At length we descried a light and a roof, and presently afterwardsran alongside a little causeway made of stones that had been pickedup hard by. Leaving the rest in the boat, I stepped ashore, andfound the light to be in a window of a public-house. It was a dirtyplace enough, and I dare say not unknown to smuggling adventurers;but there was a good fire in the kitchen, and there were eggs andbacon to eat, and various liquors to drink. Also, there were twodouble-bedded rooms - "such as they were," the landlord said. Noother company was in the house than the landlord, his wife, and agrizzled male creature, the "Jack" of the little causeway, who wasas slimy and smeary as if he had been low-water mark too.

With this assistant, I went down to the boat again, and we all cameashore, and brought out the oars, and rudder, and boat-hook, andall else, and hauled her up for the night. We made a very good mealby the kitchen fire, and then apportioned the bedrooms: Herbert andStartop were to occupy one; I and our charge the other. We foundthe air as carefully excluded from both, as if air were fatal tolife; and there were more dirty clothes and bandboxes under thebeds than I should have thought the family possessed. But, weconsidered ourselves well off, notwithstanding, for a more solitaryplace we could not have found.

While we were comforting ourselves by the fire after our meal, theJack - who was sitting in a corner, and who had a bloated pair ofshoes on, which he had exhibited while we were eating our eggs andbacon, as interesting relics that he had taken a few days ago fromthe feet of a drowned seaman washed ashore - asked me if we hadseen a four-oared galley going up with the tide? When I told himNo, he said she must have gone down then, and yet she "took uptoo," when she left there.

"They must ha' thought better on't for some reason or another,"said the Jack, "and gone down."

"A four-oared galley, did you say?" said I.

"A four," said the Jack, "and two sitters."

"Did they come ashore here?"

"They put in with a stone two-gallon jar, for some beer. I'dha'been glad to pison the beer myself," said the Jack, "or put somerattling physic in it."

"Why?"

"I know why," said the Jack. He spoke in a slushy voice, as if muchmud had washed into his throat.

"He thinks," said the landlord: a weakly meditative man with a paleeye, who seemed to rely greatly on his Jack: "he thinks they was,what they wasn't."

"I knows what I thinks," observed the Jack.

"You thinks Custum 'Us, Jack?" said the landlord.

"I do," said the Jack.

"Then you're wrong, Jack."

"Am I!"

In the infinite meaning of his reply and his boundless confidencein his views, the Jack took one of his bloated shoes off, lookedinto it, knocked a few stones out of it on the kitchen floor, andput it on again. He did this with the air of a Jack who was soright that he could afford to do anything.

"Why, what do you make out that they done with their buttons then,Jack?" asked the landlord, vacillating weakly.

"Done with their buttons?" returned the Jack. "Chucked 'emoverboard. Swallered 'em. Sowed 'em, to come up small salad. Donewith their buttons!"

"Don't be cheeky, Jack," remonstrated the landlord, in a melancholyand pathetic way.

"A Custum 'Us officer knows what to do with his Buttons," said theJack, repeating the obnoxious word with the greatest contempt,"when they comes betwixt him and his own light. A Four and twositters don't go hanging and hovering, up with one tide and downwith another, and both with and against another, without therebeing Custum 'Us at the bottom of it." Saying which he went out indisdain; and the landlord, having no one to reply upon, found itimpracticable to pursue the subject.

This dialogue made us all uneasy, and me very uneasy. The dismalwind was muttering round the house, the tide was flapping at theshore, and I had a feeling that we were caged and threatened. Afour-oared galley hovering about in so unusual a way as to attractthis notice, was an ugly circumstance that I could not get rid of.When I had induced Provis to go up to bed, I went outside with mytwo companions (Startop by this time knew the state of the case),and held another council. Whether we should remain at the houseuntil near the steamer's time, which would be about one in theafternoon; or whether we should put off early in the morning; wasthe question we discussed. On the whole we deemed it the bettercourse to lie where we were, until within an hour or so of thesteamer's time, and then to get out in her track, and drift easilywith the tide. Having settled to do this, we returned into thehouse and went to bed.

I lay down with the greater part of my clothes on, and slept wellfor a few hours. When I awoke, the wind had risen, and the sign ofthe house (the Ship) was creaking and banging about, with noisesthat startled me. Rising softly, for my charge lay fast asleep, Ilooked out of the window. It commanded the causeway where we hadhauled up our boat, and, as my eyes adapted themselves to the lightof the clouded moon, I saw two men looking into her. They passed byunder the window, looking at nothing else, and they did not go downto the landing-place which I could discern to be empty, but struckacross the marsh in the direction of the Nore.

My first impulse was to call up Herbert, and show him the two mengoing away. But, reflecting before I got into his room, which wasat the back of the house and adjoined mine, that he and Startop hadhad a harder day than I, and were fatigued, I forbore. Going backto my window, I could see the two men moving over the marsh. Inthat light, however, I soon lost them, and feeling very cold, laydown to think of the matter, and fell asleep again.

We were up early. As we walked to and fro, all four together,before breakfast, I deemed it right to recount what I had seen.Again our charge was the least anxious of the party. It was verylikely that the men belonged to the Custom House, he said quietly,and that they had no thought of us. I tried to persuade myself thatit was so - as, indeed, it might easily be. However, I proposedthat he and I should walk away together to a distant point we couldsee, and that the boat should take us aboard there, or as nearthere as might prove feasible, at about noon. This being considereda good precaution, soon after breakfast he and I set forth, withoutsaying anything at the tavern.

He smoked his pipe as we went along, and sometimes stopped to clapme on the shoulder. One would have supposed that it was I who wasin danger, not he, and that he was reassuring me. We spoke verylittle. As we approached the point, I begged him to remain in asheltered place, while I went on to reconnoitre; for, it wastowards it that the men had passed in the night. He complied, and Iwent on alone. There was no boat off the point, nor any boat drawnup anywhere near it, nor were there any signs of the men havingembarked there. But, to be sure the tide was high, and there mighthave been some footpints under water.

When he looked out from his shelter in the distance, and saw that Iwaved my hat to him to come up, he rejoined me, and there wewaited; sometimes lying on the bank wrapped in our coats, andsometimes moving about to warm ourselves: until we saw our boatcoming round. We got aboard easily, and rowed out into the track ofthe steamer. By that time it wanted but ten minutes of one o'clock,and we began to look out for her smoke.

But, it was half-past one before we saw her smoke, and soonafterwards we saw behind it the smoke of another steamer. As theywere coming on at full speed, we got the two bags ready, and tookthat opportunity of saying good-bye to Herbert and Startop. We hadall shaken hands cordially, and neither Herbert's eyes nor minewere quite dry, when I saw a four-oared galley shoot out from underthe bank but a little way ahead of us, and row out into the sametrack.

A stretch of shore had been as yet between us and the steamer'ssmoke, by reason of the bend and wind of the river; but now she wasvisible, coming head on. I called to Herbert and Startop to keepbefore the tide, that she might see us lying by for her, and Iadjured Provis to sit quite still, wrapped in his cloak. Heanswered cheerily, "Trust to me, dear boy," and sat like a statue.Meantime the galley, which was very skilfully handled, had crossedus, let us come up with her, and fallen alongside. Leaving justroom enough for the play of the oars, she kept alongside, driftingwhen we drifted, and pulling a stroke or two when we pulled. Of thetwo sitters one held the rudder lines, and looked at us attentively- as did all the rowers; the other sitter was wrapped up, much asProvis was, and seemed to shrink, and whisper some instruction tothe steerer as he looked at us. Not a word was spoken in eitherboat.

Startop could make out, after a few minutes, which steamer wasfirst, and gave me the word "Hamburg," in a low voice as we satface to face. She was nearing us very fast, and the beating of herpeddles grew louder and louder. I felt as if her shadow wereabsolutely upon us, when the galley hailed us. I answered.

"You have a returned Transport there," said the man who held thelines. "That's the man, wrapped in the cloak. His name is AbelMagwitch, otherwise Provis. I apprehend that man, and call upon himto surrender, and you to assist."

At the same moment, without giving any audible direction to hiscrew, he ran the galley abroad of us. They had pulled one suddenstroke ahead, had got their oars in, had run athwart us, and wereholding on to our gunwale, before we knew what they were doing.This caused great confusion on board the steamer, and I heard themcalling to us, and heard the order given to stop the paddles, andheard them stop, but felt her driving down upon us irresistibly. Inthe same moment, I saw the steersman of the galley lay his hand onhis prisoner's shoulder, and saw that both boats were swinginground with the force of the tide, and saw that all hands on boardthe steamer were running forward quite frantically. Still in thesame moment, I saw the prisoner start up, lean across his captor,and pull the cloak from the neck of the shrinking sitter in thegalley. Still in the same moment, I saw that the face disclosed,was the face of the other convict of long ago. Still in the samemoment, I saw the face tilt backward with a white terror on it thatI shall never forget, and heard a great cry on board the steamerand a loud splash in the water, and felt the boat sink from underme.

It was but for an instant that I seemed to struggle with a thousandmill-weirs and a thousand flashes of light; that instant past, Iwas taken on board the galley. Herbert was there, and Startop wasthere; but our boat was gone, and the two convicts were gone.

What with the cries aboard the steamer, and the furious blowing offof her steam, and her driving on, and our driving on, I could notat first distinguish sky from water or shore from shore; but, thecrew of the galley righted her with great speed, and, pullingcertain swift strong strokes ahead, lay upon their oars, every manlooking silently and eagerly at the water astern. Presently a darkobject was seen in it, bearing towards us on the tide. No manspoke, but the steersman held up his hand, and all softly backedwater, and kept the boat straight and true before it. As it camenearer, I saw it to be Magwitch, swimming, but not swimming freely.He was taken on board, and instantly manacled at the wrists andankles.

The galley was kept steady, and the silent eager look-out at thewater was resumed. But, the Rotterdam steamer now came up, andapparently not understanding what had happened, came on at speed.By the time she had been hailed and stopped, both steamers weredrifting away from us, and we were rising and falling in a troubledwake of water. The look-out was kept, long after all was stillagain and the two steamers were gone; but, everybody knew that itwas hopeless now.

At length we gave it up, and pulled under the shore towards thetavern we had lately left, where we were received with no littlesurprise. Here, I was able to get some comforts for Magwitch -Provis no longer - who had received some very severe injury in thechest and a deep cut in the head.

He told me that he believed himself to have gone under the keel ofthe steamer, and to have been struck on the head in rising. Theinjury to his chest (which rendered his breathing extremelypainful) he thought he had received against the side of the galley.He added that he did not pretend to say what he might or might nothave done to Compeyson, but, that in the moment of his laying hishand on his cloak to identify him, that villain had staggered upand staggered back, and they had both gone overboard together; whenthe sudden wrenching of him (Magwitch) out of our boat, and theendeavour of his captor to keep him in it, had capsized us. He toldme in a whisper that they had gone down, fiercely locked in eachother's arms, and that there had been a struggle under water, andthat he had disengaged himself, struck out, and swum away.

I never had any reason to doubt the exact truth of what he thustold me. The officer who steered the galley gave the same accountof their going overboard.

When I asked this officer's permission to change the prisoner's wetclothes by purchasing any spare garments I could get at thepublic-house, he gave it readily: merely observing that he musttake charge of everything his prisoner had about him. So thepocketbook which had once been in my hands, passed into theofficer's. He further gave me leave to accompany the prisoner toLondon; but, declined to accord that grace to my two friends.

The Jack at the Ship was instructed where the drowned man had gonedown, and undertook to search for the body in the places where itwas likeliest to come ashore. His interest in its recovery seemedto me to be much heightened when he heard that it had stockings on.Probably, it took about a dozen drowned men to fit him outcompletely; and that may have been the reason why the differentarticles of his dress were in various stages of decay.

Title: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
Viewed 221121 times

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