Oliver started round the dirty room. There was a rope tied across one corner of the room. Many brightly-coloured silk handkerchiefs were hanging over the rope.

Fagin smiled again.

"My handkerchiefs are pretty, aren't they, Oliver?", he said. "And they're all waiting to be washed!"

To Oliver's surprise, all the boys laughed.

• Extra grammar and vocabulary exercises
• Notes about the life of Charles Dickens
• Points for Understanding comprehension questions
• Glossary of difficult vocabulary
• Free resources including worksheets, test and author datasheets at www.macmillanenglish.com/readers