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Oliver leant his head upon his hand
when the old man disappeared, and pon¬
dered with a trembling heart on the
words he had just hea The more he
thought of the Jew’s admonition, the
more he was at-a loss to divine its real
purpose and meaning. He could think
of no bad object to be attained by sending
him to Sikes which would not be eguall
well answered by his remaining ~ wi
Fagin; and, after meditating for a long
time, concluded that he had been selected
to perform some ordinary menial offices
for the housebreaker, until another boy,
better suited for his purpose, could be en¬
ed. He was too well accustomed to
suffering, and had suffered too much
where he was, to bewail the prospect of
a change very severely. He remained
lost in thought for some minutes, and
then, with a heavy sigh, snuffed the can¬
dle, and, taking up the book which the
Jew had left with him, began to read.
He turned over the leaves carelessly at
first, but, lighting on a passage which at¬
tracted his attention, soon became intent
upon the volume. It was a history of the
lives and trials of great criminals, and
the pages were soiled and thumbed with
use. ere, he read of dreadful crimes
that make the blood run cold; of secret
murders that had been committed by the
lonely wayside, and bodies hidden from
the eye of man in deep pits and wells,
which would not keep them down, deep
as they were, but had yielded them up at
last, after many years, and so maddened
the murderers with the sight, that in their
horror they had confessed their guilt, and
elled for the gibbet to end their agony.
ere, too, he read of men who, lying in
their beds at dead of night, had been
tempted and led on by their own bad
thoughts to such dreadful bloodshed as it
made the flesh creep and the limbs quail
were so vivid and real, that the sallow
pages seemed to turn red with gore, and
the words upon them to be sounded in his
ears as if they were whispered in hollow
murmurs by the spirits of the dead.
In a paroxysm of fear the boy closed
the book and thrust it from him. Then,
falling upon his knees, he prayed Heaven
to spare him from such deeds, and rather
to will that he should die at once, than be
reserved for crimes so fearful and appal¬
ling. By degrees he grew more calm,
and besought, in a low and broken voice,
that he might be rescued from his present
|
never known the love of friends or kin¬
dred, it might come to him now, when,
desolate and deserted, he stood alone in
the midst of wickedness and guilt.
He had concluded his prayer, but still
remained with his head buried in his
hands, when a rustling noise aroused him.
“ What’s that!” he cried, starting up,
and catching mt of a figure standing
by the door. § Who’s there?"
“ Me—only me,” replied a tremulous
voice. :
Oliver raised the candle above his head,
and looked towards the door. It was
Nancy. |
*“ Put down the light,” said the girl,
turning away her head: “it hurts my
eyes."
Oliver saw that she was very pale, and
gently inguired if she were ill. The giri
threw herself into a chair, with her back
towards him, and wrung her hands; but
made no reply.
“God forgive me!" she cried after a
while, “ I never thought of all this.”
“ Has anything happened ?” asked Oli¬
ver. “CanT help you? I will ifi can;
I will indeed.”
She rocked herself to and fro, and then,
wringing her hands violently, caught her
throat, and, uttering a gurgling sound,
sain | and gasped for breath.
c Nancy !” cried Oliver, greatly alarm¬
ed. ‘ What is it?”
The gir] burst into a fit of loud laugh¬
ter, beating her hands upon her knees,
and her feet upon the ground, meanwhile;
and, suddenly stopping, drew her shawl
close round her, and shivered with cold.
Oliver stirred the fire. Drawing her
chair close to it, she sat there for a little
time without speaking, but at length she
raised her head and looked round.
*T don’t know what comes over me
sometimes,” said the girl, affecting to
busy herself in arranging her dress; ‘it’s
this damp, dirty room, I think. Now,
Nolly, dear, are you ready ?”
6 Am I to go with you?" asked Oliver.
“Yes; I have come from Bill,” replied
the girl. " You are to go with me.”
6 What for?” said Oliver recoiling.
a What for?" echoed the girl, raising
her eyes, and averting them again the
moment they encountered the boy’s face.
“Oh! no harm.”
c [ don’t believe it,” said Oliver, who
had watched her closely.
* Have it your own way,” rejomed the
girl, affecting to laugh. “For no good,
then.”
Oliver. could see that he had some