Great Expectations Chapter Ten Summary

Sam Cooke must have had Pip in mind when he wrote these lyrics: "Don’t know much about history, don’t know much biology, don’t know much about a science book, don’t know much about the French I took. But I do know that I love you. And I know that if you love me too, what a wonderful world this would be."
Pip gets the notion in his head that he needs some schooling in order to become uncommon.
The only problem is that Pip’s narcoleptic school teacher, Mr. Wopsle’s great aunt, can’t teach a thing to anybody, because she’s too busy sleeping in her room/grocery store/schoolhouse.
Fortunately, Biddy comes to the rescue. Biddy not only agrees to teach Pip everything she knows about reading, writing, and arithmetic, but she also takes on the task of teaching all the children in town. She is really something.
One night after school, Pip stops at the Three Jolly Bargeman pub to collect Joe. He finds Joe, Mr. Wopsle, and a strange man next to the roaring fire, drinking rum and smoking pipes.
The strange man looks at Pip through squinty eyes and seems to recognize him. Creepy. Pip decides to sit next to Joe, even though El Weirdo summons him to sit with him.
This mystery man is very curious about Pip and about how Pip is related to Joe.
Mr. Wopsle is tanked and reciting lines from Shakespeare’s play, Richard III.
The mystery man keeps rubbing his leg, and, suddenly, he pulls out a file and starts stirring his drink with it. Pip’s little heart is atwitter, because he recognizes that file to be the very same file he stole out of Joe’s smithy to give to the escaped convict.
The mystery man watches Pip the whole time knowingly.
As the men get up to leave, the mystery man gives Pip some change wrapped in a piece of paper. Pip is grateful, but totally freaked out still.
When Pip and Joe get home and tell Mrs. Joe about the stranger, she demands to see the money he gave Pip. As he unwraps the paper, he realizes that the paper is actually money itself – a lot of money.
Joe runs back to the pub to return the mystery man his money, but the mystery man is gone.
Mrs. Joe stuffs the money in a tea pot to keep it safe.
Pip has wild dreams all night long.

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