Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 01
General
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 01
Scottish Borders (Scotland) -- Fiction
Dunder Vander Dunder now took his friend into a tavern, and treated him
to a glass of schnaps. Shortly thereafter the two embarked in a canal
boat for Slootzsloykin, where they finally arrived in safety. Here
Johnny met with the same kind treatment as before; and of that kindness
there was no abatement during the whole fortnight of his sojourn. At the
end of this period, Johnny Armstrong once more set out for Rotterdam, on
the day previous to the sailing of the vessel in which he now hoped to
reach his native land, without further molestation or interruption. And,
certainly, everything had the appearance of going right on this
occasion. The vessel, with Johnny on board, sailed at the appointed
time, and, before embarking, he had read distinctly on the ticket--a
large black board, with yellow letters, which was fastened to the
shrouds--that she was bound for Leith, and was the identical vessel he
had had in his eye. So far as this went, there could be no mistake
whatever. There was, indeed, one little circumstance that startled
Johnny, but which he had not discovered till the vessel had been some
time at sea. This was, that all the crew were Dutchmen, there not being
a Scotchman amongst them. The circumstance did not, indeed, greatly
alarm Johnny, but he certainly did think it a little odd; for he
naturally expected that, as she was a Leith vessel, her crew would be,
for the most part, at any rate, natives of Britain. However, he made no
remarks on the subject, thinking it, as it really was, a matter of
perfect indifference whether they were Scotchmen or Dutchmen. There were
two or three passengers in the vessel besides himself; but they were all
foreigners too, so that he could hold no converse with any of them; and
thus debarred from intercourse with his fellow voyagers, he sat by
himself, gazing from the deck of the vessel on the waste of waters with
which he was surrounded, and musing on the strange series of mishaps of
which he had so simply and innocently become the victim. It was while
thus employed--the vessel having been now a good many hours at sea, and
at the moment scudding away before a fine fresh breeze--that the captain
approached Johnny, and in very polite and civil terms, demanded his
passage money. As he spoke in Dutch, however, the latter did not
understand him. The captain observing this, and now guessing what
countryman he was, addressed him in very good English, and in that
language repeated his demand. With this demand, Johnny instantly
complied; and, finding that he was a civil, good-natured fellow, began
to open up a little conversation with him. His first remark was, that he
hoped they would have good weather. The captain hoped so too. His second
remark was, that they had a fine breeze. The captain agreed with
him--said it was a delightful breeze--and added that, if it continued to
blow as it then blew for four-and-twenty hours, he expected they would
be all safe at _Rouen_!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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