The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-04-02
HALF HOUR PORTRAITS OF
DICKENS GREATEST CHARACTERS
;IA-BM Skies; Dickens Most Startling Character
" By w. Muller --

for humor. hat he would cut Mr..
Fagin's throat each knew so we'll
that the other could hang him, that
they remain linked together, despite
hearty mutual dislike and mistrust.
Owing to the pernicious activity of
the police. Mr.. Fagin was forced TO
maintain more than one refuge for
his male and female p~roteges. These
refugees were all alike-hidden away
at the ends Of inaccessible alleys,
dirty with the Crime Of years that
never a hand tried to remove fur
nished with ragged beds laid out on
the foul floors, with a few tOttering
chairs and a greasy table, and illu-
minated day and night by tallOW can
dies stuck into bottles and other
makeshifts for candlesticks. In these,
like Vermin burrowing underground,
Mr.. Fagin's p~ickpockets and petty
robbers met and, a. rare intervals,
had the honor of entertaining the
greater lights, such as Bill Skies or
Toby Crackit. when these prominent
professionals c~ondescended to drink
with the small fry and curse at it.
In one Of these visits Of state, Mr..
Skies met a girl who had the fortune
to gain his approval. She was good
looking still although her face was
hard and reckless, and dissipation n
- A~A AAA y NAN1 -
age. Her name was Nancy. She was
one of those whom Fagin had picked
up in childhood and trained to theft.
ASsociating from youth with only
lost creatures, having experience Of
more than one jail; accustomed to see
her ac~OuaintanceS and comrades end
in prison cells or on the gallOws, she
still had in her some distorted vestige
Of a woman's heart. It was strange
that if Chn111H ho thoro Of oil T r u-oC
not strange that it should manifest
itself in a poor and distorted way.
She became Mr.. Skies slave, more de-
voted to him than his dog. and he, in
return. liked her fully is we'll as he
did BulPs-eye and did not. on the
whole. beat her much oftener.
What was it hat made this strange
thing grow even in that degraded life
Ask what makes love spring up in
the very pit-for this was love,
wretched. distorted. evil, as it could
not help but be. growing in such a
wretched and evil soil-yet it was
love! We know only that it is so,
and so with thousands of women as
had and wretched as she was. some
thing that holds them through every
suffering and i'll USAGE!
Though there was no feeling re-
mOte1y resembling this passion in
that anatomical part Of Mr.. Skies
known as his heart, his feeling fOl
Nancy might be called almost exalted
in one respect at least. He trustee
her: and as he never lac trusted any
human being before, it was evident
that there was something like high
emotion in his breast. Indeed. hel
trustworthiness became his boast, an6
over quart pots Of liquor he sang hel
praises in magnificent oaths.
One day Mr.. Fagin in pursuit Of hi:
educational life-work. picked up
young boy who said that his naIne
was oliver Twist. Oliver had rur
away from the ~poorhouse authorize
Of a nearby village to escape thei1
charity which was so scientific that i
proved t~riumphantly how nearly
human being could be starved t
death without quite perishing.
Oliver knew nothing Of his parent
: age except hat his mother had beel
picked up dying on the roadside, ant
{ hat he lac been born in the poor
house, to which they carried her
3 When Fagin found him. and tool
, him to his den, he did SO merely be
t cause he thought that the waits in
nocent face would make him an ex
l cellent asset as a pocketbook. Befor'
long. however. he earned that Olive
= was a better asset IMAM ina
A man who had possession OF
s small fortune to which the boy wa
heir had started secret inquiries. hop
. ing to assure himself that Oliver wa
dead and that his possession coul'
not be disputed. The search led hin
e at last to Fagin; and that kindly OIL
n gentleman, always age to do beneV
client deeds. agreed 20 keep the la
in his hands and make thief OF hin
s Mr.. Fagin did not tell the visitor tina
8 he would have made a thief of Olive
+ nyway He pocketed the excellen
a bride that was offered and huge
e himself at the gleeful thought Of tn
s many other sums that he would ex
O tort as hush money in future.
e AS a first step toward carrying GU
his plans. Fagin decided to lend OH
Yer to Mr.. Skies. who had a house
breaking job in mind which demand
ed the services of a small boy [