speak to me so kindly till you know me better. It is growing late.Is—is—that door shut?”“Yes,” said Rose, recoiling a few steps, as if to be nearerassistance in case she should require it. “Why?”“Because,” said the girl, “I am about to put my life, and thelives of others in your hands. I am the girl that dragged little Oliverback to old Fagin’s on the night he went out from the house inPentonville.”“You!” said Rose Maylie.“I, lady!” replied the girl. “I am the infamous creature you haveheard of, that lives among the thieves, and that never, from thefirst moment I can recollect, my eyes and senses opening onLondon streets, have known any better life, or kinder words thanCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 426they have given me, so help me God! Do not mind shrinkingopenly from me, lady. I am younger than you would think, to lookat me, but I am well used to it. The poorest women fall back, as Imake my way along the crowded pavement.”“What dreadful things are these!” said Rose, involuntarilyfalling from her strange companion.“Thank Heaven upon your knees, dear lady,” cried the girl,“that you had friends to care for and keep you in your childhood,and that you were never in the midst of cold and hunger, and riotand drunkenness, and—and— something worse than all—as Ihave been from my cradle. I may use the word, for the alley andthe gutter were mine, as they will be my death-bed.”“I pity you!” said Rose, in a broken voice. “It wrings my heart tohear you!”“Heaven bless you for your goodness!” rejoined the girl. “If youknew what I am sometimes, you would pity me indeed. But I havestolen away from those who would surely murder me, if they knewI had been here, to tell you what I have overheard. Do you know aman named Monks?”“No,” said Rose.“He knows you,” replied the girl; “and knew you were here, forit was by hearing him tell the place that I found you out.”“I never heard the name,” said Rose.“Then he goes by some other amongst you,” rejoined the girl,“which I more than thought before. Some time ago, and soon afterOliver was put into your house on the night of the robbery, I—suspecting this man—listened to a conversation held between himand Fagin in the dark. I found out, from what I heard, thatMonks—the man I asked you about, you know—”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 427“Yes,” said Rose, “I understand.”“That Monks,” pursued the girl, “had seen him accidentallywith two of our boys on the day we first lost him, and had knownhim directly to be the same child that he was watching for, thoughI couldn’t make out why. A bargain was struck with Fagin, that ifOliver was got back he should have a certain sum; and he was tohave more for making him a thief, which this Monks wanted forsome purpose of his own.”“For what purpose?” asked Rose.“He caught sight of my shadow on the wall as I listened, in thehope of finding out,” said the girl; “and there are not many peoplebesides me that could have got out of their way in time to escapediscovery. But I did; and I saw him no more till last night.”“And what occurred then?”“I’ll tell you, lady. Last night he came again. Again they wentupstairs, and I, wrapping myself up so that my shadow should notbetray me, again listened at the door. The first words I heardMonks say were these: ‘So the only proofs of the boy’s identity lieat the bottom of the river, and the old hag that received them fromthe mother is rotting in her coffin.’ They laughed, and talked of hissuccess in doing this; and Monks, talking on about the boy, andgetting very wild, said that though he had got the young devil’smoney safely now, he’d rather have had it the other way; for, whata game it would have been to have brought down the boast of thefather’s will, by driving him through every jail in town and thenhauling him up for some felony which Fagin could easily manage,after having made a good profit of him besides.”“What is all this?” said Rose.“The truth, lady, though it comes from my lips,” replied the girl.Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 428“Then he said, with oaths common enough in my ears, but strangeto yours, that if he could gratify his hatred by taking the boy’s lifewithout bringing his own neck in danger, he would; but, as hecouldn’t, he’d be upon the watch to meet him at every turn in life;and if he took advantage of his birth and history, he might harmhim yet. ‘In short, Fagin,’ he says, ‘Jew as you are, you never laidsuch snares as I’ll contrive for my young brother, Oliver.’”“His brother!” exclaimed Rose.“Those were his words,” said Nancy, glancing uneasily round,as she had scarcely ceased to do, since she began to speak, for avision of Sikes haunted her perpetually. “And more. When hespoke of you and the other lady, and said it seemed contrived byHeaven, or the devil against him, that Oliver should come intoyour hands, he laughed, and said there was some comfort in that,too, for how many thousand and hundreds of thousands of poundswould you not give, if you had them, to know who your two-leggedspaniel was.”“You do not mean,” said Rose, turning very pale, “to tell methat this was said in earnest?”“He spoke in hard and angry earnest, if a man ever did,”replied the girl, shaking her head. “He is an earnest man when hishatred is up. I know many who do worse things; but I’d ratherlisten to them all a dozen times, than to that Monks once. It isgrowing late, and I have to reach home without suspicion ofhaving been on such an errand as this. I must get back quickly.”“But what can I do?” said Rose. “To what use can I turn thiscommunication without you? Back! Why do you wish to return tocompanions you paint in such terrible colours? If you repeat thisinformation to a gentleman whom I can summon in an instantCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 429from the next room, you can be consigned to some place of safetywithout half an hour’s delay.”“I wish to go back,” said the girl. “I must go back, because—how can I tell such things to an innocent lady like you?—becauseamong the men I have told you of, there is one—the mostdesperate among them all—that I can’t leave; no, not even to besaved from the life I am leading now.”“Your having interfered in this dear boy’s behalf before,” saidRose; “your coming here, at so great a risk, to tell me what youhave heard; your manner, which convinces me of the truth of whatyou say; your evident contrition and sense of shame; all lead me tobelieve that you might be yet reclaimed. Oh!” said the earnest girl,folding her hands as the tears coursed down her face, “do not turna deaf ear to the entreaties of one of your own sex; the first—thefirst, I do believe, who ever appealed to you in the voice of pity andcompassion. Do hear my words, and let me save you yet, for betterthings.”“Lady,” cried the girl, sinking on her knees, “dear, sweet angel-lady, you are the first that ever blessed me with such words asthese, and if I had heard them years ago, they might have turnedme from a life of sin and sorrow; but it is too late—it is too late!”“It is never too late,” said Rose, “for penitence and atonement.”“It is,” cried the girl, writhing in the agony of her mind; “Icannot leave him now! I could not be his death!”“Why should you be?” asked Rose.“Nothing could save him,” cried the girl. “If I told others what Ihave told you, and led to their being taken, he would be sure todie. He is the boldest, and has been so cruel!”“Is it possible,” cried Rose, “that for such a man as this, you canCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 430resign every future hope, and the certainty of immediate rescue?It is madness.”“I don’t know what it is,” answered the girl; “I only know that itis so, and not with me alone, but with hundreds of others as badand wretched as myself. I must go back. Whether it is God’s wrathfor the wrong I have done, I do not know; but I am drawn back tohim through every suffering and ill-usage; and I should be, Ibelieve, if I know that I was to die by his hand at last.”“What am I to do?” said Rose. “I should not let, you depart fromme thus.”“You should, lady, and I know you will,” rejoined the girl,rising. “You will not stop my going because I have trusted in yourgoodness, and forced no promise from you, as I might have done.”“Of what use, then, is the communication you have made?” saidRose. “This mystery must be investigated, or how will itsdisclosure to me benefit Oliver, whom you are anxious to serve?”“You must have some kind of gentleman about you that willhear it as a secret, and advise you what to do,” rejoined the girl.“But where can I find you again when it is necessary?” askedRose. “I do not seek to know where these dreadful people live, butwhere will you be walking or passing at any settled period fromthus time?”“Will you promise me that you will have my secret strictly kept,and come alone, or with the only other person that knows it; andthat I shall not be watched or followed?” asked the girl.“I promise you solemnly,” answered Rose.“Every Sunday night, from eleven until the clock strikestwelve,” said the girl without hesitation, “I will walk on LondonBridge, if I am alive.”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 431“Stay another moment,” interposed Rose, as the girl movedhurriedly towards the door. “Think once again on your owncondition, and the opportunity you have of escaping from it. Youhave a claim on me, not only as the voluntary bearer of thisintelligence, but as a woman lost almost beyond redemption. Willyou return to this gang of robbers, and to this man, when a wordcan save you? What fascination is it that can take you back, andmake you cling to wickedness and misery? Oh! is there no chordin your heart that I can touch! Is there nothing left, to which I canappeal against this terrible infatuation!“When ladies as young, and good, and beautiful as you are,”replied the girl steadily, “give away your hearts, love will carry youall lengths—even such as you, who have a home, friends, otheradmirers, everything, to fill them. When such as I, who have nocertain roof but the coffin-lid, and no friend in sickness or deathbut the hospital nurse, set our rotten hearts on any man, and lethim fill the place that has been a blank through all our wretchedlives, who can hope to cure us? Pity us, lady—pity us for havingonly one feeling of the woman left, and for having that turned, by aheavy judgement, from a comfort and a pride, into a new means ofviolence and suffering.”“You will,” said Rose, after a pause, “take some money fromme, which may enable you to live without dishonesty—at allevents until we meet again.”“Not a penny,” replied the girl, waving her hand.“Do not close your heart against all my efforts to help you,” saidRose, stepping gently forward. “I wish to serve you indeed.”“You would serve me best, lady,” replied the girl, wringing herhands, “if you could take my life at once; for I have felt more griefCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 432to think of what I am, tonight, than I ever did before, and it wouldbe something not to die in the hell in which I have lived. God blessyou, sweet lady, and send as much happiness on your head as Ihave brought shame on mine!”Thus speaking, and sobbing aloud, the unhappy creatureturned away; while Rose Maylie, overpowered by thisextraordinary interview, which had more the semblance of a rapiddream than an actual occurrence, sank into a chair andendeavoured to collect her wanderingCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 433Chapter 41Containing Fresh Discoveries, And Showing ThatSurprises, Like Misfortunes, Seldom Come Alone.Her situation was, indeed, one of no common trial anddifficulty. While she felt the most eager and burningdesire to penetrate the mystery in which Oliver’s historywas enveloped, she could not but hold sacred the confidencewhich the miserable woman with whom she had just conversed,had reposed in her, as a young and guileless girl. Her words andmanner had touched Rose Maylie’s heart; and, mingled with herlove for her young charge, and scarcely less intense in its truthand fervour, was her fond wish to win the outcast back torepentance and hope.They purposed remaining in London only three days, prior todeparting for some weeks to a distant part of the coast. It was nowmidnight of the first day. What course of action could shedetermine upon, which could be adopted in eight-and-forty hours?Or how could she postpone the journey without excitingsuspicion?Mr. Losberne was with them, and would be for the next twodays; but Rose was too well acquainted with the excellentgentleman’s impetuosity, and foresaw too clearly the wrath withwhich, in the first explosion of his indignation, he would regardthe instrument of Oliver’s recapture, to trust him with the secret,when her representations in the girl’s behalf could be seconded byno experienced person. These were all reasons for the greatestCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 434caution and most circumspect behaviour in communicating it toMrs. Maylie, whose first impulse would infallibly be to hold aconference with the worthy doctor on the subject. As to resortingto any legal adviser, even if she had known how to do so, it wasscarcely to be thought of, for the same reasons. Once the thoughtoccurred to her of seeking assistance from Harry; but thisawakened the recollection of their last parting, and it seemedunworthy of her to call him back, when—the tears rose to her eyesas she pursued this train of reflection—he might have by this timelearned to forget her, and to be happier away.Disturbed by these different reflections, inclining now to onecourse and then to another, and again recoiling from all, as eachsuccessive consideration presented itself to her mind, Rose passeda sleepless and anxious night. After more communing with herselfnext day, she arrived at the desperate conclusion of consultingHarry.“If it be painful to him,” she thought, “to come back here, howpainful it will be to me! But perhaps he will not come; he maywrite, or he may come himself, and studiously abstain frommeeting me—he did when he went away. I hardly thought hewould; but it was better for us both.” And here Rose dropped thepen, and turned away, as though the very paper which was to beher messenger should not see her weep.She had taken up the same pen, and laid it down again fiftytimes, and had considered and reconsidered the first line of herletter without writing the first word, when Oliver, who had beenwalking in the streets, with Mr. Giles for a bodyguard, entered theroom in such breathless haste and violent agitation, as seemed tobetoken some new cause of alarm.Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 435“What makes you look so hurried?” asked Rose, advancing tomeet him.“I hardly know how; I feel as if I should be choked,” replied theboy. “Oh, dear! To think that I should see him at last, and youshould be able to know that I have told you all the truth!”“I never thought you had told us anything but the truth,” saidRose, soothing him. “But what is this?—of whom do you speak?”“I have seen the gentleman,” replied Oliver, scarcely able toarticulate, “the gentleman who was so good to me—Mr. Brownlow,that we have so often talked about.”“Where?” asked Rose.“Getting out of a coach,” replied Oliver, shedding tears ofdelight, “and going into a house. I didn’t speak to him—I couldn’tspeak to him, for he didn’t see me, and I trembled so, that I wasnot able to go up to him. But Giles asked, for me, whether he livedthere, and they said he did. Look here,” said Oliver, opening ascrap of paper, “here it is; here’s where he lives—I’m going theredirectly! Oh, dear me, dear me! What shall I do when I come to seehim and hear him speak again!”With her attention not a little distracted by these and a greatmany other incoherent exclamations of joy, Rose read the address,which was Craven Street, in the Strand, and very soon determinedupon turning the discovery to account.“Quick!” she said, “tell them to fetch a hackney-coach, and beready to go with me. I will take you there directly, without amoment’s loss of time. I will only tell my aunt that we are goingout for an hour, and be ready as soon as you are.”