登陆注册
5199200000034

第34章

The darkness and the deep stillness of the room were very solemn;as they brought into the boy's mind the thought that death had been hovering there, for many days and nights, and might yet fill it with the gloom and dread of his awful presence, he turned his face upon the pillow, and fervently prayed to Heaven.

Gradually, he fell into that deep tranquil sleep which ease from recent suffering alone imparts; that calm and peaceful rest which it is pain to wake from. Who, if this were death, would be roused again to all the struggles and turmoils of life; to all its cares for the present; its anxieties for the future; more than all, its weary recollections of the past!

It had been bright day, for hours, when Oliver opened his eyes;he felt cheerful and happy. The crisis of the disease was safely past. He belonged to the world again.

In three days' time he was able to sit in an easy-chair, well propped up with pillows; and, as he was still too weak to walk, Mrs. Bedwin had him carried downstairs into the little housekeeper's room, which belonged to her. Having him set, here, by the fire-side, the good old lady sat herself down too; and, being in a state of considerable delight at seeing him so much better, forthwith began to cry most violently.

'Never mind me, my dear,' said the old lady; 'I'm only having a regular good cry. There; it's all over now; and I'm quite comfortable.'

'You're very, very kind to me, ma'am,' said Oliver.

'Well, never you mind that, my dear,' said the old lady; 'that's got nothing to do with your broth; and it's full time you had it;for the doctor says Mr. Brownlow may come in to see you this morning; and we must get up our best looks, because the better we look, the more he'll be pleased.' And with this, the old lady applied herself to warming up, in a little saucepan, a basin full of broth: strong enough, Oliver thought, to furnish an ample dinner, when reduced to the regulation strength, for three hundred and fifty paupers, at the lowest computation.

'Are you fond of pictures, dear?' inquired the old lady, seeing that Oliver had fixed his eyes, most intently, on a portrait which hung against the wall; just opposite his chair.

'I don't quite know, ma'am,' said Oliver, without taking his eyes from the canvas; 'I have seen so few that I hardly know. What a beautiful, mild face that lady's is!'

'Ah!' said the old lady, 'painters always make ladies out prettier than they are, or they wouldn't get any custom, child.

The man that invented the machine for taking likenesses might have known that would never succeed; it's a deal too honest. Adeal,' said the old lady, laughing very heartily at her own acuteness.

'Is--is that a likeness, ma'am?' said Oliver.

'Yes,' said the old lady, looking up for a moment from the broth;'that's a portrait.'

'Whose, ma'am?' asked Oliver.

'Why, really, my dear, I don't know,' answered the old lady in a good-humoured manner. 'It's not a likeness of anybody that you or I know, I expect. It seems to strike your fancy, dear.'

'It is so pretty,' replied Oliver.

'Why, sure you're not afraid of it?' said the old lady: observing in great surprise, the look of awe with which the child regarded the painting.

'Oh no, no,' returned Oliver quickly; 'but the eyes look so sorrowful; and where I sit, they seem fixed upon me. It makes my heart beat,' added Oliver in a low voice, 'as if it was alive, and wanted to speak to me, but couldn't.'

'Lord save us!' exclaimed the old lady, starting; 'don't talk in that way, child. You're weak and nervous after your illness.

Let me wheel your chair round to the other side; and then you won't see it. There!' said the old lady, suiting the action to the word; 'you don't see it now, at all events.'

Oliver DID see it in his mind's eye as distinctly as if he had not altered his position; but he thought it better not to worry the kind old lady; so he smiled gently when she looked at him;and Mrs. Bedwin, satisfied that he felt more comfortable, salted and broke bits of toasted bread into the broth, with all the bustle befitting so solemn a preparation. Oliver got through it with extraordinary expedition. He had scarcely swallowed the last spoonful, when there came a soft rap at the door. 'Come in,' said the old lady; and in walked Mr. Brownlow.

Now, the old gentleman came in as brisk as need be; but, he had no sooner raised his spectacles on his forehead, and thrust his hands behind the skirts of his dressing-gown to take a good long look at Oliver, than his countenance underwent a very great variety of odd contortions. Oliver looked very worn and shadowy from sickness, and made an ineffectual attempt to stand up, out of respect to his benefactor, which terminated in his sinking back into the chair again; and the fact is, if the truth must be told, that Mr. Brownlow's heart, being large enough for any six ordinary old gentlemen of humane disposition, forced a supply of tears into his eyes, by some hydraulic process which we are not sufficiently philosophical to be in a condition to explain.

'Poor boy, poor boy!' said Mr. Brownlow, clearing his throat.

'I'm rather hoarse this morning, Mrs. Bedwin. I'm afraid I have caught cold.'

'I hope not, sir,' said Mrs. Bedwin. 'Everything you have had, has been well aired, sir.'

'I don't know, Bedwin. I don't know,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'Irather think I had a damp napkin at dinner-time yesterday; but never mind that. How do you feel, my dear?'

'Very happy, sir,' replied Oliver. 'And very grateful indeed, sir, for your goodness to me.'

'Good by,' said Mr. Brownlow, stoutly. 'Have you given him any nourishment, Bedwin? Any slops, eh?'

'He has just had a basin of beautiful strong broth, sir,' replied Mrs. Bedwin: drawing herself up slightly, and laying strong emphasis on the last word: to intimate that between slops, and broth will compounded, there existed no affinity or connection whatsoever.

'Ugh!' said Mr. Brownlow, with a slight shudder; 'a couple of glasses of port wine would have done him a great deal more good.

Wouldn't they, Tom White, eh?'

同类推荐
  • 警世通言

    警世通言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 战略

    战略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 香岩洗心水禅师语录

    香岩洗心水禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 续补明纪编年

    续补明纪编年

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 优古堂诗话

    优古堂诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 编剧是个活儿

    编剧是个活儿

    许冉冉从小就梦想着成为一名编剧,但是在她还未开始时,她便喜欢上了公子翰,于是好好创作,想要为他一人写剧本……本文苏,很多无厘头的东西大家就不要介意了……
  • 隐婚老公①老婆快到碗里来

    隐婚老公①老婆快到碗里来

    推荐新文:http://wkkk.net/a/1174850/惹了他,还敢甩了他!他发誓,就算掘地三尺也要她挖出来!这全是意外好伐!苏小萌发誓,她真不是故意招惹这位帝都大少!东躲西藏,她却与他狭路相逢!“认识?”他挑眉问。“不认识!”她压低了帽檐。他二话不说,直接将她打包回家,“结婚协议上写明,欺骗老公一次,回家体罚俯卧撑一百!”“不公平,你也骗了我!”她红着脸反驳。“那好,你体罚我仰卧起坐三百!”“你还是让我去死吧……”她以为嫁的是君子,结果是痞子,夜夜高唱饿狼传说!
  • 我们爱说话1:祝酒词、应酬话、场面话

    我们爱说话1:祝酒词、应酬话、场面话

    说话人人都会,但不见得人人会说话。一句话说得好,可以让人高兴;一句话说得不好,可以让人生气。当我们走上社会后,在职场、商场乃至生活中的每一次说话,都有可能对自己以后的人生产生影响。聚会上一段慷慨激昂的祝酒词,婚礼上一段妙趣横生的应酬话,欢送时一段得体到位的场面话,都能使你的才华得到充分的展示,同时让你的形象熠熠生辉,让你得到别人的尊重和爱戴。翻开本书,从多角度、多方面了解各种场合下的祝酒词、应酬话、场面话,全方位了解中国式说话艺术,助你发掘自身语言财富,提高说话技巧,成为人群中的焦点。
  • Count Belisarius

    Count Belisarius

    Threatened by invaders on all sides, the Roman Empire in the sixth century fought to maintain its borders. Leading its defense was the Byzantine general Belisarius, a man who earned the grudging respect of his enemies, and who rose to become the Emperor Justinian's greatest military leader.Loosely based on Procopius' History of the Justinian Wars and Secret History, this novel tells the general's story through the eyes of Eugenius, a eunuch and servant to the general's wife. It presents a compelling portrait of a man bound by a strict code of honor and unrelenting loyalty to an emperor who is intelligent but flawed, and whose decisions bring him to a tragic end. Eminent historical novelist and classicist Robert Graves presents a vivid account of a time in history both dissolute and violent, and demonstrates one again his mastery of this historical period.
  • 毛坯夫妻

    毛坯夫妻

    雷烈看着熟睡的温小暖,觉得她越长越像猫,五官集中,表情散漫而诡秘,是因为和猫待在一起时间太长了吗?他亲了亲小暖的脸颊,她发出含混的两声哼哼,翻了个身。温小暖一只脚露在了被子外,红色的指甲油已经有些脱落,让人难判断这女人是爱美的还是邋遢的。雷烈把小暖的脚塞进被子,经过四只熟睡的猫,越过满地杂物,上班去了。每天都是这样,不到七点,雷烈起床上班,而刚刚躺下三四个小时的温小暖正处在昏天黑地的黄金睡眠阶段。雷烈要倒两班公共汽车上班,大概三十公里路,一个多小时的车程可以到达公司,公车是走高速的。
  • 这都不叫事儿

    这都不叫事儿

    这本半回忆半玩笑的新书主要以延参法师与弟子的对话写成,它选择了一个“卖萌”的方式展开,从最爆笑的对话,到不留情面的自黑和神补刀,口头禅、流行的人和事,到寻常的喜怒哀乐惧,大到时间、生命、轮回,都被化解为一些令人忍俊不禁的段子,和文艺有爱的小哲理,传播着阳光、积极的人生态度,也许,这才是他真正的本意。
  • 影响你一生的100个财富故事

    影响你一生的100个财富故事

    本书精选数十个关于财富的故事,它们蕴藏着许多哲理和智慧。通过阅读这些故事,读者可以轻松领悟财富的真谛,学习获取财富的方法,把握好人生的财富。
  • 我和谁都五五开

    我和谁都五五开

    穿越异世界,却得到一个“五五开系统”,这谁遭得住啊!战一条狗,两败俱伤!战一位手无寸铁的老伯伯,两败俱伤!战一位有点修为的修炼者,两败俱伤!战一方天帝,两败俱伤!战异界魔君,两败俱伤!……诶嘿,我好像有点牛批啊~还有,我再申明一遍,我高守,真踏马的没开挂!
  • 后宫梅妃传

    后宫梅妃传

    我带着家族的使命入宫,和其他人不一样,我不爱皇帝,我也不再奢望爱情,我想要的,只有一个——坐到后宫女人梦寐以求的位置,仅此而已。
  • 女性健康与保养

    女性健康与保养

    本书用深入浅出、简明扼要的方法对女性健康与保养知识进行了全面系统的阐述,具有很强的科学性和实用性,可供广大女性朋友参考和应用。