night, heard, and of ascertaining, with his own eyes, that Sikes

had not returned, Mr. Fagin again turned his face homeward:

leaving his young friend asleep, with her head upon the table.

It was within an hour of midnight. The weather being dark, and

piercing cold, he had no great temptation to loiter. The sharp

wind that scoured the streets, seemed to have cleared them of

passengers, as of dust and mud, for few people were abroad, and

they were to all appearance hastening fast home. It blew from the