"All is safe," he said. "I do, indeed, think she is right, and that they
have given up the chase for me. She has not deceived me, and I may yet
escape." He kept close to the road-side, so that he was very much covered by the
hedge, and then, at as fast a pace as he thought he could keep up for
any length of time, he ran on. He had not gone far when he heard the sound of wheels behind him, and he
got over a hedge and hid behind it until he could see what sort of
vehicle it was that approached. It turned out to be a cart driven by a
couple of countrymen, who were talking upon their own affairs in rather
loud tones; as they came on, Todd listened intently, and was satisfied
that his supposed escape into that neighbourhood was not the subject of
their discourse. CHAPTER CLXVI. THE SHIP BOUND FOR HAVRE TAKES A PASSENGER. "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." [Illustration: 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."