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dence to show me I was wrong，please tell me at once．’
‘I know him to be a child with a warm heart，’said Rose．
‘And despite the hardships of his life，he’s a better person than almost anyone I know．’
‘I looked for him everywhere，’said Mr Brown low ， ‘but I could never find him．I could never quite believe that he really did intend to rob me．’
Rose told him everything that had happened to O liver since the n．She finished by saying， ‘And his only sorrow，for some months，has been that he could not find you，his former friend．’
‘Thank God！’said Mr Brown low ． ‘This is great happiness to me，great happiness．But why haven’t you brought him with you，Miss May lie？’
‘He’s waiting in a coach at the door，’replied Rose．
Mr Brown low hurried out of the room，down the stairs and into the coach without another word．In a minute he had returned with O liver． ‘How well he looks！’he said． ‘New clothe s，the same sweet face，but not so pale；the same eyes，but not so sad．’
They talked with great joy for some time．The n Mr Brown low sent for Mrs Bed win，the old housekeeper．She came in quietly and waited for her orders．
‘You get blinder every day，’said Mr Brown low impatiently．
‘People’s eyes，at my time of life，don’t improve with age，’replied the old lady．
‘The n put on your glasses．’
As she searched for the m in her pocket，O liver could not wait any longer and ran into her arms．
‘Dear God！’she said． ‘It’s my innocent boy！’
‘My dear old nurse！’cried O liver．
‘I knew he would come back，’said the old lady，holding him in her arms． ‘How well he’s dressed…how well he looks again！’She laughed and cried at the same time，and could not let O liver go．
While O liver talked to Mrs Bed win，Rose asked Mr Brown low if she could speak to him privately．He led her in to another room，and the re listened，with a good deal of amaze ment，to Rose’s account of her extraordinary conversation with Nancy．Between the m，They decided that Mrs May lie and Dr Losberne should be told，and that Mr Brown low would come to the hotel that evening for a discussion．For the moment，nothing would be said to O liver himself．
That evening at the hotel O liver’s four friends met as arranged．Dr Losberne，of course，was full of immediate plans to rush round London arresting all the gang and hanging the mat once．Mr Brown low ，fortunately，was able to persuade him to abandon this wild idea．
‘The n what’s to be done？’cried the doctor impatiently．
‘First，’said Mr Brown low calmly， ‘we must discover who he inheritance that should have been his．’
‘Yes，yes，’said the doctor，nodding in agreement． ‘But how shall we achieve the se aims？’
‘We must find this man Monks，’said Mr Brown low ． ‘Nancy will not betray the man who is special to her，but she will surely agree to tell us how or where to find Monks．Then we must find a way to force Monks to talk．We must be both cautious and clever．After all，we have no proof against him，and if we cannot make him talk，this mystery will never be solved．But we’ll have to wait five days until Sunday before we can meet Nancy on London Bridge．Until the n，we can do nothing．’
12 Nancy keeps an appointment
On exactly the same night as Nancy had met Rose May lie，two people from O liver’s home town were making their way towards London．Their progress was slow，since they travelled on foot，and in addition，the girl was carrying a heavy bag on her back．The young man carried nothing．From time to time he turned to shout at the girl behind him． ‘Hurry up！What a lazy creature you are，Charlotte！I’ll come and give you a kick if you don’t move faster！’
The young man was Noah Claypole，who had made O liver’s life so miserable at Mr Sowerberry’s house．He was now taller and uglier but otherwise little changed．He and Charlotte had grown tired of the undertaking business and had set off to London to start a new life…with all the money from Mr So wer berry’s shop in their pockets．
Eventually，They entered London，and Noah began to look for a quiet，cheap pub where They could spend the night．Charlotte followed obediently at his heels as They walked through a district of narrow，dirty streets．
At last Noah found a pub that he thought was suitable．It was dark and dirty，with a few rough…looking men in the bar．They entered and asked for a room for the night and a meal of cold meat and beer，which They ate in the bar．The beer madeNoah talkative and he began to boast． ‘So it’s no more coffins for us，my girl．We can do better than just robbing Mr So wer berry．In London the re are pockets，houses，coaches…even banks！’
‘I like the sound of it，Noah，but how are we going to do all this？’asked Charlotte．
‘We can meet people who know about the se things．I’d like to be the leader of some gang，if the re’s a good profit to be made in that kind of work．’Noah felt very pleased with himself，and looked forward to an easy life of crime in the capital．
They talked about their plans for a few minutes．The n astranger，who had been sitting unseen round the corner，cameup to the m．The stranger was Fagin．He greeted the m in avery friendly and cheerful way，sat down with the m，and immediately ordered more beer for Noah．
‘That’s good beer，’said Noah，already a little drunk．He thanked the stranger for the drink．
‘Expensive，too，’said Fagin． ‘If you drink that everyday，my dear，you’ll need to empty pockets，houses，coaches，even banks．’
When he heard his own words repeated，Noah went pale with terror．The stranger must have heard everything，even how They had robbed Mr So wer berry！
‘Don’t worry，’laughed Fagin，pulling his chair closer． ‘You’re lucky it was only me who heard you．’
‘I didn’t take it，’said Noah quickly． ‘It was the woman who did it！’
‘It does n’t matter who did it，my dear，replied Fagin，looking quickly at Charlotte． ‘Because I’m in that business myself．And the people in my house as well．I can in trod uce you to the right people，if you’re interested．You both look like good workers．’
Charlotte and Noah felt a mixture of fear and pleasure． ‘What would you want me to do？’asked Noah． ‘Some thing light，if possible，’he added．
‘What about spying on people？’asked Fagin． ‘Or robbing young children who are going shopping for their mothers？That’s light work，and easy．’
Noah laughed． ‘That sounds like just the thing for me！And what will I earn for this work？’
‘You can live free in my house，and give me half of what you earn．
After fur the r discussion，and the transfer of Mr So wer berry’s money from Noah’s pocket to Fagin’s，agreement was reached．The next day Noah and Charlotte went to live in Fagin’s house and began to be instructed in their new profession．
Although training and experience had made Nancy an exper tliar，she could not completely hide the fear in her mind．She knew she had taken an enormous risk in going to see RoseMay lie．If Fagin or Sikes ever found out…But she pushed the se fears away．She was determined to keep her promise to Rose May lie，and meet her as arranged．
On the first Sunday night after her meeting with Rose，she was in Sikes’ room when the clock struck eleven．Fagin was the re，too，discussing some business with Sikes．Nancy stood up and put on her coat．Sikes watched her，surprised．
‘Nancy！Where are you going at this time of night？’
‘Not far．’
‘What kind of answer is that？Where are you going？’
‘I don’t know，’replied the girl．
‘The n I do．Nowhere．Sit down．’
‘I’m not well．I want a breath of air．’
Sikes got up and locked the door．
‘Let me go！’said the girl with great force． ‘Just for one hour…let me go！’
Sikes seized her arms roughly． ‘The girl’s gone mad！’
Nancy fought wildly，and Sikes had to hold her down in a chair．She continued to scream and fight until midnight，when，exhausted and tearful，she stopped struggling．She went into another room and threw herself on a bed．
‘She’s a strange girl，’Sikes said to Fagin，shaking his head． ‘Why did she suddenly decide to go out tonight？It hought that after all the se years I’d finally tamed her．She must be ill…perhaps she’s still got a bit of fever．’
‘That must be it，’said Fagin，nodding thoughtfully．
As he walked home，Fagin’s eyes were sharp with suspicion．He had suspected for a while that Nancy had become tired of Bill Sikes’ brutality and violence，and that she had found a new friend to take his place．Her manner was different；she often left home alone，and she seemed lessinterested in the gang．And tonight，her desperate impatience to go out at a particular hour…He was certain he was right．He began to make plans．
First，he wanted to know who Nancy’s new friend was．He could make him a valuable new member of the gang，with Nancy as his assistant．But the re was another，darker reason．Fagin，too，had become tired of Sikes．Sikes knew too much…too many dangero