, rot, and garbage, all these ornament the banks of folly ditch. In Jacob's Island the warehouses are ruthless and empty. The walls are crumbling down, the windows are windows no more. The doors are falling into the streets. The chimneys are blackened, but they yield no smoke. Thirty or forty years ago, before losses and chance resuits came upon it, it was a thriving place, but now it is a desolate island indeed. The houses have no owners, they are broken open and entered upon by those who have the courage, and there they live and there they die. They must have powerful motives for a secret residence, or be reduced to a destitute condition indeed, who seek refuge in Jacob's Island. In an upper room of one of these houses, a detached house of fair size, runous in other respects, but strongly defended at door and window, of which house the back commanded the ditch, in manner already described, there were assembled three men, who regarding each other every now and then with looks expressive of perplexity and expectation, sat for some time in profound and gloomy silence. One of these was Toby Crackett, another Mr. Chitling, and a third a robber of fifty years, whose nose had been almost beaten in in some old scuffle, at whose face bore a frightful scar which might probably be traced to the same occasion. This man was a returned transport, and his name was Cags. "'I wish,' said Toby, turning to Mr. Chitling, that you had picked out some other crib when the two old ones got too warm, and had not come here, my fine fellow. "'Why didn't you, blunderhead?' said Cags. "'Or I thought you'd a bit a little more glad to see me than this,' replied Mr. Chitling, with a melancholy air. "'Why, lucky here, young gentleman,' said Toby, when a man keeps himself so very exclusive as I have done, and by that means has a snug house over his head with nobody a prine and spell about it, it's rather a startling thing to have the honour of a wizard from a young gentleman, however respectable and pleasant a person he may be to play cards with at conveniency, circumstanced as you are. "'Especially when the exclusive young man has got a friend stopping with him, it's arrived sooner than was expected from foreign parts, and is too modest to want to be presented to the judges on his return,' added Mr. Cags. There was a short silence, after which Toby Crackett, seeming to abandon his hopeless any further effort to maintain his usual devil-may-care swagger, turned to Chitling and said, "'When was Fagin' took, then? Just at dinner-time. Two o'clock this afternoon, Charlie and I made our lucky up the washers' chimney, and Bolta got into the empty water-butt, head downwards, but his legs were so precious long that they stuck out to the top, and so they took him, too. Bet! Poor bet! She went to see the body, to speak to who it was,' replied Chitling, his countenance falling more and more, and went off mad, screaming and raving, and beating her head against the boards, so they put a straight wesker on her, and took her to the hospital, and there she is. "'What's become of young Bates?' demanded Cags. "'He hung about not to come over here a four-dock, but he'll be here soon,' replied Chitling. "'There's nowhere else to go now, for the people at the cripples are all in custody, and the bar of the ken. I went up there, and see it with my own eyes, is filled with traps. This is a smash, observed Toby, biting his lips. There's more than one will go with this.' "'The sessions are on,' said Cags. If they get the inquest over, and Bolter turns King's evidence, as of course he will from what he said already, they can prove Fagan a necessary before the fact, and get the trial on on Friday, and he'll swing in six days from this, my God.' "'You should have heard the people groan,' said Chitling. The officers fought like devils, or they'd have torn him away. He was down once, but they made a ring round him, and fought their way along. You should have seen how he looked about him, all muddy and bleeding, and clung to them as if they were his dearest friends. I can see him now, not able to stand up right with the pressing of the mob, and dragging him along amongst them. I can see the people jumping up, one behind another, and snarling with their teeth and making at him. I can see the blood upon his hair and beard, and hear the cries with which the women worked themselves into the centre of the crowd at the street corner, and swore they'd tear his heart out. The horror-stricken witness of this scene pressed his hands upon his ears, and with his eyes closed, gut up, and paced violently to and fro, like one distracted. While he was thus engaged, and the two men sat by in silence with their eyes fixed upon the floor, a pattering noise was heard upon the stairs, and Sykes Dogg bounded into the room. They ran to the window, downstairs, and into the street. The Dogg had jumped in at an open window. He made no attempt to follow them, nor was his master to be seen. What's the meaning of this, said Toby, when they had returned? He can't be coming here, I—I—hope not. If he was coming here, he'd have come with the Dogg, said Keggs, stooping down to examine the animal, who lay panting on the floor. Here! Give us some water for him, he has run himself faint. He's drunk it all up, every drop, said Shetling, after watching the Dogg some time in silence, covered with mud, lame, half-blind. He must have come a long way. Where can he have come from? exclaimed Toby. He's been to the other kens, of course, and finding them filled with strangers come on here, where he's been many a time and often. But where can he have come from first? And how comes he here alone without the other? He—none of them called the murderer by his old name—he can't have made away with himself. What do you think? said Shetling. Toby shook his head. If he had, said Keggs, the Dogg had wanted, lead us away to where he did it. No, I think he's got out of the country and left the Dogg behind. He must have given him the slip, somehow, where he wouldn't be so easy. This solution, appearing the most probable one, was adopted as the right. The Dogg, creeping under a chair, coiled himself up to sleep, without more notice from anybody. It being now dark, the shutter was closed, and a candle lighted and placed upon the table. The terrible events of the last two days had made a deep impression on all three, increased by the danger and uncertainty of their own position. They drew their chairs closer together, starting at every sound. They spoke little, and that in whispers, and were as silent and awe-stricken as if the remains of the murdered woman lay in the next room. They had sat thus some time, when suddenly was heard a hurried knocking at the door below. Young Bates, said Keg, looking angrily round to check the fear he felt himself. The knocking came again. No, it wasn't he. He never knocked like that. Cracket went to the window, and shaking all over, drew in his head. There was no need to tell them who it was. His pale face was enough. The Dogg, too, was on the alert in an instant, and ran whining to the door. We must let him in, he said, taking up the candle. Is it there any help for it, asked the other man, in a hoarse voice? None. He must come in. Don't leave us in the dark, said Kegs, taking down a candle from the chimney-piece, and lighting it with such a trembling hand that the knocking was twice repeated before he had finished. Cracket went down to the door, and returned, followed by a man, with the lower part of his face buried in a handkerchief, and another tied over his head under his hat. He drew them slowly off. Blanched face, sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, beard of three days growth, wasted flesh, short thick breath. It was the very ghost of Sykes. He laid his hand upon a chair which stood in the middle of the room, but shuddering as he was about to drop into it, and seeming to glance over his shoulder, dragged it back close to the wall, as close as it would go, and grounded against it, and sat down. Not a word had been exchanged. He looked from one to another in silence. If an eye were furtively raised and met his, it was instantly averted. When his hollow voice broke silence, they all three started. They seemed never to have heard its tones before. "'Okay, the dog here,' he asked, alone, three hours ago. Tonight's paper says that Faggins took. Is it true, or a lie?' True. They were silent again. "'Damn you all,' said Sykes, passing his hand across his forehead. "'Have you nothing to say to me?' There was an uneasy movement among them, but nobody spoke. "'You that keep this house,' said Sykes, turning his face to crack it. "'Do you mean to sell me, or to let me lie here till this hunt is over?' "'You may stop here if you think it's safe,' returned the person addressed after some hesitation. Sykes carried his eyes slowly up the wall behind him, rather trying to turn his head than actually doing it, and said, "'Is it the body? Is it buried?' They shook their heads. "'Why isn't it?' He retorted, with the same glance behind him. "'What do they keep such ugly things above the ground for? Who's that knocking?' Crack it intimated, by a motion of his hand, as he left the room, that there was nothing to fear, and directly came back with Charlie Bates behind him. Sykes sat opposite the door, so that the moment the boy entered the room, he encountered his figure. "'Toby,' said the boy, falling back, as Sykes turned his eyes towards him. "'Why didn't you tell me this downstairs?' There had been something so tremendous in the shrinking off of the three, that the wretched man was willing to propitiate even this land. Accordingly he nodded, and made as though he would shake hands with him. "'Let me go into some other room,' said the boy, retreating still further. "'Charlie,' said Sykes, stepping forward, "'don't you—don't you know me?' "'Don't come nearer me,' answered the boy, still retreating, and looking with horror in his eyes upon the murderer's face. You monster!' The man stopped halfway, and they looked at each other. But Sykes' eyes sunk gradually to the ground. "'Witness, you three,' cried the boy, shaking his clenched fist, and becoming more and more excited as he spoke. "'Witness, you three, I'm not afraid of him. If they come here after them, I'll give him up. I will. I tell you out once. He may kill me for it if he likes or if he dares, but if I am here, I'll give him up. I'd give him up if he was to be boiled alive. Murder! Help! If there's the pluck of a man among you three, you'll help me. Murder! Help! Down with him!' Pouring out these cries, and accompanying them with violent gesticulation, the boy actually threw himself single-handed upon the strong man, and in the intensity of his energy and the suddenness of his surprise, brought him heavily to the ground. The three spectators seemed quite stupefied. They offered no interference, and the boy and man rolled on the ground together. The former, heedless of the blows that showered upon him, wrenching his hands tighter and tighter in the garments about the murderous breast, and never ceasing to call for help with all his might. The contest, however, was too unequal to last long. Sykes had him down, and his knee was on his throat, when Crackett pulled him back with a look of alarm and pointed to the window. There were lights gleaming below, voices in loud and earnest conversation, the tramp of hurried footsteps, endless they seemed in number, crossing the nearest wooden bridge. One man on horseback seemed to be among the crowd, for there was the noise of hooves rattling on the uneven pavement. The gleam of lights increased. The footsteps came more thickly and noisily on. Then came a loud knocking at the door, and that a horse murmur from such a multitude of angry voices as would have made the boldest quail. Help! shrieked the boy in a voice that rent the air. He's here! Break down the door! In the king's name! cried the voices without, and the horse cry arose again, but louder. Break down the door! screamed the boy. I tell you, they'll never open it. Run straight into the room where the light is. Break down the door! Strokes thick and heavy rattled upon the door, and lower windows shutters as he ceased to speak, and a loud hazzah burst from the crowd, giving the listener for the first time some adequate idea of its immediate extent. Open the door of some place where I can lock this screeching hell, babe! cried Sykes fiercely, running to and fro and dragging the boy now as easily as if he were an empty sack. That door! Quick! he flung him in, bolted it, and turned the key. Is the downstairs door fast? Double-locked and chained, replied Crackett, who with the other two men still remained quite helpless and bewildered. The paddles! Are they strong? Lined with sheet-iron. And the windows, too? Yes, and the windows. Damn you! cried the desperate Ruffian, throwing up the sash and menacing the crowd. Do your worst! I'll cheat you yet!" Of all the terrific yells that ever fell on mortal ears, none could exceed the cry of the infuriated throng. Some shouted to those who were nearest to set the house on fire. Others roared to the officers to shoot him dead. Seeing them all, none showed such fury as the man on horseback, who throwing himself out of the saddle, and bursting through the crowd as if he were parting water, cried beneath the window in a voice that rose above all others, twenty guineas to the man who brings a ladder! The nearest voices took up the cry, and hundreds echoed it. Some called for ladders, some for sledge-hammers, some ran with torches to and fro as if to seek them, and still came back and roared again. Some spent their breath in impotent curses and execrations. Some pressed forward with the ecstasy of madmen, and thus impeded the progress of those below. Some among the boldest attempted to climb up by the water-spout and crevices in the wall, and all waved to and fro in the darkness beneath, like a field of corn moved by an angry wind, and joined from time to time in one loud, furious roar. The tide cried the murderer as he staggered back into the room and shut the vases out. The tide was in as I came up. Give me a rope! A long rope! They're all in front. I may drop into the folly ditch and clear off that way. Give me a rope or I shall do three more murders and kill myself!" The panic-stricken men pointed to where such articles were kept. The murderer, hastily selecting the longest and strongest cord, hurried up to the housetop. All the window in the rear of the house had been long ago, locked up except one small trap in the room where the boy was locked, and that was too small even for the passage of his body. But from this aperture he had never ceased to call on those without, to guard the back, and thus, when the murderer emerged at last on the housetop by the door and the roof, a loud shout proclaimed the fact to those in front, who immediately began to pour round, pressing upon each other in an unbroken stream. He planted a board, which he had carried up with him for the purpose, so firmly against the door that it must be a matter of great difficulty to open it from the inside, and creeping over the tiles, looked over the low parapet, the water was out, and the ditch a bed of mud. The crowd had been hushed during these few moments, watching his motions and doped for love his purpose, but the instant they perceived it and knew it was defeated they raised a cry of triumph and execration to which all their previous shouting had been whispers. Again and again it rose. Those who were at too great a distance to know its meaning took up the sound. It echoed and re-echoed. It seemed as though the whole city had poured its population out to curse him. On pressed the people from the front. On, on, on, in a strong, struggling current of angry faces, with herein there a glaring torch to lighten them up and show them out in all their wrath and passion. The houses on the opposite side of the ditch had been entered by the mob. Sashes were thrown up or torn bodily out. There were tears and tears of faces in every window, cluster upon cluster of people clinging to every housetop. Each little bridge, and there were three in sight, bent beneath the weight of the crowd upon it, still the current poured on to find some nook or hall from which to vent their shouts, and only for an instant to see the wretch. They have him now," cried a man on the nearest bridge, hurrah! The crowd grew light with uncovered heads, and a gain the shout up rose. "'I will give fifty pounds,' cried an old gentleman from the same quarter, "'to the man who takes him alive. I will remain here till he come to ask me for it.' There was another roar. At this moment the word was passed among the crowd, that the door was forced at last, and that he who had first called for the ladder had mounted into the room. The stream abruptly turned, as this intelligence ran from mouth to mouth, and the people at the window, seeing those upon the bridges pouring back, quitted their stations, and running into the street joined the concourse that now thronged Pell-Mell to the spot they had left, each man crushing and striving with his neighbor, and all panting with impatience to get near the door and look upon the criminal as the officers brought him out. His eyes and streaks of those who were pressed almost as suffocation, or trampled down and trodden underfoot in the confusion, were dreadful. The narrow ways were completely blocked up, and at this time between the rush of some to regain the space in front of the house, and the unavailing struggles of others to extricate themselves from the mass, the immediate attention was distracted from the murderer, although the universal eagerness for his capture was, if possible, increased. The man had shrunk down, thoroughly quelled by the ferocity of the crowd, and the impossibility of escape, but seeing this sudden change with no less rapidity than it had occurred, he sprang upon his feet, determined to make one last effort for his life by dropping into the ditch, and at the risk of being stifled, endeavoring to creep away in the darkness and confusion. Roused into new strength and energy, and stimulated by the noise within the house which announced that an entrance had really been affected, he set his foot against the stack of chimneys, fastened one end of the rope tightly and firmly rounded, and with the other made a strong running noose by the aid of his hands and teeth almost in a second. He could let himself down by the cord, within a less distance of the ground than his own height, and had his knife ready in his hand to cut it then and drop. At the very instant when he brought the loop over his head previous to slipping it between his armpits, and when the old gentleman before mentioned, who had clung so tight to the railing of the bridge as to resist the force of the crowd and retained his position, earnestly warned those about him that the man was about to lower himself down. At that very instant the murderer, looking behind him on the roof, threw his arms above his head, and uttered a yell of terror. "'The eyes again!' he cried in an unearthly screech. Staggering as if struck by lightning, he lost his balance, and tumbled over the parapet. The noose was on his neck. It ran up with his weight, tight as a bowstring, and swift as the arrow it speeds. He fell for five and thirty feet. There was a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of the limbs, and there he hung, with the open knife clenched in his stiffening hand. The old chimney quivered with a shock, but stood it bravely. The murderer swung lifeless against the wall, and the boy, thrusting aside the dangling body which obscured his view, called to the people to come and take him out for God's sake. A dog, which had lain concealed till now, ran backwards and forwards on the parapet with a dismal howl, and collecting himself for a spring, jumped for the dead man's shoulders. Missing his aim, he fell into the ditch, turning completely over as he went, and striking his head against a stone, dashed out his brains. End of Chapter 50 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Chapter 51 affording an explanation of more mysteries than one, and comprehending a proposal of marriage with no word of settlement or pin-money. The events narrated in the last chapter were yet but two days old, when Oliver found himself at three o'clock in the afternoon, in a travelling carriage rolling fast towards his native town. Mrs. Maley and Rose and Mrs. Bedwin and the good doctor were with him, and Mr. Brownlow followed in a post-chase, accompanied by one other person whose name had not been mentioned. They had not talked much upon the way, for Oliver was in a flutter of agitation and uncertainty which deprived him of the power of collecting his thoughts, and almost of speech, and appeared to a scarcely less effect on his companions who shared it in at least unequal degree. He and the two ladies had been very carefully made acquainted by Mr. Brownlow with the nature of the admissions which had been forced from monks, and although they knew that the object of their present journey was to complete the work which had been so well begun, still the whole matter was enveloped in enough of doubt and mystery to leave them in endurance of the most intense suspense. The same kind friend, head, with Mr. Lasburn's assistance, cautiously stopped all channels of communication through which they could receive intelligence of the dreadful occurrences that so recently taken place. It was quite true, he said, that they must know them before long, but it might be at a better time than the present and it could not be at a worse. So they travelled on in silence, each busied with reflections on the object which had brought them together, and no one disposed to give utterance to the thoughts which crowded upon all. But if Oliver, under these influences, had remained silent while they journeyed towards his birthplace by a road he had never seen, how the whole current of his recollections ran back to old times, and what a crowd of emotions were wakened up in his breast when they turned into that which he had traversed on foot, a poor, houseless, wandering boy, without a friend to help him, or a roof to shelter his head. "'See there! there!' cried Oliver, eagerly clasping the hand of Rose, and pointing out at the carriage window. That's the style I came over. There are the hedges I crept behind, for fear any one should overtake me and force me back. Yonder is the path across the fields, leading to the old host where I was a little child—oh, Dick!—Dick, my dear old friend, if I could only see you now! You will see him soon,' replied Rose, gently taking his folded hands between her own. You shall tell him how happy you are, and how rich you have grown, and that in all your happiness you have none so great as the coming back to make him happy too. Yes, yes,' said Oliver, and will take him away from here, and have him clothed, then taught, and sent him to some quiet country place where he may grow strong and well, shall we? Rose nodded, yes, for the boy was smiling through such happy tears that she could not speak. "'You will be kind and good to him, for you are to everyone,' said Oliver. "'It will make you cry, I know, to hear what he can tell. But never mind, never mind. It will be all over, and you will smile again. I know that too, to think how changed he is. You did the same with me.' He said, "'God bless you to me,' when I ran away,' cried the boy, with a burst of affectionate emotion, and I will say, "'God bless you now, and show him how I love him for it.' As they approached the town, and at length drove through its narrow streets, it became a matter of no small difficulty to restrain the boy with unreasonable bounds. There were sour-berries, the undertakers, just as it used to be, only smaller and less imposing in appearance than he remembered it. There were all the well-known shops and houses, with almost every one of which he had some slight incident connected. There was Gamfield's cart, the very cart he used to have, standing at the old public-host door. There was the work-house, the dreary prison of his youthful days, with its dismal windows frowning on the street. There was the same leaned porter standing at the gate, at sight of whom Oliver involuntarily shrunk back, and then laughed at himself for being so foolish, and cried, and laughed again. There were scores of faces at the doors and windows that he knew quite well. There was nearly everything, as if he had left it but yesterday, and all his recent life had been but a happy dream. But it was pure, earnest, joyful reality. They drove straight to the door of the chief hotel, which Oliver used to stare up at with awe and think a mighty palace, but which had somehow fallen off in grandeur and size. And here was Mr. Grimwig, all ready to receive them, kissing the young lady and the old one too when they got out of the coach, as if he were the grandfather of the whole party, all smiles and kindness, and not offering to eat his head. No, not once, not even when he contradicted a very old post-boy about the nearest road to London, and maintained he knew it best, though he had only come that way once, and that time fast asleep. There was dinner prepared, and there were bedrooms ready, and everything was arranged as if by magic. Notwithstanding all this, when the hurry of the first half-hour was over, the same silence and constraint prevailed that had marked their journey down, Mr. Brownlow did not join them at dinner, but remained in a separate room. The two other gentlemen hurried in and out with anxious faces, enjoying the short intervals when they were present conversed apart. Once Mrs. Maley was called away after being absent for nearly an hour, returned with eyes swollen with weeping. All these things made Rose and Oliver, who were not in any new secrets, nervous and uncomfortable. They sat wondering in silence, or if they exchanged a few words, spoken whispers, as if they were afraid to hear the sound of their own voices. At length, when nine o'clock had come, and they began to think they were to hear no more that night, Mr. Lozburn and Mr. Grimwig entered the room, followed by Mr. Brownlow, and a man whom Oliver almost streaked with surprise to see, for they told him it was his brother, and it was the same man he had met at the market-town, and seeing looking in with Faggen at the window of his little room. Monks cast a look of hate, which even then he could not dissemble at the astonished boy, and sat down near the door. Mr. Brownlow, who had papers in his hand, walked to a table near which Rose and Oliver were seated. "'This is a painful task,' said he, but these declarations which have been signed in London before many gentlemen must be in substance repeated here. I would have spared you the degradation, but we must hear them from your own lips before we part, and you know why.' "'Go on,' said the person addressed, turning away his face, "'quick! I've almost done enough, I think. Don't keep me here.' "'This child,' said Mr. Brownlow, drawing Oliver to him, and laying his hand upon his head, "'is your half-brother, the illegitimate son of your father, my dear friend Edwin Leverd, by poor young Agnes Fleming, who died in giving him birth.' "'Yes,' said Monks, scowling at the trembling boy, the beating of whose heart he might have heard, "'That is the bastard child!' "'The term you use,' said Mr. Brownlow sternly, "'is a reproach to those long since passed beyond the feeble centre of the world. It reflects disgrace on no one living except you who use it. Let that pass. He was born in this town.' "'In the work-house of this town,' was the sullen reply. "'You have the story there,' he pointed impatiently to the papers as he spoke. "'I must have it here, too,' said Mr. Brownlow, looking round upon the listeners. "'Listen, then, you,' returned Monks. His father, being taken ill at Rome, was joined by his wife, my mother, from whom he had been long separated, who went from Paris and took me with her to look after his property, for what I know, for she had no great affection for him nor he for her. He knew nothing of us, for his senses were gone, and he slumbered on till next day when he died. Among the papers in his desk were two, dated on the night his illness first came on, directed to yourself.' He addressed himself to Mr. Brownlow, and enclosed in a few short lines to you, with an intimation on the cover of the package that it was not to be forwarded until after he was dead. One of those papers was a letter to this girl Agnes, the other a will. What of the letter?' asked Mr. Brownlow. The letter? A sheet of paper, crossed and crossed again, with a penitent confession, and prayers to God to help her. He had palmed the tale on the girl that some secret mystery, to be explained one day, prevented his marrying her just then, and so she had gone on trusting patiently to him, until she trusted too far and lost what none could ever give her back. She was at that time within a few months of her confinement. He told her all he had meant to do, to hide her shame. If he had lived and prayed her, if he died not to curse his memory, or to think the consequences of their sin would be visited on her or their young child, for all the guilt was his. He reminded her of the day he had given her the little locket and the ring with a Christian name engraved upon it, and a blank left for that which he hoped one day to have bestowed upon her, prayed her yet to keep it, and wear it next to her heart as she had done before, and then ran on widely on the same words over and over again as if he had gone distracted, and I believe he had. The will, said Mr. Brownlow, as Oliver's tears fell fast, monks was silent. The will, said Mr. Brownlow, speaking for him, was in the same spirit as the letter. He talked of miseries which his wife had brought upon him, of the rebellious disposition, vice, malice, and premature bad passions of you his only son, who had been trained to hate him, and left you and your mother each an annuity of eight hundred pounds. The bulk of his property he divided into two equal portions, one for Agnes Fleming and the other for their child if it should be born alive and ever come of age. If it were a girl it was to inherit the money unconditionally, but if a boy, only on the stipulation that in his minority he should never have stained the name with any public act of dishonor, meanness, cowardice, or wrong. He did this, he said, to mark his confidence in the other, and his conviction only strengthened by approaching death that the child would share her gentle heart and noble nature. If he were disappointed in this expectation, then the money was to come to you, for then and not till then, when both children were equal, would he recognize your prior claim upon his purse, who had none upon his heart, but head from an infant repulsed him with coldness and aversion? My mother, said Monks in a louder tone, did what a woman should have done. She burnt this will. The letter never reached its destination, but that and other proof she kept in case they ever tried to lie away the blot. The girl's father had the truth from her, with every aggravation that her violent hate, I love her for it now, could ask. Goaded by shame and dishonor, he fled with his children into a remote corner of Wales, changing his very name that his friends might never know of his retreat. And here, no great while afterwards, he was found dead in his bed. The girl had left her home, in secret, some weeks before. He had searched for her on foot in every town and village near. It was on the night when he returned home assured that she had destroyed herself to hide her shame in his that his old heart broke. There was a short silence here, until Mr. Brownlow took up the thread of the narrative. Years after this, he said, this man's Edward Leiford's mother came to me. He had left her when only eighteen, robbed her of jewels and money, gambled, squandered, forged, and fled to London, where for two years he had associated with the lowest outcasts. She was sinking under a painful and incurable disease, and wished to recover him before she died. Inquiries were set on foot and strict searches made. They were unavailing for a long time, but ultimately successful, and he went back with her to France. There she died, said Monks, after a lingering illness, and on her deathbed she bequeathed these secrets to me, together with her unquenchable and deadly hatred of all whom they involved, though she need not have left me that, for I had inherited it long before. She would not believe that the girl had destroyed herself and the child too, but was filled with the impression that a male child had been born and was alive. I swore to her, if it ever crossed my path, to hunt it down, never to let it rest, to pursue it with the bitterest and most unrelenting animosity, to vent upon it the hatred that I deeply felt, and to spit upon the empty vault of that insulting will by dragging it, if I could, to the very gallows foot. She was right. He came in my way at last. I began well, and but for babbling drabs I would have finished as I began. As the villain folded his arms tight together, and muttered curses on himself in the impotence of baffled malice, Mr. Brownlow turned to the terrified group beside him, and explained that the Jew who had been his old accomplice and confidant had a large reward for keeping Oliver ensnared, of which some part was to be given up, in the event of his being rescued, and that a dispute on this head had led to their visit to the country-house for the purpose of identifying him. The locket and ring, said Mr. Brownlow, turning to monks, I bought them from the man and woman I told you of who stole them from the nurse who stole them from the corpse, answered monks without raising his eyes. You know what became of them. Mr. Brownlow merely nodded to Mr. Grimwig, who, disappearing with great alacrity, shortly returned, pushing in Mrs. Bumble, and draking her unwilling consort after him. "'Do my highs deceive me?' cried Mr. Bumble, with ill-famed enthusiasm. "'Or is that little Oliver? Oh, Oliver, if you'd known how I'd been a-greaving for you! Hold your tongue, fool!' murmured Mrs. Bumble. "'Isn't nature nature?' Mrs. Bumble, remonstrated the work-house master. "'Can't I be supposed to feel? I, as brought him up parochily, when I see him a-setting here among ladies and gentlemen of a very affable description. I always loved that boy as if he'd been my—my—my own grandfather,' said Mr. Bumble, halting for an appropriate comparison. "'Master Oliver, my dear, you remember the blessed gentleman in the white waistcoat? Ah, he went to heaven last week in an oak coffin with plaited handles, Oliver. Come, sir,' said Mr. Grimwig, tartly, suppress your feelings. "'I will do my endeavour, sir,' replied Mr. Bumble. "'How do you do, sir? I hope you are very well.' This salutation was addressed to Mr. Brownlow, who had stepped up to within a short distance of the respectable couple. He inquired as he pointed to Monks. "'Do you know that person?' "'Now,' replied Mrs. Bumble, flatly. "'Perhaps you don't,' said Mr. Brownlow, addressing her spouse. "'I never saw him in all my life,' said Mr. Bumble. "'Nor sold him anything, perhaps?' "'No,' replied Mrs. Bumble. "'You never had, perhaps, a certain gold locket and ring,' said Mr. Brownlow.' "'Certainly not,' replied the matron. "'Why are we brought here to answer to such nonsense as this?' "'Again, Mr. Brownlow, nodded to Mr. Grimwig, and again that gentleman limped away with extraordinary readiness. But not again did he return, with a stout man and wife, for this time he led in two palsied women, who shook and tottered as they walked. "'You shut the door, the night old sabby died,' said the foremost one, raising her striffled hand. "'But you couldn't shut out the sound, nor stop the chinks. "'Now, now,' said the other, looking round her and wagging her toothless jaws. "'No, no, no. We heard her try to tell you what she'd done, and saw you take a peeper from her hand, and watched you, too, next day to the pawnbroker's shop,' said the first. "'Yes,' said the second, "'and it was a locket and gold ring. We found out that, and saw it giving you. We were by, oh, we were by. And we know more than that,' resumed the first. "'For she told us, often long ago, that the young mother, who had told her that, feeling she should never get over it, she was on her way, at the time that she was taken ill, to die near the grave of the father of the child.' "'Would you like to see the pawnbroker himself?' asked Mr. Grimwig, with a motion towards the door. "'No,' replied the woman. "'If he,' she pointed to Monks, "'has been coward enough to confess, as I see he has. And you have sounded all these hags till you have found the right ones. I have nothing more to say. I did sell them. And there will you'll never get them. What then?' "'Nothing,' replied Mr. Brownlow, "'except that it remains for us to take care that neither of you is employed in a situation of trust again. You may leave the room.' "'I hope,' said Mr. Bumble, looking about him with great roofleness, as Mr. Grimwig disappeared with the two old women. "'I hope that this unfortunate little circumstance will not deprive me of my parochial office.' "'Indeed it will,' replied Mr. Brownlow. "'You may make up your mind to that, and think yourself well off beside. It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it,' urged Mr. Bumble, first looking round to ascertain that his partner had left the room. "'That is no excuse,' replied Mr. Brownlow. "'You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and indeed are the more guilty of the two in the eye of the law, for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction. "'If the law supposes that,' said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "'the law is an ass, an idiot. "'If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor, and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be open by experience, by experience!' Laying great stress on the repetition of these two words, Mr. Bumble fixed his hat on very tight, and, putting his hands in his pockets, followed his help-bait downstairs. "'Young lady,' said Mr. Brownlow, turning to Rose, "'give me your hand. Do not tremble. You need not fear to hear the few remaining words we have to say. If they have—I do not know how they can, but if they have any reference to me,' said Rose, "'pray let me hear them at some other time. I have not strength or spirits now.' "'Nay,' returned the old gentleman, drawing her arm through his. "'You have more fortitude than this, I am sure.' "'Do you know this young lady, sir?' "'Yes,' replied Monks. "'I never saw you before,' Rose said fatally. "'I have seen you often,' returned Monks. "'But father of the unhappy Agnes had two daughters,' said Mr. Brownlow. "'What was the fate of the other, the child?' "'The child,' replied Monks. "'When her father died at a strange place, at a strange name, without a letter, book, or scrap of paper that yielded the fateful clue by which his friends or relatives could be traced, the child was taken by some wretched cottagers who reared it as their own. "'Go on,' said Mr. Brownlow, signing to Mrs. Bailey to approach. "'Go on.' "'You couldn't find the spot to which these people had repaired,' said Monks. "'But where friendship fails, hatred will often force away. My mother found it. After a year of cunning search, I, and found the child. She took it, did she? No. The people were poor and began to sicken, at least the man did, of their fair humanity. So she left it with them, giving them a small present of money which would not last long and promised more which he never meant to send. She didn't quite rely, however, on their discontent and poverty for the child's unhappiness, but told the history of the sister's shame, with such alterations as suited her, bad them take good heed of the child, for she came of bad blood and told them she was illegitimate, and sure to go wrong at one time or other. The circumstances counteranced all this. The people believed it, and there the child dragged on an existence, miserable enough even to satisfy us until a widow lady, residing then at Chester, saw the girl by chance, pitied her, and took her home. There was some cursed spell, I think, against us, for in spite of all our efforts she remained there and was happy. I lost sight of her two or three years ago, and saw her no more until a few months back. Do you see her now? Yes. Leaning on your arm. But not the less my niece, cried Mrs. Bailey, folding the fainting girl in her arms. Not the less my dearest child, I would not lose her now for all the treasures of the world, my sweet companion, my own dear girl. The only friend I ever had, cried Rose, clinging to her. The kindest best of friends, my heart will burst, I cannot bear all this. You have borne more, and have been through all the best and gentlest creature that ever shed happiness on every one she knew, said Mrs. Bailey, embracing her tenderly. Come, come, my love, remember who this is who waits to clasp you in his arms, poor child. See here, look, look, my dear. Not aunt, cried Oliver, throwing his arms about her neck. I'll never call her aunt, sister, my own dear sister, that something taught my heart to love so dearly from the first rose, dear, darling rose. Let the tears which fell, and the broken words which were exchanged in the long, close embrace between the orphans, be sacred. A father, sister, and mother were gained and lost in that one moment. Joy and grief were mingled in the cup, but there were no bitter tears, for even grief itself arose so softened and clothed in such sweet and tender recollections that it became a solemn pleasure and lost all character of pain. They were a long, long time alone. A soft tap at the door at length announced that someone was without. Oliver opened it, glided away, and gave place to Harry Mayly. I know it all, he said, taking a seat beside the lovely girl. Dear Rose, I know it all. I am not here by accident, he added, after a lengthened silence, nor have I heard all this to-night, for I knew it yesterday, only yesterday. Do you guess that I have come to remind you of a promise? Stay, said Rose, you do know all, all. You gave me leave, at any time within a year, to renew the subject of our last discourse. I did. Not to press you to alter your determination, pursued the young man, but to hear you repeat it, if you would. I was to lay whatever of station or fortune I might possess at your feet, and if you still adhered to your former determination, I pledged myself by no word or act to seek to change it. The same reasons which influenced me then will influence me now, said Rose firmly. If I ever owed a strict and rigid duty to her whose goodness saved me from a life of indigence and suffering, when should I ever feel it as I should to-night? It is a struggle, said Rose, but what I am proud to make, it is a pang, but one my heart shall bear. The disclosure of to-night, Harry began, the disclosure of to-night, replied Rose softly, leaves me in the same position with reference to you as that in which I stood before. You hardened your heart against me, Rose, urged her lover. Oh, Harry, Harry, said the young lady, bursting into tears. I wish I could, and spare myself this pain. Then why inflict it on yourself, said Harry, taking her hand. Think, dear Rose, think what you have heard to-night. And what have I heard, what have I heard? cried Rose, that a sense of his deep disgrace so worked upon my own father that he shunned all. There we have said enough, Harry, we have said enough. Not yet, not yet, said the young man, detaining her as she rose. My hopes, my wishes, prospects, feeling, every thought in life except my love for you have undergone a change. I offer you now no distinction among a bustling crowd, no mingling with a world of malice and detraction, where the blood is called into honest cheeks by ought but real disgrace and shame, but a home, a heart and home. Yes, dearest Rose, and those and those alone are all I have to offer. What do you mean, she faltered. I mean by this, that when I left you last, I left you with a firm determination to level all fancied barriers between yourself and me, resolved that if my world could not be yours, I would make yours mine, that no pride of birth should curl the lip at you, for I would turn from it. This I have done. Those who have shrunk from me because of this have shrunk from you and proved you so far right. Such relatives of influence and rank as smiled upon me then. Look coldly now. But there are smiling fields and waving trees in England's richest country, and by one village-church mine rose my own. There stands a rustic dwelling which you can make me prouder of, that all the hopes I have renounced measured a thousandfold. This is my Racken station now, and here I lay it down. To try and think, waiting supper for lovers, said Mr Grimwig, waking up and pulling his pocket-handkerchief from over his head. Truth to tell, the supper I have been waiting a most unreasonable time. Neither Mrs. Maley nor Harry nor Rose, who all came in together, could offer a word in extenuation. I had serious thoughts of eating my head tonight, said Mr. Grimwig, for I began to think I should get nothing else. I will take the liberty if you'll allow me of saluting the bride that is to be. Mr. Grimwig lost no time in carrying this notice into effect upon the blushing girl, and the example being contagious was followed both by the doctor and Mr. Brownlow. Some people affirm that Harry Maley had been observed to set it originally in a dark room adjoining, but the best authorities consider this downright scandal he being young and a clergyman. Oliver, my child, said Mrs. Maley, where have you been, and why do you look so sad? There are tears stealing down your face at this moment. What is the matter? It is a world of disappointment, often to the hopes we most cherish, and hopes that do our nature the greatest honour. Poor Dick was dead. End of Chapter 51 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Chapter 52, Faggins Last Night Alive The court was paved from floor to roof with human faces. Inquisitive and eager eyes peered from every inch of space, from the rail before the dock away into the sharpest angle of the smallest corner in the galleries, all looks were fixed upon one man, Faggins. Before him and behind, above, below, on the right and on the left, he seemed to stand surrounded by a firmament, all bright with gleaming eyes. He stood there, in all this glare of living light, with one hand resting on the wooden slab before him, the other held to his ear, and his head thrust forward to enable him to catch with greater distinctness every word that fell from the presiding judge who was delivering his charge to the jury. At times he turned his eyes sharply upon them to observe the effect of the slightest featherweight in his favour, and when the points against him were stated with terrible distinctness looked towards his counsel in mute appeal that he would even then urge something in his behalf. Beyond these manifestations of anxiety he stirred not a hand or foot. He had scarcely moved since the trial began, and now that the judge ceased to speak he still remained in the same strained attitude of close attention with his gaze bent on him as though he listened still. A slight bustle in the court recalled him to himself. Looking round he saw that the jury-man had turned together to consider their verdict. As his eyes wandered to the gallery he could see the people rising above each other to see his face, some hastily applying their glasses to their eyes, and others whispering their neighbours with looks expressive of apporance. A few there were who seemed unmindful of him, and looked only to the jury in impatient wonder how they could delay. But in no one face, not even among the women, of whom there were many there, could he read the faintest sympathy with himself, or any feeling but one of all absorbing interest that he should be condemned. As he saw all this in one bewildered glance the death-like stillness came again, and looking back he saw that the jury-man had turned toward the judge. Hush! They only sought permission to retire. He looked wistfully into their faces one by one when they passed out, as though to see which way the greater number lent. But that was fruitless. The jailer touched him on the shoulder. He followed mechanically to the end of the dock, and sat down on a chair. The man pointed it out, or he would not have seen it. He looked up into the gallery again. Some of the people were eating, and some fanning themselves with handkerchiefs, for the crowded place was very hot. There was one young man sketching his face in a little notebook. He wondered whether it was like, and looked on when the artist broke his pencil-point, and made another with his knife, as any idle spectator might have done. In the same way when he turned his eyes towards the judge, his mind began to busy itself with the fashion of his dress and what it cost and how he put it on. There was an old fat gentleman on the bench, too, who had gone out some half an hour before, and now come back. He wondered within himself whether this man had been to get his dinner, and what he had had, and where he had headed, and pursued this train of careless thought until some new object caught his eye and roused a nether. Not that all this time his mind was for an instant free from one oppressive overwhelming sense of the grave that opened at his feet. It was ever present to him, but in a vague and general way, and he could not fix his thoughts upon it. Thus, even when he trembled, and turned burning hot at the idea of speedy death, he felt counting the iron spikes before him, and wondering how the head of one had been broken off, and whether they would mend it or leave it as it was. Then he thought of all the horrors of the gallows and the scaffold, and stopped to watch a man sprinkling the floor to cool it, and then went on to think again. At length there was a cry of silence, and a breathless look from all towards the door. The jury returned, and passed him close. He could glean nothing from their faces. They might as well have been of stone. Perfect stillness ensued. Not a rustle, not a breath. Guilty. The building rang with a tremendous shout, and another, and another, and then it echoed loud groans at gathered strength that they swelled out, like angry thunder. It was a peel of joy from the populace outside, greeting the news that he would die on Monday. The noise subsided, and he was asked if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him. He had resumed his listening attitude and looked intently at his questioner while the demand was made. But it was twice repeated before he seemed to hear it, and then he only muttered that he was an old man, an old man, and so, dropping into a whisper, was silent again. The judge assumed the black cap, and the prisoner still stood with the same air and gesture. A woman in the gallery uttered some exclamation called forth by this dread solemnity. He looked hastily up, as if angry at the interruption, and bent forward yet more attentively. The address was solemn and impressive. The sentence fearful to hear. But he stood like a marble figure without the motion of a nerve. His haggard face was still thrust forward, his under jaw hanging down, and his eyes staring out before him when the jailor put his hand upon his arm and beckoned him away. He gazed stupidly about him for an instant and obeyed. They led him through a paved room under the court, where some prisoners were waiting till their turns came, and others were talking to their friends, who crowded round a gate which looked into the open yard. There was nobody there to speak to him, but as he passed the prisoners fell back to render him more visible to the people who were clinging to the bars, and they assailed him with approbrious names, and screeched and hissed. He shook his fist, and would have spat upon them, but his conductors hurried him on through a gloomy passage lighted by a few dim lamps into the interior of the prison. Here he was searched, that he might not have about him means of anticipating the law. This ceremony performed. They led him to one of the condemned cells and left him there alone. He sat down on a stone bench opposite the door, which served for seat and bedstead, and casting his bloodshot eyes upon the ground, tried to collect his thoughts. After a while he began to remember a few disjointed fragments of what the judge had said, though it had seemed to him at the time that he could not hear a word. These gradually fell into their proper places, and by degree suggested more, so that in a little time he had the hole almost as it was delivered, to be hanged by the neck till he was dead. That was the end. To be hanged by the neck till he was dead. As it came on very dark he began to think of all the men he had known who had died upon the scaffold, some of them through his means. They rose up in such quick succession that he could hardly count them. He had seen some of them die, and had joked too because they died with prayers upon their lips. With what a rattling noise the drop went down, and how suddenly they changed from strong and vigorous men to dangling heaps of clothes. Some of them might have inhabited that very cell, sat upon that very spot. It was very dark. Why didn't they bring a light? The cell had been built for many years. Scores of men must have passed their last hours there. It was like sitting in a vault strewn with dead bodies, the cap, the noose, the pinioned arms, the faces that he knew even beneath that hideous veil. Light, light! At length when his hands were raw with beating against the heavy door and walls, two men appeared, one bearing a candle which he thrust into an iron candlestick fixed against the wall, the other dragging in a mattress on which to pass the night, for the prisoner was to be left alone no more. Then came the night. Dark, dismal, silent night. Other watchers are glad to hear this church-clock strike, for they tell of life and coming day. To him they brought despair. The boom of every iron bell came laden with the one deep hollow sound, death. What availed the noise and bustle of cheerful mourning, which penetrated even there to him? It was another form of knell, with mockery added to the warning. The day passed off. Day? There was no day. It was gone as soon as come. And night came on again. Night so long, and yet so short, long in its dreadful silence, and short in its fleeting hours. At one time he raved and blasphemed, and yet another howled and tore his hair. Venerable men of his own persuasion had come to pray beside him, but he had driven them away with curses. They renewed their charitable efforts, and he beat them off. Saturday night. He had only one more night to live. And as he thought of this, the day broke. Sunday. It was not until the night of this last awful day that a withering sense of his helpless desperate state came in its full intensity upon his blighted soul, not that he had ever held any defined or positive hope of mercy, but that he had never been able to consider more than the dim probability of dying so soon. He had spoken little to either the two men who relieved each other in their attendance upon him, and they for their part made no effort to rouse his attention. He had sat there awake but dreaming. Now he started up every minute, and with gasping mouth and burning skin hurried to and fro in such a paroxysm of fear and wrath that even they, used to such sights, recoiled from him with horror. He grew so terrible at last in all the tortures of his evil conscience that one man could not bear to sit there eyeing him alone, and so the two kept watch together. He cowered down upon his stone bed, and thought of the past. He had been wounded with some missiles from the crowd on the day of his capture, and his head was bandaged with a linen cloth. His red hair hung down upon his bloodless face. His beard was torn and twisted into knots. His eyes shone with a terrible light. His unwashed flesh crackled with the fever that burned him up. Eight, nine, ten. If it was not a trick to frighten him, and those with the real hours treading on each other's heels, where would he be when they came round again? Eleven. Another struck before the voice of the previous hour had ceased to vibrate. At eight he would be the only mourner at his own funeral-train. At eleven. Those dreadful walls of Newgate, which have hidden so much misery and such unspeakable anguish not only from the eyes, but too often and too long from the thoughts of men, never held so dread a spectacle as that. The few who lingered as they passed and wondered what the man was doing who would be hanged to-morrow would have slept but ill that night if they could have seen him. From early in the evening until nearly midnight little groups of two and three presented themselves at the lodge gate, and inquired with anxious faces whether any reprieve had been received. These being answered in the negative, communicated the welcome intelligence to clusters in the street, who pointed out to one another the door from which he must come out, and showed where the scaffold would be built, and walking with unwilling steps away, turned back to conjure up the scene. By degrees they fell off one by one, and for an hour in the dead of night the street was left to solitude and darkness. The space before the prison was cleared, and a few strong barriers painted black, had been already thrown across the road to break the pressure of the expected crowd when Mr. Brownlow and Oliver appeared at the wicked, and presented an order of admission to the prisoner signed by one of the sheriffs. They were immediately admitted into the lodge. Is the young gentleman to come too, sir, said the man whose duty it was to conduct them? It's not a sight for children, sir. It is not indeed, my friend, rejoin Mr. Brownlow, but my business with this man is intimately connected with him, and as this child has seen him in the full career of his success and villainy, I think it is well, even at the cost of some pain or fear, that he should see him now. These few words had been said apart, so as to be inaudible to Oliver. The man touched his hat, and glancing at Oliver with some curiosity, opened another gate, opposite to that by which they had entered, and led them on, through dark and winding ways towards the cells. This, said the man, stopping in a gloomy passage, where a couple of workmen were making some preparation in profound silence, this is the place he passes through. If you step this way, you can see the door he goes out at. He led them into a stone kitchen, fitted with coppers for dressing the prison food, and pointed to a door. There was an open grating above it through which came the sound of men's voices, mingled with the noise of hammering and the throwing down of boards. They were putting up the scaffold. From this place they passed through several strong gates, opened by other turn-keys from the inner side, and having entered an open yard ascended a flight of narrow steps, and came into a passage with a row of strong doors on the left hand. Motioning them to remain where they were, the turn-key knocked at one of these with his bunch of keys. The two attendants, after a little whispering, came out into the passage, stretching themselves as if glad of the temporary relief, and motioned the visitors to follow the jailer into the cell. They did so. The condemned criminal was seated on his bed, rocking himself from side to side, with accountants more like that of a stared beast than the face of a man. His mind was evidently wandering to his own life, for he continued to mutter without appearing conscious of their presence, otherwise than as a part of his vision. Good boy, Charlie! Well done!" he mumbled. Oliver, too! Ha-ha! Oliver, too! Quite the gentleman now! Quite the— take that boy away to bed! The jailer took the disengaged hand of Oliver, and whispering him not to be alarmed. Looked on without speaking. Take him away to bed, cried Fagan. Do you hear me, some of you? He has been the—the—somehow the cause of all this. It's worth the money to bring him up to it. Bolt his throat, Bill. Never mind the girl. Bolt his throat as deep as you can cut. Saw his head off. Fagan, said the jailer. That's me, cried the Jew, falling instantly into the attitude of listening he had assumed upon his trial. An old man, my lord, a very old, old man. Here, said the turnkey, laying his hand upon his breast to keep him down, here's somebody who wants to see you, to ask you some questions, I suppose. Fagan? Fagan, are you a man? Shant be one long, he replied, looking up with a face retaining no human expression but rage and terror. Strike them all dead! What right have they to butcher me? As he spoke, he caught sight of Oliver and Mr. Brownlow. Shrinking to the furthest corner of the seat, he demanded to know what they wanted there. Steady, said the turnkey, still holding him down. To now, sir, tell him what you want, quick if you please, for he grows worse as the time gets on. You have some papers, said Mr. Brownlow advancing, which were placed into your hands for better security by a man called Monks. It's all a lie together, replied Fagan. I haven't won, not won. For the love of God, said Mr. Brownlow solemnly, do not say that now upon the very verge of death, but tell me where they are. You know that Sykes is dead, that Monks has confessed, that there is no hope of any further gain. Where are those papers? Oliver, cried Fagan, beckoning to him, here, here, let me whisper to you. I am not afraid, said Oliver, in a low voice, as he relinquished Mr. Brownlow's hand. The papers, said Fagan, drawing Oliver towards him, are in a canvas bag, in a hole, a little way up the chimney in the top front room. I want to talk to you, my dear. I want to talk to you. Yes, yes, returned Oliver. Let me say a prayer. Do, let me say one prayer. Say only one upon your knees with me, and we will talk till morning. Outside, outside, replied Fagan, pushing the boy before him towards the door, and looking vacantly over his head. Say, I've gone to sleep. They'll believe you. You can get me out, if you take me so. Now then, now then. Oh, God forgive this wretched man, cried the boy, with a burst of tears. That's right, that's right, said Fagan, that'll help us on. This door first. If I shake and tremble as we pass the gallows, don't you mind, but hurry on. Now, now, now. Have you nothing else to ask him, sir? inquired the turnkey. No other question, replied Mr. Brownlow. If I hope we could recall him to a sense of his position, nothing will do that, sir, replied the man, shaking his head. You had better leave him. The door of the cell opened, and the attendants returned. Press on, press on, cried Fagan. Softly, but not so slow. Faster, faster! The men laid hands upon him, and disengaging Oliver from his grasp, held him back. He struggled with the power of desperation for an instant, and then sent up cry upon cry that penetrated even those massive walls and rang in their ears until they reached the open yard. It was some time before they left the prison. Oliver nearly swooned after this frightful scene, and was so weak that for an hour or more he had not the strength to walk. Day was dawning when they again emerged. A great multitude had already assembled. The windows were filled with people smoking and playing cards to beguile the time. The crowd were pushing, quarreling, joking. Everything told of life and animation, but one dark cluster of objects in the center of all, the black stage, the cross-beam, the rope, and all the hideous apparatus of death. CHAPTER 53 The fortunes of those who have figured in this tale are nearly closed. The little that remains to their historian to relate is told in few and simple words. Before three months had passed, Rose Fleming and Harry Maley were married in the village church, which was henceforth to be the scene of the young clergyman's labors. On the same day they entered into possession of their new and happy home. Mrs. Maley took up her abode with her son and daughter-in-law to enjoy drawing the tranquil remainder of her days the greatest felicity that age and worth can know, the contemplation of the happiness of those on whom the warmest affections and tenderest cares of a well-spent life have been unceasingly bestowed. It appeared, on full and careful investigation, that if the wreck of property remaining in the custody of monks, who had never prospered either in his hands or in those of his mother, were equally divided between himself and Oliver, it would yield to each little more than three thousand pounds. By the provisions of his father's will Oliver would have been entitled to the whole, but Mr. Brownlow, unwilling to deprive the elder son of the opportunity of retrieving his former vices and pursuing an honest career, proposed this mode of distribution to which his young charge joyfully acceded. Monks, still bearing that assumed name, retired with his portion to a distant part of the new world, were having quickly squandered it, he once more fell into his old courses, and after undergoing a long confinement for some fresh act of fraud and navery, at length sunk under attack of his old disorder and died in prison. As far from home died the chief remaining members of his friend Fagan's gang. Mr. Brownlow adopted Oliver as his son, removing with him and the old hostkeeper to within a mile of the percentage house where his dear friends resided, he gratified the only remaining wish of Oliver's warm and earnest heart, and thus linked together a little society whose condition approached as nearly to one of perfect happiness as can ever be known in this changing world. Soon after the marriage of the young people, the worthy doctor returned to Chertsey, where bereft of the presence of his old friends, he would have been discontented if his temperament had admitted of such a feeling, and would have turned quite peevish if he had known how. For two or three months he contented himself with hinting that he feared the air began to disagree with him, then finding that the place really no longer was to him what it had been, he settled his business on his assistant, took a bachelor's cottage outside the village of which his young friend was pastor, and instantaneously recovered. Here he took to gardening, planting, fishing, carpentering, and various other pursuits of a similar kind, all undertaken with his characteristic impetuosity. In each and all he has since become famous throughout the neighborhood as a most profound authority. Before his removal he had managed to contract a strong friendship for Mr. Grimwig which that eccentric gentleman accordually reciprocated. He is accordingly visited by Mr. Grimwig a great many times in the course of the year. On all such occasions Mr. Grimwig plants, fishes, and carpenters with great ardour doing everything in a very singular and unprecedented manner, but always maintaining with his favorite excavations that his mode is the right one. On Sundays he never fails to criticize the sermon to the young clergyman's face, always conforming Mr. Lasburn in strict confidence afterwards that he considers it an excellent performance, but deems it as well not to say so. It is a standing and a very favorite joke for Mr. Brownlow to rally him on his own prophecy concerning Oliver, and to remind him of the night on which they sat with the watch between them waiting his return. But Mr. Grimwig contends that he was right in the vein, and in proof-their-rough remarks that Oliver did not come back after all, which always calls forth a laugh on his side, and increases his good humour. Mr. Noah Claypole, receiving a free pardon from the crown in consequence of being admitted approver against Fagan, and considering his profession not altogether as safe a one as he could wish, was for some little time at a loss for the means of a livelihood not burdened with too much work. After some consideration he went into business as an informer, in which calling he realizes a genteel subsistence. His plan is to walk out once a week during church time attended by Charlotte in respectable attire. The lady faints away at the doors of charitable publicans, and the gentleman being accommodated with threatening worth of brandy to restore her lays an information next day, and pockets half the penalty. Sometimes Mr. Claypole feints himself, but the result is the same. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, deprived of their situations, were gradually reduced to great indignance and misery, and finally became paupers in that very same work-house in which they had once lorded it over others. Mr. Bumble has been heard to say that in this reverse and degradation he has not even spirits to be thankful for being separated from his wife. As to Mr. Giles and Brittle's, they still remained in their old posts, although the former is bald, the last-named boy quite gray. They sleep at the percentage, but divide their attention so equally among its inmates, and Oliver and Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Losburn, that to this day the villagers have never been able to discover to which establishment they properly belong. Master Charles Bates, appalled by Sykes' crime, fell into a train of reflection whether an honest life was not after all the best. Arriving at the conclusion that it certainly was, he turned his back upon the scenes of the past resolved to amend it in some new sphere of action. He struggled hard and suffered much for some time, but having a contented disposition and a good purpose succeeded in the end, and, from being a farmer's drudge and a carrier's lad, he is now the merriest young Grazier in all North Hamptonshire. And now the hand that traces these words falters as it approaches the conclusion of its task, and would weave for a little longer space the thread of these adventures. I would feign linger yet with the few of those among whom I have so long moved and share their happiness by endeavouring to depict it. I would show Rose Maylee, in all the bloom and grace of early womanhood, shedding on her secluded path in life soft and gentle light that fell on all who trod it with her and shone into their hearts. I would paint her the life and joy of the fireside circle and the lively summer group. I would follow her through the sultry fields at noon, and hear the low tones of her sweet voice in the moonlit evening walk. I would watch her in all her goodness and charity abroad, and the smiling, untiring discharge of domestic cuties at home. I would paint her and her dead sister's child happy in their love for one another, and passing whole hours together in picturing the friends whom they had so sadly lost. I would summon before me once again those joyous little faces that clustered round her knee and listened to their merry prattle. I would recall the tones of that clear laugh and conjure up the sympathizing tear that glistened in the soft blue eyes. These and a thousand looks and smiles and turns of thought and speech I would feign recall them every one. How Mr. Brownlow went on from day to day, filling the mind of his adopted child with stores of knowledge, and becoming attached to him more and more, as his nature developed itself, and showed the thriving seeds of all he wished him to become. How he traced in him new traits of his early friend that awakened in his own bosom old remembrances, melancholy and yet sweet and soothing. How the two orphans, tried by adversity, remembered its lessons in mercy to others and mutual love, and fervent thanks to him who had protected and preserved them. These are all matters which need not be told. I have said that they were truly happy, and without strong affection and humanity of heart, and gratitude to that being whose code is mercy, and whose great attribute is benevolence to all things that breathe, happiness can never be attained. Within the altar of the old village church there stands a white marble tablet which bears as yet one word, Agnes. There is no coffin in that tomb, and may it be many, many years before another name is placed above it. But if the spirits of the dead ever come back to earth to visit spots hallowed by the love, the love beyond the grave of those whom they knew in life, I believe that the shade of Agnes sometimes hovers round that solemn nook. I believe it nonetheless, because that nook is in a church, and she is weak and airing.