“Glory!” replied Murray. “But we might starve if we had to pronounce that name before dinner.”
The students astonished the keeper of the restaurant by the quantity of soup, chicken, and chops they devoured; but they all gave him the credit of providing an excellent dinner. The excursionists had to wait a long time for the train from Oporto, for it was more than an hour late; and they did not arrive at Lisbon till half-past nine. The doctor and his pupils were sent to the Hotel Braganza, after they had gone through another ordeal with the custom-house officers. Bill Stout was taken to the Hotel Central on the quay by the river. The runaway had been as tractable as one of the lambs, till he came to the hotel. While the party were waiting for the rooms to be assigned to them, and Mr. Lowington was very busy, he slipped out into the street. He walked along the river, looking out at the vessels anchored in the stream. He made out the outline of several steamers. While he was looking at them, a couple of sailors, “half seas over,”, passed him. They were talking in English, and Bill hailed them.
“Do you know whether there is a steamer in port bound to England?” he asked, after he had passed the time of night with them.
“Yes, my lad: there is the Princess Royal, and she sails for London early in the morning,” replied the more sober of the two sailors. “Are you bound to London?”
“I am. Which is the Princess Royal?”
The man pointed the steamer out to him, and insisted that he should take a drink with them. Bill did not object. But he never took any thing stronger than wine, and his new friends insisted that he should join them with some brandy. He took very little; but then he felt obliged to treat his new friends in turn for their civility, and he repeated the dose. He then inquired where he could find a boat to take him on board of the steamer. They went out with him, and soon found a boat, in which he embarked. The boatman spoke a little English; and as soon as he was clear of the shore he asked which steamer his passenger wished to go to. By this time the brandy was beginning to have its effect upon Bill’s head; but he answered the man by pointing to the one the sailor had indicated, as he supposed.
In a few moments the boat was alongside the steamer; and Bill’s head was flying around like a top. He paid the boatman his price, and then with an uneasy step walked up the accommodation-ladder. A man was standing on the platform at the head of the ladder, who asked him what he wanted.
“I want to go to England,” replied the runaway, tossing his bag over the rail upon the deck.