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1Deeming Sunday the best day for taking Mr. Wemmick's Walworth sentiments, I devoted the next ensuing Sunday afternoon to
2a pilgrimage to the Castle. On arriving before the battlements, I found the Union Jack flying and the drawbridge up; but
3undeterred by this show of defiance and resistance, I rang at the gate, and was admitted in a most pacific manner by the
4Aged. "My son, sir," said the old man, after securing the drawbridge, "rather had it in his mind that you might happen
5to drop in, and he left word that he would soon be home from his afternoon's walk. He is very regular in his walks, is
6my son. Very regular in everything, is my son." I nodded at the old gentleman as Wemmick himself might have nodded, and
7we went in and sat down by the fireside. "You made acquaintance with my son, sir," said the old man, in his chirping
8way, while he warmed his hands at the blaze, "at his office, I expect?" I nodded. "Hah! I have heerd that my son is a
9wonderful hand at his business, sir?" I nodded hard. "Yes; so they tell me. His business is the Law?" I nodded harder.
10"Which makes it more surprising in my son," said the old man, "for he was not brought up to the Law, but to the
11Wine-Coopering." Curious to know how the old gentleman stood informed concerning the reputation of Mr. Jaggers, I roared
12that name at him. He threw me into the greatest confusion by laughing heartily and replying in a very sprightly manner,
13"No, to be sure; you're right." And to this hour I have not the faintest notion what he meant, or what joke he thought I
14had made. As I could not sit there nodding at him perpetually, without making some other attempt to interest him, I
15shouted at inquiry whether his own calling in life had been "the Wine-Coopering." By dint of straining that term out of
16myself several times and tapping the old gentleman on the chest to associate it with him, I at last succeeded in making
17my meaning understood. "No," said the old gentleman; "the warehousing, the warehousing. First, over yonder;" he appeared
18to mean up the chimney, but I believe he intended to refer me to Liverpool; "and then in the City of London here.
19However, having an infirmity--for I am hard of hearing, sir--" I expressed in pantomime the greatest astonishment.
20"--Yes, hard of hearing; having that infirmity coming upon me, my son he went into the Law, and he took charge of me,
21and he by little and little made out this elegant and beautiful property. But returning to what you said, you know,"
22pursued the old man, again laughing heartily, "what I say is, No to be sure; you're right." I was modestly wondering
23whether my utmost ingenuity would have enabled me to say anything that would have amused him half as much as this
24imaginary pleasantry, when I was startled by a sudden click in the wall on one side of the chimney, and the ghostly
25tumbling open of a little wooden flap with "JOHN" upon it. The old man, following my eyes, cried with great triumph, "My
26son's come home!" and we both went out to the drawbridge. It was worth any money to see Wemmick waving a salute to me
27from the other side of the moat, when we might have shaken hands across it with the greatest ease. The Aged was so
28delighted to work the drawbridge, that I made no offer to assist him, but stood quiet until Wemmick had come across, and
29had presented me to Miss Skiffins; a lady by whom he was accompanied. Miss Skiffins was of a wooden appearance, and was,
30like her escort, in the post-office branch of the service. She might have been some two or three years younger than
31Wemmick, and I judged her to stand possessed of portable property. The cut of her dress from the waist upward, both
32before and behind, made her figure very like a boy's kite; and I might have pronounced her gown a little too decidedly
33orange, and her gloves a little too intensely green. But she seemed to be a good sort of fellow, and showed a high
34regard for the Aged. I was not long in discovering that she was a frequent visitor at the Castle; for, on our going in,
35and my complimenting Wemmick on his ingenious contrivance for announcing himself to the Aged, he begged me to give my
36attention for a moment to the other side of the chimney, and disappeared. Presently another click came, and another
37little door tumbled open with "Miss Skiffins" on it; then Miss Skiffins shut up and John tumbled open; then Miss
38Skiffins and John both tumbled open together, and finally shut up together. On Wemmick's return from working these
39mechanical appliances, I expressed the great admiration with which I regarded them, and he said, "Well, you know,
40they're both pleasant and useful to the Aged. And by George, sir, it's a thing worth mentioning, that of all the people
41who come to this gate, the secret of those pulls is only known to the Aged, Miss Skiffins, and me!" "And Mr. Wemmick
42made them," added Miss Skiffins, "with his own hands out of his own head." While Miss Skiffins was taking off her bonnet
43(she retained her green gloves during the evening as an outward and visible sign that there was company), Wemmick
44invited me to take a walk with him round the property, and see how the island looked in wintertime. Thinking that he did
45this to give me an opportunity of taking his Walworth sentiments, I seized the opportunity as soon as we were out of the
46Castle. Having thought of the matter with care, I approached my subject as if I had never hinted at it before. I
47informed Wemmick that I was anxious in behalf of Herbert Pocket, and I told him how we had first met, and how we had
48fought. I glanced at Herbert's home, and at his character, and at his having no means but such as he was dependent on
49his father for; those, uncertain and unpunctual. I alluded to the advantages I had derived in my first rawness and
50ignorance from his society, and I confessed that I feared I had but ill repaid them, and that he might have done better
51without me and my expectations. Keeping Miss Havisham in the background at a great distance, I still hinted at the
52possibility of my having competed with him in his prospects, and at the certainty of his possessing a generous soul, and
53being far above any mean distrusts, retaliations, or designs. For all these reasons (I told Wemmick), and because he was
54my young companion and friend, and I had a great affection for him, I wished my own good fortune to reflect some rays
55upon him, and therefore I sought advice from Wemmick's experience and knowledge of men and affairs, how I could best try
56with my resources to help Herbert to some present income,--say of a hundred a year, to keep him in good hope and
57heart,--and gradually to buy him on to some small partnership. I begged Wemmick, in conclusion, to understand that my
58help must always be rendered without Herbert's knowledge or suspicion, and that there was no one else in the world with
59whom I could advise. I wound up by laying my hand upon his shoulder, and saying, "I can't help confiding in you, though
60I know it must be troublesome to you; but that is your fault, in having ever brought me here." Wemmick was silent for a
61little while, and then said with a kind of start, "Well you know, Mr. Pip, I must tell you one thing. This is devilish
62good of you." "Say you'll help me to be good then," said I. "Ecod," replied Wemmick, shaking his head, "that's not my
63trade." "Nor is this your trading-place," said I. "You are right," he returned. "You hit the nail on the head. Mr. Pip,
64I'll put on my considering-cap, and I think all you want to do may be done by degrees. Skiffins (that's her brother) is
65an accountant and agent. I'll look him up and go to work for you." "I thank you ten thousand times." "On the contrary,"
66said he, "I thank you, for though we are strictly in our private and personal capacity, still it may be mentioned that
67there are Newgate cobwebs about, and it brushes them away."
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