05-02-大卫·科波菲尔 [35]
‘Barkis is willing！’And then he closed his eyes，and died．
‘He was a good man！’said Peggotty，with tears in her eyes．‘I shall miss him！’
I was able to help Peggotty with the arrangements for the funeral．Barkis was buried in Blunderstone churchyard，close to my mother and little brother．We discovered that Barkis had saved quite a lot of money，which he left to Peggotty and Daniel．So I knew that Peggotty would not need to work in future．
On the day before the funeral，we all arranged to meet at the old boat．It was my last evening in Yarmouth，as I was re－turning to London the following day．When I arrived，I was surprised to see that Ham and Emily were not there．Peggotty was feeling more cheerful now，and Daniel was talking to her．Just then Ham came to the door．
‘Master David，come outside a minute，would you？’ he asked．I stepped outside，and Ham shut the door carefully．It was raining heavily，and as we stood on the lonely beach，I noticed how very pale Ham's face was．
‘Ham！’I cried．‘What's the matter？’
‘Master David！’he sobbed wildly．I had never seen such a strong man cry like that before．‘It's Emily！I'd have died for her！I love her with all my heart！But she's run away and—worse than that！Oh，how I wish God had saved her from this ruin！’
I shall never fonget his desperate face turned towards me，and the pain in his honest eyes．
‘You're educated，Master David！’he continued．‘You know how to express yourself！Help me！How can I ever ex－plain to him in there？He loves her even more than I do！’
I saw the door open，and tried to stop Ham speaking，but it was too late．Daniel Peggotty came out，and when he saw us，he seemed to realize immediately what we were talking about．The expression on his face changed in a moment，and he pulled us both back inside．I found myself with a letter in my hand which Ham had given me．
‘Read it，sir，’said Daniek，his face pale and trembling and his eyes wild．‘Read it slowly，please．’
The room was completely silent as I read aloud：
Dear Ham，
Please， please， forgive me for running away and leaving you．When you see this，I'll be far away．I shall never return to my dear home unless he marries me and brings me back as a lady．Oh，I'm so sorry，and so ashamed！I know this will break your heart，but believe me，I'm not good enough for you！I'm too wicked．Tell Uncle I'll always love him，even if he can never love me again．And I'll always think of you，dear Ham，even if you hate me for what I've done．Forgive me，and goodbye！
Emily
Daniel did not move for a long time after I had finished reading．I took his hand，but he did not notice．Suddenly he appeared to wake up，and said in a low voice，
‘Who's the man？I want to know his name．’
Ham looked quickly at me，and I felt a shock run through my whole body．I fell on to a chair and could not speak．
‘Don't listen，Master David，’Ham said，hesitating，‘we don't blame you for it．’Peggotty put her arm round my neck，but I could not move．‘A—gentleman's been here very often recently，’continued Ham in a broken voice，‘and—to－day people saw Emily driving off with him in his coach！’
‘Tell me！’cried Daniel wildly．‘Is his name Steerforth？’
‘It is！’replied Ham just as wildly，‘and I'm sorry，Master David，but he's the wickedest man I've ever known！’
After a moment Daniel spoke．He looked suddenly much older．‘I wish I'd drowned him when I had the chance！But it's too late now．There's no peace for me here while my dear girl is away．I'm going to look for her，and bring her back home．Don't any of you try to stop me！Ham，you must stay here in Yarmouth．Keep a light always burning in the window of this house，so that if the poor girl ever comes back
‘He was a good man！’said Peggotty，with tears in her eyes．‘I shall miss him！’
I was able to help Peggotty with the arrangements for the funeral．Barkis was buried in Blunderstone churchyard，close to my mother and little brother．We discovered that Barkis had saved quite a lot of money，which he left to Peggotty and Daniel．So I knew that Peggotty would not need to work in future．
On the day before the funeral，we all arranged to meet at the old boat．It was my last evening in Yarmouth，as I was re－turning to London the following day．When I arrived，I was surprised to see that Ham and Emily were not there．Peggotty was feeling more cheerful now，and Daniel was talking to her．Just then Ham came to the door．
‘Master David，come outside a minute，would you？’ he asked．I stepped outside，and Ham shut the door carefully．It was raining heavily，and as we stood on the lonely beach，I noticed how very pale Ham's face was．
‘Ham！’I cried．‘What's the matter？’
‘Master David！’he sobbed wildly．I had never seen such a strong man cry like that before．‘It's Emily！I'd have died for her！I love her with all my heart！But she's run away and—worse than that！Oh，how I wish God had saved her from this ruin！’
I shall never fonget his desperate face turned towards me，and the pain in his honest eyes．
‘You're educated，Master David！’he continued．‘You know how to express yourself！Help me！How can I ever ex－plain to him in there？He loves her even more than I do！’
I saw the door open，and tried to stop Ham speaking，but it was too late．Daniel Peggotty came out，and when he saw us，he seemed to realize immediately what we were talking about．The expression on his face changed in a moment，and he pulled us both back inside．I found myself with a letter in my hand which Ham had given me．
‘Read it，sir，’said Daniek，his face pale and trembling and his eyes wild．‘Read it slowly，please．’
The room was completely silent as I read aloud：
Dear Ham，
Please， please， forgive me for running away and leaving you．When you see this，I'll be far away．I shall never return to my dear home unless he marries me and brings me back as a lady．Oh，I'm so sorry，and so ashamed！I know this will break your heart，but believe me，I'm not good enough for you！I'm too wicked．Tell Uncle I'll always love him，even if he can never love me again．And I'll always think of you，dear Ham，even if you hate me for what I've done．Forgive me，and goodbye！
Emily
Daniel did not move for a long time after I had finished reading．I took his hand，but he did not notice．Suddenly he appeared to wake up，and said in a low voice，
‘Who's the man？I want to know his name．’
Ham looked quickly at me，and I felt a shock run through my whole body．I fell on to a chair and could not speak．
‘Don't listen，Master David，’Ham said，hesitating，‘we don't blame you for it．’Peggotty put her arm round my neck，but I could not move．‘A—gentleman's been here very often recently，’continued Ham in a broken voice，‘and—to－day people saw Emily driving off with him in his coach！’
‘Tell me！’cried Daniel wildly．‘Is his name Steerforth？’
‘It is！’replied Ham just as wildly，‘and I'm sorry，Master David，but he's the wickedest man I've ever known！’
After a moment Daniel spoke．He looked suddenly much older．‘I wish I'd drowned him when I had the chance！But it's too late now．There's no peace for me here while my dear girl is away．I'm going to look for her，and bring her back home．Don't any of you try to stop me！Ham，you must stay here in Yarmouth．Keep a light always burning in the window of this house，so that if the poor girl ever comes back