In the evening , the boys sat down at the tables. The master stood by the pot , and the soup was served. It disappeared quickly. The boy whispered and made signs to Oliver. He stood up from the table and went to the master , with his bowl and spoon in his hands.
“ Please , sir , ” he said , “ I want some more.”
The master was a fat , healthy man , but he went very pale . He looked with surprise at the small boy.
“ What? ” said the master at last in a quiet voice.
“ Please , sir , ” repeated Oliver , “ I went some more. “
The master hit Oliver with his spoon , then seized him and cried for help. Mr Bumble rushed into the room , and the master told him what Oliver had said .
“ He asked for more? ” Mr Bumble cried. “ I cannot belive it. One day they will hang the boy. ”
He took Oliver away and shut him in a dark room. The next morning a notice appeared on the workhouse gate. Five pounds were offered to anybody who would take Oliver Twist.
Oliver was a prisoner in that cold , dark room for a whole week. Every morning he was take outside to wash , and Mr Bumble beat him with a stick. Then he was taken into the large hall where the boys had their soup. Mr Bumble beat him in front of everybody. He spent every day crying. When night came he tried to sleep , but he was cold , lonely and frightened.
One day, outside the high workhouse gate , Mr Bumble met Mr Sowerberry. Mr Sowerberry was a tall , thin man who wore black clothes and made coffins. Many of his coffins were for the poor people who died in the workhouse.
“ I have prepared the coffins for the two woman who died last night,” he said to Mr Bumble.
“ Good,” said Mr Bumble. “ You will be rich one day , Mr Sowerrberry! Do you know anybody who wants a boy? And five pounds?” He raised his stick and pointed to the notice on the gate.
The arrangements were soon made , and Mr Bumble took Oliver to Mr Sowerberry’s shop that evening. Oliver did not want to go.
“ I will be good , sir!” he said. “ I am a very little boy and it is so-so-lonely! Please don’t be angry with me , sir!” Mr Bumble’s surprise , Oliver had tears in his eyes. He told the boy not to complain,to dry his eyes and to be good. He took Oliver’s hand , and they continued walking in silence.
Mr Sowerberry had closed the shop , and he was writing by the light of a candle when they arrived.
“ Here, Mr Sowerberry ,I have brought the boy,”said Mr Bumble. Oliver bowed.
“ Oh,that is the boy , is it ?” said Mr Sowerberry.
“ Mrs. Sowerberry , come here,my dear.” A short thin woman with a narrow face came out from a little room behind the shop. “My dear,” said Mr Sowerberry, “ this is the boy from the workhouse that I told you about.”
Oliver bowed again.
“ Oh!” said the woman . “He is very small.”
“ Yes,he is rather small!” said Mr Bumble. “ But he will grow, Mrs Sowerberry , he will grow.”
“ Yes, I expect he will,” said the lady angrily , “ on our food and our drink. Here, get downstairs, you little bag of bones. You can have some of the cold meat that we saved for the dog. The dog hasn’t come home since this morning.”
Mrs Sowerberry opened a door and pushed Oliver down some stairs into a dark room.
Oliver’s eyes shone at the thought of meat. They gave him a plate of the dog’s food, and he ate very quickly. Mrs Sowerberry was not pleased that he was so enthusiastic.
“ Come with me,” she said, taking a dirty lamp and leading him upstairs again. “ Your bed is in the shop.”
Oliver was left alone in the shop . He was alone in a strange place. He climbed quickly into his narrow bed and fell asleep.