and the heavy darkness that brooded in its
remoter corners, I even had an alarming fancy that
Estella and I would presently begin to decay.

At length, not coming out of her distraught
state by degrees, but in an instant, Miss
Havisham said, "Let me see you two play cards;
why have you not begun?" With that, we
returned to her room, and sat down as before; I
was beggared, as before; and again, as before,
Miss Havisham watched us all the time, directed
my attention to Estella's beauty, and made me
notice it the more by trying her jewels on
Estella's breast and hair.

Estella, for her part, likewise treated me as
before; except that she did not condescend to
speak. When we had played some half-dozen
games, a day was appointed, for my return, and
I was taken down into the yard to be fed in the
former dog-like manner. There, too, I was
again left to wander about as I liked.

It is not much to the purpose whether a gate
in that garden wall which I had scrambled
up to peep over on the last occasion was, on
that last occasion, open or shut. Enough
that I saw no gate then, and that I saw one
now. As it stood open, and as I knew that
Estella had let the visitors out— for, she had re-
turned with the keys in her hand— I strolled
into the garden and strolled all over it. It was
quite a wilderness, and there were old melon-
frames and cucumber-frames in it, which seemed
in their decline to have produced a spontaneous
growth of weak attempts at pieces of old hats
and boots, with now and then a weedy offshoot
into the likeness of a battered saucepan.

When I had exhausted the garden, and a
greenhouse with nothing in it but a fallen-down
grape-vine and some bottles, I found myself in
the dismal corner upon which I had looked out
of window. Never questioning for a moment
that the house was now empty, I looked in at
another window, and found myself, to my great
surprise, exchanging a broad stare with a pale
young gentleman with red eyelids and light hair.

This pale young gentleman quickly disappeared,
and reappeared beside me. He had been
at his books when I had found myself staring at
him, and I now saw that he was inky.

"Halloa!" said he, "young fellow!"

Halloa being a general observation which I
have usually observed to be best answered by
itself, I said " Halloa!" politely omitting young
fellow.

'Who let you in?" said he.

"Miss Estella."

'"Who gave you leave to prowl about?"

"Miss Estella."

"Come and fight," said the pale young
gentleman.

What could I do but follow him? I have
often asked myself the question since: but, what
else could I do? His manner was so final, and
I was so astonished, that I followed where he
led, as if I had been under a spell.

"Stop a minute, though," he said, wheeling
round before we had gone many paces. "I
ought to give you a reason for fignting, too.
There it is!" In a most irritating manner he
instantly slapped his hands against one another,
daintily flung one of his legs up behind him,
pulled my hair, slapped his hands again, dipped
his head, and butted it into my stomach.

The bull-like proceeding last mentioned,
besides that it was unquestionably to be regarded
in the light of a liberty, was particularly
disagreeable just after bread and meat. I therefore
hit out at him and was going to hit out again,
when he said, "Aha! Would you?" and began
dancing backwards and forwards in a manner
quite unparalleled within my limited experience.

"Laws of the game!" said he. Here, he
skipped from his left leg on to his right.
"Regular rules!" Here, he skipped from his right
leg on to his left. "Come to the ground, and
go through the preliminaries!" Here, he
dodged backwards and forwards, and did all
sorts of things while I looked helplessly at him.

I was secretly afraid of him when I saw him
so dexterous; but, I felt morally and physically
convinced that his light head of hair could have
had no business in the pit of my stomach, and
that I had a right to consider it irrelevant when
so obtruded on my attention. Therefore, I
followed him without a word, to a retired nook of
the garden formed by the junction of two walls
and screened by some rubbish. On his asking me
if I was satisfied with the ground, and on my
replying Yes, he begged my leave to absent
himself for a moment, and quickly returned with
a bottle of water and a sponge dipped in vinegar.
"Available for both," he said, placing these
against the wall. And then fell to pulling off,
not only his jacket and waistcoat, but his shirt
too, in a manner at once light-hearted, businesslike,
and bloodthirsty.

Although he did not look very healthy—
having pimples on his face, and a breaking
out at his mouth— these dreadful preparations
quite appalled me. I judged him to be about
my own age, but he was much taller, and he
had a way of spinning himself about that was
full of appearance. For the rest, he was a
young gentleman in a grey suit (when not
denuded for battle), with his elbows, knees, wrists,
and heels, considerably in advance of the rest
of him as to development.

My heart failed me when I saw him squaring
at me with every demonstration of mechanical
nicety and eyeing my anatomy as if he were
minutely choosing his bone. I never have been
so surprised in my life, as I was when I let out
the first blow, and saw him lying on his back
looking up at me with a bloody nose and his
face exceedingly fore-shortened.

But, he was on his feet directly, and after
sponging himself with a great show of dexte-
rity began squaring again. The second greatest
surprise I have ever had in my life was seeing
him on his back again, looking up at me out of
a black eye.

His spirit inspired me with great respect. He
seemed to have no strength, and he never once
hit me hard, and he was always knocked down;
but, he would be up again in a moment, sponging