The String of Pearls; Or, The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance.
yourself perfectly easy regarding your suspicions of my being an
exciseman, by keeping me in your company, and placing me on board your
own vessel as quickly as you can."
"Hang it, that's fair enough," cried one of them. "Come on, then, and
let us get to the Lively William as soon as we can. It's rather a mercy
we did not knock you on the head, though, at once."
"I am very much obliged," said Todd.
"Oh, don't mention it. I always myself, mind, defer anything of that
sort till the last. It's a very rough and ugly way of settling matters,
at the best; but when you can't reasonably, you know, do anything else,
why, you must, and there's an end of it."
"Exactly," said Todd. "I perceive that you are quite a philosopher in
such transactions. So now that we have a better understanding together,
the sooner we get on board this Lively William you talk of, the better."
"Not a doubt of that. Come up."
The horse's head was turned up the lane again, and in a very few moments
the high road was gained, and they went on at a rapid trot for
Gravesend. The town was soon reached--that town what is all dirt in
winter, and chalk-dust in summer--and the two men, by the manner in
which they kept their eyes upon Todd while they passed several throngs
of people, showed that it was a very difficult thing indeed to get rid
of suspicion when once it took possession of them.
After, however, getting right through the town, and finding that Todd
did not attempt to give the least alarm, but, on the contrary, shrunk
from observation as much as he could, their confidence in him was
complete, and they really believed him to be what he pretended to be.
Whether, if those men had really known who and what he was, they would
have altered their views with regard to him, is a matter difficult to
give an opinion upon; but as it was, they had no scruples whatever,
provided he would pay them a good price for his passage to Havre.
"Now," said one of them, "we know that you have not deceived us, and
that it is all right, we don't mind telling you that we are the captain
and owner of the Lively William, and that we are in the regular
smuggling trade, between the French Ports and this country. We don't
make a bad thing of it, one way and another."
"I am glad to hear it," said Todd.
"Ah, you view this sort of thing in a christian-like spirit, we see; and
if you have no objection to a drop of as pure champagne brandy as ever
you tasted, provided you have tasted some of the best, you can have a
drop."
"I should like it much," said Todd.
"Just look out ahead, then, and fix your eyes on that old tree yonder,
while we get it."
Todd did not care to know what mode of hiding spirits the two men had in
their cart; so he did as they required of him, and fixed his eyes upon
the old tree. After he had kept his eyes upon that object for some few
minutes, they called out to him--
"All's right."
Todd looked round, and found one of the men with a small bladder of
spirits, and a little horn drinking-cup.
"Here," he said, "you can give us your opinion of this."
Todd tossed off the contents of the cup.
"Excellent!" he cried. "Excellent! That, indeed, is brandy. I do not
think that such is to be got in London."
"Scarcely," said the man, as he helped himself, and then handed the
bladder and the cup to his companion; "but we are going to put up our
horse and cart now, and if you will be so good as to look at the old
tree again, we will send the brandy away."
"Certainly," said Todd.
The brandy was soon, in some mysterious manner, disposed of, and then
the cart was stopped at the door of a little country-looking inn, the
landlord of which seemed to have a perfect understanding with the two
men belonging to the Lively William.
"Now," said one of them to Todd, "as you have no objection to go on
board at once, we will put you there."
"Objection?" cried Todd. "My objection is to remain on land. I beg that
you will let me feel that I am on the deck of your vessel, as quickly as
possible."
"That will do. This way."
They led him down a narrow lane with tall hedges upon each side, and
then across a straggling mangy-looking field or two, such as are to be
found on the banks of the Thames, and on the northern coasts of some
portions of England, the Isle of Wight in particular, and then they came
at once to the bank of the river.
A boatman hailed them, and upon their making signs to him that his
services were required, he pulled in to the shore; and Todd, with his
two new friends, were in a few moments going through the water to the
vessel.
The Lively William did not look particularly lively. It was a
slatternly-looking craft, and its black, dingy hull presented anything
but an inviting appearance. The genius of dirt and neglect seemed to
have taken possession of the vessel, and the nearer Todd got to it, the
less he liked it; but still it was a means of his escaping, and had it
been ten times a more uncomfortable-looking abode than it was, he would
have gladly gone on board it.
"Here we are!" cried one of the men.
The boat touched the side of the ship, and in another moment, Todd was
upon her deck.
CHAPTER CLXVII.
TODD MEETS WITH A LITTLE ROUGH WEATHER IN THE CHANNEL.
Todd almost thought that he was saved, when he felt himself fairly upon
the deck of the Lively William. It seemed to him such a miracle to get
so far, that his faith in completely getting the better of his enemies
increased wonderfully.
"Oh, this is a relief," he said. "This is, indeed, a vast relief."
"What do you mean?" said one of the men of the cart to him, as he eyed
him keenly.
Todd was very anxious not to excite any suspicion that he was other than
what he had represented himself to be; so he answered quickly--
"I mean that it is a relief to get out of the small boat into the ship.
Ever so little a distance in a boat disagrees with me."
"Oh, that's it, is it?"
"Yes; and if you have no particular objection, I will go below at once.
I daresay the cabin accommodation is very good on board the Lively
William."
"Oh, quite wonderful!" said the captain. "If you will come with me
Mr.--a--a--what's your name?"
"Wilkins," said Todd.
"Oh, Mr. Wilkins. Well, if you will come with me, I shall have the very
great pleasure of showing you what a capital berth we can give you."
"Thank you," said Todd, and then, rather timidly, for the staircase down
which the captain dived seemed to Todd better adapted for poultry than
for human beings, he carefully followed his new friend.
The cabin of the Lively William was a woful place. Any industrious
house-wife would have sneered at it as a linen-cupboard; and if it had
been mentioned as a store-room in any establishment of pretentions, it
would have excited universal reprobation. It had a roof which nobbed
Todd's head if he attempted to stand upright; and the walls sloped to
the shape of the sides of the Lively William. The window was a square
hole, with a sliding shutter; and the furniture would have made the
dingiest broker's shop in London blush to own it.
"This is the state cabin," said the captain.
"Really?" said Todd.
"Why, don't you see it is by its size and looks? You won't often see in
a craft of this size a handsomer cabin than that of the Lively William."
"I dare say not," said Todd. "It will do very well for me, my friend.
When a man is travelling, he must not be very particular, as it is soon
over."
"That true; but now I want to say something to you, if you please,
that's rather particular. It's quite clear to me and my mate, that you
want to get out of England as quickly as possible. What you have done,
or what you haven't is not much matter to us, except, so far as that, we
daresay you have swindled the public to a tolerable tune. We don't mean
to take you for nothing."
"Nor do I wish you," said Todd. "Nothing can possibly be further from my
thoughts."
"Very good; then, in a word, we don't intend to do the thing unhandsome;
and you shall have all the capital accommodation that the Lively William
can give you to the Port of Havre for twenty pounds."
"Twenty pounds?"
"Yes. If you think it is too much, you may go on shore again, and there
is no harm done, you know."
"Oh, no--no. That is, I cannot help thinking it is a large price; and if
I were to say I thought otherwise, you would not believe me; but as I
really wish to go, and you say you will not take less, I must give it."
"Very good. That's settled, then. We shall be off at ebb-tide, and I
only hope we shall have good luck, for if we do, we ought to make Havre,
at all events, this time to-morrow."
"I hope we shall."
"Keep up your heart, and make yourself comfortable. Here's lots of the
most amusing books on this shelf. Let me see. Here is the 'Navy List'
for about ten years ago, and here's a 'Ready-reckoner,' and here is 'The
Exciseman's Vade Mecum,' and here is a 'Chart of the Soundings of
Baffin's Bay,' so you can't say you are out of books."
"Oh, how kind," said Todd.
"And you can order whatever you like to eat and drink, provided you
don't think of anything but boiled beef, biscuits, and brandy."
"Oh, I shall do well enough. Rest is now what I want, and a quick
voyage."
"Very good," said the captain. "You will not be at all interrupted here,
so you can lie down in this magnificent berth."
"What, on that shelf?"
"Shelf? Do you call the state berth of the 'Lively William,' a shelf!"
"Well--well, I dare say it is very comfortable, though the roof, I see,
is only eight inches or so from one's nose. I am very much obliged. Oh,
very!"
The captain now left Todd to himself and to his own thoughts, and as he
really felt fatigued, he got into the state berth of the Lively William,
which, to tell the truth, would have been very comfortable if it had
only been a little wider and a little longer, and the roof higher, and
not quite so damp and hard as it was.
But, after all, what where all these little disagreeables, provided he,
Todd, fairly escaped? If he once set his foot upon the shores of France,
he felt that, with the great continent before him, he should be free,
and he did not doubt for a moment getting in any capital a ready enough
market among the Jews for the watches and jewellery that he had about
him.
The ship as the tide washed slowly by it, moved to and fro with a
sluggish motion that rocked Todd to sleep, and he dropped off from a
perception of the world and all its cares.
How long he slept he knew not, but when he awoke all was darkness around
him, and the first attempt he made to move brought his head into violent
contact with the partition of his berth.
Then Todd felt that the ship was tossing upon the water, and he could
hear the dash and ripple of the sea pass her sides, while every now and
then a loud splash against the closed shutter of the cabin-window warned
him that that sea was not in one of its quietest moods.
"We are off!" cried Todd, in the exultation of his spirits at that fact.
"We are off, and I am all but free."
He attempted to get out of the berth, and he was materially assisted by
a roll of the sea that sent him to the other side of the cabin,
accompanied by a couple of stools and several articles that happened to
be lying loose upon the floor.
"Murder!" cried Todd.
"Hilloa!" cried a gruff voice from the companion-way. "Hilloa! What
now?"
"Oh, nothing," said Todd. "Nothing. Where are we now? Oh, dear, what a
thing it is to live in a cupboard that won't stand still."
The gleam of a lantern flashed in Todd's eyes, and the captain came
below with it swinging in his hand. He steadied himself against the
table, which was firmly screwed to the floor, and hung the lantern to a