Page:Oliver Twist (1838) vol. 1.djvu/338

312 the intricacies of the way. He hurried through several alleys and streets, and at length turned into one lighted only by a single lamp at the farther end. At the door of a house in this street he knocked, and having exchanged a few muttered words with the person who opened the door, walked up stairs. A dog growled as he touched the handle of a door, and a man's voice demanded who was there. "Only me, Bill; only me, my dear," said the Jew, looking in. "Bring in your body," said Sikes. "Lie down, you stupid brute. Don't you know the devil when he's got a great-coat on?"

Apparently the dog had been somewhat deceived by Mr. Fagin's outer garment; for as the Jew unbuttoned it, and threw it over the back of a chair, he retired to the corner from which he had risen, wagging his tail as he went, to show that he was as well satisfied as it was in his nature to be.