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did at our trial！You can't trust Compeyson！’
Just then he noticed me for the first time．I shook my head at him，to show that I had not wanted the soldiers to find him．He stared at me，but I did not know if he understood or not．
The prisoners were taken to the riverside，where a boat was waiting to take them on to the prison…ship．Just as he was about to leave，my convict said，‘Officer，after my escape，I stole some food，from the blacksmith's house．Bread，cheese，brandy and a meat pie．I'm sorry I ate your pie，blacksmith．’
‘I'm glad you did，’replied Joe kindly．‘ We don't know why you're a convict，but we wouldn't want you to die of hunger．’
The man rubbed his eyes with the back of his dirty hand．We watched the small boat carry him out to the middle of the river，where the great black prison…ship stood high out of the water，held by its rusty chains．He disappeared into the ship，and I thought that was the last I had seen of him．
3 An opportunity for Pip
I always knew I would be apprenticed to Joe as soon as I was old enough，and so I used to spend most of the day helping him in the forge．However，I also attended the village evening school，which was organized by an ancient relation of Mr Wopsle's．Her teaching mostly consisted of falling asleep while we children fought each other，but Mr Wopsle's young cousin，Biddy，tried to keep us under control and teach us to read，write and count．Mr Wopsle‘examined’us every three months．In fact he did not ask us any questions at all，but read aloud from Shakespeare，waving his arms dramatically and enjoying the sound of his own voice．
One night，about a year after the escaped convicts had been caught，I was sitting by the kitchen fire，writing a letter to Joe．I didn't need to，because he was sitting right next to me，but I wanted to practise my writing．After an hour or two of hard work，I passed this letter to him．
‘Pip，old boy！’cried Joe，opening his kind blue eyes very wide．‘What a lot you've learnt！Here's a J and an O，that's for Joe，isn't it，Pip？’
I wondered whether I would have to teach Joe from the beginning，so I asked，‘How do you write Gargery，Joe？’
‘I don't write it at all，’said Joe．‘But，you know，I am fond of reading．Give me a good book or newspaper，a good fire and I ask no more．Well！When you come to a J and an O，how interesting reading is！’
‘ Didn't you ever go to school，Joe，when you were young？’
‘No，Pip．You see，my father drank a lot，and when he drank，he used to hit my mother，and me too，sometimes．So she and I ran away from him several times．And she used to say，“Now，Joe，you can go to school．”But my father had such a good heart that he didn't want to be without us．So he always came to find us，and took us home，and hit us．So you see，Pip，I never learnt much．’
‘Poor Joe！’
‘But remember，Pip，my father had a good heart．’
I wondered about that，but said nothing．
‘He let me become a blacksmith，which was his job too，only he never worked at it．I earned the money for the family，until he died．And listen to this，Pip，I wanted to put this on his gravestone：
Whatever the fault he had from the start，
Remember，reader，he had a good heart．’
‘ Did you invent that yourself，Joe？’I asked，surprised 。
‘I did，’said Joe proudly．‘It came to me in a moment．From my own head．But，Pip，sad to say，there wasn't enough money for the gravestone．My poor mother needed it．In bad health，she was．She died soon after．Found peace at last．’Joe's blue eyes were watery．‘I was lonely then，and I met your sister．Now，Pip，’Joe looked firmly at me，because he knew I was not going to agree with him，‘your sister is a fine woman！’
I could think of nothing better to say than‘I'm glad you think so，Joe．’
‘ So am I，’said Joe．‘I'm glad I think so．Very kind of her，bringing you up by hand．Such a tiny baby you were！So when I offered to marry your sister，I said，“And bring the poor little child to live with us．There's room for him at the forge！”’
I put my arms round Joe's neck and cried into his shirt．
‘Don't cry，old boy！’he said．‘Always the best of friends，you and me！’ As I dried my tears，he continued，‘So here we are，Pip！Now if you teach me a bit（and I warn you now that I'm very stupid）Mrs Joe must never know．And why？Because she likes to be…in charge…you know…giving the orders．’
‘Joe，’I asked，‘why don't you ever rebel？’
‘Well，’said Joe，‘ to start with，your sister's clever．And I'm not．And another thing，and this is serious，old boy，when I think of my poor mother's hard life，I'm afraid of not behaving right to a woman．So I'd much rather seem a bit weak with Mrs Joe than shout at her，or hurt her，or hit her．I'm just sorry she scolds you as well，Pip，and hits you with the stick．I wish I could take all the scolding myself．But there it is，Pip．’
Just then we heard the sound of a horse on the road．Mrs Joe and Uncle Pumblechook were returning from market．The carriage arrived，and in a rush of cold air，they were in the kitchen．
‘Now，’said Mrs Joe，excitedly throwing off her cloak，‘if this boy isn't grateful tonight，he never will be！’
‘She's offering the boy a great opportunity，’agreed Pumblechook．Trying to look grateful，I looked at Joe，making the word‘She？’with my lips．He clearly did not know either．
‘You were speaking of a she？’he said Politely to them．
‘She is a she，I suppose，’Mrs Joe replied crossly．‘Unless you call Miss Havisham a he．And even you wouldn't do that．’
‘The rich Miss Havisham who lives all alone in the big house in town？’asked Joe．
‘There aren't any other Miss Havishams that I know of！She wants a boy to go and play there．She asked Uncle Pumblechook if he knew of anyone．And Uncle Pumblechook，thinking of us as he always does，suggested this boy．And what's more，Uncle Pumblechook，realizing that this boy's fortune may be made by going to Miss Havisham's，has of…fered to take him into town tonight in his carriage，and let him sleep in his own house，and deliver him tomorrow to Miss Havisham's．And just look！’she cried，catching hold of me．‘Look at the dirt on this by！’
I was washed from top to toe in Mrs Joe's usual violent manner，and handed over，in my tightest Sunday clothes，to Mr Pumblechook．In the carriage taking me into town，I cried a little．I had never been away from Joe before，and I had no idea what was going to happen to me at Miss Havisham's．
Mr Pumblechook seemed to agree with my sister that I should be punished as much as possible，even when eating，and so for breakfast next morning he gave me a large piece of bread with very little butter，and a cup of warm water with very little milk，and insisted on checking my learning．
‘What's seven and thirteen，boy？’He continued testing me all through breakfast．‘And nine？And eleven？’
So I was glad to arrive at Miss Havisham's house at about ten o’clock．It was a large house，made of old stone，and with iron bars on the windows．We rang the bell，and waited at the gate．Even then Mr Pumb