PAGE 14
Pip
by
On a Saturday night, in the fourth year of my apprenticeship to Joe, he and I sat by a fire at the inn–the Three Jolly Bargemen, with a group of men. One of them was a strange gentleman who entered into the discussion on hand with zest, and then, rising, stood before the fire. “From information I have received,” said he, looking round, “I have reason to believe there is a blacksmith among you, by name Joseph Gargery. Which is the man?”
“Here is the man,” said Joe.
The gentleman beckoned him out of his place, and said: “You have an apprentice called Pip. Is he here?”
To this I responded in the affirmative. The stranger did not recognise me, but I recognised him as the gentleman I had met on the stairs on my second visit to Miss Havisham. I had known him from the moment I had first been confronted with his bushy eyebrows and black eyes.
“I wish to have a private conference with you both,” he said. “Perhaps we had better go to your house to have it.”
So, in a wondering silence, we walked away with him towards home, and when we got there Joe let us in by the front door, and our conference was held in the state parlour.
The stranger proceeded to tell us that he was a lawyer, Jaggers by name, and that he was the bearer of an offer to Joe, which was, that he should cancel my indentures, at my request, and for my good. He went on to say that his communication was to the effect that I had Great Expectations. Joe and I gasped and looked at one another as Mr. Jaggers continued:
“I am instructed to tell Pip that he will come into a handsome property, and that it is the desire of the present owner of that property that he be at once removed from here, and be brought up as befits a young gentleman of Great Expectations.”
My dream was out! My wild fancy was realised; Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale.
I listened breathlessly while Mr. Jaggers added that my benefactor wished me to keep always the name of Pip, and also that the name of the benefactor was to remain a secret until such time as the person chose to reveal it. After stating these conditions, Mr. Jaggers paused, and asked if I had any objections to complying with them, to which I stammered that I had not, and Mr. Jaggers continued that he had been made my guardian, that he would provide me with a sum of money ample for my education and maintenance, and that he should advise my residing in London, and having as tutor one Matthew Pocket, whom I had heard mentioned by Miss Havisham.
“First,” continued Mr. Jaggers, “you should have some new clothes. You will want some money. I will leave you twenty guineas, and will expect you in London on this day week.”
He produced a purse and counted out the money, then eyeing Joe, he said, “Well, Joe Gargery, you look dumbfounded?”
“I am!” said Joe, with decision.
“Well,” said Mr. Jaggers, “what if I were to make you a present as compensation?”
“For what?” said Joe.
“For the loss of the boy’s services.”
Joe laid a hand on my shoulder with the touch of a woman, saying:
“Pip is that hearty welcome to go free with his services, to honour and fortune, as no words can tell him! But if you think as money can make compensation to me for the loss of the little child what come to the forge,–and ever the best of friends—“
O dear, good Joe, whom I was so ready to leave, and so unthankful to–I see you again to-day, and in a very different light. I feel the loving tremble of your hand upon my arm as solemnly to-day as if it had been the rustle of an angel’s wing. But, at the time, I was lost in the mazes of my good fortune, and thought of nothing else, and as Joe remained firm on the money question, Mr. Jaggers rose to go, giving me a few last instructions for reaching London.