Toby shook his head. “There used to be, sir, about six years ago, but the man who ran it died, and——”
“Great Scott! Do you mean to tell me that I’ve got to go way around by Riverport? Why, that’ll take me two hours! And I’ve got an appointment there at nine! What sort of a place is this, anyway? No ferry! No place to get any breakfast! No—no——!” he sputtered angrily.
“I guess it’ll take most of two hours by carriage,” agreed Toby, “but I can put you over there by eight-thirty, sir.”
“You’ve got a boat?”
“Yes, sir, but——”
“Where is it?” The stranger’s gaze swept over the bobbing craft. “I suppose it’s a sailboat and we’ll drift around out there half the morning. Well, I’ll try it. Good gracious, only seventy miles from the city and no—no accommodations of any sort! No place to eat, no ferry——”
“Yes, sir, we’re sort of slow around here,” agreed Toby, calmly.
“Slow! I should say you were slow! Well, where’s the boat? Bring it along! There’s no time to waste, young fellow!”
“Well, if you don’t have to be there before nine”—Toby looked over his shoulder at the church clock—“you’ve got plenty of time to have some breakfast before we start. It’s only three miles across and I’ve got a launch that’ll do it in twenty minutes easy.”
“Launch, eh? That’s better! Show me where I can get a cup of coffee then. I haven’t had anything to eat since last night. I left Southampton at six and there wasn’t time. Got a restaurant here somewhere, have you?”