Oliver Twist(雾都孤儿(孤星血泪))-32

shading the candle with his hand.“Open the door,” replied a man outside; “it’s the officers fromBow Street, as was sent to, today.”Much comforted by this assurance, Brittles opened the door toits full width, and confronted a portly man in a greatcoat; whowalked in, without saying anything more, and wiped his shoes onthe mat, as coolly as if he lived there.“Just send somebody out to relieve my mate, will you, youngman?” said the officer; “he’s in the gig, a-minding the prad. Haveyou got a coach ’us here, that you could put it up in, for five or tenminutes?”Brittles replying in the affirmative, and pointing out thebuilding, the portly man stepped back to the garden gate, andhelped his companion to put up the gig, while Brittles lightedthem, in a state of great admiration. This done, they returned tothe house; and, being shown into a parlour, took off theirgreatcoats and hats, and showed like what they were.The man who had knocked at the door was a stout personage ofmiddle height, aged about fifty, with shiny black hair, croppedpretty close; half-whiskers, a round face, and sharp eyes. Theother was a red-headed, bony man, in top-boots; with a rather ill-favoured countenance, and a turned-up sinister-looking nose.Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 316“Tell your governor that Blathers and Duff is here, will you?”said the stouter man, smoothing down his hair, and laying a pair ofhandcuffs on the table. “Oh! Good-evening, master. Can I have aword or two with you in private, if you please?”This was addressed to Mr. Losberne, who now made hisappearance; that gentleman, motioning Brittles to retire, broughtin the two ladies, and shut the door.“This is the lady of the house,” said Mr. Losberne, motioningtowards Mrs. Maylie.Mr. Blathers made a bow. Being desired to sit down, he put hishat on the floor, and taking a chair, motioned Duff to do the same.The latter gentleman, who did not appear quite so muchaccustomed to good society, or quite so much at his ease in it—oneof the two—seated himself, after undergoing several muscularaffections of the limbs, and forced the head of his stick into hismouth, with some embarrassment.“Now, with regard to this here robbery, master,” said Blathers.“What are the circumstances?”Mr. Losberne, who appeared desirous of gaining time,recounted them at great length, and with much circumlocution.Messrs. Blathers and Duff looked very knowing meanwhile, andoccasionally exchanged a nod.“I can’t say, for certain, till I see the work, of course,” saidBlathers; “but my opinion at once is—I don’t mind committingmyself to that extent—that this wasn’t done by a yokel; eh, Duff?”“Certainly not,” replied Duff.“And, translating the word yokel for the benefit of the ladies, Iapprehend your meaning to be, that this attempt was not made bya countryman?” said Mr. Losberne, with a smile.Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 317“That’s it, master,” replied Blathers. “This is all about therobbery, is it?”“All,” replied the doctor.“Now, what is this, about this here boy that the servants are a-talking on?” said Blathers.“Nothing at all,” replied the doctor. “One of the frightenedservants chose to take it into his head, that he had something to dowith this attempt to break into the house; but it’s nonsense—sheerabsurdity.”“Very easy disposed of, if it is,” remarked Duff.“What he says is quite correct,” observed Blathers, nodding hishead in a confirmatory way, and playing carelessly with thehandcuffs, as if they were a pair of castanets. “Who is the boy?What account does he give of himself? Where did he come from?He didn’t drop out of the clouds, did he, master?”“Of course not,” replied the doctor, with a nervous glance at thetwo ladies. “I know his whole history; but we can talk about thatpresently. You would like, first, to see the place where the thievesmade their attempt, I suppose!”“Certainly,” rejoined Mr. Blathers. “We had better inspect thepremises first, and examine the servants afterwards. That’s theusual way of doing business.”Lights were then procured; and Messrs. Blathers and Duff,attended by the native constable, Brittles, Giles, and everybodyelse in short, went into the little room at the end of the passageand looked out at the window; and afterwards went round by wayof the lawn, and looked in at the window; and after that, had acandle handed out to inspect the shutter with; and after that, alantern to trace the footsteps with; and after that, a pitchfork toCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 318poke the bushes with. This done, amidst the breathless interest ofall beholders they came in again; and Mr. Giles and Brittles wereput through a melodramatic representation of their share in theprevious night’s adventures; which they performed some six timesover, contradicting each other, in not more than one importantrespect, the first time, and in not more than a dozen the last. Thisconsummation being arrived at, Blathers and Duff cleared theroom, and held a long council together, compared with which, forsecrecy and solemnity, a consultation of great doctors on theknottiest point in medicine, would be mere child’s play.Meanwhile, the doctor walked up and down the next room in avery uneasy state; and Mrs. Maylie and Rose looked on, withanxious faces.“Upon my word,” he said, making a halt, after a great numberof very rapid turns, “I hardly know what to do.”“Surely,” said Rose, “the poor child’s story, faithfully repeatedto these men, will be sufficient to exonerate him.”“I doubt it, my dear young lady,” said the doctor, shaking hishead. “I don’t think it would exonerate him, either with them, orwith legal functionaries of a higher grade. What is he, after all,they would say? A runaway. Judged by mere worldlyconsiderations and probabilities, his story is a very doubtful one.”“You believe it, surely?” interrupted Rose.“I believe it, strange as it is; and perhaps I may be an old foolfor doing so,” rejoined the doctor; “but I don’t think it is exactlythe tale for a practised police-officer, nevertheless.”“Why not?” demanded Rose.“Because, my pretty cross-examiner,” replied the doctor,“because, viewed with their eyes, there are many ugly pointsCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 319about it; he can only prove the parts that look ill, and none of thosethat look well. Confound the fellows, they will have the why andthe wherefore, and will take nothing for granted. On his ownshowing, you see, he has been the companion of thieves for sometime past; he had been carried to a police-office, on a charge ofpicking a gentleman’s pocket; he has been taken away, forcibly,from that gentleman’s house, to a place which he cannot describeor point out, and of the situation Of which he has not the remotestidea. He is brought down to Chertsey, by men who seem to havetaken a violent fancy to him, whether he will or no; and is putthrough a window to rob a house; and then, just at the verymoment when he is going to alarm the inmates, and so do the verything that would set him all to rights, there rushes into the way, ablundering dog of a half-bred butler, and shoots him! As if onpurpose to prevent his doing any good for himself! Don’t you seeall this?”“I see it, of course,” replied Rose, smiling at the doctor’simpetuosity; “but still I do not see anything in it, to criminate thepoor child.”“No,” replied the doctor; “of course not! Bless the bright eyes ofyour sex! They never see, whether for good or bad, more than oneside of any question; and that is, always, the one which firstpresents itself to them.”Having given vent to this result of experience, the doctor puthis hands into his pockets, and walked up and down the room witheven greater rapidity than before.“The more I think of it,” said the doctor, “the more I see that itwill occasion endless trouble and difficulty if we put these men inpossession of the boy’s real story. I am certain it will not beCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 320believed; and even if they can do nothing to him in the end, stillthe dragging it forward, and giving publicity to all the doubts thatwill be cast upon it, must interfere, materially, with yourbenevolent plan of rescuing him from misery.”“Oh! what is to be done?” cried Rose. “Dear, dear! why did theysend for these people?”“Why, indeed!” exclaimed Mrs. Maylie. “I would not have hadthem here, for the world.”“All I know is,” said Mr. Losberne, at last, sitting down with akind of desperate calmness, “that we must try and carry it off witha bold face. The object is a good one, and that must be our excuse.The boy has strong symptoms of fever upon him, and is in nocondition to be talked to any more; that’s one comfort. We mustmake the best of it; and if bad be the best, it is no fault of ours.Come in!”“Well, master,” said Blathers, entering the room, followed byhis colleague, and making the door fast, before he said any more.“This warn’t a put-up thing.”“And what the devil’s a put-up thing?” demanded the doctorimpatiently.“We call it a put-up robbery, ladies,” said Blathers, turning tothem, as if he pitied their ignorance, but had a contempt for thedoctor’s, “when the servants is in it.”“Nobody suspected them, in this case,” said Mrs. Maylie.“Wery likely not, ma’am,” replied Blathers; “but they mighthave been in it, for all that.”“More likely on that wery account,” said Duff.“We find it was a town hand,” said Blathers, continuing hisreport; “for the style of work is first-rate.”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 321“Wery pretty indeed, it is,” remarked Duff, in an undertone.“There was two of ’em in it,” continued Blathers; “and they hada boy with ’em; that’s plain from the size of the window. That’s allto be said at present. We’ll see this lad that you’ve got upstairs atonce, if you please.”“Perhaps they will take something to drink first, Mrs. Maylie?”said the doctor, his face brightening, as if some new thought hadoccurred to him.“Oh! to be sure!” exclaimed Rose eagerly. “You shall have itimmediately, if you will.”“Why, thank you, miss!” said Blathers, drawing his coat-sleeveacross his mouth; “it’s dry work, this sort of duty. Anythink that’shandy, miss; don’t put yourself out of the way, on our accounts.”“What shall it be?” asked the doctor, following the young ladyto the sideboard.“A little drop of spirits, master, if it’s all the same,” repliedBlathers. “It’s a cold ride from London, ma’am; and I always findthat spirits comes home warmer to the feelings.”This interesting communication was addressed to Mrs. Maylie,who received it very graciously. While it was being conveyed toher, the doctor slipped out of the room.“Ah!” said Mr. Blathers, not holding his wineglass by the stem,but grasping the bottom between the thumb and forefinger of hisleft hand, and placing it in front of his chest; “I have seen a goodmany pieces of business like this, in my time, ladies.”“That crack down in the back lane at Edmonton, Blathers,”said Mr. Duff, assisting his colleague’s memory.“That was something in this way, warn’t it?” rejoined Mr.Blathers; “that was done by Conkey Chickweed, that was.”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 322“You always gave that to him,” replied Duff. “It was the FamilyPet, I tell you. Conkey hadn’t any more to do with it than I had.”“Get out!” retorted Mr. Blathers; “I know better. Do you mindthat time when Conkey was robbed of his money, though? What astart that was! Better than any novel-book I ever see!”“What was that?” inquired Rose, anxious to encourage anysymptoms of good-humour in the unwelcome visitors.“It was a robbery, miss, that hardly anybody would have beendown upon,” said Blathers. “This here Conkey Chickweed—”“Conkey means Nosey, ma’am,” interposed Duff.“Of course the lady knows that, don’t she?” demanded Mr.Blathers. “Always interrupting, you are, partner! This hereConkey Chickweed, miss, kept a public-house over Battlebridgeway, and he had a cellar, where a good many young lords went tosee cock-fighting, and badger-drawing, and that; and a weryintellectual manner the sports was conducted in, for I’ve seen ’emoften. He warn’t one of the family at that time; and one night hewas robbed of three hundred and twenty-seven guineas in acanvas bag, that was stole out of his bedroom in the dead of night,by a tall man with a black patch over his eye, who had concealedhimself under the bed, and after committing the robbery, jumpedslap out of window, which was only a storey high. He was weryquick about it. But Conkey was quick, too; for he was woke by thenoise, and darting out of bed, he fired a blunderbuss arter him,and roused the neighbourhood. They set up a hue-and-cry,directly, and when they came to look about ’em, found thatConkey had hit the robber; for there was traces of blood, all theway to some palings a good distance off; and there they lost ’em.However, he had made off with the blunt; and, consequently, theCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 323name of Mr. Chickweed, licensed witler, appeared in the Gazetteamong the other bankrupts; and all manner of benefits andsubscriptions, and I don’t know what all, was got up for the poorman, who was in a wery low state of mind about his loss, and wentup and down the streets, for three or four days, a-pulling his hairoff in such a desperate manner that many people was afraid hemight be going to make away with himself. One day he come up tothe office, all in a hurry and had a private interview with themagistrate, who, after a deal of talk, rings the bell, and orders JemSpyers in (Jem was a active officer), and tells him to go and assistMr. Chickweed in apprehending the man as robbed his house. ‘Isee him, Spyers,’ said Chickweed, ‘pass my house yesterdaymorning.’ ‘Why didn’t you up and collar him!’ says Spyers. ‘I wasso struck all of a heap, that you might have fractured my skull witha toothpick,’ says the poor man; ‘but we’re sure to have him; forbetween ten and eleven o’clock at night he passed again.’ Spyersno sooner heard this, than he put some clean linen and a comb, inhis pocket, in case he should have to stop a day or two; and awayhe goes, and sets himself down, at one of the public-housewindows behind the little red curtain with his hat on, all ready tobolt out, at a moment’s notice. He was smoking his pipe here, lateat night, when all of a sudden Chickweed roars out, ‘Here he is!Stop thief! Murder!’ Jem Spyers dashes out; and there he seesChickweed, a-tearing down the street full cry. Away goes Spyers;on goes Chickweed; round turns the people; everybody roars out,‘Thieves!’ and Chickweed himself keeps on shouting, all the time,like mad. Spyers loses sight of him a minute as he turns a corner;shoots round; sees a little crowd; dives in; ‘Which is the man?’ ‘D—me!’ says Chickweed, ‘I’ve lost him again!’ It was a remarkableCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 324occurrence, but he warn’t to be seen nowhere, so they went backto the public-house. Next morning Spyers took his old place, andlooked out, from behind the curtain, for a tall man with a blackpatch over his eyes, till his own two eyes ached again. At last, hecouldn’t help shutting ’em, to ease ’em a minute; and the verymoment he did so, he heard Chickweed a-roaring out, ‘Here he is!’Off he starts once more, with Chickweed half-way down the streetahead of him; and after twice as long a run as the yesterday’s one,the man’s lost again! This was done, once or twice more, till one-half the neighbours gave out that Mr. Chickweed had been robbedby the devil, who was playing tricks with him arterwards; and theother half, that poor Mr. Chickweed had gone mad with grief.”“What did Jem Spyers say?” inquired the doctor, who hadreturned to the room shortly after the commencement of the story.“Jem Spyers,” resumed the officer, “for a long time saidnothing at all, and listened to everything without seeming to,which showed he understood his business. But one morning, hewalked into the bar, and taking out his snuff-box, says,‘Chickweed, I’ve found out who done this here robbery.’ ‘Haveyou?’ said Chickweed. ‘Oh, my dear Spyers, only let me havewengeance, and I shall die contented! Oh, my dear Spyers, whereis the villain?’ ‘Come!’ said Spyers, offering him a pinch of snuff,‘none of that gammon! You did it yourself.’ So he had; and a goodbit of money he had made by it, too; and nobody would never havefound it out, if he hadn’t been so precious anxious to keep upappearances, that’s more!” said Mr. Blathers, putting down hiswine-glass, and clinking the handcuffs together.“Very curious, indeed,” observed the doctor. “Now, if youplease, you can walk upstairs.”Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics