Chapter 12

He was lying unconscious in bed, looking very pale and ill.  Peggotty was sitting beside him.  She jumped up and took me delightedly in her arms, just as she used to do.  Then she turned to her husband.  ‘Brakis, my dear,’  she said almost cheerfully, ‘here’s Master David, who brought us together, you remember?  He carried your messages for you.  Can you speak to him?’
Brakis lay silently there, not moving.  We sat beside him all through that long night.  In the early morning, he suddenly opened his eyes, reached out his hand to me, and said clearly, with a pleasant smile, ‘Brakis is willing!’  And then he closed his eyes, and died.
I was able to help Peggotty with the arrangements for the funeral.  Barkis was buried in Blunderstone churchyard, close to my mother and little brother.  We discovered that Barkis had saved quite a lot of money, which he left to Peggotty and Daniel.  So I knew that Peggotty would not need to work in future.
On the day before the funeral, we all arranged to meet at the old boat.  It was my last evening in Yarmouth, as I was returning to London the following day.  When I arrived, I was surprised to see that Ham and Emily were not there.  Peggotty was feeling more cheerful now, and Daniel was talking to her.  Just then Ham came to the door.