"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
short chain dependent from the cabin-roof. "There," said the captain. "The chandelier is alight now, and you will
be able to see about you. Hilloa! Where are you now?" "Why, I rather think I fell off the shelf," said Todd. "I beg your
pardon, the state berth, I mean." "Then you had better turn in again, for we shall have, I think, a
squally sort of night rather. There are symptoms of a sou wester, and if
so, you will know a little of what weather is in the Channel." "Where are we now?" said Todd, mournfully. "About fifteen miles off the North Foreland, so we are tolerably quiet
just yet; but when we turn the head of the land, it's likely enough we
may find out what the wind means to say to us." While the captain spoke, he tugged on a complete suit of waterproof
apparel, that seemed as thick and inflexible as so much armour covered
with tar, and then up he went upon deck again, leaving Todd to the
society of his own reflections and the chandelier. The Lively William was going on just then with a flowing sheet, so that
she was carrying a tolerably even keel, and Todd was able to get up and
reach his berth; but at the moment that he laid hold of the side of it
to clamber in, the ship was tacked, and away went Todd to the opposite
side of the state-cabin with the rug in his grasp that did duty as a
counterpane in the berth. "This will kill me," he groaned. "Oh, this will kill me. But yet--yet I
am escaping, and that is something. There will be a storm, but all ships
are not lost that encounter storms."