Oliver is hurried to a nearby police office and locked up in a filthy cell. He is taken into custody by a policeman and hustled off, accompanied by his supposed victim, who seems kindly disposed toward the prisoner. The hue and cry spreads rapidly, and a crowd chases the hapless object of it.Īs his strength fails, Oliver is brought down by a blow from one of the pursuing mob. The old gentleman shouts, "Stop thief!" The Dodger and Bates unscrupulously repeat the alarm and run after Oliver. Just as he misses his handkerchief, the gentleman at the bookstall sees Oliver fleeing and concludes that the boy is the thief. Frightened and bewildered, he too begins running. In a flash of revelation, Oliver understands all he has witnessed since arriving in London. The Dodger steals the man's handkerchief, hands it to Bates, and the pair run off. At first he is puzzled by their erratic behavior, but at the sight of a gentleman absorbed in reading in front of a book stall, they swiftly go into concerted action. Oliver chafes under restriction and is granted permission to go out with the Dodger and Bates. The naive Oliver interprets these actions of Fagin as motivated by a worthy respect for diligence. When the other boys return empty-handed, they may be denied supper or rewarded with blows. Oliver remains in Fagin's room for many days, picking the marks out of handkerchiefs and sometimes entering into the curious game of extracting objects from the old man's pockets.
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