get through a cruising fleet? "How could he do anything, even if
he did land?"

"Ah," said another man. "They say that the West is ready to rally
around him. That's what they say."

"Well," said the first, raising his cup. "Here's to King James, I
say. England's had enough of civil troubles." The other men drank
the toast with applause. It is curious to remember how cautious
people were in those troublous days. One could never be sure of
your friend's true opinion. It was a time when there were so many
spies abroad that everybody was suspicious of his neighbour. I am
sure that a good half of that company was disloyal; yet they
drank that toast, stamping their feet, as though they would have
shed their blood for King James with all the pleasure in life.
"Are you for King James, young waterman?" said one of the men to
me. "Yes," I said, "I am for the rightful King." At this they all
laughed. One of the men said that if there were many like me the
Duke of Monmouth might spare himself the trouble of coming over.

I finished my cake quietly, after that. Then, as the tide was not
yet making, to help me back up the river, I wandered into Wapping
fields, where a gang of beggars camped. They were a dirtier, more
troublesome company than the worst of the Oulton gipsies. They
crowded round me, whining about their miseries, with the fawning
smiles of professional beggars. There were children among them
who lied about their wants as glibly as their parents lied. The
Oulton beggars had taught me to refuse such people, as being,
nearly always, knaves; so I said that I had nothing for them. I
felt the hands of these thieves lightly feeling the outsides of