although the former is bald, and the last-named boy quite grey.
They sleep at the parsonage, but divide their attentions so equally
among its inmates, and Oliver, and Mr. Brownlow, and Mr.
Losberne, that to this day the villagers have never been able to
discover to which establishment they properly belong.
Master Charles Bates, appalled by Sikes’s crime, fell into a train
of reflection whether an honest life was not, after all, the best.
Arriving at the conclusion that it certainly was, he turned his back
upon the scenes of the past, resolved to amend it in some new
sphere of action. He struggled hard, and suffered much, for some
time; but, having a contented disposition, and a good purpose,
succeeded in the end; and, from being a farmer’s drudge, and a
carrier’s lad, he is now the merriest young grazier in all
Northamptonshire.
And now, the hand that traces these words, falters, as it
approaches the conclusion of its task; and would weave, for a little
longer space, the threads of these adventures.
I would fain linger yet with a few of those among whom I have
so long moved, and share their happiness by endeavouring to
depict it. I would show Rose Maylie in all the bloom and grace of
early womanhood, shedding on her secluded path in life soft and
gentle light, that fell on all who trod it with her, and shone into