"hilloa!" cried todd, as he came out into the middle of the road and confronted the cart with the two men in it. "hilloa! which way are you going?"
"one would think you might see that," said one of the men, "by the way the horse's nose points."
"what do you want?" said the other, rather sharply.
"not to intrude upon you at all, if you don't like it," replied todd; "but i am going to gravesend, and if you will help me on a part of the way, i will pay you well for it. i thought it would be good for my constitution to walk, but i find i am older than i thought i was."
"what will you give?" said one of the men, in a dubious tone of voice.
"name your price," said todd, "and i will give it. i know you will not be unreasonable with me."
"will you give half a guinea?" said the other.
"yes, for i am foot-weary."
"jump up, then, and we will soon take you to gravesend. you ain't many miles off from it now by the near cuts that we know. come on."
todd managed to scramble into the cart, and the man who was driving gave the horse an impulse forward, and away they went at a good pace.
todd began to feel a little easier in his mind now, for the quick motion of the cart in the direction that he wished to go in was most satisfactory to him. he felt quite delighted in a little time, when one of the men pointing ahead, cried out—
"there's the first houses in gravesend, if you really want to go there."
"really," said todd. "indeed i do. can you tell me what vessels are off the port?"
"perhaps we can, and perhaps we can't, old fellow; but we will have some talk about that soon. ha! ha!"
there was something so peculiar in the laugh of the man, that todd began to wonder into what hands he had fallen. they, every now and then, too, gave to each other a very significant look, as though there was some secret between them which they would not converse of before him. all this began to make todd very uneasy, indeed, and the little amount of felicitation which he had been giving to himself so short a time before, rapidly subsided.
"am i a prisoner?"
these were the words that occurred to him, but he had no ready means of answering the question. all he could do was to keep upon his guard, and, to tell the truth, well armed and desperate as he was, todd was no very despicable match for any two men.
suddenly the man who was driving turned the horse's head down a deep declivity that led towards the river, to the right of the road.
the country they were in was all of chalk, and this narrow road, or rather lane, at right angles with the high road, was evidently a cutting through the chalk foundation for the sake of a ready passage from the side of the thames to the high road.
a more picturesque spot could not well have been conceived. the small amount of loam upon the surface of the chalk, bore a brilliant vegetation; and upon the tall rugged sides of the deep cutting, wherever a small portion of earth had lodged, tall weeds had grown up, while on each side of the lane, close to the base of the chalky heights, there was a mass of weeds and tall creeping plants, and here and there a young tree, which lent a beautifully verdant aspect to the place.
every step that the horse now went, conducted the cart and its occupants deeper and deeper into the cutting, until, at last, the sky overhead looked only like a thin streak of light, and the gloom of a premature twilight was about the place.
"halt!" cried the man who was not driving, and the horse was stopped in the gloomiest portion of the lane. todd turned ghastly pale, and kept his hand plunged in his breast upon one of his pistols.
"what have you come down here for?" he said. "why do you come to a stop in such a place as this?"
"we will soon let you know," said the man who had not been driving, knitting his brows. "no doubt, you thought you had nailed us nicely, my fine fellow."
"nailed you?"
"yes. you need not put on such an innocent look, i can tell you. we are pretty good judges in these matters, and it's quite sufficient for me to tell you that we know you."
"know me?"
"yes, to be sure. did you think we were taken in by any such nonsense as your being tired, and so on?—no. we know you, i say, and this hour is your last. you have placed yourself in our power, and we will take good care of you now. there is a well in this lane which keeps secrets capitally."
todd drew his pistol, and held it against the breast of this man.
"attempt any violence," he said, "and i fire!"
"oh, indeed! you are well prepared, are you? i must say that, for an exciseman, you are a bold fellow."
"a what?"
"an exciseman. you know well you have been on the look-out for us for the last week; so it is of no use denying it. you thought you nabbed us, when you got into our cart."
todd's adventure with the smugglers.
todd's adventure with the smugglers.
todd lowered his pistol.
"this is a foolish enough mistake," he said, "i am no more an exciseman than i am commander-in-chief of the forces. what could have put such a thing into your heads?"
"say you so?" cried the other. "but how will you make us believe it? that's the question."
"well," said todd, putting on a very candid look, "i don't know how a man is to set about proving that he is not an exciseman. i only know that i am not. the real truth is, that i am in debt, and being pressed by my creditors, have thought proper to get out of their way; and so i want to make the best of my way to gravesend, that is all. i fancy, by your anger at the idea of my being an exciseman, that you are smugglers; and if so, i can only say that, with all my heart, you may go on smuggling with the greatest success until the day of judgment, before i would interfere with you in the matter."
"dare we believe him?" said one of the men to the other.
"i hardly know," replied the other; "and yet it would be rather a sad thing to take a man's life, when it might turn out that he was not what we took him for."
"how on earth am i to convince you?" said todd.
"where do you want to go to?"
"i want to get on board some vessel, i don't care what, so that it is bound to some continental port. my object, i tell you, is to get away, and that is all."
"would the port of havre in france suit you?"
"perfectly well."
the two men now whispered together for a few moments, and then, one of them, turning to todd, said:—
"the fact is that we are somewhat connected with a vessel bound for havre, and it will sail to-night. if you are really what you pretend, and truly want to leave england, you can come with us, and we will give you a passage; but we expect to be paid for it."
"nothing can be more reasonable," said todd; "i will pay you a liberal price, and as i wish to go on board as soon as i can, you may feel 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.
