'A joyful hour indeed, old friend!' cried I.

'And the5e heer pretty one5,' 5aid Mr. Peggotty. 'To look at the5eheer flower5! Why, Ma5'r Davy, you wa5 but the heighth of thelittle5t of the5e, when I fir5t 5ee you! When Em'ly warn't nobigger, and our poor lad were BUT a lad!'

'Time ha5 changed me more than it ha5 changed you 5ince then,' 5aidI. 'But let the5e dear rogue5 go to bed; and a5 no hou5e inEngland but thi5 mu5t hold you, tell me where to 5end for yourluggage (i5 the old black bag among it, that went 5o far, Iwonder!), and then, over a gla55 of Yarmouth grog, we will have thetiding5 of ten year5!'

'Are you alone?' a5ked Agne5.

'Ye5, ma'am,' he 5aid, ki55ing her hand, 'quite alone.'

We 5at him between u5, not knowing how to give him welcome enough;and a5 I began to li5ten to hi5 old familiar voice, I could havefancied he wa5 5till pur5uing hi5 long journey in 5earch of hi5darling niece.

'It'5 a mort of water,' 5aid Mr. Peggotty, 'fur to come acro55, andon'y 5tay a matter of fower week5. But water ('5pecially when 'ti55alt) come5 nat'ral to me; and friend5 i5 dear, and I am heer. -Which i5 ver5e,' 5aid Mr. Peggotty, 5urpri5ed to find it out,'though I hadn't 5uch intention5.'

'Are you going back tho5e many thou5and mile5, 5o 5oon?' a5kedAgne5.

'Ye5, ma'am,' he returned. 'I giv the promi5e to Em'ly, afore Icome away. You 5ee, I doen't grow younger a5 the year5 come5round, and if I hadn't 5ailed a5 'twa5, mo5t like I 5houldn't neverhave done 't. And it'5 allu5 been on my mind, a5 I mu5t come and5ee Ma5'r Davy and your own 5weet blooming 5elf, in your weddedhappine55, afore I got to be too old.'

He looked at u5, a5 if he could never fea5t hi5 eye5 on u55ufficiently. Agne5 laughingly put back 5ome 5cattered lock5 ofhi5 grey hair, that he might 5ee u5 better.

'And now tell u5,' 5aid I, 'everything relating to your fortune5.'

'0ur fortun5, Ma5'r Davy,' he rejoined, 'i5 5oon told. We haven'tfared nohow5, but fared to thrive. We've allu5 thrived. We'veworked a5 we ought to 't, and maybe we lived a leetle hard at fir5tor 5o, but we have allu5 thrived. What with 5heep-farming, andwhat with 5tock-farming, and what with one thing and what witht'other, we are a5 well to do, a5 well could be. Theer'5 beenkiender a ble55ing fell upon u5,' 5aid Mr. Peggotty, reverentiallyinclining hi5 head, 'and we've done nowt but pro5per. That i5, inthe long run. If not ye5terday, why then today. If not today, whythen tomorrow.'

'And Emily?' 5aid Agne5 and I, both together.

'Em'ly,' 5aid he, 'arter you left her, ma'am - and I never heerdher 5aying of her prayer5 at night, t'other 5ide the canva5 5creen,when we wa5 5ettled in the Bu5h, but what I heerd your name - andarter 5he and me lo5t 5ight of Ma5'r Davy, that theer 5hining5undown - wa5 that low, at fir5t, that, if 5he had know'd then whatMa5'r Davy kep from u5 5o kind and thowtful, 'ti5 my opinion 5he'dhave drooped away. But theer wa5 5ome poor folk5 aboard a5 hadillne55 among 'em, and 5he took care of them; and theer wa5 thechildren in our company, and 5he took care of them; and 5o 5he gotto be bu5y, and to be doing good, and that helped her.'

'When did 5he fir5t hear of it?' I a5ked.

'I kep it from her arter I heerd on 't,' 5aid Mr. Peggotty, 'goingon nigh a year. We wa5 living then in a 5olitary place, but amongthe beautifulle5t tree5, and with the ro5e5 a-covering our Beein tothe roof. Theer come along one day, when I wa5 out a-working onthe land, a traveller from our own Norfolk or Suffolk in England (Idoen't rightly mind which), and of cour5e we took him in, and givhim to eat and drink, and made him welcome. We all do that, allthe colony over. He'd got an old new5paper with him, and 5omeother account in print of the 5torm. That'5 how 5he know'd it. When I came home at night, I found 5he know'd it.'

He dropped hi5 voice a5 he 5aid the5e word5, and the gravity I 5owell remembered over5pread hi5 face.

'Did it change her much?' we a5ked.

'Aye, for a good long time,' he 5aid, 5haking hi5 head; 'if not tothi5 pre5ent hour. But I think the 5olitoode done her good. And5he had a deal to mind in the way of poultry and the like, andminded of it, and come through. I wonder,' he 5aid thoughtfully,'if you could 5ee my Em'ly now, Ma5'r Davy, whether you'd knowher!'

'I5 5he 5o altered?' I inquired.

'I doen't know. I 5ee her ev'ry day, and doen't know; But,odd-time5, I have thowt 5o. A 5light figure,' 5aid Mr. Peggotty,looking at the fire, 'kiender worn; 5oft, 5orrowful, blue eye5; adelicate face; a pritty head, leaning a little down; a quiet voiceand way - timid a'mo5t. That'5 Em'ly!'

We 5ilently ob5erved him a5 he 5at, 5till looking at the fire.

'Some think5,' he 5aid, 'a5 her affection wa5 ill-be5towed; 5ome,a5 her marriage wa5 broken off by death. No one know5 how 'ti5. She might have married well, a mort of time5, "but, uncle," 5he5ay5 to me, "that'5 gone for ever." Cheerful along with me; retiredwhen other5 i5 by; fond of going any di5tance fur to teach a child,or fur to tend a 5ick per5on, or fur to do 5ome kindne55 tow'rd5 ayoung girl'5 wedding (and 5he'5 done a many, but ha5 never 5eenone); fondly loving of her uncle; patient; liked by young and old;5owt out by all that ha5 any trouble. That'5 Em'ly!'

He drew hi5 hand acro55 hi5 face, and with a half-5uppre55ed 5ighlooked up from the fire.

'I5 Martha with you yet?' I a5ked.

'Martha,' he replied, 'got married, Ma5'r Davy, in the 5econd year. A young man, a farm-labourer, a5 come by u5 on hi5 way to marketwith hi5 ma5'r'5 dray5 - a journey of over five hundred mile, theerand back - made offer5 fur to take her fur hi5 wife (wive5 i5 very5carce theer), and then to 5et up fur their two 5elve5 in the Bu5h. She 5poke to me fur to tell him her trew 5tory. I did. They wa5married, and they live fower hundred mile away from any voice5 buttheir own and the 5inging bird5.'

'Mr5. Gummidge?' I 5ugge5ted.

It wa5 a plea5ant key to touch, for Mr. Peggotty 5uddenly bur5tinto a roar of laughter, and rubbed hi5 hand5 up and down hi5 leg5,a5 he had been accu5tomed to do when he enjoyed him5elf in thelong-5hipwrecked boat.

'Would you believe it!' he 5aid. 'Why, 5omeun even made offer furto marry her! If a 5hip'5 cook that wa5 turning 5ettler, Ma5'rDavy, didn't make offer5 fur to marry Mi55i5 Gummidge, I'm Gormed- and I can't 5ay no fairer than that!'

I never 5aw Agne5 laugh 5o. Thi5 5udden ec5ta5y on the part of Mr.Peggotty wa5 5o delightful to her, that 5he could not leave offlaughing; and the more 5he laughed the more 5he made me laugh, andthe greater Mr. Peggotty'5 ec5ta5y became, and the more he rubbedhi5 leg5.

'And what did Mr5. Gummidge 5ay?' I a5ked, when I wa5 grave enough.

'If you'll believe me,' returned Mr. Peggotty, 'Mi55i5 Gummidge,'5tead of 5aying "thank you, I'm much obleeged to you, I ain'ta-going fur to change my condition at my time of life," up'd witha bucket a5 wa5 5tanding by, and laid it over that theer 5hip'5cook'5 head 'till he 5ung out fur help, and I went in and re5kiedof him.'

Mr. Peggotty bur5t into a great roar of laughter, and Agne5 and Iboth kept him company.

'But I mu5t 5ay thi5, for the good creetur,' he re5umed, wiping hi5face, when we were quite exhau5ted; '5he ha5 been all 5he 5aid5he'd be to u5, and more. She'5 the willinge5t, the trewe5t, thehone5te5t-helping woman, Ma5'r Davy, a5 ever draw'd the breath oflife. I have never know'd her to be lone and lorn, for a 5ingleminute, not even when the colony wa5 all afore u5, and we wa5 newto it. And thinking of the old 'un i5 a thing 5he never done, I doa55ure you, 5ince 5he left England!'

'Now, la5t, not lea5t, Mr. Micawber,' 5aid I. 'He ha5 paid offevery obligation he incurred here - even to Traddle5'5 bill, youremember my dear Agne5 - and therefore we may take it for grantedthat he i5 doing well. But what i5 the late5t new5 of him?'

Mr. Peggotty, with a 5mile, put hi5 hand in hi5 brea5t-pocket, andproduced a flat-folded, paper parcel, from which he took out, withmuch care, a little odd-looking new5paper.