Many times in the old days, my mother had told me the story of my one relative, Aunt Betsey, who had been present at the time of my birth, confident in her hopes of a niece who should be named for her, Betsey Trotwood, and for whom she proposed to provide liberally.  When I, David Copperfield, came in place of the longed-for niece, Aunt Betsey shook the dust of the place off her feet, and my mother never saw her afterwards.  My idea now was to find Aunt Betsey.  Not knowing where she lived, I wrote a long letter to Peggotty, and asked in it incidentally if she knew the address, and also if she could lend me half a guinea for a short time.  She answered promptly and enclosed the half guinea, saying that Miss Betsey lived just outside of Dover, which place I at once resolved to set out for.  However, I considered myself bound to remain at the warehouse until Saturday night; and as when I first came there I had been paid for a week in advance, not to present myself as usual to receive my wages.  For this reason I had borrowed the half guinea, that I might have a fund for my travelling expenses.

Accordingly, when Saturday night came, I shook Mick Walker’s hand, bade good-night to Mealy Potatoes—­and ran away.

My box was at my old lodging, and I had a card ready for it, addressed to “Master David, to be left till called for at the Coach Office, Dover.”

I found a young man with a donkey-cart whom I engaged for sixpence, to remove my box, and in pulling the card for it out of my pocket, I tumbled my half guinea out too.  I put it in my mouth for safety, and had just tied the card on, when I felt myself violently chucked under the chin by the young man, and saw my half guinea fly out of my mouth into his hand.

“You give me my money back, if you please,” said I, very much frightened.  “And leave me alone!”

“Come to the pollis,” said he; “you shall prove it yourn to the pollis!”

“Give me my box and money, will you?” I cried, bursting into tears.

The young man still replied, “Come to the pollis!”

Then suddenly changed his mind, jumped into the cart, sat upon my box, and exclaiming that he would drive to the pollis straight, rattled away.

I ran after him as fast as I could, narrowly escaping being run over some twenty times in a mile, until I had no breath left to call out with.  Now I lost him, now I saw him, but at length, confused and exhausted, I left him to go where he would with my box and money, and, panting and crying, but never stopping, I faced about for Greenwich, and had some wild idea of running straight to Dover.  However, my scattered senses were soon collected and I sat down on a doorstep, quite spent.  Fortunately, it was a fine summer night, and when I had recovered my breath, I went on again.  But I had only three-halfpence in the world, and as I trudged on, I pictured to myself how I should be found dead in a day or two, under some hedge.  Passing a little pawnshop, I left my waistcoat, and went on, richer by ninepence, and I foresaw that my jacket would go next, in fact that I should be lucky if I got to Dover in a shirt and a pair of trousers.