Oliver Twist(雾都孤儿(孤星血泪))-33

Oliver Twist 325“If you please, sir,” returned Blathers. Closely following Mr.Losberne, the two officers ascended to Oliver’s bedroom; Mr. Gilespreceding the party, with a lighted candle.Oliver had been dozing; but looked worse, and was morefeverish than he had appeared yet. Being assisted by the doctor,he managed to sit up in bed for a minute or so; and looked at thestrangers without at all understanding what was going forward—in fact, without seeming to recollect where he was, or what hadbeen passing.“This,” said Mr. Losberne, speaking softly, but with greatvehemence notwithstanding, “this is the lad, who, beingaccidentally wounded by a spring-gun in some boyish trespass onMr. What-d’ye-call-him’s grounds, at the back here, comes to thehouse for assistance this morning, and is immediately laid hold ofand maltreated, by that ingenious gentleman with the candle inhis hand; who had placed his life in considerable danger, as I canprofessionally certify.”Messrs. Blathers and Duff looked at Mr. Giles, as he was thusrecommended to their notice. The bewildered butler gazed fromthem towards Oliver, and from Oliver towards Mr. Losberne, witha most ludicrous mixture of fear and perplexity.“You don’t mean to deny that, I suppose?” said the doctor,laying Oliver gently down again.“I was all done for the—for the best, sir,” answered Giles. “I amsure I thought it was the boy, or I wouldn’t have meddled withhim. I am not of an inhuman disposition, sir.”“Thought it was what boy?” inquired the senior officer.“The housebreaker’s boy, sir!” replied Giles. “They—theycertainly had a boy.”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 326“Well? Do you think so now?” inquired Blathers.“Think what now?” replied Giles, looking vacantly at hisquestioner.“Think it’s the same boy, stupid-head?” rejoined Blathersimpatiently.“I don’t know; I really don’t know,” said Giles, with a ruefulcountenance. “I couldn’t swear to him.”“What do you think?” asked Mr. Blathers.“I don’t know what to think,” replied poor Giles. “I don’t thinkit is the boy; indeed, I’m almost certain that it isn’t. You know itcan’t be.”“Has this man been a-drinking, sir?” inquired Blathers, turningto the doctor.“What a precious muddle-headed chap you are!” said Duff,addressing Mr. Giles, with supreme contempt.Mr. Losberne had been feeling the patient’s pulse during thisshort dialogue; but he now rose from the chair by the bedside, andremarked, that if the officers had any doubts upon the subject,they would perhaps like to step into the next room, and haveBrittles before them.Acting upon this suggestion, they adjourned to a neighbouringapartment, where Mr. Brittles, being called in, involved himselfand his respected superior in such a wonderful maze of freshcontradictions and impossibilities, as tended to throw noparticular light on anything, but the fact of his own strongmystification; except, indeed, his declarations that he shouldn’tknow the real boy, if he were put before him that instant; that hehad only taken Oliver to be he, because Mr. Giles had said he was;and that Mr. Giles had, five minutes previously, admitted in theCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 327kitchen, that he began to be very much afraid he had been a littletoo hasty.Among other ingenious surmises, the question was then raised,whether Mr. Giles had really hit anybody; and upon examinationof the fellow-pistol to that which he had fired, it turned out to haveno more destructive loading than gunpowder and brown paper—adiscovery which made a considerable impression on everybodybut the doctor, who had drawn the ball about ten minutes before.Upon no one, however, did it make a greater impression than onMr. Giles himself; who, after labouring, for some hours, under thefear of having mortally wounded a fellow-creature, eagerly caughtat this new idea, and favoured it to the utmost. Finally, theofficers, without troubling themselves very much about Oliver, leftthe Chertsey constable in the house, and took up their rest for thatnight in the town; promising to return next morning.With the next morning there came a rumour, that two men anda boy were in the cage at Kingston, who had been apprehendedovernight under suspicious circumstances; and to KingstonMessrs. Blathers and Duff journeyed accordingly. The suspiciouscircumstances, however, resolving themselves, on investigation,into the one fact, that they had been discovered sleeping under ahaystack; which, although a great crime, is only punishable byimprisonment, and is, in the merciful eye of the English law, andits comprehensive love of all the king’s subjects, held to be nosatisfactory proof, in the absence of all other evidence, that thesleeper, or sleepers, have committed burglary accompanied withviolence, and have therefore rendered themselves liable to thepunishment of death; Messrs. Blathers and Duff came back again,as wise as they went.Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 328In short, after some more examination, and a great deal moreconversation, a neighbouring magistrate was readily induced totake the joint bail of Mrs. Maylie and Mr. Losberne for Oliver’sappearance if he should ever be called upon; and Blathers andDuff, being rewarded with a couple of guineas, returned to townwith divided opinions on the subject of their expedition; the lattergentleman on a mature consideration of all the circumstances,inclining to the belief that the burglarious attempt had originatedwith the Family Pet; and the former being equally disposed toconcede the full merit of it to the great Mr. Conkey Chickweed.Meanwhile, Oliver gradually throve and prospered under theunited care of Mrs. Maylie, Rose, and the kind-hearted Mr.Losberne. If fervent prayers, gushing from hearts overchargedwith gratitude, be heard in Heaven—and if they be not, whatprayers are?—the blessings which the orphan child called downupon them, sank into their souls, diffusing peace and happinessCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 329Chapter 32Of The Happy Life Oliver Began To Lead With HisKind Friends.O liver’s ailings were neither slight nor few. In addition tothe pain and delay attendant on a broken limb, hisexposure to the wet and cold had brought on fever andague, which hung about him for many weeks, and reduced himsadly. But, at length, he began, by slow degrees, to get better, andto be able to say sometimes, in a few tearful words, how deeply hefelt the goodness of the two sweet ladies, and how ardently hehoped that when he grew strong and well again, he could dosomething to show his gratitude; only something which would letthem see the love and duty with which his breast was full;something, however slight, which would prove to them that theirgentle kindness had not been cast away; but that the poor boywhom their charity had rescued from misery, or death, was eagerto serve them with his whole heart and soul.“Poor fellow!” said Rose, when Oliver had been one day feeblyendeavouring to utter the words of thankfulness that rose to hispale lips; “you shall have many opportunities of serving us, if youwill. We are going into the country, and my aunt intends that youshall accompany us. The quiet place, the pure air, and all thepleasures and beauties of spring, will restore you in a few days. Wewill employ you in a hundred ways, when you can bear thetrouble.”“The trouble!” cried Oliver. “Oh! dear lady, if I could but workCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 330for you; if I could only give you pleasure by watering your flowers,or watching your birds, or running up and down the whole daylong, to make you happy, what would I give to do it!”“You shall give nothing at all,” said Miss Maylie, smiling; “for,as I told you before, we shall employ you in a hundred ways; and ifyou only take half the trouble to please us, that you promise now,you will make me very happy indeed.”“Happy, ma’am!” cried Oliver; “how kind of you to say so!”“You will make me happier than I can tell you,” replied theyoung lady. “To think that my dear good aunt should have beenthe means of rescuing any one from such sad misery as you havedescribed to us, would be an unspeakable pleasure to me; but toknow that the object of her goodness and compassion wassincerely grateful and attached, in consequence, would delight memore than you can well imagine. Do you understand me?” sheinquired, watching Oliver’s thoughtful face.“Oh, yes, ma’am, yes!” replied Oliver eagerly; “but I wasthinking that I am ungrateful now.”“To whom?” inquired the young lady.“To the kind gentleman, and the dear old nurse, who took somuch care of me before,” rejoined Oliver. “If they knew howhappy I am, they would be pleased, I am sure.”“I am sure they would,” rejoined Oliver’s benefactress; “andMr. Losberne has already been kind enough to promise that whenyou are well enough to bear the journey, he will carry you to seethem.”“Has he, ma’am?” cried Oliver, his face brightening withpleasure. “I don’t know what I shall do for joy when I see theirkind faces once again!”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 331In a short time Oliver was sufficiently recovered to undergo thefatigue of this expedition. One morning he and Mr. Losberne setout, accordingly, in a little carriage which belonged to Mrs. Maylie.When they came to Chertsey Bridge, Oliver turned very pale, anduttered a loud exclamation.“What’s the matter with the boy?” cried the doctor, as usual, allin a bustle. “Do you see anything—hear anything—feel anything—eh?”“That, sir,” cried Oliver, pointing out of the carriage window.“That house!”“Yes; well, what of it? Stop, coachman. Pull up here,” cried thedoctor. “What of the house, my man; eh?”“The thieves—the house they took me to!” whispered Oliver.“The devil it is!” cried the doctor. “Hallo, there! let me out!”But, before the coachman could dismount from his box, he hadtumbled out of the coach, by some means or other; and, runningdown to the deserted tenement, began kicking at the door like amadman.“Hallo!” said a little, ugly, humpbacked man, opening the doorso suddenly, that the doctor, from the very impetus of his last kick,nearly fell into the passage. “What’s the matter here?”“Matter!” exclaimed the other, collaring him, without amoment’s reflection. “A good deal. Robbery is the matter.”“There’ll be murder the matter, too,” replied the humpbackedman, coolly, “if you don’t take your hands off. Do you hear me?”“I hear you,” said the doctor, giving his captive a hearty shake.“Where’s—confound the fellow, what’s his rascally name—Sikes;that’s it. Where’s Sikes, you thief?”The humpbacked man stared, as if in excess of amazement andCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 332indignation; then, twisting himself, dextrously, from the doctor’sgrasp, growled forth a volley of horrid oaths, and retired into thehouse. Before he could shut the door, however, the doctor hadpassed into the parlour, without a word of parley. He lookedanxiously round; not an article of furniture, not a vestige ofanything, animate or inanimate; not even the position of thecupboards, answered Oliver’s description?“Now!” said the humpbacked man, who had watched himkeenly, “what do you mean by coming into my house, in thisviolent way? Do you want to rob me, or to murder me? Which isit?”“Did you ever know a man come out to do either, in a chariotand pair, you ridiculous old vampire?” said the irritable doctor.“What do you want, then?” demanded the hunchback. “Willyou take yourself off, before I do you a mischief? Curse you!”“As soon as I think proper,” said Mr. Losberne, looking into theother parlour; which, like the first, bore no resemblance whateverto Oliver’s account of it. “I shall find you out, some day, myfriend.”“Will you?” sneered the ill-favoured cripple. “If you ever wantme, I’m here. I haven’t lived here mad and all alone, for five-andtwenty years, to be scared by you. You shall pay for this; you shallpay for this.” And so saying, the misshapen little demon set up ayell, and danced upon the ground, as if wild with rage.“Stupid enough, this,” muttered the doctor to himself; “the boymust have made a mistake. Here! Put that in your pocket, andshut yourself up again.” With these words he flung the hunchbacka piece of money, and returned to the carriage.The man followed to the chariot door, uttering the wildestCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 333imprecations and curses all the way; but as Mr. Losberne turnedto speak to the driver, he looked into the carriage, and eyed Oliverfor an instant with a glance so sharp and fierce, and at the sametime so furious and vindictive, that, waking or sleeping, he couldnot forget it for months afterwards. He continued to utter the mostfearful imprecations, until the driver had resumed his seat; andwhen they were once more on their way, they could see him somedistance behind, beating his feet upon the ground, and tearing hishair, in transports of real or pretended rage.“I am an ass!” said the doctor, after a long silence. “Did youknow that before, Oliver?”“No, sir.”“Then don’t forget it another time.”“An ass,” said the doctor again, after a further silence of someminutes. “Even if it had been the right place, and the right fellowshad been there, what could I have done, single-handed? And if Ihad had assistance, I see no good that I should have done, exceptleading to my own exposure, and an unavoidable statement of themanner in which I have hushed up this business. That would haveserved me right, though. I am always involving myself in somescrape or other, by acting on impulse. It might have done megood.”Now, the fact was that the excellent doctor had never actedupon anything but impulse all through his life, and it was no badcompliment to the nature of the impulses which governed him,that so far from being involved in any peculiar troubles ormisfortunes, he had the warmest respect and esteem of all whoknew him. If the truth must be told, he was a little out of temper,for a minute or two, at being disappointed in procuringCharles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 334corroborative evidence of Oliver’s story, on the very first occasionon which he had a chance of obtaining any. He soon came roundagain, however; and finding that Oliver’s replies to his questionswere still as straightforward and consistent, and still deliveredwith as much apparent sincerity and truth, as they had ever been.he made up his mind to attach full credence to them, from thattime forth.As Oliver knew the name of the street in which Mr. Brownlowresided, they were enabled to drive straight thither. When thecoach turned into it, his heart beat so violently, that he couldscarcely draw his breath.“Now, my boy, which house is it?” inquired Mr. Losberne.“That! That!” replied Oliver, pointing eagerly out of thewindow. “The white house. Oh! make haste! Pray make haste! Ifeel as if I should die; it makes me tremble so.”“Come, come!” said the good doctor, patting him on theshoulder. “You will see them directly, and they will be overjoyedto find you safe and well.”“Oh! I hope so!” cried Oliver. “They were so good to me; sovery, very good to me.”The coach rolled on. It stopped. No; that was the wrong house;the next door. It went on a few paces, and stopped again. Oliverlooked up at the windows, with tears of happy expectationcoursing down his face.Alas! the white house was empty and there was a bill in thewindow. “To Let.”“Knock at the next door,” cried Mr. Losberne, taking Oliver’sarm in his. “What has become of Mr. Brownlow, who used to livein the adjoining house, do you know?”Charles Dickens ElecBook ClassicsOliver Twist 335