CHAPTER VI
"It's all very well for your lordship to laugh," said Will, an hour later, after we had been served with an excellent meal, washed down by delicious wine, at the Governor's cabin table, "but had you been busy with other matters to-night, we would have been comfortably buoyed in the mud at the bottom of the river."
"He is an uncommon rascal, that Cahill," laughed Dunmore, "but, my dear Byrd, you should not take arms against His Majesty's Governor, even in fun. Ha! ha! It would have been droll, 'pon my word, ha! ha! May the Lord roast me if it would not have been a joke to have seen you three gentlemen buoyed in this most muddy stream. It is a revelation, Byrd, a revelation, sir, from Providence. A sign of the times and an omen for you to take advantage of without delay. It is an insight into the future and should hurry you to take up arms in His Majesty's just cause. Think of it, if it had not been for his Majesty, the King—as represented by myself—you would have been at the bottom of the river to-night to remain there, perhaps, through all eternity; for I take it that the angel Gabriel would have to blow a mighty blast to lift you out of this most sticky Virginia soil."
"But if it hadn't been for His Majesty, the King, as represented by that truculent skipper on the schooner over there, we might now be dining in the charming company of Miss Judkins and Miss Carter, to say nothing of the mistress of Judkins Hall," said Barron, smiling at Dunmore with a beaming face.
"And have lost the honor of dining with his excellency, the Governor," I put in hurriedly, for I thought I perceived an uncomfortable look gather on his lordship's countenance. The two officers present, Captains Foy and Graham, also began to look a trifle annoyed.
"But where are we, anyhow, Lord Dunmore?" asked Will. "Your excellency has rescued us, true enough, and made the matter all the better by adding this splendid dinner, but whereabouts on the river are we?"
"As near as I can judge, we are about twenty miles above Westover. Hey! Captain Foy? Isn't that about the reckoning?" replied Dunmore. "And if we have good luck and little fighting, we shall be through our business in this part of the river and on our way down stream before this time to-morrow evening. There is very little to do after all. Graham, here, and Fordyce of the Hound had some little difficulty yesterday with a small party of rebels, but they were all shot or dispersed except the leaders, who were keel-hauled by Captain Fordyce. He and Cahill are very able men in their line of work and their vessels are well adapted for these inland waters. But it is a very malodorous business and the sooner we get clear of these unhealthy swamp vapors, and get a sniff of salt air, the better. I hope, Foy, you will see that plenty of sulphur is burned aboard to-night."
"Can we be landed to-night?" I asked.