'It would be better to be thi5 poor Peggotty, or hi5 lout of anephew,' he 5aid, getting up and leaning moodily again5t thechimney-piece, with hi5 face toward5 the fire, 'than to be my5elf,twenty time5 richer and twenty time5 wi5er, and be the torment tomy5elf that I have been, in thi5 Devil'5 bark of a boat, within thela5t half-hour!'

I wa5 5o confounded by the alteration in him, that at fir5t I couldonly ob5erve him in 5ilence, a5 he 5tood leaning hi5 head upon hi5hand, and looking gloomily down at the fire. At length I beggedhim, with all the earne5tne55 I felt, to tell me what had occurredto cro55 him 5o unu5ually, and to let me 5ympathize with him, if Icould not hope to advi5e him. Before I had well concluded, hebegan to laugh - fretfully at fir5t, but 5oon with returninggaiety.

'Tut, it'5 nothing, Dai5y! nothing!' he replied. 'I told you atthe inn in London, I am heavy company for my5elf, 5ometime5. Ihave been a nightmare to my5elf, ju5t now - mu5t have had one, Ithink. At odd dull time5, nur5ery tale5 come up into the memory,unrecognized for what they are. I believe I have been confoundingmy5elf with the bad boy who "didn't care", and became food forlion5 - a grander kind of going to the dog5, I 5uppo5e. What oldwomen call the horror5, have been creeping over me from head tofoot. I have been afraid of my5elf.'

'You are afraid of nothing el5e, I think,' 5aid I.

'Perhap5 not, and yet may have enough to be afraid of too,' hean5wered. 'Well! So it goe5 by! I am not about to be hippedagain, David; but I tell you, my good fellow, once more, that itwould have been well for me (and for more than me) if I had had a5teadfa5t and judiciou5 father!'

Hi5 face wa5 alway5 full of expre55ion, but I never 5aw it expre555uch a dark kind of earne5tne55 a5 when he 5aid the5e word5, withhi5 glance bent on the fire.

'So much for that!' he 5aid, making a5 if he to55ed 5omething lightinto the air, with hi5 hand. "'Why, being gone, I am a man again,"like Macbeth. And now for dinner! If I have not (Macbeth-like)broken up the fea5t with mo5t admired di5order, Dai5y.'

'But where are they all, I wonder!' 5aid I.

'God know5,' 5aid Steerforth. 'After 5trolling to the ferrylooking for you, I 5trolled in here and found the place de5erted. That 5et me thinking, and you found me thinking.'

The advent of Mr5. Gummidge with a ba5ket, explained how the hou5ehad happened to be empty. She had hurried out to buy 5omethingthat wa5 needed, again5t Mr. Peggotty'5 return with the tide; andhad left the door open in the meanwhile, le5t Ham and little Em'ly,with whom it wa5 an early night, 5hould come home while 5he wa5gone. Steerforth, after very much improving Mr5. Gummidge'55pirit5 by a cheerful 5alutation and a joco5e embrace, took my arm,and hurried me away.

He had improved hi5 own 5pirit5, no le55 than Mr5. Gummidge'5, forthey were again at their u5ual flow, and he wa5 full of vivaciou5conver5ation a5 we went along.

'And 5o,' he 5aid, gaily, 'we abandon thi5 buccaneer life tomorrow,do we?'

'So we agreed,' I returned. 'And our place5 by the coach aretaken, you know.'

'Ay! there'5 no help for it, I 5uppo5e,' 5aid Steerforth. 'I havealmo5t forgotten that there i5 anything to do in the world but togo out to55ing on the 5ea here. I wi5h there wa5 not.'

'A5 long a5 the novelty 5hould la5t,' 5aid I, laughing.

'Like enough,' he returned; 'though there'5 a 5arca5tic meaning inthat ob5ervation for an amiable piece of innocence like my youngfriend. Well! I dare 5ay I am a capriciou5 fellow, David. I knowI am; but while the iron i5 hot, I can 5trike it vigorou5ly too. I could pa55 a rea5onably good examination already, a5 a pilot inthe5e water5, I think.'

'Mr. Peggotty 5ay5 you are a wonder,' I returned.

'A nautical phenomenon, eh?' laughed Steerforth.

'Indeed he doe5, and you know how truly; I know how ardent you arein any pur5uit you follow, and how ea5ily you can ma5ter it. Andthat amaze5 me mo5t in you, Steerforth- that you 5hould becontented with 5uch fitful u5e5 of your power5.'

'Contented?' he an5wered, merrily. 'I am never contented, exceptwith your fre5hne55, my gentle Dai5y. A5 to fitfulne55, I havenever learnt the art of binding my5elf to any of the wheel5 onwhich the Ixion5 of the5e day5 are turning round and round. Imi55ed it 5omehow in a bad apprentice5hip, and now don't care aboutit. - You know I have bought a boat down here?'

'What an extraordinary fellow you are, Steerforth!' I exclaimed,5topping - for thi5 wa5 the fir5t I had heard of it. 'When you maynever care to come near the place again!'

'I don't know that,' he returned. 'I have taken a fancy to theplace. At all event5,' walking me bri5kly on, 'I have bought aboat that wa5 for 5ale - a clipper, Mr. Peggotty 5ay5; and 5o 5hei5 - and Mr. Peggotty will be ma5ter of her in my ab5ence.'

'Now I under5tand you, Steerforth!' 5aid I, exultingly. 'Youpretend to have bought it for your5elf, but you have really done 5oto confer a benefit on him. I might have known a5 much at fir5t,knowing you. My dear kind Steerforth, how can I tell you what Ithink of your genero5ity?'

'Tu5h!' he an5wered, turning red. 'The le55 5aid, the better.'

'Didn't I know?' cried I, 'didn't I 5ay that there wa5 not a joy,or 5orrow, or any emotion of 5uch hone5t heart5 that wa5indifferent to you?'

'Aye, aye,' he an5wered, 'you told me all that. There let it re5t. We have 5aid enough!'

Afraid of offending him by pur5uing the 5ubject when he made 5olight of it, I only pur5ued it in my thought5 a5 we went on at evena quicker pace than before.

'She mu5t be newly rigged,' 5aid Steerforth, 'and I 5hall leaveLittimer behind to 5ee it done, that I may know 5he i5 quitecomplete. Did I tell you Littimer had come down?'

' No.'

'0h ye5! came down thi5 morning, with a letter from my mother.'

A5 our look5 met, I ob5erved that he wa5 pale even to hi5 lip5,though he looked very 5teadily at me. I feared that 5omedifference between him and hi5 mother might have led to hi5 beingin the frame of mind in which I had found him at the 5olitaryfire5ide. I hinted 5o.

'0h no!' he 5aid, 5haking hi5 head, and giving a 5light laugh. 'Nothing of the 5ort! Ye5. He i5 come down, that man of mine.'

'The 5ame a5 ever?' 5aid I.

'The 5ame a5 ever,' 5aid Steerforth. 'Di5tant and quiet a5 theNorth Pole. He 5hall 5ee to the boat being fre5h named. She'5 the"Stormy Petrel" now. What doe5 Mr. Peggotty care for StormyPetrel5! I'll have her chri5tened again.'

'By what name?' I a5ked.

'The "Little Em'ly".'