Chapter 41 Chapter Forty

(A strange meeting that closely follows the previous chapter.) The girl Nancy had wandered the streets of London, and had spent her life in the filthiest of shelters, and yet there was something of her womanly nature left in her.Hearing the sound of brisk footsteps coming towards the door opposite to the one she came in, she felt a deep embarrassment at the thought of the sharp contrast that would soon appear in this small room. Consciousness was pressing on her heart, and she couldn't help shrinking into a ball, as if she didn't dare to meet the person she asked to see. Contrasted with these more innocent feelings is self-respect--a disease that is as much in the basest and basest of people as it is in the higher-ranked and self-confident ones.She was a wretch in the company of thieves and thugs, a prostitute, among those who wash down cells in the shadow of the gallows itself--even such a degenerate had a self-respect, no May there be a hint of feminine emotion, which she sees as weakness, but which alone connects her to a humanity which has been erased by lawlessness since her childhood trace.

She raised her eyes just enough to see a slender, pretty girl appearing before her, then turned her eyes to the ground, shook her head with feigned indifference, and said: "It's hard to see you, miss. If I get angry and go away--many people do--you'll regret it one day, and not for nothing." "I'm very sorry if anyone has been rude to you," Ruth replied, "don't think that way. Tell me why you want to see me. I'm the one you're looking for." The other party's considerate tone, soft voice, and generous attitude, without any arrogance or disgust, completely exceeded Miss Nancy's expectations, and she burst into tears.

"Oh, miss, miss!" she said, clasping her hands, impulsively, "if there were more of you, there would be fewer of me—that's it—that's it." "Sit down, please," said Ruth earnestly. "If you're wanting anything, or have any misfortune, I'll help you with all my heart, if I can—really. Please sit down." "Let me stand, miss," said Nancy, crying, "you don't talk to me so politely, you don't know me very well, is that--is that door closed?" "It's closed," said Ruth, stepping back, as if it would be easier for someone else to call for help if she needed to. "what happened?"

"Because," said Miss Nancy, "I'm going to put my life, and the lives of others, into your hands. I'm the girl who dragged little Oliver back to old Fagin's, the very same girl he never The night I came out of that house in Bentonville." "You?" said Ruth Maylie. "It's me, madam," answered the girl, "I'm that shameless bastard you've heard about, with thieves, and I haven't had a good day since I can remember the moment I stepped out into the streets of London." Days, I didn't hear a good word, I live as I want to live, what they say is what they say, God, please bless me. Miss, you just stay away from me, I don't care. My age Smaller than you can see it, I've given it up for a long time. I walk on crowded sidewalks, and even the poorest women back away."

"It's awful," said Ruth, involuntarily backing away from the strange visitor. "Kneel down and thank God, dear lady," cried the girl, "you have been cared for and cared for you since you were a child, and you have never suffered from cold or hunger, nor have you ever been drunk and rioted, and—and Worse things than this--these things I got used to in my cradle. I may use the word, and the alley and the gutter, being my cradle, shall be my coffin." "I sympathize with you." Ruth was speechless. "Your words broke my heart." "God bless your kindness," answered the girl, "if you knew what I do sometimes, you'd pity me, really. I've slipped out anyway, and if those people know I'm here, they'll overhear me." If I told you, I would kill me. Do you know a man named Meng Kesi?"

"I don't know," Ruth said. "He knows you," answered the girl, "and that you live here, and I found you only when I heard him mention it." "I've never heard that name," said Ruth. "It must have been told to him by our party," went on the girl, "and I thought of it before. A little while ago, just after the night when Oliver was brought into your house for the robbery, I— Suspect this man—I overheard a conversation between him and Fagin. From what I heard, I found out that Moncus—the man I asked you about, you know—" "Yes," said Ruth, "I understand."

"—Moncus," went on the girl, "saw Oliver with two of our boys by chance, on the day we first lost him, and he recognized him at once, and he It was the boy I was expecting, but I don't know how. He and Fagin made a deal, and Fagin would get a sum of money if he got Oliver back. He has been trained as a thief, and he can get more money in the future, that Meng Kesi has his own purpose and needs to do this." "What purpose?" Ruth asked. "I was eavesdropping, hoping to find out, but he saw my shadow on the wall," said the girl. "Except for me, there are not many people who can escape in time without being noticed by them. But I escaped." , I saw him again last night."

"What happened then?" "I'll tell you now, miss. He came again last night. They went upstairs as usual, and I wrapped myself up so that the shadows wouldn't give me away, and went to the door again to eavesdrop. I heard Moncus begin by saying: 'And so the few pieces of evidence that identified the boy fell to the bottom of the river, and the old hag who got it from his mother is rotting in a coffin Miles.' They laughed, and said he had done a fine job. Monks, on the subject of the boy, became very savage, and said he'd got that little devil's Mrs. Chin for now, but he'd rather Get the money in some other way. For, if he could be sent to every prison in London, and after Fagin had made a solid fortune on Oliver, it would be easy for him to commit crimes. To commit some kind of capital crime, to get hanged on the gallows, and to smash the mouth of his father's boast in his will, that would be exciting."

"What's going on here?" Ruth became more and more confused as she listened. "Quite true, madam, though from my diary," answered the girl, "--at that time, he kept on cursing, I sounded quite ordinary, you must not have heard, he said, on the one hand To take the boy's life, and on the other hand, he himself did not have to risk the gallows, so that he could get rid of his hatred. But since he couldn't, he had to keep an eye on every turning point in Oliver's life, as long as he took advantage of it. There is still a chance of dealing with him, given the boy's history and history.'Speak simply, Fagin,' said he; This kind of trap."'

"His brother!" cried Ruth. "That's what he said," said Nancy, looking around apprehensively, and from the moment she began to speak, Sikes' shadow had appeared and disappeared before her eyes, and she kept looking around. "Besides. He said of you and the other lady that it was God or the devil who set him against him, and that Oliver fell into your hands." He laughed, and said it was a little bit of fun. , in order to find out who your two-legged pug is, you are willing to pay thousands of pounds and tens of thousands of pounds, as long as you have it."

"Didn't you say," Ruth's face turned pale, "that's true?" "He can't be more serious than he says, gnashing his teeth and getting angry," replied the girl, shaking her head. "He never jokes when he's angry. I know plenty of people who do worse things, but I'd rather hear They talked about it ten times or eight times, and they didn’t want to listen to that Meng Kesi once. It’s getting late, and I have to go home, so that people don’t suspect that I have come out for this matter. I have to go back immediately.” "But what can I do?" said Ruth. "You're gone. How am I supposed to do anything about the news? Come back, come back, why go back there when you make such a horrible picture of your companions?" I can call the gentleman next door right away, and as long as you tell him the news again, you will be able to transfer to a safe place in half an hour." "Why go back?" said the girl, "I must go back, because—how can I tell such a thing to a pure lady like you?—there is one of the people I told you about, the most lawless of them all. One, I couldn't live without him—yes, I couldn't live without him, even if I could escape the life I'm leading now." "You have protected this dear child," said Ruth, "and I am sure that you have come here at such great risk to tell me what you have heard. Fact. Your remorse and shame are obvious, all of which make me believe that you can be a new man. Ah!" The enthusiastic Miss Ruth clasped her hands together, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm a woman too, don't turn a deaf ear to my pleas. I'm the first—I'm sure I'm the first to show you sympathy. Listen to me, let me save you, you can still Do something good." "Miss," cried the girl, falling on her knees, "dear and dear Miss Angel, you were the first to bless me with words which, if I had heard them years ago, might have been freed from my sins. And an unhappy life. But it's too late now—too late." "It's never too late to repent and atone," Ruth said. "It's too late," cried the girl, with anguish in her heart, "I can't leave him now. I don't want to send him to his death." "How could that be?" Ruth asked. "He can't be saved," cried the girl. "If I tell the others what I told you, and they all arrest him, he'll die. He's the most daring one, and he's so cruel." "For a man like that," cried Ruth, "how can you throw away all hope of the future, the chance of rescue right now? You're going crazy." "I don't know what it is," answered the girl, "I only know that it is the way it is, not only in me, but in the hundreds of wretches who are as depraved as I am. I must go back. I don't know Is this God punishing me for my sins, but I'm going to go back to him despite all the pain and abuse, and I believe I'm going to go back even though I know I'm going to die at his hands in the end." "What should I do?" said Ruth. "I shouldn't have let you leave me like this." "You should, miss, I know you will let me go," replied the girl, rising up, "you will not let me go, because I believe in your kindness, and I have not forced you to promise me, although I would have can do that." "Then, what's the use of you bringing this news?" Ruth said. "The secret must be investigated. You only want to rescue Oliver before you reveal it to me. How can I help him?" "You must have a good gentleman with you who will hear the matter and keep it a secret, and advise you what to do," answered the girl. "But where can I find you in case of need?" asked Ruth, "I don't want to know where those dreadful people live, but can you take a walk or somewhere at a fixed time from now on?" Did it go through?" "Will you promise me that you'll keep it a secret, that you'll come alone, or with the only one who knows about it, and that I won't be watched or followed or anything?" "I assure you solemnly." "Every Sunday evening, between eleven o'clock and twelve o'clock," said the girl without hesitation, "I shall walk on London Bridge, as long as I live." "Wait a minute," Ruth said hastily, as the girl hurried toward the door, "and think about your own situation. This is your chance to get out of it. You can ask me not just because You brought this news on your own initiative, and because you, as a woman, are almost at the end of your rope: when a word can save you, do you still want to go back to the robbers, to the man? What kind of magical power is this that can actually pull you back into the abyss of evil and suffering? Oh! Is there not a string in your heart that I can touch? Isn’t there a bit of conscience left for me to stir up? , break this terrible infatuation?" "Young, kind-hearted, and pretty lady like you," Nancy replied calmly, "once you give your heart to a man, love will take you to the ends of the earth—even with a man as rich as you." A home, friends, and other admirers, people who have what they want, are the same. I don't even have a roof except for the coffin lid. When I'm sick or dying, I only have a hospital by my side. A nurse without a friend, who can hope to save us when we hand over a rotting heart to any man who fills the place that has been vacant throughout our miserable lives? Poor, miss. —have mercy on us, you know, we are left with only this womanly feeling, and this feeling, which would have been a source of comfort and pride, has also become a new torment and pain through the inexorable providence of the world." "Will you," said Ruth after a pause, "take some money from me and you'll live right on—until we meet again anyway, will you?" "I will never accept a copper." Nancy replied, waving her hands again and again. "Please don't turn people away," Ruth said, walking forward sincerely, "I really want to do my best for you." "If you would end my life at once, madam," answered the girl, wringing her hands, "you would be doing me a very good service. To-night I think of what I have done more than ever, I have been living in hell, and it would be nice to die out of that hell. God bless you, dear lady, and may you have as much happiness as I have suffered." So talking, the unfortunate girl went away, sobbing loudly.This extraordinary meeting seemed less like a real event than a dream that came and went, and an overwhelmed Ruth Maille slumped in a chair, trying to make sense of her chaotic thoughts. Come up with an idea.