Presently he was awakened by some intermeddlement with his feet.
Starting to his elbow, he saw one of the two men in the act of slyly
slipping off his right boot, while the left one, already removed, lay on
the floor, all ready against the rascal's retreat Had it not been for
the lesson learned on the Pont Neuf, Israel would instantly have
inferred that his secret mission was known, and the operator some
designed diplomatic knave or other, hired by the British Cabinet, thus
to lie in wait for him, fume him into slumber with tobacco, and then
rifle him of his momentous dispatches. But as it was, he recalled Doctor
Franklin's prudent admonitions against the indulgence of premature
suspicions.

"Sir," said Israel very civilly, "I will thank you for that boot which
lies on the floor, and, if you please, you can let the other stay where
it is."

"Excuse me," said the rascal, an accomplished, self-possessed
practitioner in his thievish art; "I thought your boots might be
pinching you, and only wished to ease you a little."

"Much obliged to ye for your kindness, sir," said Israel; "but they
don't pinch me at all. I suppose, though, you think they wouldn't pinch
_you_ either; your foot looks rather small. Were you going to try 'em
on, just to see how they fitted?"

"No," said the fellow, with sanctimonious seriousness; "but with your
permission I should like to try them on, when we get to Dover. I
couldn't try them well walking on this tipsy craft's deck, you know."