Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1878 - Inland voyage

The Royal Sport N antique, 21
knew of no coach-house or stable-yard, nothing
of the sort ; and seeing we had come with
no mind to drink, he did not conceal his im-
patience to be rid of us. One of the sorry-
fellows came to the rescue. Somewhere in the
corner of the basin there was a slip, he informed
us, and something else besides, not very clearly
defined by him, but hopefully construed by his
hearers.
Sure enough there was the slip in the corner
of the basin ; and at the top of it two nice-
looking lads in boating clothes. The Arethiisa
addressed himself to these. One of them said
there would be no difficulty about a night's
lodging for our boats ; and the other, taking a
cigarette from his lips, inquired if they were
made by Searle & Son. The name was quite
an introduction. Half-a-dozen other young
men came out of a boat-house bearing the
superscription ROYAL SpORT Nautique, and