|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 33
"Well done, my honest friend," said the Doctor; "you have the papers in
your heel, I suppose."
"Ah," exclaimed Israel, perceiving the mild irony; and in an instant his
boots were off again; when, without another word, the Doctor took one
boot, and Israel the other, and forthwith both parties proceeded to
secrete the documents.
"I think I could improve the design," said the sage, as,
notwithstanding his haste, he critically eyed the screwing apparatus of
the boot. "The vacancy should have been in the standing part of the
heel, not in the lid. It should go with a spring, too, for better
dispatch. I'll draw up a paper on false heels one of these days, and
send it to a private reading at the Institute. But no time for it now.
My honest friend, it is now half past ten o'clock. At half past eleven
the diligence starts from the Place-du-Carrousel for Calais. Make all
haste till you arrive at Brentford. I have a little provender here for
you to eat in the diligence, as you will not have time for a regular
meal. A day-and-night courier should never be without a cracker in his
pocket. You will probably leave Brentford in a day or two after your
arrival there. Be wary, now, my good friend; heed well, that, if you are
caught with these papers on British ground, you will involve both
yourself and our Brentford friends in fatal calamities. Kick no man's
box, never mind whose, in the way. Mind your own box. You can't be too
cautious, but don't be too suspicious. God bless you, my honest friend.
Go!"
And, flinging the door open for his exit, the Doctor saw Israel dart
into the entry, vigorously spring down the stairs, and disappear with
all celerity across the court into the vaulted way.
The man of wisdom stood mildly motionless a moment, with a look of
sagacious, humane meditation on his face, as if pondering upon the
chances of the important enterprise: one which, perhaps, might in the
sequel affect the weal or woe of nations yet to come. Then suddenly
clapping his hand to his capacious coat-pocket, dragged out a bit of
cork with some hen's feathers, and hurrying to his room, took out his
knife, and proceeded to whittle away at a shuttlecock of an original
scientific construction, which at some prior time he had promised to
send to the young Duchess D'Abrantes that very afternoon.
Safely reaching Calais, at night, Israel stepped almost from the
diligence into the packet, and, in a few moments, was cutting the water.
As on the diligence he took an outside and plebeian seat, so, with the
same secret motive of preserving unsuspected the character assumed, he
took a deck passage in the packet. It coming on to rain violently, he
stole down into the forecastle, dimly lit by a solitary swinging lamp,
where were two men industriously smoking, and filling the narrow hole
with soporific vapors. These induced strange drowsiness in Israel, and
he pondered how best he might indulge it, for a time, without
imperilling the precious documents in his custody.
But this pondering in such soporific vapors had the effect of those
mathematical devices whereby restless people cipher themselves to sleep.
His languid head fell to his breast. In another moment, he drooped
half-lengthwise upon a chest, his legs outstretched before him.
Presently he was awakened by some intermeddlement with his feet.
Starting to his elbow, he saw one of the two men in the act of slyly
slipping off his right boot, while the left one, already removed, lay on
the floor, all ready against the rascal's retreat Had it not been for
the lesson learned on the Pont Neuf, Israel would instantly have
inferred that his secret mission was known, and the operator some
designed diplomatic knave or other, hired by the British Cabinet, thus
to lie in wait for him, fume him into slumber with tobacco, and then
rifle him of his momentous dispatches. But as it was, he recalled Doctor
Franklin's prudent admonitions against the indulgence of premature
suspicions.
"Sir," said Israel very civilly, "I will thank you for that boot which
lies on the floor, and, if you please, you can let the other stay where
it is."
"Excuse me," said the rascal, an accomplished, self-possessed
practitioner in his thievish art; "I thought your boots might be
pinching you, and only wished to ease you a little."
"Much obliged to ye for your kindness, sir," said Israel; "but they
don't pinch me at all. I suppose, though, you think they wouldn't pinch
_you_ either; your foot looks rather small. Were you going to try 'em
on, just to see how they fitted?"
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|