The man glanced uneasily at Gray, as he replied in a low tone,—
“Your lordship might trust me—if—”
“If what, my friend?”
“If I might trust your worship.”
“You may, or rather the trusting is all on my side. All I want of you is this; when I shall some day give you notice that I shall want a wherry at a particular hour and at the stairs I shall name, will you be there?”
“Certainly,” replied the man. “But that is not quite all?”
“You are right,” said Gray. “I shall bring one with me; we will take with us wherewithal to make us merry. I am abstemious, but my friend is not, and I have often told him that some of these days, when drinking in a wherry he will become so confused, that he will accidentally fall into the Thames, do you understand?”
“I—think—I—do.”
“I am sure you do,” added Gray.
The man nodded.