4 A Stranger Comes to the Three Jolly Bargemen

CHAPTER 4 A Stranger Comes to the Three Jolly Bargemen After school the next evening, my sister sent me to fetch Joe at the Three Jolly Bargemen. The restaurant was just down the road from our house. I found Joe inside by the fire with a stranger and Mr. Wopsle. The stranger said, "So, you're the blacksmith?" He rubbed his leg in a very strange manner when he spoke. "Yes," Joe answered. "And this is Mr. Wopsle, our church clerk, right, Pip?" "Yes, Joe," I answered, looking at the man's strange hat. Underneath it he wore a handkerchief

that covered his hair. The stranger said, "Pip? That's his given name?" Joe said, "He gave it to himself as a baby and it stuck." "Your son?" Joe smiled. "He's my nephew." "Drinks for my friends, please," the stranger said as he stared at me. When the drinks arrived, the stranger pulled something odd out of his pocket to stir his drink. It was the file I'd stolen last Christmas! Was this stranger my convict? How could that be? Spellbound, I couldn't take my eyes away. After he was sure I had noticed the file, he returned it to his pocket. Then the stranger changed the conversation to turnips. Later, when Joe stood up to go, he said, "Stop a moment, Mr. Gargery. I've got something in my pocket for the boy." He pulled out some coins, wrapped them in paper, and handed them to me. "Remember, these are just for you," he told me. Wednesday came and I was back at Miss Havisham's. Estella opened the door and said coldly, "You're to come this way."

We wound along a series of passageways, chased by shadows from her single candle. Finally, we came to a door that opened up into the back courtyard. Three ladies and two gentlemen stood by the clock on the outside wall—also stopped at twenty minutes to nine. Everyone turned to look at us. Estella pointed to an ugly corner. "You stand over there while I go talk to Sarah Pocket and her brother Matthew." She left. When a bell rang in the distance some time later, Estella said, "Let's go, boy." Sarah and Matthew Pocket and the rest of the party watched as we left. The others were merrily clinking their teacups and enjoying tiny pieces of cake. When we rounded the corner, I could no longer hear them. Suddenly, Estella stopped and asked, "Are you still upset from last week?" "No," I replied. "I'll make you cry again." We were silent the rest of the way to Miss Havisham's room. "In you go, boy," Estella said.

She walked away, her candle bobbing up and down the dark hallway. "It's that time again, is it, Pip?" the old woman asked. She stopped me before I said anything. "What will you play today?" "Anything you'd like, Miss Havisham." "Fine," she said. "Let's go into the other room across the hall." I crossed the staircase and went into a dark room lit only by a fire. Smoke hung in the air like the fog on the marshes. A big room, it must have been grand once. Now the furniture was dusty and falling apart. Great cobwebs hung from a large table, and mice rattled around in the walls. A great bride's cake was displayed on the table. Cobwebs draped over that, too. "Walk me around the ballroom," Miss Havisham demanded. After a few laps, she said, "Call Estella." I did, and Estella came in with the company from the courtyard. Each asked Miss Havisham how she was and told her how well she looked, all while we toured around the room. Miss Havisham never said a word. We didn't even stop walking

once they were gone. Their good-byes were left unanswered. "Today is my birthday," Miss Havisham said. I was about to give my good wishes when she continued, "I don't like to talk about it. I know why they were here. They come every year." When Estella came back from showing the group out, Miss Havisham said, "I'd like to watch the two of you play cards."

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