pies, and bottles of wine," and were preparing to make merry when the skipper reported that "a vessel from Tilbury was flying through the water after them."
This intelligence proved so startling that the three jolly conspirators speedily turned in dismay from the good cheer spread before them, to a place where safety was the chief consideration. This proved to be a hole among the gravel-ballast, into which they clambered with alacrity, whereupon the hatch-covers were quickly put on and secured. But had they known as much as their perfidious skipper, they would have saved themselves this trouble; as it is quite probable that this astute mariner, in addition to enjoying their discomfiture and his now certain prospect of reward, also derived pleasure from their mince pies and bottles of wine.
At all events, Caermarthen's "yacht of marvellous speed" soon ranged alongside, and "Billop at the head of an armed party came on board." The hatch-covers were removed, the conspirators arrested, their clothes examined, and letters seized. Failing in their efforts to bribe the incorruptible Billop, all were taken on board the yacht, and safely landed at Whitehall Stairs in the evening.
In 1698, Peter the Great came to England in pursuit of knowledge relating to naval affairs and shipbuilding. Becoming weary of the life in London, he vacated his quarters in Norfolk Street, overlooking the Thames, for Sayers Court, the estate of John Evelyn, near Deptford. Here he worked as a shipwright in the dockyard. Macaulay
