CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Magwitch's Story Ends

We set out cheerfully down the river on a cold bright morning. I steered the boat while Herbert and Star-top rowed. Magwitch was waiting for us at Clara's house. He was wrapped in a big, dark coat.

"My dear boy!" he said, laying his hand on my shoulder as he sat down heavily in the boat. "Thank you!"

We rowed eastward all day, keeping a look round to make sure that no one was following us. Magwitch was smoking his pipe and watching the water. He seemed quite happy.

At one point he said, "You don't know what a pleasure it is, Pip, to be with you, my dear boy, in the open air."

"By tomorrow you'll be completely safe and free," I said.

"I hope so, dear boy. But it's hard to look into the future, isn't it? It's like looking for the bottom of a muddy river. It just can't be done." He was silent after that.

The sky was getting dark and we decided to spend the night at a little pub by the riverside. There were no other guests so it seemed safe, but during our conversation with the owner of the pub, he asked us some questions which made us worry.

"Did you see that boat go past here, gentlemen? It was rowed by four men, with two others on board. It's been going up and down this river several times today. Could be a Customs boat."

We discussed this information in whispers after he left us alone. We finally decided to go to bed and then set out early the next morning to catch the ship to Hamburg. I woke early, and looked out of the window to see the weather. I saw two men looking at our boat, but I didn't wake Herbert or Startop. I thought they needed their rest after rowing all day yesterday.

In the late morning we rowed our boat to the center of the river. We could see the ship to Hamburg approaching. Magwitch and I said goodbye to Herbert and Startop and then picked up our bags. We were ready to stop the ship and get on board. Suddenly from nowhere a boat rowed by four men appeared and came out very fast toward us. A fifth man was steering, and a sixth man, whose face we could not see because it was hidden in his coat, whispered instructions to the man who was steering. They all looked hard at us.

"Stop! We know you have a prisoner who's just returned from Australia," shouted the man who was steering. "His name is Abel Magwitch. I'm a Customs officer and I'm here to arrest him!"

Their boat quickly arrived to ours. Meanwhile, the ship for Hamburg was coming closer and soon would be on top of us. The ship's captain shouted to stop engines, but his order was too late. At the same moment, the Customs officer laid his hand on Magwitch's shoulder, and Magwitch pulled the coat off the other man in the boat. It was Compeyson! I watched as he fell backwards into the water, his face full of fear. Then the huge Hamburg ship hit our tiny boat with a great crash. The Customs officers somehow managed to get me, with Herbert and Startop, on board their boat, but our boat sank, and the two prisoners had disappeared.

We soon discovered Magwitch in the water. He was badly injured, and we gently pulled him into the boat. He told me that he had fallen into the water together with Compeyson, and then the ship crashed into him. I believed what he said. There was no sign of Compeyson, but his dead body was found up the river several days later.

Magwitch had to wait in prison for his trial. I had with high hopes arranged for Jaggers to be his lawyer. But Jaggers warned me that Magwitch would probably die as there was almost no hope of proving him innocent. As for Magwitch's thick wallet, it was handed over to the police, which annoyed Wemmick to no end.

"Really, Mr Pip, you lost so much cash!" he said, "You see, Compeyson was determined to get his revenge. He knew that once the police found out you couldn't have saved Magwitch. But the cash could certainly have been saved. That's the difference. But I must ask you something, Mr Pip. Would you join me for a walk on Monday morning?"

I thought it a very strange request. Though I did not really feel like accepting, especially after all I had been through, he politely insisted.

Early Monday morning I arrived at the Castle. After a glass of rum and milk, we set out on our walk.

"Well, look here!" said Wemmick suddenly, "Here's a church! Why don't we go in?" And when we entered, there was another surprise.

"Well, well!" he said again. "Look what I've just found in my pockets!" He had "found" two pairs of white gloves. "Let's put these on, shall we?" His post-box mouth was open as wide as it could possibly be, and I began to suspect something. And when I saw the Aged come in with a lady, I knew I was right.

"Well, well!" said Wemmick, still pretending to be surprised, "here's the Aged, and Miss Skiffins! Let's have a wedding!"

And so Wemmick married Miss Skiffins, and we celebrated the marriage afterwards at a little pub near the church.

I was happy for Wemmick and delighted that he carried out his wedding in such an interesting manner, but I could not stop worrying about Magwitch. He was moved to the prison hospital because of his bad injuries. I visited him there every day. I read to him, and talked to him, and did everything to make him comfortable. But day by day I could see he was becoming weaker, although he never complained about his health. In the eyes of the prison guards he was a dangerous criminal, but to me he was a poor and unfortunate man, who still had some goodness in him. I could not leave him now.

What Jaggers had said was proved right at the trial. The judge ordered that Magwitch must be hanged as he was a prisoner sent away for life who had returned. I did not want to accept this terrible punishment, so I wrote to all the important people I could think of, asking for help and mercy for Magwitch. But I was refused. There was no way to fight the law.

Magwitch was getting much worse by the day. Sometimes he could not speak when I visited him and he would just press my hand. I usually found him lying on his bed, looking calmly up at the white ceiling. One evening as I entered his room, he smiled weakly at me.

"Dear boy," he said, "you're never late."

"I don't have any moments of time to lose. I'm only allowed to visit you for a certain time," I said.

"Thank you, dear boy. God bless you! You've never left me, dear boy!" He had spoken his last words.

I placed my hand on his chest and remembered that I had wanted to leave him once before. He put both his hands on mine.

"Dear Magwitch, you must listen to me. You had a child once, a young daughter, who you loved and lost." He pressed my hand gently in agreement. "She's alive. She's a lady and very beautiful. And I love her!"

He was too weak to speak, but he managed to lift my hand to his lips. Then his eyes looked peacefully up at the white ceiling again. Slowly they closed and his head dropped quietly on to his chest.

(end of section)