The Police-Galley Chasing Todd To Gravesend.
"What is it then?"
"You pull away, and I'll tell you. You see that boat with the sail and the six rowers there?"
"Yes, yes!"
"And you heard them fire a gun?"
"To be sure."
"Well, pull away. It's enough to make a cat laugh; but it was Mr. Anthony Strong that fired that gun."
"How very droll? But what did he do it for?"
"Well, pull away, and I'll tell you. You must know that Mr. Anthony Strong, who is in command of that police-boat, is my brother-in-law, and he laid a wager with me, that he would start from the pier at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, at daybreak this morning, and get to Gravesend before me, if I started from Blackfriars, and did the best I possibly could to get on that money and men could do for me. I allowed that he was to take all his six rowers with him, and hoist his sail if he liked, and I was to take no more than two watermen at a time. When he saw me, he was to fire a gun, you see; and the wager is for twenty pounds and a dinner. I should like to win it, and so, if you can fairly beat him, with the start you have, which is above a mile—"