Todd himself had had his suspicions that the passage of old London Bridge would be one of no ordinary difficulty on such a night as that, but he knew that if the tide was at that point which the old man mentioned, that it might be passed with the most perfect safety, and it was a matter of no small gratification to him to hear from such a competent authority that such was the fact just then.
"Let us go at once," he said.
"All's right, sir. Our wherry is just at the foot of the stairs, here. I will pull her in, Harry."
The old man ran down the slippery stairs with the activity of a boy, and as Todd and Harry followed him, the latter said, in quite a confidential tone of voice—
Todd Encounters Great Perils On The River Thames.
"Ah, sir, you may trust to his judgment on anything that has anything to do with the river."
"I am glad to hear it."
"Yes, sir, and so am I. Now I thought I knew something, and I shouldn't have ventured to take you, or if I had, it would have been with rather a faint heart; but now that the old man, sir, says it's all right, I feel as comfortable as needs be in the matter."
By this time they had reached the foot of the steps, which was being laved by the tide, and there the old man had the boat safely in hand.