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ground，but only after watching the fight through the window． She stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the day，and Joe and Orlick shared a glass of beer peacefully together in the forge．
That afternoon when I arrived at Miss Havisham's house，it wasn't Estella who opened the gate，but a cousin of the old lady's．Miss Havisham looked just the same as before．
‘Well？’she said，‘I hope you don't expect me to give you anything．’ ‘No，indeed，Miss Havisham．I only want you to know that I'm very grateful to you for helping me become Joe's apprentice。 ‘Good．Come and see me again，on your birthday．Ah！’she cried suddenly，‘you're looking for Estella，aren't you？Answer！’ ‘Ye…yes，’I admitted．‘I hope Miss Estella is well？’ ‘ She's abroad； receiving a lady's education．She's more beautiful than ever，and admired by all who see her 。Do you feel you've lost her？' She gave such an unpleasant laugh with these last words that I didn't know what to say，and as I left the house I felt even more miserable．
On my way through town I met Mr Wopsle，and together we started the long walk home to the village． It was a dark，wet，misty night，and we could only just see someone ahead of us．
‘Hello！’we called。‘Is that Orlick？’
‘Yes！’he answered．‘I'll walk home with you．Been in town all afternoon，I have．Did you hear the big gun firing，from the prison…ships？Must be some prisoners who' ve escaped．'That made me think of my convict．We didn't talk any more，but walked along in silence．We heard the gun firing several times。
It was late by the time we got to the village，and we were surprised to see lights on at the pub，and people running in and out 。 Mr Wopsle went in to discover what was happening，and after a few minutes rushed out，calling，‘Something wrong up at the forge，Pip！Run！They say perhaps it was an escaped convict who got into the house while Joe was out．Someone's been attacked！’
We didn't stop running until we reached the forge．In Mrs Joe's kitchen there was a doctor，and Joe，and a group of Women 。 And on the floor in the middle of them all was my sister，lying unconscious．She would never scold us again．
Joe had been at the pub that evening，and when he arrived home just before ten，he found her on the floor．Nothing had been stolen 。She had been hit violently on the back of the head with a heavy weapon．On the floor beside her was a convict's iron chain．It did not belong to the prisoners who had escaped that day．
The police spent the next week investigating the attack，but did not arrest anybody。 I felt sure the iron chain belonged to my convict，but I did not think he had attacked my sister。 The attacker could have been either Orlick，or the stranger who had shown me the file 。 But several witnesses had seen Or－lick in town all evening．My only reason for suspecting him was his quarrel with my sister，but she had quarrelled with everyone in the village ten thousand times．And if the stranger had come to ask for his two pounds back，my sister would gladly have given it to him．So I could not imagine who her attacker was．
She lay ill in bed for a long time．She could not speak or understand much，and her character was greatly changed．She had become quiet，patient，and grateful for all our care．She used to write a word or draw a picture when she wanted some－thing，and we tried to discover what she meant．She needed someone to take care of her all the time，and luckily old Mrs Wopsle had just died，so Biddy came to live with us。 She understood my sister perfectly and looked after us all very well。
One day my sister drew a T，and seemed to want it very much．I brought her toast，and tea，but Biddy knew immediately。
‘It's not a T，it's Orlick's hammer！’she cried．‘She's forgotten his name but she wants to see Orlick！’
I must say l expected to see my sister accuse Orlick of at－tacking her，but instead she seemed very pleased to see him。 She often used to ask for him after that，and nobody knew why。
One Sunday I asked Biddy to come for a walk on the marshes．
‘Biddy，’I said seriously，‘promise to keep this a secret．I'm going to tell you something．I want to be a gentleman。'
‘Don't you think you're happier as you are？’she replied．
I had often wondered this myself，but I didn't want to hear it from her。 ‘It's a pity，I know，’I said．‘It would have been much better if I could have been happy working at the forge．Perhaps you and I would have spent more time together．I would have been good enough for you，wouldn't I，Biddy？’
‘Oh yes，’she said sadly．‘But I don't ask for very much．'
‘The point is，'I continued crossly，‘if nobody had told me I was coarse and common，I wouldn't have thought abut it！’
Biddy looked at me，interested．‘That wasn't a true or polite thing to say。 Who said it？’
‘It was the beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham's，and I admire her greatly，and I want to be a gentleman for her！'The words rushed out before I could stop them．
Biddy said gently，‘She may not be worth the trouble，Pip。’
‘That may be true，but I can't stop myself admiring her。'
Biddy was the most sensible of girls，and did not try to persuade me any more．As we walked home，I felt rested and comforted．
‘Pip，what a fool you are！'I said to myself．I realized how much happier I would always be with Biddy than with Estella．
‘Biddy，I wish I could make myself fall in love with you！’I said suddenly．‘You don't mind my speaking so openly，as you're such an old friend？’
‘No，of course not．But you never will fall in love with me，you see，'she answered，a little sadly 。
I wondered if I should continue working with Joe in a plain，honest way of life，and perhaps marry Biddy。 Or dare I hope that Miss Havisham would make my fortune and marry me to Estella？
6 Great expectations
One Saturday evening，when I had been apprenticed to Joe for four years，he and I were sitting in the pub，with some of the villagers； listening to Mr Wopsle．He was giving a dramatic reading of a newspaper report of a murder trial； and we all enjoyed watching him act the main characters。 His witnesses were old and feeble，his lawyers were clever and sharp…eyed，and his accused was a violent，wicked murderer。
Suddenly we became aware of a strange gentleman who had also been listening，and was now looking coldly at us。
‘Well！’he said to us，biting the side of his finger。‘So you've decided the accused was the murderer，have you？'
‘Sir，'answered Mr Wopsle firmly，‘yes，I do think he is guilty。’We all nodded our heads in agreement。
‘But，’said the stranger，‘do you or do you not know that the law of England supposes every man to be innocent until he is proved…proved…to be guilty？’
‘Sir，’began Mr Wopsle，‘as an Englishman myself，I…’
‘Come！’said the stranger，‘don't avoid the question．Either you know it，or you don't know it．Which is it？’
‘Of course I know it，’answered poor Mr Wopsle。
‘Then why didn't you say so at first？Another question。 Do you know that this trial isn't finished yet？’
Mr Wopsle hesitated，and we all began to have a rather bad opinion of him 。
‘And you were going to say that the accused was guilty，before the end of the trial，before he has been proved guilty！’We realized that the unfortunate Wopsle had no understanding of the law，or indeed anything at all。
Now the stranger stood in front of our little group。
‘I'm looking for the blacksmith，Joe Gargery，’he said，‘and his apprentice，Pip．’He did not recognize me but I knew he was the gentleman I had met on the stairs when visiting Miss Havisham。 There was even the same smell of per－fumed soap on his large hands。‘I want to speak to you two in private，’he said，and so Joe and I left the pub and walked home with him．
‘My name is Jaggers，and I'm a lawyer，’he said，when he reached the forge．‘Joe Gargery，I am sent by someone who suggests cancelling this boy's apprenticeship to you．Would you want any money，if you lost your apprentice？'
‘I'd never stand in Pip's way，never，'said Joe，staring。‘The answer is no。’
‘Don't try to change that answer later，’said Mr Jaggers 。‘Now，what I have to say，and remember，I'm only an agent，I don't speak for myself，is that this young man has great expectations。’
Joe and I gasped，and looked at each other。
‘I have been told to say that he will be very rich when he is older。In addition，the person who sent me wants the young man to be removed from his home and educated as a gentleman who expects to inherit a fortune。'
My dream had come true。 Miss Havisham was making me rich！
‘Now，Mr Pip，’continued the lawyer，‘there are two conditions．The first is that you always use the name of Pip．The second is that the name of the person who has heen so generous to you must remain a secret，until that person chooses to tell you．You are forbidden to ask any questions or try to discover who the person is．Do you accept these conditions？
My heart was beating fast as I whispered，‘Yes '。
‘Now，to details．I have been given enough money for you to live the life of a gentleman in L