05-01-远大前程 [23]
down his hammer angrily .
‘Come now，master！'he said to Joe. ‘ If young Pip 's having a holiday，give me one too！'
‘Well，’nodded Joe after thinking for a moment，‘I will．'
Just then my sister，who had secretly been listening outside the forge，called to Joe through one of the windows，‘You fool！You think you' re a rich man，giving a holiday to a lazy man like that Orlick！I wish I were his master！I'd soon show him！’ ‘You want to be everybody's master！' Orlick told her angrily．‘And what's more， you're a wicked, ugly，old woman！'
‘What did you say？' cried my sister，beginning to scream.‘Oh！Oh！What did you call me？ Hold me，someone！’Little by little she was deliberately making herself angry．Joe and I had seen this happen many times before．
‘Hold you！'said Orlick in disgust．‘If you were my wife，I'd hold you tight round the neck until you couldn't breathe！'
‘Oh！'screamed my sister．‘Me，a married woman！Being spoken to like this！In my own house！And my husband standing nearby！Oh！Oh！’And like a mad woman she pulled her hair loose，and rushed at the forge door，which I had，luckily，locked.
Poor Joe had no choice． He had to challenge Orlick to fight．But Joe was the strongest man in the village，and very soon Orlick，like the pale young gentleman，was lying on the ground .Then Joe unlocked the door and picked up my sister, who had dropped unconscious to the ground，but only after watching the fight through the window． She stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the day，and Joe and Orlick shared a glass of beer peacefully together in the forge．
That afternoon when I arrived at Miss Havisham's house，it wasn't Estella who opened the gate，but a cousin of the old lady's．Miss Havisham looked just the same as before．
‘Well？'she said，‘I hope you don't expect me to give you anything．’ ‘No，indeed，Miss Havisham．I only want you to know that I'm very grateful to you for helping me become Joe's apprentice. ‘Good．Come and see me again，on your birthday．Ah！'she cried suddenly，‘you're looking for Estella，aren't you？Answer！’ ‘Ye-yes，’I admitted．‘I hope Miss Estella is well？’ ‘ She's abroad, receiving a lady's education．She's more beautiful than ever，and admired by all who see her .Do you feel you've lost her？' She gave such an unpleasant laugh with these last words that I didn't know what to say，and as I left the house I felt even more miserable．
On my way through town I met Mr Wopsle，and together we started the long walk home to the village． It was a dark，wet，misty night，and we could only just see someone ahead of us．
‘Hello！’we called.‘Is that Orlick？’
‘Yes！’he answered．‘I'll walk home with you．Been in town all afternoon，I have．Did you hear the big gun firing，from the prison-ships？Must be some prisoners who' ve escaped．'That made me think of my convict．We didn't talk any more，but walked along in silence．We heard the gun firing several times.
It was late by the time we got to the village，and we were surprised to see lights on at the pub，and people running in and out . Mr Wopsle went in to discover what was happening，and after a few minutes rushed out，calling，‘Something wrong up at the forge，Pip！Run！They say perhaps it was an escaped convict who got into the house while Joe was out．Someone's been attacked！’
We didn't stop running until we reached the forge．In Mrs Joe's kitchen there was a doctor，and Joe，and a group of Women . And on the floor in the middle of them all was my sister，lying unconscious．She would never scold us again．
Joe had been at the pub that evening，and when he arrived home just before ten，he found her on the floor．Nothing had been stolen .She had been hit violently on the back of the head with a heavy weapon．On the floor beside her was a convict's
‘Come now，master！'he said to Joe. ‘ If young Pip 's having a holiday，give me one too！'
‘Well，’nodded Joe after thinking for a moment，‘I will．'
Just then my sister，who had secretly been listening outside the forge，called to Joe through one of the windows，‘You fool！You think you' re a rich man，giving a holiday to a lazy man like that Orlick！I wish I were his master！I'd soon show him！’ ‘You want to be everybody's master！' Orlick told her angrily．‘And what's more， you're a wicked, ugly，old woman！'
‘What did you say？' cried my sister，beginning to scream.‘Oh！Oh！What did you call me？ Hold me，someone！’Little by little she was deliberately making herself angry．Joe and I had seen this happen many times before．
‘Hold you！'said Orlick in disgust．‘If you were my wife，I'd hold you tight round the neck until you couldn't breathe！'
‘Oh！'screamed my sister．‘Me，a married woman！Being spoken to like this！In my own house！And my husband standing nearby！Oh！Oh！’And like a mad woman she pulled her hair loose，and rushed at the forge door，which I had，luckily，locked.
Poor Joe had no choice． He had to challenge Orlick to fight．But Joe was the strongest man in the village，and very soon Orlick，like the pale young gentleman，was lying on the ground .Then Joe unlocked the door and picked up my sister, who had dropped unconscious to the ground，but only after watching the fight through the window． She stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the day，and Joe and Orlick shared a glass of beer peacefully together in the forge．
That afternoon when I arrived at Miss Havisham's house，it wasn't Estella who opened the gate，but a cousin of the old lady's．Miss Havisham looked just the same as before．
‘Well？'she said，‘I hope you don't expect me to give you anything．’ ‘No，indeed，Miss Havisham．I only want you to know that I'm very grateful to you for helping me become Joe's apprentice. ‘Good．Come and see me again，on your birthday．Ah！'she cried suddenly，‘you're looking for Estella，aren't you？Answer！’ ‘Ye-yes，’I admitted．‘I hope Miss Estella is well？’ ‘ She's abroad, receiving a lady's education．She's more beautiful than ever，and admired by all who see her .Do you feel you've lost her？' She gave such an unpleasant laugh with these last words that I didn't know what to say，and as I left the house I felt even more miserable．
On my way through town I met Mr Wopsle，and together we started the long walk home to the village． It was a dark，wet，misty night，and we could only just see someone ahead of us．
‘Hello！’we called.‘Is that Orlick？’
‘Yes！’he answered．‘I'll walk home with you．Been in town all afternoon，I have．Did you hear the big gun firing，from the prison-ships？Must be some prisoners who' ve escaped．'That made me think of my convict．We didn't talk any more，but walked along in silence．We heard the gun firing several times.
It was late by the time we got to the village，and we were surprised to see lights on at the pub，and people running in and out . Mr Wopsle went in to discover what was happening，and after a few minutes rushed out，calling，‘Something wrong up at the forge，Pip！Run！They say perhaps it was an escaped convict who got into the house while Joe was out．Someone's been attacked！’
We didn't stop running until we reached the forge．In Mrs Joe's kitchen there was a doctor，and Joe，and a group of Women . And on the floor in the middle of them all was my sister，lying unconscious．She would never scold us again．
Joe had been at the pub that evening，and when he arrived home just before ten，he found her on the floor．Nothing had been stolen .She had been hit violently on the back of the head with a heavy weapon．On the floor beside her was a convict's