Oldal 36 [36]
OCR
14 " Oh, you must not talk about dying, et.’ j 6 Lor bless her dear heart, no!” mterposed the nurse, hastily depositing in her pocket a green glass bottle, the contents of which she had been tasting in a corner with evident satisfaction. ‘ Lor bless her dear heart, when she has lived as long as I have, sir, and had thirteen children of ~her own, and all on "em dead except two, and them in the wurkus with me, she’ll know better than to take on in that way, bless her dear heart! Think what it is to be a mother, there’s a dear young lamb, do.” Apparently this consolatory perspective of a mother’s prospects failed in producing its due effect. The patient shook her head, and stretched out her hand towards the child. The surgeon deposited it in her arms. She imprinted her cold white lips passionately on its forehead, passed her hands over her face, gazed wildly round, shuddered, fell back—and died. ‘They chafed her breast, hands, and temples; but the blood had frozen for ever. They talked of hope and comfort. They had been strangers too long. cc [ts all over, Mrs. Thingummy,” said the surgeon, at last. s Ah, poor dear; so it is!” said the nurse, picking up the cork of the green bottle which had fallen out on the pillow as she stooped to take up the child. § Poor dear !" c You needn’t mind sending up to me, if the child cries, nurse,” said the surgeon, putting on his gloves with great deliberation. “It’s very likely it will be troublesome. Give it a little gruel if it az. §? is." He put on his hat, and pausing b the bed-side on his way to the door, added, “She was a good looking girl too; where did she come from ?” “She was brought here last night,” replied the old woman, “ by the overseer’s order. She was found lying in the street ; she had walked some distance, for her shoes were worn to pieces; but where she came from, or where she was going to, nobody knows.” The surgeon leant over the body, and raised the left hand. " The old story,” he said, shaking his head: “no wedding-ring, I see. Ah! good night.” The medical gentleman walked away to dinner; and the nurse, having once more applied herself to the green bottle, sat down ona low chair before the fire, and proceeded to dress the infant. And what an example of the power of in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar ;—it would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to have fixed his station in society. But now he was enveloped in the old calico robes, that had grown yellow in the same service; he was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once— a parish child—the orphan of a workhouse —the humble, half-starved drudge—to be cuffed and buffeted through the world, despised by all, and pitied by none. Oliver cried lustily. If he could have known that he was an orphan, left to the tender mercies of churchwardens and overseers, perhaps he would have cried the louder. CHAPTER THE SECOND Treats of Oliver Twist’s Growth, Education, and Board. For the next eight or ten months, Oliver was the victim of a systematic course of treachery and deception—he was brought up by hand. ‘The hungry and destitute situation of the infant orphan was duly reported by the workhouse authorities to the parish authorities. ‘The parish authorities inquired with dignity of the workhouse authorities, whether there was no female then domiciled in sc the house” who was in a situation to impart to Oliver the consolation and nourishment of which he stood in need. ‘The workhouse authorities replied with humility that there was not. Upon this, the parish authorities magnanimously and humanely resolved, that Oliver should be “farmed,” or, in other words, that he house some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws rolled about the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food, or too much clothing, under the parental superintendence of an elderly female who received the culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per week. Sevenpence-halfpenny’s worth per week is a good round diet for a child; a great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny— quite enough to overload its stomach, and make it uncomfortable. The elderly female was a woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for
