Put the sentences in the right order. 1) When Fagin entered the room, the girl was adjusting her shawl and bonnet, as if preparing to leave

1)Nancy stood _____ the door, listening _____ breathless interest _____ their conversation.

2) Suddenly she got _____ and hurried _____ a direction quite opposite _____ that _____ which Sikes was waiting _____ her return.

3) When night came, there was such an unusual paleness ______ her cheek, and a fire _____ her eye, that even Sikes, who was weak _____ fever and who was lying _____ bed, observed it _____ astonishment.

4) Then, stooping softly ______ the bed, she kissed the robber's lips; and then, opening and clos­ing the room-door ______ noiseless touch, hurried ______ the house.

5) Nancy started to run _____ the narrow pavement, elbowing the passengers _____ side _____ side.

Put the verbs, given in brackets, in the right tense form.

1)It (be) evening when Mr. William Sikes (awake) from a nap in a badly-furnished apartment.

2) The instant she (catch) the sound, she (tear) off her bonnet and shawl, with the rapidity of lightning, and (thrust) them under the table.

3) Fagin (give) her the money and they (part) without more conversation.

4) When the girl (get) into the open street, she (sit) down upon a doorstep.

5) Soon she (be) completely tired, she (stop) to take breath and (burst) into tears.

Complete the sentences.

1) Sikes thought the Artful Dodger was a bit too artful, and …

2) The girl drew closer to the table, and glanced at Monks carelessly; but as he …

3) Nancy slipped off her shoes and …

4) When the clock struck ten Nancy started …

5) When the man returned he said that …

What do you think?

1)Why was Bill Sikes angry with Fagin?

2) Why did Nancy tear off her bonnet and shawl, with the rapidity of lightning, and thrust them under the table the instant she heard the visitors voice?

3) Why do you think Nancy was so agitated when she overheard the conversation?

4) Why did Nancy stand with her back to Sikes when she filled his glass?

5) Why did they first tell Nancy to go away from a hotel? And why at length did they do what Nancy wanted?

CHAPTER 17

Nancy Meets Rose. Oliver Meets Mr. Brownlow at Last

'It's a hard matter to get to see you, lady,' said Nancy.

'I am very sorry if any one has behaved harshly to you,' replied Rose. 'Do not think of that. Tell me why you wished to see me. I am the person you inquired for.'

The kind tone of this answer, the sweet voice, the gentle manner, the absence of any displeasure, took the girl completely by surprise, and she burst into tears.

'Sit down,' said Rose, earnestly. 'If you are in povertyI shall be truly glad to relieve you if I can, — I shall indeed. Sit down.'

'Let me stand, lady,' said the girl, still weeping, 'and do not speak to me so kindly till you know me better. It is growing late. Is — is — is that door shut?'

'Yes,' said Rose. 'Why?'

'Because,' said the girl, 'I am about to put my life and the lives of others in your hands. I am the girl that dragged little Oliver back to old Fagin's on the night he went out from the house in Pentonville.'

'You!' said Rose Maylie.

'I, lady!' replied the girl. 'I am the infamous creature you have heard of, that lives among the thieves, and that never have known any better life, or kinder words than they have given me, so help me God!'

'What dreadful things are these!' said Rose.

'Thank Heaven upon your knees, dear lady,' cried the girl, 'that you had friends to care for and keep you in your childhood, and that you were never in the midst of cold and hunger.'

'I pity you!' said Rose, in a broken voice.

'Heaven bless you for your goodness!' rejoined the girl. 'I will be murdered by them if they know that I have come here to tell you what I have overheard. Do you know a man named Monks?'

'No,' said Rose.

'He knows you,' replied the girl; 'and he knew you were here. That's how I've found you.'

'I have never heard the name,' said Rose.

'Soon after Oliver was put into your house on the night of the robbery, I — suspectingthis man — listened to a conversation held between him and Fagin in the dark. I found out, from what I heard, that Monks struck a bargainwith Fagin, that if Oliver was got back Fagin would get a certain sum. And he would have more for making him a thief, which this Monks wanted for some purpose of his own.'

'For what purpose?' asked Rose.

'He caught sight of my shadow on the wall as I listened, in the hope of finding out,' said the girl; 'and there are not many people besides me that could get out of their way in time to escape discovery. But I did; and I saw him no more till last night.'

'And what occurred then?'

'I'll tell you, lady. Last night he came again. Again they went upstairs, and I again listened at the door. The first words I heard Monks say were these: "So the only proofs of Oliver's identity lie at the bottom of the river."' They laughed, and talked of his success in doing this.

Monks, talking on about the boy, and getting very wild, said; 'Though I've got the boy's money safely now, if I can take the life of my younger brother Oliver safely without bringing my own in danger, I will gladly do it!'

'His brother!' exclaimed Rose.

'Those were his words,' said Nancy, glancing uneasily round.

'You do not mean,' said Rose, turning very pale, 'to tell me that this was said in earnest?'

'It was,' replied the girl, shaking her head. 'It is growing late, and I have to reach home without suspicion. I must get back quickly.'

'But what can I do?' said Rose. 'What can I do without you? Why do you wish to return to companions you paint in such terrible colours? If you repeat this information to a gentleman whom I can summon in an instant from the next room, you can be taken to some safe place immediately.'

'I wish to go back,' said the girl. 'I must go back, because among the men I have told you of, there is one whom I can't leave. I cannot leave him now! I cannot be his death.'   

'What am I to do?' said Rose.

'You must have some kind gentleman about you that will hear it as a secret, and advise you what to do,' rejoined the girl.

'But where can I find you again when it is necessary?' asked Rose. 'I do not want to know where these dreadful people live, but where will you be walking or passing at any settled period from this time?'

'Will you promise me that you will strictly keep my secret, and come alone, or with the only other person that knows it; and that I shall not be watched or followed?' asked the girl.

'I promise you solemnly,' answered Rose.

'Every Sunday night, from eleven until the clock strikes twelve,' said the girl without hesitation, 'I will walk on London Bridge if I am alive.'

'Stay another moment,' said Rose, as the girl moved hurriedly towards the door. 'Think once again. Will you return to this gangof robbers, and to this man? Is there nothing left in your heart, to which I can appeal?'

'When such as I, who have no certain roof but the coffin lid, and no friend in sickness or death but the hospital nurse, set our rotten hearts on any man, and let him fill the place that has been a blank through all our wretched lives, who can hope to cure us? Pity us, lady. Pity us for having only one feeling of the woman left.'

'Take some money from me, which may enable you to live without dishonesty.'

'Not a penny,' replied the girl, waving her hand.

'Do not close your heart against all my efforts to help you,' said Rose, stepping gently forward. 'I wish to serve you indeed.'

'You would serve me best, lady,' replied the girl, 'if you could take my life at once; for I have felt more grief to think of what I am, to-night, than I ever did before. God bless you, sweet lady, and send as much happiness on your head as I have brought shame on mine!'

Thus speaking, and sobbing aloud, the unhappy creature turned away; while Rose Maylie, overpowered by this extraordinary interview, sank into a chair and tried to collect her thoughts.

Rose took her pen and was going to write the first line of her letter when Oliver entered the room in breathless haste and violent agitation.

'What's the matter?' asked Rose, advancing to meet him.

'Oh dear! I have seen him! Now you will know that I have told you the truth!'

'I never thought you told us anything but the truth,' said Rose, soothing him. 'But what is this? Of whom do you speak?'

'I have seen the gentleman,' replied Oliver, scarcely able to articulate, 'the gentleman who was so good to me — Mr. Brownlow!'

'Where?' asked Rose.

'He was getting out of a coach,' replied Oliver, 'and going into a house. I didn't speak to him. I couldn't speak to him, for he didn't see me, and I trembled so, that I was not able to go up to him. But Giles asked whether he lived there, and they said he did. Look here,' said Oliver, opening a scrap of paper, 'here it is; here's where he lives. I'm going there directly! Oh, dear me, dear me! What shall I do when I see him and hear him speak again!'

Rose read the address, which was Craven Street, in the Strand.

'Quick!' she said. 'Be ready to go with me. I will take you there directly, without a minute's loss of time. I will only tell my aunt that we are going out for an hour, and be ready as soon as you are.'

In little more than five minutes they were on their way to Craven Street. When they arrived there, Rose left Oliver in the coach, under pretence of preparing the old gentleman to receive him; and sending up her card by the servant, requested to see Mr. Brownlow on very pressing business. The servant soon returned and asked the lady to follow him and walk upstairs into an upper room. There Miss Maylie was presented to an elderly gentleman in a bottle-green coat. At no great distance from whom was seated another old gentleman, who was sitting with his hands clasped on the top of a thick stick.

'Good afternoon, lady,' said the gentleman, in the bottle-green coat, hastily rising with great politeness, 'Be seated, please.'

'Mr. Brownlow, I believe, sir?' said Rose, glancing from the other gentleman to the one who spoke.

'That is my name,' said the old gentleman. 'This is my friend, Mr. Grimwig.'

Mr. Grimwig made one very stiff bow, rose from his chair, made another very stiff bow, and dropped into it again.

'I shall surprise you very much, I have no doubt,' said Rose, naturally embarrassed; 'once you were very kind to a dear young friend of mine, and I am sure you will take an interest in hearing of him again.'

'Indeed!' said Mr. Brownlow.

'You knew him as Oliver Twist,' replied Rose.

Mr. Grimwig fell back in his chair and, looking out straight before him, emitted a long deep whistle. Mr. Browlow was no less surprised, although his astonishment was not expressed in the same eccentric manner. He drew his chair nearer to Miss Maylie's, and said, 'Do me the favour, my dear young lady, tell me what you know about the boy and I hope it will alterthe unfavourable opinion of that poor child.'

'A bad child! I'll eat my head if he is not a bad one,' growled Mr. Grimwig, without moving a muscle of his face.

'Do not listen to my friend, Miss Maylie,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'he does not mean what he says.'

'Yes, he does,' growled Mr. Grimwig.

'No, he does not,' said Mr. Brownlow.

'Oliver is a child of a noble nature and a warm heart,' said Rose.

'Now, Miss Maylie, will you let me know what information you have about this poor child.'

In a few natural words Rose told Oliver's story.

'Thank God!' said the old gentleman. 'This is great happiness to me, great happiness. But you have not told me where he is now, Miss Maylie?'

'He is waiting in a coach at the door,' replied Rose.

'At this door?!' cried the old gentleman. With which he hurried out of the room, down the stairs, up the coachsteps, and into the coach, without another word.

When the room-door closed behind him, Mr. Grimwig lifted up his head, rose and limped as fast as he could up and down the room at least a dozen times, and then stopping suddenly before Rose, most unexpectedly kissed her without the slightest preface.

'Hush!' he said, as the young lady rose in some alarm at this unusual proceeding. 'Don't be afraid. I'm old enough to be your grandfather. You're a sweet girl. I like you. Here they are!'

Mr. Brownlow returned, accompanied by Oliver.

'There is somebody else who should not be forgotten,' said Mr. Brownlow, ringing the bell. 'Send Mrs. Bedwin here, if you please.'

The old housekeeper entered the room and waited for orders.

'Why, you get blinder every day, Bedwin,' said Mr. Brownlow.

'Well, that I do, sir,' replied the old lady. 'People's eyes don't improve with age, sir.'

'Put on your glasses, will you?'

Oliver could not wait any longer and, yielding to his first impulse, he sprang into her arms.

'God be good to me!' cried the old lady, embracing him; 'it is my innocent boy!'

'My dear old nurse!' cried Oliver.

'I knew that he would come back, I knew he would,' said the old lady, holding him in her arms. 'How well he looks, and how like a gentleman's son he is dressed again! Where have you been? Ah! The same sweet face, but not so pale; the same soft eyes, but not so sad. I have never forgotten them or his quiet smile, but have seen them every day.'

Leaving her and Oliver, Mr. Brownlow led the way into another room; and there, heard from Rose a full narration of her interview with Nancy.

In the evening Mr. Brownlow, doctor Losberne and Rose had a conference.

'Thus,' said Mr. Brownlow, it is quite clear that we shall have extreme difficulty in getting to the bottom of this mystery, unless we can bring this man, Monks, upon his knees. That can only be done by catching him when he is not surrounded by these people. We have no proof against him. He is not even (so far as we know, or as the facts appear to us) concernedwith the gang in any of their robberies.'

'Then,' said the doctor, 'I ask you again, whether you think it reasonable that we must keep this promise to the girl, a promise made with the best and kindest intentions, but really —'

'Do not discuss the point, my dear young lady,' said Mr. Brownlow, interrupting Rose as she was about to speak. 'The promise shall be kept. I don't think it will, in the slightest degree, interfere with our actions.But, before we can think about any precise course of action, it will be necessary to see the girl. Will she point out this Monks? She cannot be seen until next Sunday night; this is Tuesday. I would suggest that in the meantime, we remain perfectly quiet, and keep these matters secret even from Oliver himself.'

Helpful Words & Notes

povertyn — нищета

suspectv — подозревать

strike a bargainv — заключить сделку

gangn — банда

the Strand— Стрэнд; название одной из улиц Лондона

alterv — изменять

concernv — касаться, затрагивать, иметь отношение к

I don't think it will, in the slightest degree, interfere with our actions.— He думаю, что это хоть в малейшей степени помешает нашим действиям.

Activities

Answer the questions.

1)What took Nancy completely by surprise?

2) What kind of bargain did Monks strike with Fagin?

3) Under what condition could Fagin get more money?

4) What did Monks say about the proofs of Oliver's identity?

5) Whose brother was Monks?

6) What did Rose solemnly promise to Nancy?

7) Where did Oliver see Mr. Brownlow and why didn't he speak to the old gentleman?

8) Where did Rose and Oliver go?

9) What did Mr. Brownlow want Rose to alter?

10) What did Mr. Brownlow do when Rose told him that Oliver was waiting in a coach at the door?

11) What was great happiness to Mr. Brownlow and why?

12) What did Mr. Brownlow, doctor Losberene and Rose decide to do?

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