"And him you found?" said I, with great
anxiety.

"And him I found. Without mentioning any
names or going into any details, I gave him to
understand that if he was aware of anybody—
Tom, Jack, or Richard being about the chambers,
or about the immediate  neighbourhood,
he had better get Tom, Jack, or Richard, out of
the way while you were out of the way."

"He would be greatly puzzled what to do?"

"He was puzzled what to do; not the less,
because I gave him my opinion that it was
not safe to try to get Tom, Jack or Richard,
too far out of the way at present. Mr. Pip,
I'll tell you something. Under existing
circumstances there is no place like a great city
when you are once in it. Don't break cover too
soon. Lie close. Wait till things slacken, before
you try the open, even for foreign air."

I thanked him for his valuable advice, and
asked  him what Herbert had done.

"Mr. Herbert," said Wemmick, "after being
all of a heap for half an hour, struck out a plan.
He mentioned to me as a secret, that he is
courting a young lady who has, as no doubt you
are aware, a bedridden Pa. Which Pa, having
been in the Purser line of life, lies abed in a
bow window where he can.see the ships sail up
and down the river. You are acquainted with
the young lady, most probably?"

"Not personally," said I.

The truth was, that she had objected to me as
an expensive companion who did Herbert no
good, and that when Herbert had first proposed
to present me to her she had received the
proposal with such very moderate warmth, that
Herbert had felt himself obliged to confide the
state of the case to me, with a view to the
passage of a little time before I made her
acquaintance. When I had begun to advance
Herbert's prospects by stealth, I had been able
to bear this with cheerful philosophy; he and
his affianced, for their part, had naturally not
been very anxious to introduce a third person
into their interviews; and thus, although I was
assured that I had risen in Clara's esteem, and
although the young lady and I had long
regularly interchanged messages and remembrances
by Herbert, I had never seen her. However,
I did not trouble Wemmick with these
particulars.

"The house witli the bow window," said
Wemmick, " being by the riverside, down the
Pool there between Limehouse and Greenwich,
and being kept, it seems, by a very respectable
widow who has a furnished upper floor to let,
Mr. Herbert put it to me, what did I think of
that as a temporary tenement for Tom, Jack, or
Richard? Now I thought very well of it, for
three reasons I'll give you. That is to say.
Firstly. It's altogether out of all your beats, and
is well away from the usual heap of streets great
and small. Secondly. Without going near it
yourself, you could always hear of the safety of
Tom, Jack, or Richard, through Mr. Herbert.
Thirdly. After a while and when it might be
prudent, if you should want to slip Tom, Jack,
or Richard, on board a foreign packet boat, there
he is—ready."

Much comforted by these considerations, I
thanked Wemmick again and again, and begged
him to proceed.

"Well, sir!  Mr. Herbert threw himself into the
business with a will, and by nine o'clock
last night he housed Tom, Jack, or Richard—whichever
it may be—you and I don't want to know—
quite successfully.  At the old lodgings it was
understood that he was summoned to Dover,
and in fact he was taken down the Dover road
and cornered out of it. Now, another great
advantage of all this, is, that it was done without
you, and when, if any one was concerning
himself about your movements, you must be
known to be ever so many miles off and quite
otherwise engaged. This diverts suspicion and
confuses it; and for the same reason I
recommended that even if you came back last night,
you should not go home. It brings in more
confusion, and you want confusion."

Wemmick, having finished his breakfast, here
looked at his watch, and began to get his
coat on.

"And now, Mr. Pip," said he, with his hands
still in the sleeves, " I have probably done the
most I can do; but if I can ever do more—
from a Walworth point of view, and in a strictly
private and personal capacity I shall be glad
to do it. Here's the address. There can be no
harm in your going here tonight and seeing for
yourself that all is well with Tom, Jack or
Richard, before you go home—which is another
reason for your not going home last night. But
after you have gone home, don't go back here.
You are very welcome, I am sure, Mr. Pip;" his
hands were now out of his sleeves, and I was
shaking them; "and let me finally impress one
important point upon you." He laid his hands
upon my shoulders, and added in a solemn whisper:

"Avail yourself of this evening to lay
hold of his portable property. You don't know
what may happen to him. Don't let anything
happen to the portable property."

Quite despairing of making my mind clear to
Wemmick on this point, I forbore to try.

"Time's up," said Wemmick, " and I must
be off. If you had nothing more pressing to
do than to keep here till dark, that's what I
should advise. You look very much worried, and
it would do you good to have a perfectly quiet day
with the Aged—he'll be up presently—and a
little bit of—- you remember the pig?"

"Of course," said I.

"Well; and a little bit of him. That sausage
you toasted was his, and he was in all respects a
first rater. Do try him, if it is only for old
acquaintance' sake. Good-by, Aged Parent! " in a
cheery shout.

"All right, John; all right, my boy!" piped
the old man from within.

I soon fell asleep before Wemmick's fire,
and the Aged and I enjoyed one another's society
by falling asleep before it more or less all day.
We had loin of pork for dinner, and greens
grown on the estate, and I nodded at the Aged