13 The end of the gang 
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¡¡¡¡The sun burst upon the crowded city in all its brightness£®It lit up every corner of London£¬the great houses of the rich£¬and the miserable homes of the poor£®Its hone everywhere£¬even into the room where the murdered woman lay£®The horror of that scene was even more dreadful in the clear morning light£® 
¡¡¡¡Sikes sat the re£¬unable to move£¬looking at the body£®He had thrown the blood-covered stick into the fire£¬the n washed himself and his clothe s£®He had cut out the bits of his clothes that were stained and burnt the m too£¬but the re were still bloodstains all over the floor£®Even the dog's feet were bloody£® 
¡¡¡¡Finally£¬he forced himself to leave the room£¬pulling the dog out with him and locking the door behind him£®He walked rapidly north£¬towards High gate£¬the n on to Hampstead£®On the open land of Hampstead Heath£¬away from people and houses£¬he found a place in a field where he could sleep with out being disturbed£® 
¡¡¡¡But before long he was up again and running£®This time heran back towards London for a while£®The n he turned and went north again£¬sometimes walking£¬sometimes running£¬with no clear purpose in his mind£®Eventually£¬he felt hungry£¬and changed direction towards Hendon£¬a quiet place away from the crowds£¬where he could buy food£®But even the children and chickens the re seemed to look at him with suspicion£®So he turned back towards Hampstead Heath again£¬without having eaten£¬uncertain where to go£® 
¡¡¡¡At last he turned north again£¬his dog still running at his heels£¬and set off to a village just outside London£®He stopped at a small£¬quiet pub and bought a meal£¬the n went on again£®It was now dark and as he continued walking£¬he felt as if Nancy were following him£¬her shadow on the road£¬her last low cry in the wind£®If he stopped£¬the ghostly figure did the same£®If he ran£¬it ran too£¬moving stiffly£¬like a corpse£®Sometimes he turned£¬determined to drive the ghost away£¬but his blood ran cold with terror£®Every time he turned£¬the ghost turned too£¬and was still behind him£® 
¡¡¡¡Finally£¬he found another field where he could hide£®He lay down£¬unable to sleep£¬his mind filled with visions of the dead girl£®Her wide£¬dead eyes stared at him£¬watching him through a curtain of blood£® 
¡¡¡¡Suddenly he heard shouting in the distance£®He jumped to his feet and saw that the sky seemed on fire£®Sheets of flame shot into the air£¬driving clouds of smoke in his direction£®He heard an alarm bell£¬and more shouts of 'Fire£¡'Running with his dog across the fields£¬he joined the crowds of men and women fighting the fire£®He could forget his own terror in this new danger£¬and he worked all night with the crowd£¬shouting£¬running and working togethe r to stop the flames destroying more buildings£® 
¡¡¡¡In the morning the mad excitement was over£¬and the dreadful memory of his crime returned-more terrifying than ever£®In desperation£¬he decided to go back to London£® 
¡¡¡¡'At least the re'll be somebody I can speak to£¬'he thought to himself£® 'And it's a better hiding-place than out here in the country£®I'll hide the re for a week£¬get some money out of Fagin£¬the n escape to France£®' 
¡¡¡¡Suddenly he remembered the dog-people would be looking for his dog as well as himself£®He decided to drown the animal£®But the dog smelt the man's fear£¬and turned and ran away from him faster than it had ever run in its life£® 'You have a choice£¬Mr Monks£¬'said Mr Brown low £® 'You have been kidnapped and brought here to my house£®You can either tell me what I want to know£¬or I'll have you arrested£¬instantly£¬for fraud and robbery£®It's your choice£®And you must decide now£®At once£®' 
¡¡¡¡Monks hesitated and looked at the old man£¬but Mr Brown low 's expression was so serious and determined that The younger man realized it was pointless to protest£® 'I didn't expect this treatment from my father's oldest friend£¬'said Monks angrily£¬sitting down with a frown on his face£® 
¡¡¡¡'Yes£¬I was your father's oldest friend£¬'said Mr Brown low £® 'And I know all about you-how your father£¬while still a boy£¬was forced by his family into an unhappy marriage with an older woman£¬and how you were the result of that marriage£®I also know that your parents separated£¬hating each other by the end£®' 
¡¡¡¡'Well-what's so important about that£¿' 
¡¡¡¡'When They'd been separated for ten years£¬'said Mr Brown low £¬ 'your father met another family£®The re were two daughters£¬one nineteen years old and the other only two or three£®Your father became engaged to the older daughter£®At this point one of his rich relations died and left him a lot of money in his will£®Your father had to travel to Italy to receive his inheritance£¬and while the re£¬he became ill and died£®Your mother£¬who was living with you in Paris£¬immediately rushed to Italy when she heard the news£®As your father had made no will of his own£¬all the relation's money came to you and her£®' 
¡¡¡¡Monks listened with close attention£¬biting his lip and staring at the floor£® 
¡¡¡¡'Before your father went to receive that money£¬he came to see me£¬'continued Mr Brown low slowly£¬his eyes fixed on Monks'face£® 
¡¡¡¡'I never heard that before£¬'said Monks£¬looking up suddenly£¬a suspicious expression on his face£® 
¡¡¡¡'He left me a picture of the poor girl he wanted to marry£®He talked wildly about shame and guilt£¬and how he would give part of the money he'd inherited to his wife and to you£¬and use the rest to escape from England with the girl he loved£®He refused to tell me any more details£®' 
¡¡¡¡Monks breathe d more easily£¬and even smiled£® 
¡¡¡¡'But£¬'said Mr Brown low £¬pulling his chair nearer to the other man£¬ 'by chance I was able to rescue your brother O liver from a life of misery and¡ª' 
¡¡¡¡'What£¡'cried Monks£® 
¡¡¡¡Mr Brown low continued without a pause£® 'And when he was recovering from his sickness here in my house£¬I noticed how similar he looked to the girl's face in the picture£®But he was taken away before I could discover his history-as you know very well£®' 
¡¡¡¡'You can't prove anything£¡'said Monks£® 
¡¡¡¡'I can£®I heard that you were in the West Indies£®I went the re to try and find you to see if you knew anything about O liver£¬but you'd already left£®I returned to London£¬and was unable to find you until two hours ago£®' 
¡¡¡¡'And now what£¿You can't prove that O liver's my brother£®'Monks smiled unpleasantly£® 
¡¡¡¡'I couldn't before£¬'said Mr Brown low £¬standing up£® 'But now I can£®The re was a will£¬but your mother destroyed it£®This will mentioned a child that would be born later£»this was O liver£¬the child you met later by accident£®You noticed his resemblance to your father and you became suspicious£®You the n went back to his birthplace£¬found proof of his birth and the fact that he's your half-brother£¬and destroyed that proof£®' 
¡¡¡¡Monks sat in silence£¬his eyes filled with fear£® 
¡¡¡¡'Yes£¬'continued Mr Brown low fiercely£¬ 'shadows on the wall have caught your whispers with Fagin£¬and brought the m to my ear£®For the sake of that innocent child£¬whom you wanted to destroy£®And now murder had been done£¬and you are as guilty of that as if you had struck the blow yourself£¡' 
¡¡¡¡'No£¬no£¬'said Monks quickly£® 'I knew nothing of that£®Nothing at all£®'He was silent for a while£¬realizing how much was known about him£®Hatred and fear fought inside him£¬but he was a coward at heart£®At last£¬seeing no escape£¬he raised his head£® 'I will admit everything-in front of witnesses£¬if necessary£®' 
¡¡¡¡Mr Brown low nodded coldly£® 'I will prepare a document for you to sign£®You must give O liver what is really his£¬and the n you can go where you please£®' 
¡¡¡¡At that moment Dr Losberne rushed into the room£® 'The murderer will be taken tonight£¡His dog's been found£®' 
¡¡¡¡'And Fagin£¿'asked Mr Brown low £® 
¡¡¡¡'They're sure of him£®They may have him already£®' 
¡¡¡¡Mr Brown low turned back to Monks£® 'Have you made up your mind£¿' 
¡¡¡¡'Yes£¬'replied Monks£® 'And you promise-it'll remain a secret£¿No police£¬or charges of fraud against me£¿' 
¡¡¡¡'Yes£¬'said Mr Brown low £® 'You have my promise£®For now£¬you must remain here£¬locked in this room£®I will come for you tomorrow evening and take you to sign a confession in front of witnesses£®' 
¡¡¡¡Mr Brown low the n left the room with the doctor£¬and They eagerly discussed the news of the hunt for the criminals£® 'My blood boils with anger£¬'said Mr Brown low £® 'This poor murdered girl must be revenged£®You stay here and guard Monks£®I'll go out and get the latest news£®' 
¡¡¡¡The two men parted£¬each in a fever of excitement£®Down by the river Thames was a district called Rotherhithe £¬one of the dirtiest and roughest places in London£®The houses next to the river had no owners£»They were broken down and ruined£¬but could be defended against attack£®In an upper room of one of the se houses£¬were three members of Fagin's gang£® 
¡¡¡¡'When was Fagin taken£¬the n£¿'asked the man called Toby£® 
¡¡¡¡'Two o'clock this afternoon£®Charley and I escaped up the chimney£¬but Noah was caught£®Bet went to see Nancy and when she saw the body£¬she started screaming and wouldn't stop£®She's been taken to hospital£®' 
¡¡¡¡'What's happened to Charley Bates£¿' 
¡¡¡¡'He'll come here when it's dark£®It's too dangerous now£®' 
¡¡¡¡'We're in trouble£¬'said Toby£® 'Fagin's going to hang-that's certain£®' 
¡¡¡¡'You should have seen him when he was caught£¬'said another robber£® 'The police carried him through the crowd while all the people jumped at him£¬screaming and trying to attack him£®' 
¡¡¡¡Suddenly Sikes' dog ran into the room£®All the robbers rushed out immediately to look for Sikes£¬but the re was no sign of him£®They returned to the upstairs room£® 
¡¡¡¡'I hope he's not coming here£¬'said Toby£® 
¡¡¡¡'The dog's come a long way£¬'said another man£® 'Covered in mud£¬and tired out£®' 
¡¡¡¡They sat the re in silence£¬wondering where Sikes was£®It was already dark when They heard a sudden£¬hurried knock at the door downstairs£® 
¡¡¡¡Toby went to the window to look down£¬the n pulled his head back in£¬his face pale with fear£®The re was no need to tell tlec others who it was£® 
¡¡¡¡'We must let him in£¬'said Toby£¬although none of the m wanted to see him£®Toby went down to the door and returned£¬followed by sikes£®White-faced£¬with a three-day-old beard£¬hollow cheeks and staring eyes£¬Sikes looked like a ghost£®No one said a word£® 
¡¡¡¡'Nothing to say to me£¿'Sikes asked£® 
¡¡¡¡The only answer was a low shout of many voices from outside in the distance£¬coming closer£®Lights appeared£®Looking out£¬Sikes saw a stream of people crossing the bridge towards the m£®The n the re was a loud knocking on the door and more shouts from the crowd£® 
¡¡¡¡'The doors are made of metal and They're locked and chained£¬'said Toby£®The three robbers watched Sikes nervously£¬as if he were a wild animal£® 
¡¡¡¡'Bring a ladder£¡'shouted some of the crowd below£® 
¡¡¡¡'Give me a rope£¬quick£¬'Sikes said to the others£® 'I'll go the other way£¬climb down the back and escape over the river£®Get me a rope-now£¡Or I'll do three more murders£¡' 
¡¡¡¡A minute later£¬Sikes appeared on the roof and the shouts from the crowd below swelled to a great roar£®The n the front door was smashed down and people streamed into the house£®Sikes quickly tied the rope around the chimney£¬the n began to tie the other end around himself£¬ready to lower himself to the ground behind the house£®But just as he put the rope over his head£¬he screamed in terror and threw his arms above his head£®He staggered back£¬slipped and fell over the edge of the roof£®As he fell£¬the rope tightened around his neck with a horrible jerk£®In a second the murderer was dead£¬and the re he hung£¬his body swinging gently from side to side£®The dog£¬which had followed its master onto the roof£¬jumped down towards the lifeless body£¬missed£¬and fell dead on the stones below£® 
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