按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
The mist was so thick that I could not see anything．Al…though I knew my way to the shelter very well，I almost got lost this time．I was near it when I saw a man sitting on the ground，half asleep．I went up and touched his shoulder．He jumped up，and it was the wrong man！He was dressed in grey，too，and had an iron chain on his leg．He ran away into the mist．
‘It's the young man！’I thought，feeling a pain in my heart．
When I arrived at the shelter，I found the right man．He looked so cold and hungry that I felt sorry for him．Trembling violently he swallowed the brandy and ate the food like a hunt…ed animal，looking around him all the time for danger．
‘You're sure you didn't tell anyone？Or bring anyone？’
‘No，sir．I'm glad you're enjoying the food，sir．’
‘Thank you，my boy．You've been good to a poor man．’
‘But I'm afraid there won't be any left for him．’
‘Him？ Who's that？’My friend stopped in the middle of eating．
‘The young man who travels with you．’
‘Oh，him！’he replied，smiling．‘He doesn't want any food．’
‘I thought he looked rather hungry，’I answered．
He stared at me in great surprise．‘Looked？When？’
‘Just now，over there．I found him half asleep and I thought it was you．He was dressed like you，and—’I was anxious to express this politely‘…he had the same reason for wanting to borrow a file．’
‘Then I did hear them fire the gun last night！You know，boy，when you're on the marsh alone at night，you imagine all kinds of things，voices calling，guns firing，soldiers marching！But show me where this man went．I'll find him and I'll fin…ish with him！I'll smash his face！Give me the file first．’
I was afraid of him now that he was angry again．
‘I'm sorry，I must go home now，’I said．He did not seem to hear，so I left him bending over his leg and filing away at his iron chain like a madman．Halfway home I stopped in the mist to listen，and I could still hear the sound of the file．
2 Catching a convict
All that morning I was frightened that my sister would discover that I had stolen from her，but luckily she was so busy cleaning the house，and roasting the chickens for our Christmas lunch that she did not notice that I had been out，or that any food was missing．At half…past one our two guests arrived．Mr Wopsle had a large nose and a shining，bald forehead，and was the church clerk．Mr Pumblechook， who had a shop in the nearest town，was a fat，middle…aged man witn a mouth like a fish，and staring eyes．He was really Joe's uncle but it was Mrs Joe who called him uncle．Every Christmas Day he arrived with two bottles of wine，handing them proudly to my sister．
‘Oh Uncle Pumblechook！This is kind！’she always replied．
‘It's no more than you deserve，’was the answer every time．
Sitting at table with these guests I would have felt uncomfortable even if I hadn't robbed my sister．Not only was Pumblechook's elbow in my eye，but I wasn't allowed to speak，and they gave me the worst pieces of meat．Even the chickens must have been ashamed of those parts of their bodies when they were alive．And worse than that，the adults never left me in peace．
‘Before we eat，let us thank God for the food in front of us，’said Mr Wopsle，in the deep voice he used in church．
‘Do you hear that？’whispered my sister to me．‘Be grateful！’
‘Especially，’said Mr Pumblechook firmly，‘be grateful，boy，to those who brought you up by hand．’
‘Why are the young never grateful？’wondered Mr Wopsle sadly．
‘Their characters are naturally bad，’answered Mr Pumblechook，and all three looked unpleasantly at me．
When there were guests，Joe's position was even lower than usual（if that was possible），but he always tried to help me if he could．Sometimes he comforted me by giving me extra gravy．He did that now．
‘Just imagine，boy，’said Mr Pumblechook，‘if your sister hadn't brought you up—’
‘You listen to this，’said my sister to me crossly．
‘If，as I say，she hadn't spent her life looking after you，where would you be now？’
Joe offered me more gravy．
‘He was a lot of trouble to you，madam，’Mr Wopsle said sympathetically to my sister．
‘Trouble？’she cried．‘Trouble？’And then she started on a list of all my illnesses，accidents and crimes，while everybody except Joe looked at me with disgust．Joe added more gravy to the meat swimming on my plate，and I wanted to pull Mr Wopsle's nose．
In the end Mrs Joe stopped for breath，and said to Mr Pumblechook，‘Have a little brandy，uncle．There is a bottle al…ready open．’
It had happened at last！Now she would discover I had stolen some brandy，and put water in the bottle．Mr Pumblechook held his glass up to the light，smiled importantly at it and drank it．When，immediately afterwards，he jumped up and began to rush round the room in a strange wild dance，we all stared at him in great surprise．Was he mad？I wondered if I had murdered him，but if so，how？At last he threw himself gasping into a chair，crying ‘Medicine！’Then I understood．Instead of filling up the brandy bottle with water，I had put Mrs Joe's strongest and most unpleasant medicine in by mistake．That was what the big brown bottle contained．
‘But how could my medicine get into a brandy bottle？’asked my sister．Fortunately she had no time to find the answer，as Mr Pumblechook was calling for a hot rum to remove the taste of the medicine．‘And now，’she said，when the fat man was calmer，‘you must all try Uncle Pumblechook's pre…sent to us！A really delicious meat pie！’
‘That's right，Mrs Joe！’said Mr Pumblechook，looking more cheerful now．‘ Bring in the pie！’
‘You shall have some，Pip，’said Joe kindly．
I knew what would happen next．I could not sit there any longer．I jumped down from the table，and ran out of the room．
But at the front door I ran straight into a group of soldiers．Mrs Joe was saying as she came out of the kitchen，‘The pie…has…gone！’but stopped when she saw the soldiers．
‘Excuse me，ladies and gentlemen，’said the officer in charge．‘I'm here in the King's name，a