雾都孤儿-第12章
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
The girl shook her head． ‘I’m chained to him，bad as Theyare．I’ve gone too far to change my life now．’She looked nervously over her shoulder． ‘I can feel those dreadful terrors again…visions of blood and death．I must go home．’
Mr Brown low and Rose could not persuade her to change her mind Sadly，They turned to leave，and when They had gone，Nancy fell to the ground in a storm of tears．Meanwhile，Noah Claypole，amazed by all that he had heard，crept up the steps and ran for Fagin’s house as fast as his legs could carry him．Some hours later，nearly two hours before dawn，Noah laya sleep in Fagin’s house．But Fagin sat silently by a dead fire，staring at the flame of a candle on tne table beside him．With his pale，wrinkled face and his red，staring eyes，he looked like a devil out of hell．Hatred ran like poison through hisevery thought．Hatred for the girl who had dared to talk to strangers，who had ruined his plan to get rid of Sikes．He did not believe her promise not to betray him，and he feared that he would now be caught，and hung．
Just before dawn Sikes entered the room，carrying a bundle which contained the results of his night’s work．Fagin took what Sikes gave him，the n stared at the robber for a long time with out speaking．
‘Why are you looking at me like that？’asked Sikes，uneasy at the old man’s strange expression．
Fagin raised his hand ，but his passion was so great that hecould not speak．
‘Say something，will you！’shouted Sikes，placing his huge hand on Fagin’s collar and shaking him in his anger and fear．
‘Open your mouth and say what you’ve got to say！’
Eventually Fagin found his voice． ‘Bill，what would you do if one of the gang went out at night and told someone all about us，and what we’d done？What would you do to him？’
‘I’d smash his head into little pieces，’said the robber，swearing violently．
‘And what if it was me，who knows so much about all ofus，and could put us all in prison and get us all hanged？’whispered Fagin，his eyes flashing with hate．
‘I’d beat your brains out in public．Even in the law…court，I’d run over and kill you with my bare hand s，’said Sikes，showing his teeth in his anger． ‘I don’t care who it was，that’s what I’d do．’
Fagin woke Noah． ‘Tell Bill what you told me，what you saw，what she did．Tell him！’
Noah rubbed the sleep from his eyes and told Sikes every thing His face white with passion，Sikes listened to the end，the n，swearing furioustly，he rushed from the room and down the stairs．
‘Bill！’Fagin called after him． ‘You won’t be…too violent？’
Sikes made no reply，but，pulling open the door，ran out into the silent streets．He did not turn his head to right or left，but looked straight in front of him with wild determination．He ran at great speed，his eyes on fire，his teeth tight together，and did not pause until he reached his own door．He ran up to his room，entered and locked the door，put a table against it，the n woke Nancy．
‘Bill！’she said，pleased to see him．But when she saw his expression，the colour went out of her face． ‘What’s the matter？’she said in alarm．
‘You know what．’Sikes took out his gun，but realizing，even in his madness，that a shot might be heard，he beat her twice across the face with it as hard as he could．She fell，with low cry of pain and terror，almost blinded by the blood that flowed from the cut on her forehead．The murderer staggered to a corner，seized a heavy stick and struck her down．
13 The end of the gang
The sun burst upon the crowded city in all its brightness．It lit up every corner of London，the great houses of the rich，and the miserable homes of the poor．Its hone everywhere，even into the room where the murdered woman lay．The horror of that scene was even more dreadful in the clear morning light．
Sikes sat the re，unable to move，looking at the body．He had thrown the blood…covered stick into the fire，the n washed himself and his clothe s．He had cut out the bits of his clothes that were stained and burnt the m too，but the re were still bloodstains all over the floor．Even the dog’s feet were bloody．
Finally，he forced himself to leave the room，pulling the dog out with him and locking the door behind him．He walked rapidly north，towards High gate，the n on to Hampstead．On the open land of Hampstead Heath，away from people and houses，he found a place in a field where he could sleep with out being disturbed．
But before long he was up again and running．This time heran back towards London for a while．The n he turned and went north again，sometimes walking，sometimes running，with no clear purpose in his mind．Eventually，he felt hungry，and changed direction towards Hendon，a quiet place away from the crowds，where he could buy food．But even the children and chickens the re seemed to look at him with suspicion．So he turned back towards Hampstead Heath again，without having eaten，uncertain where to go．
At last he turned north again，his dog still running at his heels，and set off to a village just outside London．He stopped at a small，quiet pub and bought a meal，the n went on again．It was now dark and as he continued walking，he felt as if Nancy were following him，her shadow on the road，her last low cry in the wind．If he stopped，the ghostly figure did the same．If he ran，it ran too，moving stiffly，like a corpse．Sometimes he turned，determined to drive the ghost away，but his blood ran cold with terror．Every time he turned，the ghost turned too，and was still behind him．
Finally，he found another field where he could hide．He lay down，unable to sleep，his mind filled with visions of the dead girl．Her wide，dead eyes stared at him，watching him through a curtain of blood．
Suddenly he heard shouting in the distance．He jumped to his feet and saw that the sky seemed on fire．Sheets of flame shot into the air，driving clouds of smoke in his direction．He heard an alarm bell，and more shouts of ‘Fire！’Running with his dog across the fields，he joined the crowds of men and women fighting the fire．He could forget his own terror in this new danger，and he worked all night with the crowd，shouting，running and working togethe r to stop the flames destroying more buildings．
In the morning the mad excitement was over，and the dreadful memory of his crime returned…more terrifying than ever．In desperation，he decided to go back to London．
‘At least the re’ll be somebody I can speak to，’he thought to himself． ‘And it’s a better hiding…place than out here in the country．I’ll hide the re for a week，get some money out of Fagin，the n escape to France．’
Suddenly he remembered the dog…people would be looking for his dog as well as himself．He decided to drown the animal．But the dog smelt the man’s fear，and turned and ran away from him faster than it had ever run in its life． ‘You have a choice，Mr Monks，’said Mr Brown low ． ‘You have been kidnapped and brought here to my house．You can either tell me what I want to know，or I’ll have you arrested，instantly，for fraud and robbery．It’s your choice．And you must decide now．At once．’
Monks hesitated and looked at the old man，but Mr Brown low ‘s expression was so serious and determined that The younger man realized it was pointless to protest． ‘I didn’t expect this treatment from my father’s oldest friend，’said Monks angrily，sitting down with a frown on his face．
‘Yes，I was your father’s oldest friend，’said Mr Brown low ． ‘And I know all about you…how your father，while still a boy，was forced by his family into an unhappy marriage with an older woman，and how you were the result of that marriage．I also know that your parents separated，hating each other by the end．’
‘Well…what’s so important about that？’
‘When They’d been separated for ten years，’said Mr Brown low ， ‘your father met another family．The re were two daughters，one nineteen years old and the other only two or three．Your father became engaged to the older daughter．At this point one of his rich relations died and left him a lot of money in his will．Your father had to travel to Italy to receive his inheritance，and while the re，he became ill and died．Your mother，who was living with you in Paris，immediately rushed to Italy when she heard the news．As your father had made no will of his own，all the relation’s money came to you and her．’
Monks listened with close attention，biting his lip and staring at the floor．
‘Before your father went to receive that money，he came to see me，’continued Mr Brown low slowly，his eyes fixed on Monks’face．
‘I never heard that before，’said Monks，looking up suddenly，a suspicious expression on his face．
‘He left me a picture of the poor girl he wanted to marry．He talked wildly about shame and guilt，and how he would give part of the money he’d inherited to his wife and to you，and use the rest to escape from England with the girl he loved．He refused to tell me any more details．’
Monks breathe d more easily，and even smiled．
‘But，’said Mr Brown low ，pulling his chair nearer to the other man， ‘by chance I was able to rescue your brother O liver from a life of misery and—’
‘What！’cried Monks．
Mr Brown low continued without a pause． ‘And when he was recovering from his sickness here in my house，I noticed how similar he looked to the girl’s face in the picture．But he was taken away before I could discover his history…as you know very well．’
‘You can’t prove anything！’said Monks．
‘I can．I heard that you were in the West Indies．I went the re to try and find you to see if you knew anything about O liver，but you’d already left．I returned to London，and was unable to find you until two hours ago．’
‘And now what？You can’t prove that O liver’s my brother．’Monks smiled unpleasantly．
‘I couldn’t before，’said Mr Brown low ，standing up． ‘But now I can．The re was a will，but your mother destroyed it．This will mentioned a child that would be born later；this was O liver，the child you met later by accident．You noticed his resemblance to your father and you became suspicious．You the n went back to his birthplace，found proof of his birth and the fact that he’s your half…brother，and destroyed that proof．’
Monks sat in silence，his eyes filled with fear．
‘Yes，’continued Mr Brown low fiercely， ‘shadows on the wall have caught your whispers with Fagin，and brought the m to my ear．For the sake of that innocent child，whom you wanted to destroy．And now murder had been done，and you are as guilty of that as if you had struck the blow yourself！’
‘No，no，’said Monks quickly． ‘I knew nothing of that．Nothing at all．’He was silent for a while，realizing how much was known about him．Hatred and fear fought inside him，but he was a coward at heart．At last，seeing no escape，he raised his head． ‘I will admit everything…in front of witnesses，if necessary．’
Mr Brown low nodded coldly． ‘I will prepare a document for you to sign．You must give O liver what is really his，and the n you
