He sat, therefore, wrapt in his cloak, in the stern of the boat, with
his mind entirely bent upon the probable issue of the interview with
his Sovereign, which it was his purpose to seek; for which abstraction
of mind he may be fully justified, although perhaps, by questioning
the watermen who were transporting him down the river, he might have
discovered matters of high concernment to him.
At any rate, Nigel remained silent till the wherry approached the town
of Greenwich, when he commanded the men to put in for the nearest
landing-place, as it was his purpose to go ashore there, and dismiss
them from further attendance.
"That is not possible," said the fellow with the green jacket, who, as
we have already said, seemed to take on himself the charge of
pilotage. "We must go," he continued, "to Gravesend, where a Scottish
vessel, which dropped down the river last tide for the very purpose,
lies with her anchor a-peak, waiting to carry you to your own dear
northern country. Your hammock is slung, and all is ready for you, and
you talk of going ashore at Greenwich, as seriously as if such a thing
were possible!"
"I see no impossibility," said Nigel, "in your landing me where I
desire to be landed; but very little possibility of your carrying me
anywhere I am not desirous of going."
"Why, whether do you manage the wherry, or we, master?" asked Green-
jacket, in a tone betwixt jest and earnest; "I take it she will go the
way we row her.
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