Oliver _did_ see it in his mind’s eye as distinctly as if he had not altered his position; but he thought it better not to worry the kind old lady; so he smiled gently when she looked at him; and Mrs. Bedwin, satisfied that he felt more comfortable, salted and broke bits of toasted bread into the broth, with all the bustle befitting so solemn a preparation. Oliver got through it with extraordinary expedition. He had scarcely swallowed the last spoonful, when there came a soft rap at the door. “Come in,” said the old lady; and in walked Mr. Brownlow.
Now, the old gentleman came in as brisk as need be; but,he had no sooner raised his spectacles on his forehead,and thrust his hands behind the skirts of his dressing-gown to take a good long look at Oliver, than his countenance underwent a very great variety of odd contortions. Oliver looked very worn and shadowy from sickness, and made an ineffectual attempt to stand up, out of respect to his benefactor, which terminated in his sinking back into the chair again; and the fact is, if the truth must be told, that Mr. Brownlow’s heart, being large enough for any six ordinary old gentlemen of humane disposition, forced a supply of tears into his eyes, by some hydraulic process which we are not sufficiently philosophical to be in a condition to explain.
“Poor boy, poor boy!” said Mr. Brownlow, clearing his throat.“I’m rather hoarse this morning, Mrs. Bedwin.I’m afraid I have caught cold.”
“I hope not, sir,” said Mrs. Bedwin.“Everything you have had, has been well aired, sir.”
“I don’t know, Bedwin. I don’t know,” said Mr. Brownlow;“I rather think I had a damp napkin at dinner-time yesterday;but never mind that. How do you feel, my dear?”
“Very happy, sir,” replied Oliver.“And very grateful indeed, sir,for your goodness to me.”
“Good boy,” said Mr. Brownlow, stoutly.“Have you given him any nourishment, Bedwin?Any slops, eh?”
“He has just had a basin of beautiful strong broth, sir,” replied Mrs. Bedwin, drawing herself up slightly,and laying strong emphasis on the last word,to intimate that between slops,and broth well compounded,there existed no affinity or connection whatsoever.
“Ugh!” said Mr. Brownlow, with a slight shudder;“a couple of glasses of port wine would have done him a great deal more good.Wouldn’t they, Tom White, eh?”
“My name is Oliver, sir,” replied the little invalid with a look of great astonishment.
“Oliver,” said Mr. Brownlow; “Oliver what?Oliver White, eh?”
“No, sir, Twist, Oliver Twist.”
“Queer name!” said the old gentleman.“What made you tell the magistrate your name was White?”
“I never told him so, sir,” returned Oliver in amazement.
This sounded so like a falsehood,that the old gentleman looked somewhat sternly in Oliver’s face.It was impossible to doubt him;there was truth in every one of its thin and sharpened lineaments.
“Some mistake,” said Mr. Brownlow. But,although his motive for looking steadily at Oliver no longer existed,the old idea of the resemblance between his features and some familiar face came upon him so strongly, that he could not withdraw his gaze.
“I hope you are not angry with me, sir?” said Oliver, raising his eyes beseechingly.
“No, no,” replied the old gentleman. “Why!what’s this?Bedwin, look there!”
As he spoke, he pointed hastily to the picture over Oliver’s head,and then to the boy’s face. There was its living copy.The eyes, the head, the mouth;every feature was the same. The expression was,for the instant, so precisely alike,that the minutest line seemed copied with startling accuracy!
Oliver knew not the cause of this sudden exclamation;for, not being strong enough to bear the start it gave him,he fainted away. A weakness on his part,which affords the narrative an opportunity of relieving the reader from suspense, in behalf of the two young pupils of the Merry Old Gentleman; and of recording—
That when the Dodger,and his accomplished friend Master Bates,joined in the hue-and-cry which was raised at Oliver’s heels,in consequence of their executing an illegal conveyance of Mr.Brownlow’s personal property,as has been already described,they were actuated by a very laudable and becoming regard for themselves;and forasmuch as the freedom of the subject and the liberty of the individual are among the first and proudest boasts of a true-hearted Englishman, so, I need hardly beg the reader to observe, that this action should tend to exalt them in the opinion of all public and patriotic men, in almost as great a degree as this strong proof of their anxiety for their own preservation and safety goes to corroborate and confirm the little code of laws which certain profound and sound-judging philosophers have laid down as the main-springs of all Nature’s deeds and actions: the said philosophers very wisely reducing the good lady’s proceedings to matters of maxim and theory: and, by a very neat and pretty compliment to her exalted wisdom and understanding, putting entirely out of sight any considerations of heart, or generous impulse and feeling. For, these are matters totally beneath a female who is acknowledged by universal admission to be far above the numerous little foibles and weaknesses of her sex.
If I wanted any further proof of the strictly philosophical nature of the conduct of these young gentlemen in their very delicate predicament, I should at once find it in the fact (also recorded in a foregoing part of this narrative), of their quitting the pursuit, when the general attention was fixed upon Oliver; and making immediately for their home by the shortest possible cut. Although I do not mean to assert that it is usually the practice of renowned and learned sages, to shorten the road to any great conclusion (their course indeed being rather to lengthen the distance, by various circumlocutions and discursive staggerings, like unto those in which drunken men under the pressure of a too mighty flow of ideas, are prone to indulge); still, I do mean to say, and do say distinctly, that it is the invariable practice of many mighty philosophers, in carrying out their theories, to evince great wisdom and foresight in providing against every possible contingency which can be supposed at all likely to affect themselves. Thus, to do a great right, you may do a little wrong; and you may take any means which the end to be attained, will justify; the amount of the right, or the amount of the wrong, or indeed the distinction between the two, being left entirely to the philosopher concerned, to be settled and determined by his clear, comprehensive, and impartial view of his own particular case.
It was not until the two boys had scoured,with great rapidity,through a most intricate maze of narrow streets and courts,that they ventured to halt beneath a low and dark archway.Having remained silent here,just long enough to recover breath to speak,Master Bates uttered an exclamation of amusement and delight;and, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter,flung himself upon a doorstep,and rolled thereon in a transport of mirth.
“What’s the matter?” inquired the Dodger.
“Ha!ha!ha!” roared Charley Bates.
“Hold your noise,” remonstrated the Dodger,looking cautiously round. “Do you want to be grabbed, stupid?”
“I can’t help it,” said Charley, “I can’t help it!To see him splitting away at that pace,and cutting round the corners,and knocking up again’ the posts,and starting on again as if he was made of iron as well as them,and me with the wipe in my pocket,singing out arter him—oh, my eye!” The vivid imagination of Master Bates presented the scene before him in too strong colours. As he arrived at this apostrophe, he again rolled upon the door-step, and laughed louder than before.
“What’ll Fagin say?” inquired the Dodger;taking advantage of the next interval of breathlessness on the part of his friend to propound the question.
“What?” repeated Charley Bates.
“Ah, what?” said the Dodger.