"Yes, I see it is, sir," replied Oliver, trembling.
"Well," said the robber, grasping Oliver's wrist tightly, and putting the barrel so close to his temple that they touched, at which moment the boy could not repress a shriek; "if you speak a word when you're out o 'doors with me, except when I speak to you, that loading will be in your head without notice—so, if you do make up your mind to speak without leave, say your prayers first."
Having bestowed a scowl upon the object of this warning, to increase its effect, Mr. Sikes continued,
"As near as I know, there isn't any body as would be asking very partickler arter you, if you was disposed of; so I needn't take this devil-and-all of trouble to explain matters to you if it warn't for your own good. D'ye hear me?"
"The short and the long of what you mean," said Nancy, speaking very emphatically, and slightly frowning at Oliver as if to bespeak his serious attention to her words, "is, that if
