"
As I have said, we did not suspect that Mr. Rowe had betrayed us by
post; but in the course of the afternoon Fred said to me, "I'll tell
you what, Charlie, I know old Rowe well, and he's up to any trick,
and sure to want to keep in with my father. If we don't take care
he'll take us back with him. And what fools we shall look then!"
The idea was intolerable; but I warned Fred to carefully avoid
betraying that we suspected him. The captain had had worse enemies to
outwit, and had kept a pirate in good humour for a much longer voyage
by affability and rum. We had no means of clouding Mr. Rowe's
particularly sharp wits with grog, but we resolved to be amiable and
wary, and when we did get to London to look out for the first
opportunity of giving the barge-master the slip.
CHAPTER IX.
A COASTING VOYAGE--MUSK ISLAND--LINNET FLASH--MR. ROWE AN OLD TAR--THE
DOG-FANCIER AT HOME.
It was a delightful feature of our first voyage--and one which we
could not hope to enjoy so often in voyages to come--that we were
always close to land, and this on both sides. We could touch either
coast without difficulty, and as the barge stopped several times
during the day to rest the horse, Fred and I had more than one chance
of going ashore.
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