第14章

Timewenton，andtheturnkeybegantofail。Hischestswelled，andhislegsgotweak，andhewasshortofbreath。Thewell-wornwoodenstoolwas’beyondhim，’hecomplained。Hesatinanarm-

chairwithacushion，andsometimeswheezedso，forminutestogether，thathecouldn’tturnthekey。Whenhewasoverpoweredbythesefits，thedebtoroftenturneditforhim。

’Youandme，’saidtheturnkey，onesnowywinter’snightwhenthelodge，withabrightfireinit，wasprettyfullofcompany，’istheoldestinhabitants。Iwasn’theremyselfabovesevenyearbeforeyou。Ishan’tlastlong。WhenI’moffthelockforgoodandall，you’llbetheFatheroftheMarshalsea。’

Theturnkeywentoffthelockofthisworldnextday。Hiswordswererememberedandrepeated；andtraditionafterwardshandeddownfromgenerationtogeneration——aMarshalseagenerationmightbecalculatedasaboutthreemonths——thattheshabbyolddebtorwiththesoftmannerandthewhitehair，wastheFatheroftheMarshalsea。

Andhegrewtobeproudofthetitle。Ifanyimpostorhadarisentoclaimit，hewouldhaveshedtearsinresentmentoftheattempttodeprivehimofhisrights。Adispositionbegantobeperceivedinhimtoexaggeratethenumberofyearshehadbeenthere；itwasgenerallyunderstoodthatyoumustdeductafewfromhisaccount；

hewasvain，thefleetinggenerationsofdebtorssaid。

Allnew-comerswerepresentedtohim。Hewaspunctiliousintheexactionofthisceremony。Thewitswouldperformtheofficeofintroductionwithoverchargedpompandpoliteness，buttheycouldnoteasilyoverstephissenseofitsgravity。Hereceivedtheminhispoorroom(hedislikedanintroductioninthemereyard，asinformal——athingthatmighthappentoanybody)，withakindofbowed-downbeneficence。TheywerewelcometotheMarshalsea，hewouldtellthem。Yes，hewastheFatheroftheplace。Sotheworldwaskindenoughtocallhim；andsohewas，ifmorethantwentyyearsofresidencegavehimaclaimtothetitle。Itlookedsmallatfirst，buttherewasverygoodcompanythere——amongamixture——necessarilyamixture——andverygoodair。

Itbecameanotunusualcircumstanceforletterstobeputunderhisdooratnight，enclosinghalf-a-crown，twohalf-crowns，nowandthenatlongintervalsevenhalf-a-sovereign，fortheFatheroftheMarshalsea。’Withthecomplimentsofacollegiantakingleave。’

Hereceivedthegiftsastributes，fromadmirers，toapubliccharacter。Sometimesthesecorrespondentsassumedfacetiousnames，astheBrick，Bellows，OldGooseberry，Wideawake，Snooks，Mops，Cutaway，theDogs-meatMan；butheconsideredthisinbadtaste，andwasalwaysalittlehurtbyit。

Inthefulnessoftime，thiscorrespondenceshowingsignsofwearingout，andseemingtorequireaneffortonthepartofthecorrespondentstowhichinthehurriedcircumstancesofdeparturemanyofthemmightnotbeequal，heestablishedthecustomofattendingcollegiansofacertainstanding，tothegate，andtakingleaveofthemthere。Thecollegianundertreatment，aftershakinghands，wouldoccasionallystoptowrapupsomethinginabitofpaper，andwouldcomebackagaincalling’Hi!’

Hewouldlookroundsurprised。’Me？’hewouldsay，withasmile。

Bythistimethecollegianwouldbeupwithhim，andhewouldpaternallyadd，’Whathaveyouforgotten？WhatcanIdoforyou？’

’Iforgottoleavethis，’thecollegianwouldusuallyreturn，’fortheFatheroftheMarshalsea。’

’Mygoodsir，’hewouldrejoin，’heisinfinitelyobligedtoyou。’

But，tothelast，theirresolutehandofoldwouldremaininthepocketintowhichhehadslippedthemoneyduringtwoorthreeturnsabouttheyard，lestthetransactionshouldbetooconspicuoustothegeneralbodyofcollegians。

Oneafternoonhehadbeendoingthehonoursoftheplacetoaratherlargepartyofcollegians，whohappenedtobegoingout，when，ashewascomingback，heencounteredonefromthepoorsidewhohadbeentakeninexecutionforasmallsumaweekbefore，had’settled’inthecourseofthatafternoon，andwasgoingouttoo。

ThemanwasamerePlastererinhisworkingdress；hadhiswifewithhim，andabundle；andwasinhighspirits。

’Godblessyou，sir，’hesaidinpassing。

’Andyou，’benignantlyreturnedtheFatheroftheMarshalsea。

Theywereprettyfardivided，goingtheirseveralways，whenthePlasterercalledout，’Isay!——sir!’andcamebacktohim。

’Itain’tmuch，’saidthePlasterer，puttingalittlepileofhalfpenceinhishand，’butit’swellmeant。’

TheFatheroftheMarshalseahadneverbeenofferedtributeincopperyet。Hischildrenoftenhad，andwithhisperfectacquiescenceithadgoneintothecommonpursetobuymeatthathehadeaten，anddrinkthathehaddrunk；butfustiansplashedwithwhitelime，bestowinghalfpenceonhim，fronttofront，wasnew。

’Howdareyou!’hesaidtotheman，andfeeblyburstintotears。

ThePlastererturnedhimtowardsthewall，thathisfacemightnotbeseen；andtheactionwassodelicate，andthemanwassopenetratedwithrepentance，andaskedpardonsohonestly，thathecouldmakehimnolessacknowledgmentthan，’Iknowyoumeantitkindly。Saynomore。’

’Blessyoursoul，sir，’urgedthePlasterer，’Ididindeed。I’ddomorebyyouthantherestof’emdo，Ifancy。’

’Whatwouldyoudo？’heasked。

’I’dcomebacktoseeyou，afterIwasletout。’

’Givemethemoneyagain，’saidtheother，eagerly，’andI’llkeepit，andneverspendit。Thankyouforit，thankyou!Ishallseeyouagain？’

’IfIliveaweekyoushall。’

Theyshookhandsandparted。Thecollegians，assembledinSymposiumintheSnuggerythatnight，marvelledwhathadhappenedtotheirFather；hewalkedsolateintheshadowsoftheyard，andseemedsodowncast。

TheChildoftheMarshalseaThebabywhosefirstdraughtofairhadbeentincturedwithDoctorHaggage’sbrandy，washandeddownamongthegenerationsofcollegians，likethetraditionoftheircommonparent。Intheearlierstagesofherexistence，shewashandeddowninaliteralandprosaicsense；itbeingalmostapartoftheentrancefootingofeverynewcollegiantonursethechildwhohadbeenborninthecollege。

’Byrights，’remarkedtheturnkeywhenshewasfirstshowntohim，’Ioughttobehergodfather。’

Thedebtorirresolutelythoughtofitforaminute，andsaid，’Perhapsyouwouldn’tobjecttoreallybeinghergodfather？’

’Oh!_I_don’tobject，’repliedtheturnkey，’ifyoudon’t。’

ThusitcametopassthatshewaschristenedoneSundayafternoon，whentheturnkey，beingrelieved，wasoffthelock；andthattheturnkeywentuptothefontofSaintGeorge’sChurch，andpromisedandvowedandrenouncedonherbehalf，ashehimselfrelatedwhenhecameback，’likeagood’un。’

Thisinvestedtheturnkeywithanewproprietaryshareinthechild，overandabovehisformerofficialone。Whenshebegantowalkandtalk，hebecamefondofher；boughtalittlearm-chairandstooditbythehighfenderofthelodgefire-place；likedtohavehercompanywhenhewasonthelock；andusedtobribeherwithcheaptoystocomeandtalktohim。Thechild，forherpart，soongrewsofondoftheturnkeythatshewouldcomeclimbingupthelodge-stepsofherownaccordatallhoursoftheday。Whenshefellasleepinthelittlearmchairbythehighfender，theturnkeywouldcoverherwithhispocket-handkerchief；andwhenshesatinitdressingandundressingadollwhichsooncametobeunlikedollsontheothersideofthelock，andtobearahorriblefamilyresemblancetoMrsBangham——hewouldcontemplateherfromthetopofhisstoolwithexceedinggentleness。Witnessingthesethings，thecollegianswouldexpressanopinionthattheturnkey，whowasabachelor，hadbeencutoutbynatureforafamilyman。Buttheturnkeythankedthem，andsaid，’No，onthewholeitwasenoughtoseeotherpeople’schildrenthere。’

Atwhatperiodofherearlylifethelittlecreaturebegantoperceivethatitwasnotthehabitofalltheworldtolivelockedupinnarrowyardssurroundedbyhighwallswithspikesatthetop，wouldbeadifficultquestiontosettle。Butshewasavery，verylittlecreatureindeed，whenshehadsomehowgainedtheknowledgethatherclaspofherfather’shandwastobealwaysloosenedatthedoorwhichthegreatkeyopened；andthatwhileherownlightstepswerefreetopassbeyondit，hisfeetmustnevercrossthatline。Apitifulandplaintivelook，withwhichshehadbeguntoregardhimwhenshewasstillextremelyyoung，wasperhapsapartofthisdiscovery。

Withapitifulandplaintivelookforeverything，indeed，butwithsomethinginitforonlyhimthatwaslikeprotection，thisChildoftheMarshalseaandthechildoftheFatheroftheMarshalsea，satbyherfriendtheturnkeyinthelodge，keptthefamilyroom，orwanderedabouttheprison-yard，forthefirsteightyearsofherlife。Withapitifulandplaintivelookforherwaywardsister；

forheridlebrother；forthehighblankwalls；forthefadedcrowdtheyshutin；forthegamesoftheprisonchildrenastheywhoopedandran，andplayedathide-and-seek，andmadetheironbarsoftheinnergateway’Home。’

Wistfulandwondering，shewouldsitinsummerweatherbythehighfenderinthelodge，lookingupattheskythroughthebarredwindow，until，whensheturnedhereyesaway，barsoflightwouldarisebetweenherandherfriend，andshewouldseehimthroughagrating，too。

’Thinkingofthefields，’theturnkeysaidonce，afterwatchingher，’ain’tyou？’

’Wherearethey？’sheinquired。

’Why，they’re——overthere，mydear，’saidtheturnkey，withavagueflourishofhiskey。’Justaboutthere。’

’Doesanybodyopenthem，andshutthem？Aretheylocked？’

Theturnkeywasdiscomfited。’Well，’hesaid。’Notingeneral。’

’Aretheyverypretty，Bob？’ShecalledhimBob，byhisownparticularrequestandinstruction。

’Lovely。Fullofflowers。There’sbuttercups，andthere’sdaisies，andthere’s’——theturnkeyhesitated，beingshortoffloralnomenclature——’there’sdandelions，andallmannerofgames。’

’Isitverypleasanttobethere，Bob？’

’Prime，’saidtheturnkey。

’Wasfathereverthere？’

’Hem!’coughedtheturnkey。’Oyes，hewasthere，sometimes。’

’Ishesorrynottobetherenow？’

’N-notparticular，’saidtheturnkey。

’Noranyofthepeople？’sheasked，glancingatthelistlesscrowdwithin。’Oareyouquitesureandcertain，Bob？’