calling on Bounderby
himself to tell how false this was and how she had pinched and denied
herself for him till he had begun to be successful.

Everybody laughed at this, for now the true story of the bullying mill
owner's tales was out. Bounderby, who had turned very red, was the only
one who did not seem to enjoy the scene. After he had wrathfully shut
every one else from the house, he vented his anger on Mrs. Sparsit for
meddling (as he called it) with his own family affairs. He ended by
giving her the wages due her and inviting her to take herself off at
once.

So Mrs. Sparsit, for all her cap-setting and spying, had to leave her
comfortable nest and go to live in a poor lodging as companion to the
most grudging, peevish, tormenting one of her noble relatives, an
invalid with a lame leg.

But meanwhile another day had passed--the fourth since Rachel had sent
her letter--and still Stephen had not come. On this day, full of her
trouble, Rachel had wandered with Sissy, now her fast friend, some
distance out of the town, through some fields where mining had once been
carried on.

Suddenly she cried out--she had picked up a hat and inside it was the
name "Stephen Blackpool." An instant later a scream broke from her lips
that echoed over the country-side. Before them, at their very feet,
half-hidden by rubbish and grasses, yawned the ragged mouth of a dark,
abandoned shaft. That instant both Rachel and Sissy guessed the
truth--that Stephen, returning, had not seen the chasm in the darkness,
and had fallen into its depths.

They ran and roused the town. Crowds came from Coketown. Rope and
windlass were brought and two men were lowered into the pit. The poor
fellow was there, alive but terribly injured. A rough bed was made, and
so at last the crushed and broken form was brought up to the light and
air.

A surgeon was at hand with wine and medicines, but it was too late.
Stephen spoke with Rachel first, then called Mr. Gradgrind to him and
asked him to clear the blemish from his name. He told him simply that he
could do so through his son Tom. This was all. He died while they bore
him home, holding the hand of Rachel, whom he loved.

Stephen's last words had told the truth to Mr. Gradgrind. He read in
them that his own son was the robber. Tom's guilty glance had seen
also. With suspicion removed from Stephen, he felt his own final arrest
sure.

Sissy noted Tom's pale face and trembling limbs. Guessing that he wo