"
"I would not go ashore with you for a hundred pieces," said the
waterman. "111 luck has ever attended you, except in small gaming; do
me fair justice, and give me the testimony I desire. If you are afraid
of foul play while you write it, you may hold my pistols, if you
will." He offered the weapons to Nigel accordingly, who, while they
were under his control, and all possibility of his being taken at
disadvantage was excluded, no longer hesitated to give the waterman an
acknowledgment, in the following terms:--
"Jack in the Green, with his mate, belonging to the wherry called the
Jolly Raven, have done their duty faithfully by me, landing me at
Greenwich by my express command; and being themselves willing and
desirous to carry me on board the Royal Thistle, presently lying at
Gravesend." Having finished this acknowledgment, which he signed with
the letters, N. O. G. as indicating his name and title, he again
requested to know of the waterman, to whom he delivered it, the name
of his employers.
"Sir," replied Jack in the Green, "I have respected your secret, do
not you seek to pry into mine. It would do you no good to know for
whom I am taking this present trouble; and, to be brief, you shall not
know it--and, if you will fight in the quarrel, as you said even now,
the sooner we begin the better. Only this you may be cock-sure of,
that we designed you no harm, and that, if you fall into any, it will
be of your own wilful seeking.
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