V + 

Found + 

Day and night again, day and night again. No Stephen Blackpool. Where was the man, and why did he not come back? + 

Every night, Sissy went to RachaelтАЩs lodging, and sat with her in her small neat room. All day, Rachael toiled as such people must toil, whatever their anxieties. The smoke-serpents were indifferent who was lost or found, who turned out bad or good; the melancholy mad elephants, like the Hard Fact men, abated nothing of their set routine, whatever happened. Day and night again, day and night again. The monotony was unbroken. Even Stephen BlackpoolтАЩs disappearance was falling into the general way, and becoming as monotonous a wonder as any piece of machinery in Coketown. + 

тАЬI misdoubt,тАЭ said Rachael, тАЬif there is as many as twenty left in all this place, who have any trust in the poor dear lad now.тАЭ + 

She said it to Sissy, as they sat in her lodging, lighted only by the lamp at the street corner. Sissy had come there when it was already dark, to await her return from work; and they had since sat at the window where Rachael had found her, wanting no brighter light to shine on their sorrowful talk. + 

тАЬIf it hadnтАЩt been mercifully brought about, that I was to have you to speak to,тАЭ pursued Rachael, тАЬtimes are, when I think my mind would not have kept right. But I get hope and strength through you; and you believe that though appearances may rise against him, he will be proved clear?тАЭ + 

тАЬI do believe so,тАЭ returned Sissy, тАЬwith my whole heart. I feel so certain, Rachael, that the confidence you hold in yours against all discouragement, is not like to be wrong, that I have no more doubt of him than if I had known him through as many years of trial as you have.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd I, my dear,тАЭ said Rachael, with a tremble in her voice, тАЬhave known him through them all, to be, according to his quiet ways, so faithful to everything honest and good, that if he was never to be heard of more, and I was to live to be a hundred years old, I could say with my last breath, God knows my heart. I have never once left trusting Stephen Blackpool!тАЭ + 

тАЬWe all believe, up at the Lodge, Rachael, that he will be freed from suspicion, sooner or later.тАЭ + 

тАЬThe better I know it to be so believed there, my dear,тАЭ said Rachael, тАЬand the kinder I feel it that you come away from there, purposely to comfort me, and keep me company, and be seen wiтАЩ me when I am not yet free from all suspicion myself, the more grieved I am that I should ever have spoken those mistrusting words to the young lady. And yet IтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYou donтАЩt mistrust her now, Rachael?тАЭ + 

тАЬNow that you have brought us more together, no. But I canтАЩt at all times keep out of my mindтБатАФтАЭ + 

Her voice so sunk into a low and slow communing with herself, that Sissy, sitting by her side, was obliged to listen with attention. + 

тАЬI canтАЩt at all times keep out of my mind, mistrustings of someone. I canтАЩt think who тАЩtis, I canтАЩt think how or why it may be done, but I mistrust that someone has put Stephen out of the way. I mistrust that by his coming back of his own accord, and showing himself innocent before them all, someone would be confounded, whoтБатАФto prevent thatтБатАФhas stopped him, and put him out of the way.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat is a dreadful thought,тАЭ said Sissy, turning pale. + 

тАЬIt is a dreadful thought to think he may be murdered.тАЭ + 

Sissy shuddered, and turned paler yet. + 

тАЬWhen it makes its way into my mind, dear,тАЭ said Rachael, тАЬand it will come sometimes, though I do all I can to keep it out, wiтАЩ counting on to high numbers as I work, and saying over and over again pieces that I knew when I were a childтБатАФI fall into such a wild, hot hurry, that, however tired I am, I want to walk fast, miles and miles. I must get the better of this before bedtime. IтАЩll walk home wiтАЩ you.тАЭ + 

тАЬHe might fall ill upon the journey back,тАЭ said Sissy, faintly offering a worn-out scrap of hope; тАЬand in such a case, there are many places on the road where he might stop.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut he is in none of them. He has been sought for in all, and heтАЩs not there.тАЭ + 

тАЬTrue,тАЭ was SissyтАЩs reluctant admission. + 

тАЬHeтАЩd walk the journey in two days. If he was footsore and couldnтАЩt walk, I sent him, in the letter he got, the money to ride, lest he should have none of his own to spare.тАЭ + 

тАЬLet us hope that tomorrow will bring something better, Rachael. Come into the air!тАЭ + 

Her gentle hand adjusted RachaelтАЩs shawl upon her shining black hair in the usual manner of her wearing it, and they went out. The night being fine, little knots of hands were here and there lingering at street corners; but it was suppertime with the greater part of them, and there were but few people in the streets. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre not so hurried now, Rachael, and your hand is cooler.тАЭ + 

тАЬI get better, dear, if I can only walk, and breathe a little fresh. Times when I canтАЩt, I turn weak and confused.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut you must not begin to fail, Rachael, for you may be wanted at any time to stand by Stephen. Tomorrow is Saturday. If no news comes tomorrow, let us walk in the country on Sunday morning, and strengthen you for another week. Will you go?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, dear.тАЭ + 

They were by this time in the street where Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs house stood. The way to SissyтАЩs destination led them past the door, and they were going straight towards it. Some train had newly arrived in Coketown, which had put a number of vehicles in motion, and scattered a considerable bustle about the town. Several coaches were rattling before them and behind them as they approached Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs, and one of the latter drew up with such briskness as they were in the act of passing the house, that they looked round involuntarily. The bright gaslight over Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs steps showed them Mrs.┬аSparsit in the coach, in an ecstasy of excitement, struggling to open the door; Mrs.┬аSparsit seeing them at the same moment, called to them to stop. + 

тАЬItтАЩs a coincidence,тАЭ exclaimed Mrs.┬аSparsit, as she was released by the coachman. тАЬItтАЩs a Providence! Come out, maтАЩam!тАЭ then said Mrs.┬аSparsit, to someone inside, тАЬcome out, or weтАЩll have you dragged out!тАЭ + 

Hereupon, no other than the mysterious old woman descended. Whom Mrs.┬аSparsit incontinently collared. + 

тАЬLeave her alone, everybody!тАЭ cried Mrs.┬аSparsit, with great energy. тАЬLet nobody touch her. She belongs to me. Come in, maтАЩam!тАЭ then said Mrs.┬аSparsit, reversing her former word of command. тАЬCome in, maтАЩam, or weтАЩll have you dragged in!тАЭ + 

The spectacle of a matron of classical deportment, seizing an ancient woman by the throat, and hauling her into a dwelling-house, would have been under any circumstances, sufficient temptation to all true English stragglers so blest as to witness it, to force a way into that dwelling-house and see the matter out. But when the phenomenon was enhanced by the notoriety and mystery by this time associated all over the town with the Bank robbery, it would have lured the stragglers in, with an irresistible attraction, though the roof had been expected to fall upon their heads. Accordingly, the chance witnesses on the ground, consisting of the busiest of the neighbours to the number of some five-and-twenty, closed in after Sissy and Rachael, as they closed in after Mrs.┬аSparsit and her prize; and the whole body made a disorderly irruption into Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs dining-room, where the people behind lost not a momentтАЩs time in mounting on the chairs, to get the better of the people in front. + 

тАЬFetch Mr.┬аBounderby down!тАЭ cried Mrs.┬аSparsit. тАЬRachael, young woman; you know who this is?тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs Mrs.┬аPegler,тАЭ said Rachael. + 

тАЬI should think it is!тАЭ cried Mrs.┬аSparsit, exulting. тАЬFetch Mr.┬аBounderby. Stand away, everybody!тАЭ Here old Mrs.┬аPegler, muffling herself up, and shrinking from observation, whispered a word of entreaty. тАЬDonтАЩt tell me,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аSparsit, aloud. тАЬI have told you twenty times, coming along, that I will not leave you till I have handed you over to him myself.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аBounderby now appeared, accompanied by Mr.┬аGradgrind and the whelp, with whom he had been holding conference upstairs. Mr.┬аBounderby looked more astonished than hospitable, at sight of this uninvited party in his dining-room. + 

тАЬWhy, whatтАЩs the matter now!тАЭ said he. тАЬMrs.┬аSparsit, maтАЩam?тАЭ + 

тАЬSir,тАЭ explained that worthy woman, тАЬI trust it is my good fortune to produce a person you have much desired to find. Stimulated by my wish to relieve your mind, sir, and connecting together such imperfect clues to the part of the country in which that person might be supposed to reside, as have been afforded by the young woman, Rachael, fortunately now present to identify, I have had the happiness to succeed, and to bring that person with meтБатАФI need not say most unwillingly on her part. It has not been, sir, without some trouble that I have effected this; but trouble in your service is to me a pleasure, and hunger, thirst, and cold a real gratification.тАЭ + 

Here Mrs.┬аSparsit ceased; for Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs visage exhibited an extraordinary combination of all possible colours and expressions of discomfiture, as old Mrs.┬аPegler was disclosed to his view. + 

тАЬWhy, what do you mean by this?тАЭ was his highly unexpected demand, in great warmth. тАЬI ask you, what do you mean by this, Mrs.┬аSparsit, maтАЩam?тАЭ + 

тАЬSir!тАЭ exclaimed Mrs.┬аSparsit, faintly. + 

тАЬWhy donтАЩt you mind your own business, maтАЩam?тАЭ roared Bounderby. тАЬHow dare you go and poke your officious nose into my family affairs?тАЭ + 

This allusion to her favourite feature overpowered Mrs.┬аSparsit. She sat down stiffly in a chair, as if she were frozen; and with a fixed stare at Mr.┬аBounderby, slowly grated her mittens against one another, as if they were frozen too. + 

тАЬMy dear Josiah!тАЭ cried Mrs.┬аPegler, trembling. тАЬMy darling boy! I am not to blame. ItтАЩs not my fault, Josiah. I told this lady over and over again, that I knew she was doing what would not be agreeable to you, but she would do it.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat did you let her bring you for? CouldnтАЩt you knock her cap off, or her tooth out, or scratch her, or do something or other to her?тАЭ asked Bounderby. + 

тАЬMy own boy! She threatened me that if I resisted her, I should be brought by constables, and it was better to come quietly than make that stir in such aтАЭтБатАФMrs.┬аPegler glanced timidly but proudly round the wallsтБатАФтАЬsuch a fine house as this. Indeed, indeed, it is not my fault! My dear, noble, stately boy! I have always lived quiet, and secret, Josiah, my dear. I have never broken the condition once. I have never said I was your mother. I have admired you at a distance; and if I have come to town sometimes, with long times between, to take a proud peep at you, I have done it unbeknown, my love, and gone away again.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аBounderby, with his hands in his pockets, walked in impatient mortification up and down at the side of the long dining-table, while the spectators greedily took in every syllable of Mrs.┬аPeglerтАЩs appeal, and at each succeeding syllable became more and more round-eyed. Mr.┬аBounderby still walking up and down when Mrs.┬аPegler had done, Mr.┬аGradgrind addressed that maligned old lady: + 

тАЬI am surprised, madam,тАЭ he observed with severity, тАЬthat in your old age you have the face to claim Mr.┬аBounderby for your son, after your unnatural and inhuman treatment of him.тАЭ + 

тАЬMe unnatural!тАЭ cried poor old Mrs.┬аPegler. тАЬMe inhuman! To my dear boy?тАЭ + 

тАЬDear!тАЭ repeated Mr.┬аGradgrind. тАЬYes; dear in his self-made prosperity, madam, I dare say. Not very dear, however, when you deserted him in his infancy, and left him to the brutality of a drunken grandmother.тАЭ + 

тАЬI deserted my Josiah!тАЭ cried Mrs.┬аPegler, clasping her hands. тАЬNow, Lord forgive you, sir, for your wicked imaginations, and for your scandal against the memory of my poor mother, who died in my arms before Josiah was born. May you repent of it, sir, and live to know better!тАЭ + 

She was so very earnest and injured, that Mr.┬аGradgrind, shocked by the possibility which dawned upon him, said in a gentler tone: + 

тАЬDo you deny, then, madam, that you left your son toтБатАФto be brought up in the gutter?тАЭ + 

тАЬJosiah in the gutter!тАЭ exclaimed Mrs.┬аPegler. тАЬNo such a thing, sir. Never! For shame on you! My dear boy knows, and will give you to know, that though he come of humble parents, he come of parents that loved him as dear as the best could, and never thought it hardship on themselves to pinch a bit that he might write and cipher beautiful, and IтАЩve his books at home to show it! Aye, have I!тАЭ said Mrs.┬аPegler, with indignant pride. тАЬAnd my dear boy knows, and will give you to know, sir, that after his beloved father died, when he was eight years old, his mother, too, could pinch a bit, as it was her duty and her pleasure and her pride to do it, to help him out in life, and put him тАЩprentice. And a steady lad he was, and a kind master he had to lend him a hand, and well he worked his own way forward to be rich and thriving. And IтАЩll give you to know, sirтБатАФfor this my dear boy wonтАЩtтБатАФthat though his mother kept but a little village shop, he never forgot her, but pensioned me on thirty pound a yearтБатАФmore than I want, for I put by out of itтБатАФonly making the condition that I was to keep down in my own part, and make no boasts about him, and not trouble him. And I never have, except with looking at him once a year, when he has never knowed it. And itтАЩs right,тАЭ said poor old Mrs.┬аPegler, in affectionate championship, тАЬthat I should keep down in my own part, and I have no doubts that if I was here I should do a many unbefitting things, and I am well contented, and I can keep my pride in my Josiah to myself, and I can love for loveтАЩs own sake! And I am ashamed of you, sir,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аPegler, lastly, тАЬfor your slanders and suspicions. And I never stood here before, nor never wanted to stand here when my dear son said no. And I shouldnтАЩt be here now, if it hadnтАЩt been for being brought here. And for shame upon you, Oh, for shame, to accuse me of being a bad mother to my son, with my son standing here to tell you so different!тАЭ + 

The bystanders, on and off the dining-room chairs, raised a murmur of sympathy with Mrs.┬аPegler, and Mr.┬аGradgrind felt himself innocently placed in a very distressing predicament, when Mr.┬аBounderby, who had never ceased walking up and down, and had every moment swelled larger and larger, and grown redder and redder, stopped short. + 

тАЬI donтАЩt exactly know,тАЭ said Mr.┬аBounderby, тАЬhow I come to be favoured with the attendance of the present company, but I donтАЩt inquire. When theyтАЩre quite satisfied, perhaps theyтАЩll be so good as to disperse; whether theyтАЩre satisfied or not, perhaps theyтАЩll be so good as to disperse. IтАЩm not bound to deliver a lecture on my family affairs, I have not undertaken to do it, and IтАЩm not a going to do it. Therefore those who expect any explanation whatever upon that branch of the subject, will be disappointedтБатАФparticularly Tom Gradgrind, and he canтАЩt know it too soon. In reference to the Bank robbery, there has been a mistake made, concerning my mother. If there hadnтАЩt been over-officiousness it wouldnтАЩt have been made, and I hate over-officiousness at all times, whether or no. Good evening!тАЭ + 

Although Mr.┬аBounderby carried it off in these terms, holding the door open for the company to depart, there was a blustering sheepishness upon him, at once extremely crestfallen and superlatively absurd. Detected as the bully of humility, who had built his windy reputation upon lies, and in his boastfulness had put the honest truth as far away from him as if he had advanced the mean claim (there is no meaner) to tack himself on to a pedigree, he cut a most ridiculous figure. With the people filing off at the door he held, who he knew would carry what had passed to the whole town, to be given to the four winds, he could not have looked a bully more shorn and forlorn, if he had had his ears cropped. Even that unlucky female, Mrs.┬аSparsit, fallen from her pinnacle of exultation into the Slough of Despond, was not in so bad a plight as that remarkable man and self-made humbug, Josiah Bounderby of Coketown. + 

Rachael and Sissy, leaving Mrs.┬аPegler to occupy a bed at her sonтАЩs for that night, walked together to the gate of Stone Lodge and there parted. Mr.┬аGradgrind joined them before they had gone very far, and spoke with much interest of Stephen Blackpool; for whom he thought this signal failure of the suspicions against Mrs.┬аPegler was likely to work well. + 

As to the whelp; throughout this scene as on all other late occasions, he had stuck close to Bounderby. He seemed to feel that as long as Bounderby could make no discovery without his knowledge, he was so far safe. He never visited his sister, and had only seen her once since she went home: that is to say on the night when he still stuck close to Bounderby, as already related. + 

There was one dim unformed fear lingering about his sisterтАЩs mind, to which she never gave utterance, which surrounded the graceless and ungrateful boy with a dreadful mystery. The same dark possibility had presented itself in the same shapeless guise, this very day, to Sissy, when Rachael spoke of someone who would be confounded by StephenтАЩs return, having put him out of the way. Louisa had never spoken of harbouring any suspicion of her brother in connection with the robbery, she and Sissy had held no confidence on the subject, save in that one interchange of looks when the unconscious father rested his gray head on his hand; but it was understood between them, and they both knew it. This other fear was so awful, that it hovered about each of them like a ghostly shadow; neither daring to think of its being near herself, far less of its being near the other. + 

And still the forced spirit which the whelp had plucked up, throve with him. If Stephen Blackpool was not the thief, let him show himself. Why didnтАЩt he? + 

Another night. Another day and night. No Stephen Blackpool. Where was the man, and why did he not come back? + 