Page 75 [75]
schoolboy his marbles, the paviour aa di
pick-axe, the child his battledore: away
vat ő run, pell-mell, helter-skelter, slap¬
tearing, yelling, and screaming,
knocking down
the passengers as they
turn the corners, rousing up the dogs, and
astonishing the fowls; and streets, squares,
and courts re-echo with the SN ag
“ Stop thief! stop thief!” ‘The cry is
taken up by a hundred voices, and the
crowd accumulate at every turning. Away
they fly, splashing through the mud, and
rattling along the pavements; up go the
windows, out run the people, onward bear
the mob: a whole audience desert Punch
in the very thickest of the plot, and, join¬
ing the rushing throng, swell the doa
and lend fresh vigour to the cry, “ Stop
thief! stop thief!’
“ Stop thief ! ! stop thief!” There is a
passion for hunting something deeply im¬
planted in the human breast. One wretch¬
ed, breathless child, panting with exhaus¬
tion, terror in his looks, agony in his eye, |
large drops of perspiration streaming |
down his face, strains every nerve to make
head upon his pursuers; and as they fol¬
low on his track, and gain upon him ever
instant, they hail his decreasing streng
with still coe shouts, and whoop and
scream with joy, “ Stop thief Ay, stop
him for God’s sake, were it only in mercy !
Stopped at last. A clever blow that.
He’s down upon the pavement, and the
crowd eagerly gather round him; each
new comer jostling and struggling with
the others to catch a glimpse. “Stand
aside 9—s Give him a little air !”—“ Non¬
sense ! he don’t deserve it.”—‘ Where "s
the gentieman?”—*“ Here he is, coming
down the street.”—“ Make room there
for the | entleman! “Ts this the boy,
sir Mant Yes,’
Oliver lay covered with mud and dust,
and bleeding from the mouth, looking
wildly round upon the heap of faces that
surrounded him, when the old gentleman
was officiously dragged and pushed into
the circle by the foremost of the pursuers,
and made this reply to their anxious in¬
quiries.
“ Yes,” said the gentleman 1 ina benevo¬
lent voice, “I am afraid it is.’
6 Afraid !” murmured the crowd. —
“That s a ee un."
* Poor fellow!" said the gentleman,
s he has hurt himself.”
“I did that, sir,” said a great lubberly
fellow stepping forward ; “ and preciously
[I cut my knuckle agin’ his mouth. I
— him, sir.”
45
expecting something for his pains; but
the old gentleman, eyeing him with an
expression of disgust, looked anxiously
round, as if he contemplated running
away himself; which it is very possible
he might have attem pted to do, and thus"
afforded another cláse had not a police
officer (who is always the last person to
arrive in such cases) at that moment made
his way through the crowd, and seized
Oliver by the collar. “ Come, get up,”
said the man roughly.
“It wasn’t me, indeed, sir. Indeed, in¬
deed, it was two other boys,” clasping his
hands passionately, and looking round :
ty the are here somewhere.”
h no, they ain’t,” said the officer.
He meant this to be ironical; but it was
true besides, for the Dodger and Charley
Bates had filed off down the first conve¬
nient court they came to. “Come, get
up."
* Don’t hurt him,” said the old gentle¬
man compassionately.
s Oh no, I won’t hurt him,” replied the
officer, tearing his jacket half off his back.
in proof thereof. " Come, I know you;
it won’t do. Will you stand upon your
legs, you young devil ?”
Oliver, who could hardly stand, made
a shift to raise himself upon his feet, and
was at once lugged along the streets by
the jacket-collar at a rapid pace. The
ked, éberen walked on with them by the
officer’s side; and as many of the crowd
as could, got a little a-head, and stared
back at Oliver from time to time. The
boys shouted in triumph, and on they
went,
ee
CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH
Treats of Mr. Fang, the police magistrate, and fur¬
nishes a slight specimen of his mode of adminis¬
tering justice.
THE offence had been committed within
the district, and indeed in the immediate
neighbourhood of a very notorious metro¬
politan police-office. The crowd had only
the satisfaction of accompanying Oliver
through two or three streets, and down a
lace called Mutton-hill, when he was led
beneath a low archway, and up a dirty
court into this dispensary of summary jus¬
tice by the back way. It was a small
paved yard into which they turned; and
here they encountered a stout man with a
bunch of whiskers on his face, and a bunch