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Last time, we saw Pip return to Miss Havisham's,
and were introduced to her poorer relations -- Sarah Pocket, Cousin
Raymond, and Miss Camilla -- as well as to a strange gentleman Pip
passed coming out of Miss Havisham's chambers. This time, Miss Havisham
asked Pip to help her walk around a room where a decaying, spider-infested
bride cake stood on the table. Afterwards, Pip was sent outside,
as before, but this time found a "pale young gentleman" in Miss
Havisham's ruined garden. The pale young gentleman invited him to
fight, and Pip -- agreeing -- knocked him down several times; yet
they parted amicably. Estella let Pip out at the gate as before,
but -- evidently excited by the fight -- allowed him to kiss her.
Pip's visits to Miss Havisham continued for some
time, and she eventually inquired after his future prospects. He
informed her that he was to be apprenticed to Joe, and she asked
to see the blacksmith. When Joe presented himself, Miss Havisham
told him that Pip had earned a premium with her, and gave him a
sum sufficient to buy Pip's apprenticeship (which Joe would otherwise
have waved). Thus, legally apprenticed to Joe, Joe became Pip's
master. The boy's visits to Miss Havisham were, thereafter, to cease.
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