Chapter 8 Summary

Harris and J. stop at Kempton Park to lunch. As they sit beneath a willow, a man asks them if they are aware they are trespassing. They casually say they are not aware, but are willing to take his word for it. They do not move, however, and the man does not leave. Harris offers him some bread and jam, but he declines gruffly and says it is his duty to get them to leave. Harris, a large young man, asks, again casually, how he intends to go about it. The man sizes Harris up and then says he'll go and tell his master and see what he wants to do.

The man does not return, and J. explains that he is likely just one of many such people along the river who try to extort a shilling from boaters by telling them...