The Adventures of Harry Richmond — CompleteMeredith, George
General
The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Complete
Meredith, George
Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction
'And you'll say you're not tired, I know,' the girl remarked, and
laughed to hear how correctly she had judged of our temper. Our thirst
and hunger, however, filled her with concern, because of our not being
used to it as she was, and no place was open to supply our wants. Her
friend, the saucy one, accompanied by a man evidently a sailor, joined
us, and the three had a consultation away from Temple and me, at the
end of which the sailor, whose name was Joe, raised his leg dancingly,
and smacked it. We gave him our hands to shake, and understood, without
astonishment, that we were invited on board his ship to partake of
refreshment. We should not have been astonished had he said on board
his balloon. Down through thick fog of a lighter colour, we made our
way to a narrow lane leading to the river-side, where two men stood
thumping their arms across their breasts, smoking pipes, and swearing.
We entered a boat and were rowed to a ship. I was not aware how frozen
and befogged my mind and senses had become until I had taken a
desperate and long gulp of smoking rum-and-water, and then the whole of
our adventures from morning to midnight, with the fir-trees in the
country fog, and the lamps in the London fog, and the man who had lost
his son, the fire, the Bench, the old woman with her fowl-like cry and
limbs in the air, and the row over the misty river, swam flashing
before my eyes, and I cried out to the two girls, who were drinking out
of one glass with the sailor Joe, my entertainer, 'Well, I'm awake
now!' and slept straight off the next instant.
CHAPTER XII.
WE FIND OURSELVES BOUND ON A VOYAGE
It seemed to me that I had but taken a turn from right to left, or gone
round a wheel, when I repeated the same words, and I heard Temple
somewhere near me mumble something like them. He drew a long breath, so
did I: we cleared our throats with a sort of whinny simultaneously. The
enjoyment of lying perfectly still, refreshed, incurious, unexcited,
yet having our minds animated, excursive, reaping all the incidents of
our lives at leisure, and making a dream of our latest experiences,
kept us tranquil and incommunicative. Occasionally we let fall a sigh
fathoms deep, then by-and-by began blowing a bit of a wanton laugh at
the end of it. I raised my foot and saw the boot on it, which accounted
for an uneasy sensation setting in through my frame.
I said softly, 'What a pleasure it must be for horses to be groomed!'
'Just what I was thinking!' said Temple.
We started up on our elbows, and one or the other cried:
'There's a chart! These are bunks! Hark at the row overhead! We're in a
ship! The ship's moving! Is it foggy this morning? It's time to get up!
I've slept in my clothes! Oh, for a dip! How I smell of smoke! What a
noise of a steamer! And the squire at Riversley! Fancy Uberly's tale!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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