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Fagin and His Boys
Oliver walked more than 70 miles. He carried only a shirt, two pairs of stockings, and a single penny. He was on his way to London! No one - not even Mr. Bumble - would ever find him in that big city. It was cold and his feet were sore, but he was thrilled to leave his old, unhappy life behind. He begged at cottages for food and water and slept in haystacks in the meadows.
On the seventh day of his journey, Oliver met a boy who looked about his own age, but who dressed and acted like a man. He was short and bow-legged and had ugly little eyes. He wore dirty clothes and a hat that looked about ready to fall off his head. His pants were baggy, and his coat reached down well below his knees.
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| Fagin and His Boys |
"Hi, young fella!" he greeted Oliver. "What're ya up to?"
"I'm tired and hungry. I've been on the road for seven days," Oliver replied.
"Well, c'mon, I'll get ya some food."
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, bought some ham and bread and then took Oliver to a tavern for some beer. lt was the biggest meal Oliver had ever eaten.
On His Way to London.....
"Going to London?" asked the Dodger.
"Yes." said Oliver.
"Got anywhere to stay?"
"No."
Got any money?"
"No."
"Well, it just so happens that I'm going to London too, and I know a gentleman there who will give you free room and board if I introduce you."
The boys came to a filthy, bad-smelling street and entered a broken-down house.
The Artful Dodger Offers Oliver Food.....
"Are you there, Fagin?" called the Dodger. "I have a new pal for you!"
An ugly old man in a dirty flannel dressing gown was cooking sausages. He had matted red hair, and his face was twisted into an ugly grin. At a table in front of the fireplace sat four or five boys, none older than the Dodger, smoking long clay pipes and drinking spirits. The only furniture in the room was a clothes rack on which many silk handkerchiefs hung and some dirty sacks that were used as beds.
Meeting Fagin and His Gang.....
"This is my new friend, Oliver Twist," the Dodger announced.
Fagin glanced at Oliver, who looked bewildered. Then he drew out a box from a trap door in the floor. Inside were beautiful gold watches, bracelets, rings, and other jewelry.
"There pretty things are mine," said Fagin nervously. "They are all I have left in my old age."
Oliver didn't understand why a man with so many riches lived in such a run-down house, but he decided that Fagin must spend all his money taking care of the boys.
Oliver washed himself in a basin and threw the dirty water out the window, as Fagin suggested. Then he ate breakfast with Fagin, the Dodger, and Charley Bates.
"What did you bring back with you this morning?" Fagin asked his boys.
"Four silk handkerchiefs," said Bates.
"Ah, I see you've been working hard. Would you like to be able to make such beautiful things, Oliver?"
"Yes, sir, if you'll teach me."
"We'll teach you, don't worry," the others said, laughing.
Oliver didn't see anything funny. He was even more puzzled by the game that his new friends played after breakfast.
Fagin dressed up like an English gentleman and put a wallet, a snuff box, a watch, and other valuable things in his coat pockets. Then he picked up a cane and walked around the room, stopping often as if looking in a store window.
Bates Brings Four Silk Handkerchiefs.....
The boys followed behind, careful to keep out of sight. When the 'gentleman' stopped, one of the on his foot while another removed boys stepped all the things from his pockets. Then they disappeared before the victim could turn around.
A Puzzling Game.....
"The Dodger and Bates will be great men," Fagin told Oliver later. "Take their advice and do what they do, and you too will be famous. Now, try to take this handkerchief out of my back pocket without my feeling it."
Oliver did exactly as he had seen the Dodger do. Fagin was proud of him and gave him a shilling. After Oliver had practiced this trick for several days, he was allowed to go out with the Dodger and Bates.