y, and
the two sank lower and lower till they might even be seen on dark nights
on narrow London streets searching in refuse boxes for bits of food,
like twin spirits of wickedness and crime.

When Kit had grown to be a man and had children of his own, he often
took them to the spot where stood what had been The Old Curiosity Shop
and told them over and over the story of little Nell. And he always
ended by saying that if they were good like her they might go some time
where they could see and know her as he had done when he was a boy.

THE ADVENTURES OF OLIVER TWIST

Published 1837

_Scene_: London and Neighboring Towns

_Time_: 1825 to 1837

CHARACTERS

Oliver Twist A foundling

Mr. Bumble The master of the poorhouse

Mrs. Bumble The mistress of the poorhouse

Monks Oliver's half-brother and his enemy

Mr. Brownlow Oliver's benefactor

Mrs. Maylie Oliver's benefactress

Miss Rose Mrs. Maylie's adopted niece
In reality Oliver's aunt

Fagin A Jew
Leader of a gang of thieves in London

Bill Sikes A burglar

Nancy Sikes's partner in crime

"The Artful Dodger" A youthful pickpocket

OLIVER TWIST

I

HOW OLIVER CAME TO LONDON AND WHAT HE FOUND THERE

Oliver Twist was the son of a poor lady who was found lying in the
street one day in an English village, almost starved and very ill. She
had walked a long way, for her shoes were worn to pieces, but where she
came from or where she was going nobody knew. As she had no money, she
was taken to the poorhouse, where she died the next day without even
telling her name, leaving behind her only a gold locket, which was
around her neck, and a baby.

The locket fell into the hands of the mistress of the poorhouse, who was
named Mrs. Bumble. It contained the dead mother's wedding-ring, and, as
Mrs. Bumble was a dishonest woman, she hid both locket and ring,
intending sometime to sell them.

The baby was left, with no one to care for it, to grow up at the
poorhouse with the other wretched orphan children, who wore calico
dresses all