if he had seen any one else on his way there, and Pip told him of
the other man in gray who also wore an iron on his leg.

He asked Pip to describe the other, and when Pip told of the bruised
cheek, the man he was feeding flew into a rage. He began to curse, and,
seizing the file, set to filing like mad at his fetter. Pip could see
that he hated the other convict, and was sorry he had escaped; but he
had fulfilled his promise now, so he turned and ran home again, and the
last thing he heard was the rasp of the file as the man worked madly at
the iron.

Very guilty Pip felt all that Christmas morning. He went to church with
Joe, and after service Uncle Pumblechook, Wopsle, the clerk, and other
company came to dinner. He could not enjoy the good things to eat, for
he knew now his sister must discover that the pork pie was gone. Just as
she went to get it he got up from the table to run away, but as he
opened the door he ran plump into a file of soldiers.

He was sure at first they had come to arrest him for helping the
convict, but he was soon relieved, when the officer at their head
explained that they were on their way to search the marshes for the
escaped men and wanted the blacksmith to mend a broken handcuff.

In the flurry of their arrival the pork pie was forgotten, while Joe
mended the handcuff in the forge. When the soldiers left, the blacksmith
set Pip on his broad shoulder, and he and Wopsle went striding with them
to see the result of the hunt.

It was sunset as the party entered the marshes, and the searchers opened
out into a wide line. On a sudden all stopped, for a confused shouting
had come from the distance. They ran toward it, cocking their guns, and
Wopsle and Joe, with Pip on his shoulder, followed. The shouts became
plainer and plainer. All at once they came to a ditch and in it the
convict Pip had fed and the one with the bruised cheek were struggling
fiercely together.

The soldiers seized and handcuffed them both, the man with the bruised
cheek pale and trembling, the other boasting that he had dragged the man
he hated back to captivity, even though it cost him his own freedom.

While the soldiers were preparing to take their prisoners back, Pip's
convict saw the boy standing there with Joe. Pip hoped he would not
think he had had anything to do with bringing the soldiers. He was
pretty sure the man did not, because he presently told the officer, in
every one's hearing, that the night befo