Chapter 43（1 / 2）

天才一秒记住【阅读阁】地址：yueduge.cc

WHEREINISSHOWNHOWTHEARTFULDODGERGOTINTOTROUBLE

‘Andsoitwasyouthatwasyourownfriend，wasit？’askedMr。Claypole，otherwiseBolter，when，byvirtueofthecompactenteredintobetweenthem，hehadremovednextdaytoFagin'shouse。‘Cod，Ithoughtasmuchlastnight！’

‘Everyman'shisownfriend，mydear，’repliedFagin，withhismostinsinuatinggrin。‘Hehasn'tasgoodaoneashimselfanywhere。’

‘Exceptsometimes，’repliedMorrisBolter，assumingtheairofamanoftheworld。‘Somepeoplearenobody'senemiesbuttheirown，yerknow。’

‘Don'tbelievethat，’saidFagin。‘Whenaman'shisownenemy，it'sonlybecausehe'stoomuchhisownfriend；notbecausehe'scarefulforeverybodybuthimself。Pooh！pooh！Thereain'tsuchathinginnature。’

‘Thereoughn'ttobe，ifthereis，’repliedMr。Bolter。

‘Thatstandstoreason。Someconjurerssaythatnumberthreeisthemagicnumber，andsomesaynumberseven。It'sneither，myfriend，neither。It'snumberone。

‘Ha！ha！’criedMr。Bolter。‘Numberoneforever。’

‘Inalittlecommunitylikeours，mydear，’saidFagin，whofeltitnecessarytoqualifythisposition，‘wehaveageneralnumberone，withoutconsideringmetooasthesame，andalltheotheryoungpeople。’

‘Oh，thedevil！’exclaimedMr。Bolter。

‘Yousee，’pursuedFagin，affectingtodisregardthisinterruption，‘wearesomixeduptogether，andidentifiedinourinterests，thatitmustbeso。Forinstance，it'syourobjecttotakecareofnumberone--meaningyourself。’

‘Certainly，’repliedMr。Bolter。‘Yeraboutrightthere。’

‘Well！Youcan'ttakecareofyourself，numberone，withouttakingcareofme，numberone。’

‘Numbertwo，youmean，’saidMr。Bolter，whowaslargelyendowedwiththequalityofselfishness。

‘No，Idon't！’retortedFagin。‘I'mofthesameimportancetoyou，asyouaretoyourself。’

‘Isay，’interruptedMr。Bolter，‘yeraveryniceman，andI'mveryfondofyer；butweain'tquitesothicktogether，asallthatcomesto。’

‘Onlythink，’saidFagin，shrugginghisshoulders，andstretchingouthishands；‘onlyconsider。You'vedonewhat'saveryprettything，andwhatIloveyoufordoing；butwhatatthesametimewouldputthecravatroundyourthroat，that'ssoveryeasilytiedandsoverydifficulttounloose--inplainEnglish，thehalter！’

Mr。Bolterputhishandtohisneckerchief，asifhefeltitinconvenientlytight；andmurmuredanassent，qualifiedintonebutnotinsubstance。

‘Thegallows，’continuedFagin，‘thegallows，mydear，isanuglyfinger-post，whichpointsoutaveryshortandsharpturningthathasstoppedmanyaboldfellow'scareeronthebroadhighway。Tokeepintheeasyroad，andkeepitatadistance，isobjectnumberonewithyou。’

‘Ofcourseitis，’repliedMr。Bolter。‘Whatdoyertalkaboutsuchthingsfor？’

‘Onlytoshowyoumymeaningclearly，’saidtheJew，raisinghiseyebrows。‘Tobeabletodothat，youdependuponme。Tokeepmylittlebusinessallsnug，Idependuponyou。Thefirstisyournumberone，thesecondmynumberone。Themoreyouvalueyournumberone，themorecarefulyoumustbeofmine；sowecomeatlasttowhatItoldyouatfirst--thataregardfornumberoneholdsusalltogether，andmustdoso，unlesswewouldallgotopiecesincompany。’

‘That'strue，’rejoinedMr。Bolter，thoughtfully。‘Oh！yeracunningoldcodger！’

Mr。Faginsaw，withdelight，thatthistributetohispowerswasnomerecompliment，butthathehadreallyimpressedhisrecruitwithasenseofhiswilygenius，whichitwasmostimportantthatheshouldentertainintheoutsetoftheiracquaintance。Tostrengthenanimpressionsodesirableanduseful，hefolloweduptheblowbyacquaintinghim，insomedetail，withthemagnitudeandextentofhisoperations；blendingtruthandfictiontogether，asbestservedhispurpose；andbringingbothtobear，withsomuchart，thatMr。Bolter'srespectvisiblyincreased，andbecametempered，atthesametime，withadegreeofwholesomefear，whichitwashighlydesirabletoawaken。

‘It'sthismutualtrustwehaveineachotherthatconsolesmeunderheavylosses，’saidFagin。‘Mybesthandwastakenfromme，yesterdaymorning。’

‘Youdon'tmeantosayhedied？’criedMr。Bolter。