"To be sure I do. I am Mr. Deputy Inspector Dredger Smith, and am forced to come and superintend the barge, you see; but my boat that I sent to shore for something, has not come back, and I am getting cold, for I am not so young as you are, you know."
"Why, I don't suppose you is, sir," said the boy; "but I'll put you ashore, if you like."
"Thank you, I should like."
"Get in, then, sir. All's right. I'll hold on to the barge. Easy—easy with you, sir. That will do. Which side of the river, sir, would you like to be put ashore at, if you please?"
The boy was evidently deeply impressed with the importance of the title of Deputy Inspector Dredger, and was quite deferential to Todd.
How delighted was Todd to get off the barge! It seemed to him like a reprieve from death.
"Which way is the tide, boy?" he said.
"Running down, sir, but not fast."
"That will do. I will trouble you, then, to row with it as comfortably and as fast as you can.
"But I'm going, sir, to Westminster, to meet father. I can't go down the river, please sir. I would if I could. I said I would put you on shore on either side you like, and that's a waste of time, for the tide is getting fuller every minute, and it will be a hard pull against it, as it is. I can't go down the river, so don't ask me, sir; indeed I can't."