Then one of the fellows sat down on the edge of the barge, his feet dangling within a few inches of my head.
"Might as well take it easy, Bill," he said lazily.

"They 're like to be an hour layin' hands on the lad, an' all we got to do is see he don't fox back this way.

Got any tobacco, mate ?" The other must have produced the necessary weed, for there was a scraping of flint and steel, a gleam of fire glinting on the water, and then the pungent odor wafted to me in puff of smoke.

With one hand, I unbuckled my sword belt, letting it, sword and all, sink silently into the river.

I must cross to the opposite bank somehow, and would have to dispense with the weapon.