"You don't know what a pleasure it is to me, Pip," he said once, "to be with my dear boy, in the open air."

"Dear boy!" he said, putting his hand on my shoulder as he sat down heavily in the boat. "Thank you!"

It was a cold, bright morning when we set out cheerfully down the river. I steered the boat, Herbert and Startop rowed. At Clara's house Magwitch was waiting for us, wrapped in a dark cloak.

"You'll be completely safe, and free, tomorrow," I said.

We rowed eastwards down the river all day, looking round all the time to check that no one was following us Magwitch seemed quite happy, smoking his pipe and watching the water.

"Did you see that boat go past, gentlemen? Rowed by four men, with two others on board. It's been up and down the river several times. Could be a Customs boat."

We decided to spend the night at a little riverside pub. It seemed safe because there were no other guests, but the pub owner asked us a question which worried us.

"I hope so, dear boy. But looking into the future, well, that's like looking for the bottom of the river, isn't it? Can't be done." He remained silent after that.

When he left us alone, we discussed this information in whispers. In the end we decided to go to bed, and then set out the next morning just in time to catch the ship to Hamburg. I woke early, and when I looked out of the window, I saw two men examining our boat, but I decided not to wake Herbert or Startop, who needed their rest after rowing all the previous day.

Late in the morning we rowed into the centre of the river. We could see the ship to Hamburg coming closer. Magwitch and I picked up our bags, and said goodbye to Herbert and Startop, so that we would be ready to stop the ship and get on board. Suddenly a boat rowed by four men appeared from nowhere and came out very fast into the centre of the river, close to us. A fifth man was steering, and a sixth, his face hidden in his cloak, whispered instructions to the steerer. They all stared at us.

"You have a convict there who's returned from Australia," shouted the steerer. "That's the man, in the cloak. His name is Abel Magwitch. I'm a Customs officer and I arrest him!"

Soon, however, we discovered Magwitch in the water, badly injured, and pulled him into the boat. He told me that he had fallen into the water with Compeyson, and then been hit by the ship. I believed what he said. At the time there was no sign of Compeyson, whose dead body was found several days later.

Suddenly their boat was touching ours. The Hamburg ship was almost on top of us, and the ship's captain shouted the order to stop engines, but it was too late. At the same moment the Customs officer put his hand on Magwitch's shoulder, and Magwitch pulled the cloak off the other man in the boat. It was Compeyson! And as I watched, he fell backwards into the water, his face full of terror. The huge ship hit our tiny boat with a great crash, Somehow the Customs officers managed to get me on board their boat, with Herbert and Startop, but our boat sank, and the two convicts had disappeared.

Magwitch was taken to prison to wait for his trial. I arranged for Jaggers to be his lawyer, but Jaggers warned me there was almost no hope of saving his life. Magwitch's thick wallet was handed over to the police, and Wemmick was quite annoyed with me about it.

I arrived at the Castle early on Monday morning, and after a glass of rum and milk, we set out on the road.

"Really, Mr Pip, to lose so much cash!" he said. "You see, Compeyson was so determined to get his revenge that you couldn't have saved Magwitch. But you certainly could have saved the cash. That's the difference. But could I ask you something, Mr Pip? Would you come for a walk with me on Monday morning?"

"Well, well!" said Wemmick suddenly. "Here's a church! Let's go in!" And when we were inside, there was another surprise.

It seemed a strange request, and although I did not really feel like accepting, he politely insisted.

"Well, well!" he said again. "Look what I've found in my pockets! Let's put them on!" As he had "found" two pairs of white gloves, and his post-box mouth was as wide as it could possibly be, I began to suspect something. And when I saw the Aged come in with a lady, I knew I was right.

"Well, well!" said Wemmick, still pretending to be surprised, "here's the Aged, and Miss Skiffins! Let's have a wedding!"

And so Wemmick was married to Miss Skiffins, and we all celebrated afterwards at a little pub near the church.

I was delighted for Wemmick, but I could not stop worrying about Magwitch. He had been so badly injured that he was moved to the prison hospital, where I visited him every day. I read to him, and talked to him, and did everything I could to make him comfortable. But day by day I watched him becoming weaker, although he never complained. To the prison guards he was a dangerous criminal, but to me he was an unfortunate man, who had at least some goodness in him. I could not leave him now.

At his trial Jaggers was proved right. The judge decided that Magwitch, a convict sent away for life who had returned, must be hanged. I could not accept this terrible punishment, and wrote to all the important people I could think of, asking for mercy for Magwitch. But all of them refused to help.

I noticed, on my daily visits to him, that he was getting much worse. He lay in bed, looking calmly at the white ceiling. Sometimes he could not speak, and just pressed my hand. One evening as I entered his room, he smiled weakly at me.

"Dear boy," he said, "you're never late."

I touched his chest, remembering that I had wanted to desert him once. He put both his hands on mine.

"I don't want to lose a moment of the time I'm allowed to visit you," I said.

"Thank you, dear boy. God bless you! You've never deserted me, dear boy!" He had spoken his last words.

He was too weak to speak any more, but he just managed to lift my hand to his lips. Then he looked peacefully up at the white ceiling again. Slowly his eyes closed and his head dropped quietly on to his chest.

"Dear Magwitch, listen to me. You had a child once, who you loved and lost." He pressed my hand gently. "She's alive. She's a lady and very beautiful. And I love her!"