184 SPOllT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



on board and the torches of the ferrymen at Stony- 

 Point, we landed without any mishap. 



"We must put up at the Eagle Tavern until 

 morning," said Mead. " The roads between here 

 and my crib are not good enough to venture on at 

 night. Come on, old friend; follow me.'" 



He led the way forthwith to a very comfort- 

 able hotel, where there was accommodation for 

 man and beast, and the landlord received ns 

 very cordially, for Mead was one of his best cus- 

 tomers. I found the sheet of my bed very white 

 and well aired, and the bed itself soft and com- 

 fortable, and soon fell so sound asleep that, at five 

 in the morning, when mj friend came to my 

 bedside, he had to give me a good shaking to 

 rouse me from the state of beatitude in which I was 

 plunged. 



" Up with you, lazybones,'^ cried he ; '• I give 

 you ten minutes to dress in." 



When I am travelling I never allow any one to 

 tell me twice of laziness, so I jumped up, washed 

 and dressed hastily, and in five minutes was at the 

 door of the tavern taking my place by Mead's side 

 in his waggon, to which was harnessed a capital 

 trotter, with a foot as sure as a mule of the Alps or 

 Pyrenees. 



Mead beguiled the drive with many a story of 

 his adventures, and the time seemed short enough 

 when, on turning the corner of a gorge, he ex- 



