Book Name stringclasses 100
values | Book ID int64 0 99 | Chunk ID int64 0 1.49k | Chunk stringlengths 26 30.5k |
|---|---|---|---|
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 20 | As Mr. Bumble paused to take breath, after delivering this address in an awful voice, the tears rolled down the poor child’s face, and he sobbed bitterly.
“Come,” said Mr. Bumble, somewhat less pompously, for it was gratifying to his feelings to observe the effect his eloquence had produced; “Come, Oliver! Wipe your ey... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 21 | The old gentleman with the spectacles gradually dozed off, over the little bit of parchment; and there was a short pause, after Oliver had been stationed by Mr. Bumble in front of the desk.
“This is the boy, your worship,” said Mr. Bumble.
The old gentleman who was reading the newspaper raised his head for a moment, an... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 22 | “I hope I am, sir,” said Mr. Gamfield, with an ugly leer.
“I have no doubt you are, my friend,” replied the old gentleman: fixing his spectacles more firmly on his nose, and looking about him for the inkstand.
It was the critical moment of Oliver’s fate. If the inkstand had been where the old gentleman thought it was, ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 23 | “We refuse to sanction these indentures,” said the old gentleman: tossing aside the piece of parchment as he spoke.
“I hope,” stammered Mr. Limbkins: “I hope the magistrates will not form the opinion that the authorities have been guilty of any improper conduct, on the unsupported testimony of a child.”
“The magistrate... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 24 | Mr. Sowerberry was a tall gaunt, large-jointed man, attired in a suit of threadbare black, with darned cotton stockings of the same colour, and shoes to answer. His features were not naturally intended to wear a smiling aspect, but he was in general rather given to professional jocosity. His step was elastic, and his f... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 25 | As Mr. Sowerberry said this, with the becoming indignation of an ill-used man; and as Mr. Bumble felt that it rather tended to convey a reflection on the honour of the parish; the latter gentleman thought it advisable to change the subject. Oliver Twist being uppermost in his mind, he made him his theme.
“By the bye,” ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 26 | “So do I,” rejoined the undertaker.
“And I only wish we’d a jury of the independent sort, in the house for a week or two,” said the beadle; “the rules and regulations of the board would soon bring their spirit down for ’em.”
“Let ’em alone for that,” replied the undertaker. So saying, he smiled, approvingly: to calm th... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 27 | Now, although it was very natural that the board, of all people in the world, should feel in a great state of virtuous astonishment and horror at the smallest tokens of want of feeling on the part of anybody, they were rather out, in this particular instance. The simple fact was, that Oliver, instead of possessing too ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 28 | “Well!” exclaimed Mr. Bumble, stopping short, and darting at his little charge a look of intense malignity. “Well! Of all the ungratefullest, and worst-disposed boys as ever I see, Oliver, you are the—”
“No, no, sir,” sobbed Oliver, clinging to the hand which held the well-known cane; “no, no, sir; I will be good indee... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 29 | “Dear me!” said the undertaker’s wife, “he’s very small.”
“Why, he is rather small,” replied Mr. Bumble: looking at Oliver as if it were his fault that he was no bigger; “he is small. There’s no denying it. But he’ll grow, Mrs. Sowerberry—he’ll grow.”
“Ah! I dare say he will,” replied the lady pettishly, “on our victua... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 30 | Oliver lingered no longer, but meekly followed his new mistress.
Oliver, being left to himself in the undertaker’s shop, set the lamp down on a workman’s bench, and gazed timidly about him with a feeling of awe and dread, which many people a good deal older than he will be at no loss to understand. An unfinished coffin... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 31 | “Open the door, will yer?” cried the voice which belonged to the legs which had kicked at the door.
“I will, directly, sir,” replied Oliver: undoing the chain, and turning the key.
“I suppose yer the new boy, ain’t yer?” said the voice through the key-hole.
“Yes, sir,” replied Oliver.
“How old are yer?” inquired the vo... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 32 | Oliver, having taken down the shutters, and broken a pane of glass in his effort to stagger away beneath the weight of the first one to a small court at the side of the house in which they were kept during the day, was graciously assisted by Noah: who having consoled him with the assurance that “he’d catch it,” condesc... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 33 | Oliver had been sojourning at the undertaker’s some three weeks or a month. Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry—the shop being shut up—were taking their supper in the little back-parlour, when Mr. Sowerberry, after several deferential glances at his wife, said,
“My dear—” He was going to say more; but, Mrs. Sowerberry looking up, ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 34 | “I don’t mean a regular mute to attend grown-up people, my dear, but only for children’s practice. It would be very new to have a mute in proportion, my dear. You may depend upon it, it would have a superb effect.”
Mrs. Sowerberry, who had a good deal of taste in the undertaking way, was much struck by the novelty of t... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 35 | “Ah, there’s promptness,” said the undertaker.
“Promptness, indeed!” replied the beadle. “But what’s the consequence; what’s the ungrateful behaviour of these rebels, sir? Why, the husband sends back word that the medicine won’t suit his wife’s complaint, and so she shan’t take it—says she shan’t take it, sir! Good, st... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 36 | “Well,” said Mr. Sowerberry, taking up his hat, “the sooner this job is done, the better. Noah, look after the shop. Oliver, put on your cap, and come with me.” Oliver obeyed, and followed his master on his professional mission.
They walked on, for some time, through the most crowded and densely inhabited part of the t... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 37 | It was opened by a young girl of thirteen or fourteen. The undertaker at once saw enough of what the room contained, to know it was the apartment to which he had been directed. He stepped in; Oliver followed him.
There was no fire in the room; but a man was crouching, mechanically, over the empty stove. An old woman, t... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 38 | The undertaker offered no reply to this raving; but producing a tape from his pocket, knelt down for a moment by the side of the body.
“Ah!” said the man: bursting into tears, and sinking on his knees at the feet of the dead woman; “kneel down, kneel down—kneel round her, every one of you, and mark my words! I say she ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 39 | “Yes, yes,” said the undertaker, “of course. Anything you like!” He disengaged himself from the old woman’s grasp; and, drawing Oliver after him, hurried away.
The next day, (the family having been meanwhile relieved with a half-quartern loaf and a piece of cheese, left with them by Mr. Bumble himself,) Oliver and his ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 40 | “Now, Bill!” said Sowerberry to the grave-digger. “Fill up!”
It was no very difficult task, for the grave was so full, that the uppermost coffin was within a few feet of the surface. The grave-digger shovelled in the earth; stamped it loosely down with his feet: shouldered his spade; and walked off, followed by the boy... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 41 | For instance; when Sowerberry had an order for the burial of some rich old lady or gentleman, who was surrounded by a great number of nephews and nieces, who had been perfectly inconsolable during the previous illness, and whose grief had been wholly irrepressible even on the most public occasions, they would be as hap... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 42 | Intent upon this innocent amusement, Noah put his feet on the table-cloth; and pulled Oliver’s hair; and twitched his ears; and expressed his opinion that he was a “sneak”; and furthermore announced his intention of coming to see him hanged, whenever that desirable event should take place; and entered upon various topi... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 43 | “A regular right-down bad ’un, Work’us,” replied Noah, coolly. “And it’s a great deal better, Work’us, that she died when she did, or else she’d have been hard labouring in Bridewell, or transported, or hung; which is more likely than either, isn’t it?”
Crimson with fury, Oliver started up; overthrew the chair and tabl... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 44 | “Bless her, she’s going off!” said Charlotte. “A glass of water, Noah, dear. Make haste!”
“Oh! Charlotte,” said Mrs. Sowerberry: speaking as well as she could, through a deficiency of breath, and a sufficiency of cold water, which Noah had poured over her head and shoulders. “Oh! Charlotte, what a mercy we have not all... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 45 | “Why, what’s the matter with the boy!” said the old pauper.
“Mr. Bumble! Mr. Bumble!” cried Noah, with well-affected dismay, and in tones so loud and agitated, that they not only caught the ear of Mr. Bumble himself, who happened to be hard by, but alarmed him so much that he rushed into the yard without his cocked hat... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 46 | “And his missis,” interposed Mr. Claypole.
“And his master, too, I think you said, Noah?” added Mr. Bumble.
“No! he’s out, or he would have murdered him,” replied Noah. “He said he wanted to.”
“Ah! Said he wanted to, did he, my boy?” inquired the gentleman in the white waistcoat.
“Yes, sir,” replied Noah. “And please, ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 47 | “Oh, you know, Mr. Bumble, he must be mad,” said Mrs. Sowerberry.
“No boy in half his senses could venture to speak so to you.”
“It’s not madness, ma’am,” replied Mr. Bumble, after a few moments of deep meditation. “It’s meat.”
“What?” exclaimed Mrs. Sowerberry.
“Meat, ma’am, meat,” replied Bumble, with stern emphasis.... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 48 | “Now, you are a nice young fellow, ain’t you?” said Sowerberry; giving Oliver a shake, and a box on the ear.
“He called my mother names,” replied Oliver.
“Well, and what if he did, you little ungrateful wretch?” said Mrs. Sowerberry. “She deserved what he said, and worse.”
“She didn’t,” said Oliver.
“She did,” said Mrs... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 49 | For a long time, Oliver remained motionless in this attitude. The candle was burning low in the socket when he rose to his feet. Having gazed cautiously round him, and listened intently, he gently undid the fastenings of the door, and looked abroad.
It was a cold, dark night. The stars seemed, to the boy’s eyes, farthe... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 50 | “Hush, Dick!” said Oliver, as the boy ran to the gate, and thrust his thin arm between the rails to greet him. “Is any one up?”
“Nobody but me,” replied the child.
“You musn’t say you saw me, Dick,” said Oliver. “I am running away. They beat and ill-use me, Dick; and I am going to seek my fortune, some long way off. I ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 51 | He had diminished the distance between himself and London by full four miles more, before he recollected how much he must undergo ere he could hope to reach his place of destination. As this consideration forced itself upon him, he slackened his pace a little, and meditated upon his means of getting there. He had a cru... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 52 | He waited at the bottom of a steep hill till a stage-coach came up, and then begged of the outside passengers; but there were very few who took any notice of him: and even those told him to wait till they got to the top of the hill, and then let them see how far he could run for a halfpenny. Poor Oliver tried to keep u... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 53 | Early on the seventh morning after he had left his native place, Oliver limped slowly into the little town of Barnet. The window-shutters were closed; the street was empty; not a soul had awakened to the business of the day. The sun was rising in all its splendid beauty; but the light only served to show the boy his ow... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 54 | “Hullo, my covey! What’s the row?”
The boy who addressed this inquiry to the young wayfarer, was about his own age: but one of the queerest looking boys that Oliver had even seen. He was a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough; and as dirty a juvenile as one would wish to see; but he had about him all the ai... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 55 | Assisting Oliver to rise, the young gentleman took him to an adjacent chandler’s shop, where he purchased a sufficiency of ready-dressed ham and a half-quartern loaf, or, as he himself expressed it, “a fourpenny bran!” the ham being kept clean and preserved from dust, by the ingenious expedient of making a hole in the ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 56 | Mr. Dawkins’s appearance did not say a vast deal in favour of the comforts which his patron’s interest obtained for those whom he took under his protection; but, as he had a rather flightly and dissolute mode of conversing, and furthermore avowed that among his intimate friends he was better known by the sobriquet of “... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 57 | Oliver was just considering whether he hadn’t better run away, when they reached the bottom of the hill. His conductor, catching him by the arm, pushed open the door of a house near Field Lane; and drawing him into the passage, closed it behind them.
“Now, then!” cried a voice from below, in reply to a whistle from the... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 58 | “This is him, Fagin,” said Jack Dawkins; “my friend Oliver Twist.”
The Jew grinned; and, making a low obeisance to Oliver, took him by the hand, and hoped he should have the honour of his intimate acquaintance. Upon this, the young gentleman with the pipes came round him, and shook both his hands very hard—especially t... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 59 | Although Oliver had roused himself from sleep, he was not thoroughly awake. There is a drowsy state, between sleeping and waking, when you dream more in five minutes with your eyes half open, and yourself half conscious of everything that is passing around you, than you would in five nights with your eyes fast closed, ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 60 | Having replaced these trinkets, the Jew took out another: so small that it lay in the palm of his hand. There seemed to be some very minute inscription on it; for the Jew laid it flat upon the table, and shading it with his hand, pored over it, long and earnestly. At length he put it down, as if despairing of success; ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 61 | “Did you see any of these pretty things, my dear?” said the Jew, laying his hand upon it after a short pause.
“Yes, sir,” replied Oliver.
“Ah!” said the Jew, turning rather pale. “They—they’re mine, Oliver; my little property. All I have to live upon, in my old age. The folks call me a miser, my dear. Only a miser; tha... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 62 | “And what have you got, my dear?” said Fagin to Charley Bates.
“Wipes,” replied Master Bates; at the same time producing four pocket-handkerchiefs.
“Well,” said the Jew, inspecting them closely; “they’re very good ones, very. You haven’t marked them well, though, Charley; so the marks shall be picked out with a needle,... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 63 | When the breakfast was cleared away; the merry old gentleman and the two boys played at a very curious and uncommon game, which was performed in this way. The merry old gentleman, placing a snuff-box in one pocket of his trousers, a note-case in the other, and a watch in his waistcoat pocket, with a guard-chain round h... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 64 | The visitors stopped a long time. Spirits were produced, in consequence of one of the young ladies complaining of a coldness in her inside; and the conversation took a very convivial and improving turn. At length, Charley Bates expressed his opinion that it was time to pad the hoof. This, it occurred to Oliver, must be... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 65 | Oliver wondered what picking the old gentleman’s pocket in play, had to do with his chances of being a great man. But, thinking that the Jew, being so much his senior, must know best, he followed him quietly to the table, and was soon deeply involved in his new study.
For many days, Oliver remained in the Jew’s room, p... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 66 | The three boys sallied out; the Dodger with his coat-sleeves tucked up, and his hat cocked, as usual; Master Bates sauntering along with his hands in his pockets; and Oliver between them, wondering where they were going, and what branch of manufacture he would be instructed in first.
The pace at which they went, was su... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 67 | The old gentleman was a very respectable-looking personage, with a powdered head and gold spectacles. He was dressed in a bottle-green coat with a black velvet collar; wore white trousers; and carried a smart bamboo cane under his arm. He had taken up a book from the stall, and there he stood, reading away, as hard as ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 68 | Although Oliver had been brought up by philosophers, he was not theoretically acquainted with the beautiful axiom that self-preservation is the first law of nature. If he had been, perhaps he would have been prepared for this. Not being prepared, however, it alarmed him the more; so away he went like the wind, with the... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 69 | “Yes,” said the gentleman, “I am afraid it is the boy.”
“Afraid!” murmured the crowd. “That’s a good ’un!”
“Poor fellow!” said the gentleman, “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 stopped him, sir.”
The fellow touche... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 70 | “What’s the matter now?” said the man carelessly.
“A young fogle-hunter,” replied the man who had Oliver in charge.
“Are you the party that’s been robbed, sir?” inquired the man with the keys.
“Yes, I am,” replied the old gentleman; “but I am not sure that this boy actually took the handkerchief. I—I would rather not p... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 71 | He wandered over them again. He had called them into view, and it was not easy to replace the shroud that had so long concealed them. There were the faces of friends, and foes, and of many that had been almost strangers peering intrusively from the crowd; there were the faces of young and blooming girls that were now o... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 72 | The old gentleman bowed respectfully; and advancing to the magistrate’s desk, said, suiting the action to the word, “That is my name and address, sir.” He then withdrew a pace or two; and, with another polite and gentlemanly inclination of the head, waited to be questioned.
Now, it so happened that Mr. Fang was at that... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 73 | “Now,” said Fang, “what’s the charge against this boy? What have you got to say, sir?”
“I was standing at a bookstall—” Mr. Brownlow began.
“Hold your tongue, sir,” said Mr. Fang. “Policeman! Where’s the policeman? Here, swear this policeman. Now, policeman, what is this?”
The policeman, with becoming humility, related... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 74 | “He says his name’s Tom White, your worship,” said the kind-hearted thief-taker.
“Oh, he won’t speak out, won’t he?” said Fang. “Very well, very well. Where does he live?”
“Where he can, your worship,” replied the officer; again pretending to receive Oliver’s answer.
“Has he any parents?” inquired Mr. Fang.
“He says th... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 75 | “I will speak,” cried the man; “I will not be turned out. I saw it all. I keep the book-stall. I demand to be sworn. I will not be put down. Mr. Fang, you must hear me. You must not refuse, sir.”
The man was right. His manner was determined; and the matter was growing rather too serious to be hushed up.
“Swear the man,... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 76 | “Poor boy, poor boy!” said Mr. Brownlow, bending over him. “Call a coach, somebody, pray. Directly!”
A coach was obtained, and Oliver having been carefully laid on the seat, the old gentleman got in and sat himself on the other.
“May I accompany you?” said the book-stall keeper, looking in.
“Bless me, yes, my dear sir,... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 77 | “Hush, my dear,” said the old lady softly. “You must be very quiet, or you will be ill again; and you have been very bad,—as bad as bad could be, pretty nigh. Lie down again; there’s a dear!” With those words, the old lady very gently placed Oliver’s head upon the pillow; and, smoothing back his hair from his forehead,... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 78 | “You are a great deal better, are you not, my dear?” said the gentleman.
“Yes, thank you, sir,” replied Oliver.
“Yes, I know you are,” said the gentleman: “You’re hungry too, an’t you?”
“No, sir,” answered Oliver.
“Hem!” said the gentleman. “No, I know you’re not. He is not hungry, Mrs. Bedwin,” said the gentleman: loo... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 79 | Gradually, he fell into that deep tranquil sleep which ease from recent suffering alone imparts; that calm and peaceful rest which it is pain to wake from. Who, if this were death, would be roused again to all the struggles and turmoils of life; to all its cares for the present; its anxieties for the future; more than ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 80 | “Is—is that a likeness, ma’am?” said Oliver.
“Yes,” said the old lady, looking up for a moment from the broth; “that’s a portrait.”
“Whose, ma’am?” asked Oliver.
“Why, really, my dear, I don’t know,” answered the old lady in a good-humoured manner. “It’s not a likeness of anybody that you or I know, I expect. It seems ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 81 | “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 napk... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 82 | 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 themselv... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 83 | 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 ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 84 | “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.
“Why, what should he say?” inquired Charley: stopping rather suddenly in his merriment; for the Dodger’s mann... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 85 | “Will you speak?” thundered the Jew: shaking the Dodger so much that his keeping in the big coat at all, seemed perfectly miraculous.
“Why, the traps have got him, and that’s all about it,” said the Dodger, sullenly. “Come, let go o’ me, will you!” And, swinging himself, at one jerk, clean out of the big coat, which he... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 86 | “Come in, d’ye hear?” growled this engaging ruffian.
A white shaggy dog, with his face scratched and torn in twenty different places, skulked into the room.
“Why didn’t you come in afore?” said the man. “You’re getting too proud to own me afore company, are you? Lie down!”
This command was accompanied with a kick, whic... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 87 | After swallowing two of three glasses of spirits, Mr. Sikes condescended to take some notice of the young gentlemen; which gracious act led to a conversation, in which the cause and manner of Oliver’s capture were circumstantially detailed, with such alterations and improvements on the truth, as to the Dodger appeared ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 88 | “The very thing!” said the Jew. “Bet will go; won’t you, my dear?”
“Wheres?” inquired the young lady.
“Only just up to the office, my dear,” said the Jew coaxingly.
It is due to the young lady to say that she did not positively affirm that she would not, but that she merely expressed an emphatic and earnest desire to b... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 89 | “Yes, yes, my dear, so it does,” said the Jew, hanging a large street-door key on the forefinger of the young lady’s right hand. “There; very good! Very good indeed, my dear!” said the Jew, rubbing his hands.
“Oh, my brother! My poor, dear, sweet, innocent little brother!” exclaimed Nancy, bursting into tears, and wrin... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 90 | “Well!” cried a faint and feeble voice.
“Is there a little boy here?” inquired Nancy, with a preliminary sob.
“No,” replied the voice; “God forbid.”
This was a vagrant of sixty-five, who was going to prison for not playing the flute; or, in other words, for begging in the streets, and doing nothing for his livelihood. ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 91 | With these words, he pushed them from the room: and carefully double-locking and barring the door behind them, drew from its place of concealment the box which he had unintentionally disclosed to Oliver. Then, he hastily proceeded to dispose the watches and jewellery beneath his clothing.
A rap at the door startled him... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 92 | “Well, well!” said the old lady, good-humouredly; “you get well as fast as ever you can, dear, and it shall be hung up again. There! I promise you that! Now, let us talk about something else.”
This was all the information Oliver could obtain about the picture at that time. As the old lady had been so kind to him in his... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 93 | One evening, about a week after the affair of the picture, as he was sitting talking to Mrs. Bedwin, there came a message down from Mr. Brownlow, that if Oliver Twist felt pretty well, he should like to see him in his study, and talk to him a little while.
“Bless us, and save us! Wash your hands, and let me part your h... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 94 | “I suppose they are those heavy ones, sir,” said Oliver, pointing to some large quartos, with a good deal of gilding about the binding.
“Not always those,” said the old gentleman, patting Oliver on the head, and smiling as he did so; “there are other equally heavy ones, though of a much smaller size. How should you lik... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 95 | “My dear child,” said the old gentleman, moved by the warmth of Oliver’s sudden appeal; “you need not be afraid of my deserting you, unless you give me cause.”
“I never, never will, sir,” interposed Oliver.
“I hope not,” rejoined the old gentleman. “I do not think you ever will. I have been deceived, before, in the obj... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 96 | “Shall I go downstairs, sir?” inquired Oliver.
“No,” replied Mr. Brownlow, “I would rather you remained here.”
At this moment, there walked into the room: supporting himself by a thick stick: a stout old gentleman, rather lame in one leg, who was dressed in a blue coat, striped waistcoat, nankeen breeches and gaiters, ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 97 | “I’ll eat my head, sir,” repeated Mr. Grimwig, striking his stick upon the ground. “Hallo! what’s that!” looking at Oliver, and retreating a pace or two.
“This is young Oliver Twist, whom we were speaking about,” said Mr. Brownlow.
Oliver bowed.
“You don’t mean to say that’s the boy who had the fever, I hope?” said Mr.... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 98 | “He is a nice-looking boy, is he not?” inquired Mr. Brownlow.
“I don’t know,” replied Mr. Grimwig, pettishly.
“Don’t know?”
“No. I don’t know. I never see any difference in boys. I only knew two sort of boys. Mealy boys, and beef-faced boys.”
“And which is Oliver?”
“Mealy. I know a friend who has a beef-faced boy; a fi... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 99 | All this, Mr. Brownlow, although himself somewhat of an impetuous gentleman: knowing his friend’s peculiarities, bore with great good humour; as Mr. Grimwig, at tea, was graciously pleased to express his entire approval of the muffins, matters went on very smoothly; and Oliver, who made one of the party, began to feel ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 100 | “Dear me, I am very sorry for that,” exclaimed Mr. Brownlow; “I particularly wished those books to be returned tonight.”
“Send Oliver with them,” said Mr. Grimwig, with an ironical smile; “he will be sure to deliver them safely, you know.”
“Yes; do let me take them, if you please, sir,” said Oliver. “I’ll run all the w... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 101 | “Oh! you really expect him to come back, do you?” inquired Mr. Grimwig.
“Don’t you?” asked Mr. Brownlow, smiling.
The spirit of contradiction was strong in Mr. Grimwig’s breast, at the moment; and it was rendered stronger by his friend’s confident smile.
“No,” he said, smiting the table with his fist, “I do not. The bo... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 102 | Dogs are not generally apt to revenge injuries inflicted upon them by their masters; but Mr. Sikes’s dog, having faults of temper in common with his owner, and labouring, perhaps, at this moment, under a powerful sense of injury, made no more ado but at once fixed his teeth in one of the half-boots. Having given in a h... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 103 | “Why?” inquired the Jew with a forced smile.
“’Cause the government, as cares for the lives of such men as you, as haven’t half the pluck of curs, lets a man kill a dog how he likes,” replied Sikes, shutting up the knife with a very expressive look; “that’s why.”
The Jew rubbed his hands; and, sitting down at the table... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 104 | These words, in plain English, conveyed an injunction to ring the bell. It was answered by another Jew: younger than Fagin, but nearly as vile and repulsive in appearance.
Bill Sikes merely pointed to the empty measure. The Jew, perfectly understanding the hint, retired to fill it: previously exchanging a remarkable lo... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 105 | “Yes, I am, Bill,” replied the young lady, disposing of its contents; “and tired enough of it I am, too. The young brat’s been ill and confined to the crib; and—”
“Ah, Nancy, dear!” said Fagin, looking up.
Now, whether a peculiar contraction of the Jew’s red eye-brows, and a half closing of his deeply-set eyes, warned ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 106 | “Don’t,” cried Oliver, struggling. “Let go of me. Who is it? What are you stopping me for?”
The only reply to this, was a great number of loud lamentations from the young woman who had embraced him; and who had a little basket and a street-door key in her hand.
“Oh my gracious!” said the young woman, “I have found him!... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 107 | “That’s right!” cried a looker-on, from a garret-window. “That’s the only way of bringing him to his senses!”
“To be sure!” cried a sleepy-faced carpenter, casting an approving look at the garret-window.
“It’ll do him good!” said the two women.
“And he shall have it, too!” rejoined the man, administering another blow, ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 108 | “See here, boy!” said Sikes, putting his other hand to Oliver’s throat; “if he speaks ever so soft a word, hold him! D’ye mind!”
The dog growled again; and licking his lips, eyed Oliver as if he were anxious to attach himself to his windpipe without delay.
“He’s as willing as a Christian, strike me blind if he isn’t!” ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 109 | “Yes; that’s all you women think of,” answered Sikes. “Fine young chaps! Well, they’re as good as dead, so it don’t much matter.”
With this consolation, Mr. Sikes appeared to repress a rising tendency to jealousy, and, clasping Oliver’s wrist more firmly, told him to step out again.
“Wait a minute!” said the girl: “I w... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 110 | The passage was perfectly dark. They waited, while the person who had let them in, chained and barred the door.
“Anybody here?” inquired Sikes.
“No,” replied a voice, which Oliver thought he had heard before.
“Is the old ’un here?” asked the robber.
“Yes,” replied the voice, “and precious down in the mouth he has been.... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 111 | “Look at his togs, Fagin!” said Charley, putting the light so close to his new jacket as nearly to set him on fire. “Look at his togs! Superfine cloth, and the heavy swell cut! Oh, my eye, what a game! And his books, too! Nothing but a gentleman, Fagin!”
“Delighted to see you looking so well, my dear,” said the Jew, bo... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 112 | “They belong to the old gentleman,” said Oliver, wringing his hands; “to the good, kind, old gentleman who took me into his house, and had me nursed, when I was near dying of the fever. Oh, pray send them back; send him back the books and money. Keep me here all my life long; but pray, pray send them back. He’ll think ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 113 | The housebreaker flung the girl from him to the further end of the room, just as the Jew and the two boys returned, dragging Oliver among them.
“What’s the matter here!” said Fagin, looking round.
“The girl’s gone mad, I think,” replied Sikes, savagely.
“No, she hasn’t,” said Nancy, pale and breathless from the scuffle... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 114 | “Am I?” said the girl. “Take care I don’t overdo it. You will be the worse for it, Fagin, if I do; and so I tell you in good time to keep clear of me.”
There is something about a roused woman: especially if she add to all her other strong passions, the fierce impulses of recklessness and despair; which few men like to ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 115 | “Come, come, Sikes,” said the Jew appealing to him in a remonstratory tone, and motioning towards the boys, who were eagerly attentive to all that passed; “we must have civil words; civil words, Bill.”
“Civil words!” cried the girl, whose passion was frightful to see. “Civil words, you villain! Yes, you deserve ’em fro... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 116 | “I suppose he’d better not wear his best clothes tomorrow, Fagin, had he?” inquired Charley Bates.
“Certainly not,” replied the Jew, reciprocating the grin with which Charley put the question.
Master Bates, apparently much delighted with his commission, took the cleft stick: and led Oliver into an adjacent kitchen, whe... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 117 | Such changes appear absurd; but they are not so unnatural as they would seem at first sight. The transitions in real life from well-spread boards to death-beds, and from mourning-weeds to holiday garments, are not a whit less startling; only, there, we are busy actors, instead of passive lookers-on, which makes a vast ... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 118 | “Drat that beadle!” said Mrs. Mann, hearing the well-known shaking at the garden-gate. “If it isn’t him at this time in the morning! Lauk, Mr. Bumble, only think of its being you! Well, dear me, it is a pleasure, this is! Come into the parlour, sir, please.”
The first sentence was addressed to Susan; and the exclamatio... |
Oliver_Twist_-_Charles_Dickens | 38 | 119 | There was so much determination and depth of purpose about the menacing manner in which Mr. Bumble delivered himself of these words, that Mrs. Mann appeared quite awed by them. At length she said,
“You’re going by coach, sir? I thought it was always usual to send them paupers in carts.”
“That’s when they’re ill, Mrs. M... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.