Read "Down the River" by Oliver Optic online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The appearance of the constable was a sufficient explanation of the misfortune which had befallen me. The man with him was a stranger to me. The mail boy had delivered his message to Captain Fishley, and the constable had been sent down to Riverport to arrest me; but not finding me there, and probably learning from the hotel-keeper where I had gone, he lay in wait for me at the Ford.
The officer and his companion were unnecessarily rough and insulting to me, I thought; but when I consider the exceedingly bad reputation which I had made, I am not much surprised. I was dragged out of the boat, my legs soused into the water, and my elaborate toilet -- made in view of the fact that I was to face Miss Emily Goodridge during the excursion -- was badly deranged.