Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - Chapter five

The sergeant comes into the kitchen with Pip. One hand holding handcuffs and the other on Pip's shoulder. He wishes for Mr Joe services, to fix the handcuffs. They aren't working properly.
Joe says that he can fix the problem, but it will take two long hours and a few preparations. The soldiers help Mr Joe with all arrangements and he starts the job.
Pip is twice relieved. The presence of the soldiers there, made Mrs Joe forget about the pie, and he thought that the handcuffs would be for him.

Mr Wopsle asks the sergeant what is the purpose of the excursion. He answers that they are looking for two convicts that escaped from the hulls. Pip is worried about. He is sure that the two convicts are the same that he had encountered one day before.
Joe's job has done,  and he invites some of the members of the dinner to go with the soldiers and look for the fugitives. Mr Pumblechook and Mr Hubble declined. Mr Wopsle says that he would go. Joe asks Mrs Joe whether Pip would go or not. She approves but says "If you bring the boy back with his head blown to bits by a musket, don’t look to me to put it together again." Here again, Dickens has made masterly use of good humour.

After receiving orders from the sergeant to keep in the rear, and speak no word after reached the marshes, Mr Wopsle, Joe and Pip leave the house. When they arrive at the same place that Pip was a few hours ago, Pip starts to think that maybe the convicts could think that he is responsible for the chase. Walking through the marshes they come to the old Battery, there the soldiers stopped. It seems that they found someone."Here are both men!’ panted the sergeant, struggling at the bottom of a ditch. ‘Surrender, you two! and confound you for two wild beasts! Come asunder!’ It's the Pip's convicts."

After being handcuffed, both convicts start to blame each other. One saying that he was the victim of attempted murder and another denying the accusation, saying that he was only trying to return the convict to the hulls, therefore helping the authorities. "The other one still gasped, 'He tried - he tried - to murder me. Bear - bear witness.’

‘Lookee here!’ said my convict to the sergeant. ‘Singlehanded I got clear of the prison-ship; I made a dash and I done it."
After a long walk, they returned to the prison ship. There the convicts were locked again.

See you on Chapter six.