head."No wedding ring，I see.Ah! Good night."

　　And so Oliver was left with only the drunken nurse.Without clothes，under his first blanket，he could have been the child of a king or a beggar.But when the woman dressed him later in rough cotton clothes，yellow with age，he looked exactly what he was-an orphan in a workhouse，ready for a life of misery，hunger，and neglect.

　　Oliver cried loudly.If he could have known that he was a workhouse orphan，perhaps he would have cried even more loudly.

　　There was no one to look after the baby in the workhouse，so Oliver was sent to a special "baby farm" nearby.There，he and thirty other children rolled around the floor all day，without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing.Mrs Mann，the old woman who "looked after" them，was very experienced.She knew what was good for children，and a full stomach was very dangerous to their health.She also knew what was good for herself，so she kept for her own use the money that she was given for the children's food.The board responsible for the orphans sometimes checked on the health of the children，but they always sent the beadle，a kind of local policeman，to announce their visit the day before.So whenever the board arrived，of course，the children were always neat and clean.

　　This was the way Oliver was brought up.Consequently，at the age of nine he was a pale，thin child and short for his age.But despite frequent beatings by Mrs Mann，his spirit was strong，which was probably the reason why he managed to reach the age of nine at all.

　　On Oliver's ninth birthday，Mr Bumble the beadle came to the house to see Mrs Mann.Through the front window Mrs Mann saw him at the gate，and turned quickly to the girl who worked with her.

　　"Quick! Take Oliver and those others upstairs to be washed！" she said.Then she ran out to unlock the gate.(It was always kept locked to prevent official visitors walking in unexpectedly.)

　　"I have business to talk about，" Mr Bumble told Mrs Mann as he entered the house.He was a big fat man，often bad­tempered，and was full of self­importance.He did not like to be kept waiting at a locked gate.

Mrs Mann took his hat and coat，placed a chair for him，and expressed great