As to becoming cabin-boy to a trading
vessel in hopes of rising to be a captain, the barge-master contrived
to impress me with the idea that I might as well take the situation of
boot and knife cleaner in the Royal Kitchen, in hopes of its proving
the first step towards ascending the Throne.
We seemed to have seen and done so much since we were on the canal
before, that I felt quite sentimental as we glided into Linnet Flash.
"The old place looks just the same, Barge-master," said I with a
travelled air.
"So it do, sir," said Mr. Rowe; and he added--"There's no place like
Home."
I hardly know how near we were to the town, but I know that it was
getting late, that the dew was heavy on the towing-path, and that
among the dark pencilled shadows of the sallows in the water the full
moon's reflection lay like a golden shield; when the driver, who was
ahead, stepped back and shouted--"The bells are ringing!"
When we got a little nearer we heard them quite clearly, and just when
I was observing a red glow diffuse itself in the cold night sky above
the willow hedge on our left, Mr. Rowe said, "There must be a queer
kind of echo somewhere, I heard sixteen bells."
And then I saw the driver, whose figure stood out dark against the
moonlit moorland on our right, point with his arm to the fast
crimsoning sky, and Mr.
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