With Wolfe in Canada: The Winning of a Continent

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 7: Pressed.

  Many and deep were the maledictions uttered, as the smugglers climbedon board their vessel; but their captain said cheerily:

  "Never mind, lads, it might have been worse. It was only the firstcargo of tubs, and half of those weren't ashore. The lace and silk areall right, so no great harm is done. Set to work, and get up sail assoon as you can. Likely enough there is a cutter in the offing; thatblue light must have been a signal. They seem to have got news of ourlanding, somehow."

  The crew at once set to work to get up sail. Three or four of thecountrymen, who had, like James, got on board the boats, stood in agroup looking on, confused and helpless; but James lent his assistance,until the sails were hoisted and the craft began to move through thewater.

  "Now, then," the captain said, "let us go below and look at the wounds.We daren't show a light, here on deck."

  The wounds were, for the most part, slashes and blows with cutlasses;for in the darkness and confusion of the fight, only two of the bulletshad taken effect. One of the smugglers had fallen, shot through thehead, while one of those on board had his arm broken by a pistol ball.

  "Now for our passengers," the captain said, after the wounds had beenbandaged.

  "Who are you?" and he lifted a lantern to James's face.

  "Why, it is young Mr. Walsham!" he exclaimed in surprise.

  James knew the man now, for the lugger had several times put in atSidmouth, where, coming in as a peaceable trader, the revenue officers,although well aware of the nature of her vocation, were unable to touchher, as vessels could only be seized when they had contraband on board.

  "Why, what brings you into this affair, young master?"

  James related the conversation he had overheard, and his determinationto warn the smugglers of their danger.

  "I should have managed it, in plenty of time, if I had known the exactspot on which you were going to land; but I saw a signal light, twomiles down the coast, and that kept me there for half an hour. Itstruck me, then, it was a ruse to attract the officers from the realspot of landing, but though I ran as hard as I could, I was only justbefore them."

  "Thank you heartily," the smuggler said. "I expect you saved us from amuch worse mess than we got into. I have no doubt they meant to capturethe tubs, as they were loaded, without raising an alarm; and thefellows on the shore would have come up quietly, and taken us bysurprise as we were landing the last boat loads. Thanks to you, we havegot well out of it, and have only lost one of our hands, and a score orso of tubs."

  "You can't put me ashore, I suppose?" James said.

  "That I can't," the smuggler replied. "I have no doubt that cutter fromWeymouth is somewhere outside us, and we must get well off the coastbefore morning. If we give her the slip, I will send you off in a boatsometime tomorrow. I must go ashore, myself, to make fresh arrangementsfor getting my cargo landed."

  James went on deck again. The breeze was light, and the lugger wasslipping along quietly through the water. He could faintly see the loomof the cliffs on his right, and knew that the lugger was running west,keeping as close inshore as she could, to avoid the cutter watching forher outside. He wondered what they would say at home, when it was foundthat he was missing; but consoled himself by thinking that his mother,who was still up at the Hall, would no doubt suppose that he had goneout for a night's fishing, as he had often done before, and that, asshe was away, he had forgotten to leave word with the servant.

  Suddenly, a blue light burned out on the top of the cliff. An angryexclamation broke from the captain, who was standing at the helm.

  "Confound it!" he exclaimed. "They have caught sight of us from thecliff, and are signalling our whereabouts to the cutter."

  As he spoke, he turned the vessel's head seaward, and, for a quarter ofan hour, sailed straight out.

  "Now," he said quietly, "I think we must be out of sight of thosefellows on shore. Get her on the other tack, lads, but be as quiet asyou can about it. There's no saying how close the cutter may be to us."

  The great sails were lowered, as the boat's head paid off to the east.The yards were shifted to the other sides of the masts, and the sailshoisted again, and the lugger began to retrace her way back along thecoast.

  "It's just a chance, now," the captain said to James, who was standingclose by him, "whether the commander of the cutter guesses, or not,that we shall change our course. He will know we are likely enough todo it."

  "What should you do if you were in his place?" James said.

  "I should run straight out to sea, and lay to, eight or ten miles off.He would be able to make us out then at daylight, whichever course wetake; whereas, by trying to follow in the dark, he would run the chanceof missing us altogether. I wish the wind would get up a bit. We arenot moving through the water more than three knots an hour, and it'sdying away. However, I fancy it will blow up again in the morning."

  "Do you know whether she is faster than you are?" James asked.

  "There is not much difference," the captain replied. "If the wind isstrong, we have the legs of her; but in a light breeze, she is thefastest. She has chased us half a dozen times already, but we havealways given her the slip."

  "Then, even if she does run out to sea, as you say," James said, "weought to be safe, as we should be a dozen miles or so along the coast."

  "Yes, but not that ahead of her," the captain answered, "for she wouldbe so much to the seaward. Still, that would be far enough; but shewill begin to fire long before we are in range, and will bring anyother king's ship within hearing down on us. However, I daresay weshall give her the slip, as we have done before."

  The hours passed slowly. The wind continued to drop, until the vesselscarcely moved through the water, and, after a while, the sweeps weregot out, and were worked until the day broke. All eyes were on thelookout for the cutter, as the day dawn began to steal over the sky.

  "There she is, sure enough," the captain exclaimed at length, "lying toon the watch, some eight miles to the west. She must have seen us, forwe are against the light sky; but, like, ourselves, she is becalmed."

  It was a quarter of an hour, however, before the position of the cutterwas seen to change. Then her head was suddenly turned east.

  "She has got the wind," the captain said. "Now we only want a goodbreeze, and you'll have a lively day of it, lads."

  From the time when she had turned, the lugger had made only about eightmiles along the coast to the east, and an equal distance seaward, forthe tide had set against her. The morning was bright and clear, the seawas perfectly smooth. As yet, the sails hung idly down, but there weredark lines on the water that showed that a breeze was coming.

  "We shall have plenty of wind presently," the skipper said. "See howlight the sky is to the south. There will be white tops on the waves inan hour or two.

  "Here comes a flaw. Haul in your sheets, lads, now she begins to move."

  The puff did not last long, dying away to nothing in a few minutes, andthen the lugger lay immovable again. The men whistled, stamped the deckimpatiently, and cast anxious glances back at the cutter.

  "She is walking along fast," the skipper said, as he examined herthrough a glass. "She has got the wind steady, and must be slippingalong at six knots an hour. This is hard luck on us. If we don't getthe breeze soon, it will be a close thing of it."

  Another quarter of an hour passed without a breath of wind ruffling thewater. The cutter was fully two miles nearer to them than when she hadfirst been seen, and was holding the wind steadily.

  "Here it comes, lads," the skipper said cheerfully. "Another tenminutes, and we shall have our share."

  The time seemed long, indeed, before the dark line on the water reachedthe lugger, and there was something like a cheer, from the crew, as thecraft heeled slightly over, and then began to move through the water.It was the true breeze this time, and increased every moment in force,till the lugger was lying well over, with a white wave at her bow.

  But the cutter had firs
t gained by the freshening breeze, and JamesWalsham, looking back at her, judged that there were not more than fourmiles of water between the boats. The breeze was nearly due west, and,as the lugger was headed as close as she would lie to it, the cutterhad hauled in her sheets and lay up on the same course, so that theywere now sailing almost parallel to each other.

  "If we could change places," the skipper said, "we should be safe. Wecan sail nearer the wind than she can, but she can edge away now, andhas all the advantage of us."

  James had already perceived this, and wondered that the lugger did notpay off before the wind, so as to make a stern chase of it.

  "I want to get a few miles farther out," the skipper said. "Likelyenough there is another cutter somewhere inshore. It is quite enough tohave one of these fellows at one's heels."

  Another half hour and the cutter, edging in, was little over threemiles distant. Then the skipper gave the word, the helm was put down,the sheets slackened off, and, in a minute, the lugger was running deadbefore the wind with her sails boomed out, one on either side. Thecutter followed her example, and hoisted a large square sail.

  The wind was blowing fresh now, and the sea was getting up. Not a cloudwas to be seen in the sky, and the sun shone brightly on the whiteheads which were beginning to show on the water. The lugger was tearingalong, occasionally throwing a cloud of spray over her bows, andleaving a track of white water behind her.

  "I think she still gains on us," the captain said to the mate, who hadtaken the helm.

  "Ay, she is gaining," the sailor agreed, "but the wind is fresheningevery minute. She can't carry that topsail much longer. It's pressingher bows under now."

  "She will go almost as fast without it," the skipper said.

  The commander of the cutter seemed to be of the same opinion, for, justas he spoke, the topsail was seen to flutter, and then descended to thedeck. It was a quarter of an hour before the skipper spoke again.

  "I think we just about hold our own," he said. "I didn't think thePolly could have held her running."

  "She couldn't, in a light wind," the mate replied; "but with this wind,it will want a fast boat to beat her."

  The hands were now set to work, shifting the kegs further aft.

  "That's better," the skipper said presently. "I am sure we are gainingground, and our masts will stand it, if the cutter's will."

  With her stern low in the water, the lugger was now tearing along at atremendous pace. Stout as were her masts, and strong the stays, JamesWalsham wondered at their standing the strain of the great brown sails,as they seemed, at times, almost to lift her bodily out of the water.Buoyant as the craft was, the waves broke over her bows and flooded herdecks, and sheets of spray flew over her.

  The cutter, with her sharper bows and all her sail forward, was feelingit still more severely, and the spirits of all on board the lugger roserapidly, as it was evident that they were dropping their pursuers.Suddenly, the gaff of the cutter's mainsail was seen to droop, and theboom was hauled on board.

  "I thought it would be too much for them," the skipper said exultantly."They are going to reef."

  "We had better reef down too, I think," the mate said. "She has had asmuch as she could bear for some time."

  "I'll hold on ten minutes longer," the skipper said. "Every half milecounts."

  But before that time was up, the sails were one after another reefed,for the wind continued to freshen. The sky was still cloudless, butthere was a misty light in the air, and a heavy sea was beginning torun.

  Suddenly, a gun flashed out from the cutter. The skipper uttered anoath. Their pursuer was more than three miles astern, and he knew thatshe could only be firing as a signal.

  There were several large ships in sight on their way up or down theChannel. To these, little attention had been paid. The skipper shadedhis eyes with a hand, and gazed earnestly at a large ship on theweather beam, some four miles away.

  "That is a frigate, sure enough," he exclaimed. "We are fairly caughtbetween them.

  "Haul in the sheets, lads, we will have a try for it yet."

  The lugger was brought sharp up into the wind, and was soon staggeringalong seaward, with the lee bulwark almost under water. The cutterinstantly lowered her square sail, and followed her example, continuingto fire a gun every minute. All eyes were turned towards the frigate,which was now on the port beam.

  "We shall cross two miles to windward of her," the skipper said. "Ifshe keeps on her course, a quarter of an hour will do it, but she issure to notice the guns. The wind will take them down to her.

  "Ah, there she goes."

  As he spoke, a puff of smoke darted out from the frigate's bow. Hersails fluttered, and her head bore round, until she was on the sametack as the lugger.

  The latter was now about equidistant from her two pursuers. The cutterand the lugger were nearly abreast, but the former, being to windward,could edge down. The frigate was three miles to leeward, but she wasfully a mile ahead.

  "There is no way out of it," the skipper said bitterly. "In a lightwind we could run away from the frigate, but with this breeze we haveno chance with her. Look how she is piling on sail!"

  The crew shared the captain's opinion. Some shook their fists andcursed vainly at their pursuers, some stood sullenly scowling, whilethe French portion of the crew gave way to wild outbursts of rage.Rapidly the three vessels closed in towards each other, for the cutteredged in so rapidly that the lugger was obliged to bear off towards thefrigate again. As a last hope, the lugger's course was changed, and sheagain tried running, but the superior weight and power of the frigatebrought her rapidly down. Presently a heavy gun boomed out, and a shotcame dancing along the water, a hundred yards away.

  "Lower the sails," the skipper said. "It is no use going farther. Theinside of a prison is better than the bottom of the sea, anyhow."

  Down came the sails, and the lugger lay rolling heavily in the waves,as the frigate bore down upon her with a white roll of water on herstem.

  "Get ready, lads," the skipper said. "There is just one chance yet. Shewill run by us. The instant she is past, up sail again. We shall be amile away before they can get her round into the wind again. If shedoesn't cripple us with her shot, we may weather her yet. We needn'tmind the cutter."

  The frigate came foaming along, the crew busy in taking sail off her.The instant she had passed, and was preparing to round to, the sails ofthe lugger flew up like magic, and she was soon tearing along almost inthe eye of the wind, as if to meet the cutter, which was running downtowards her.

  "Down below, lads, every man of you," the captain shouted. "We shallhave a broadside in a minute."

  In a moment, the deck was clear of all save the skipper and his mate,who stood at the tiller. The frigate swept slowly round, and then, asher guns came to bear, shot after shot was fired at the lugger, alreadythree-quarters of a mile to the windward. The shot hummed overhead, onestruck the water alongside, a yard or two away, but still she wasuntouched.

  "Some of her shots went as near the cutter as they did to us," theskipper said. "She won't fire again."

  They were now fast approaching the cutter, which, when she was within aquarter of a mile, changed her course and was brought up again into thewind, firing the four guns she carried on her broadside as she cameround. The lugger's head was paid off, and this placed the cutter onher starboard quarter, both going free. The former was travelling thefaster, but a gun was fired from the cutter's bow, and the shot strucksplinters from the lugger's quarter. The crew were on deck again now.

  "Train that gun over the stern," the skipper said. "If we can knock hermast out of her, we are saved. If not, they will have us yet."

  He had scarcely spoken when there was a crash. A shot from the cutterhad struck the mizzen mast, a few feet above the deck, and the mast andsail fell over to leeward. There was a cry of rage and dismay.

  "Luck's against us," the skipper said bitterly. "Down with the sail,lads. This time it is all up with us."

&n
bsp; The sail was lowered, and the lugger lay motionless in the water, untilthe cutter came up and lay within fifty yards of her. A boat was atonce lowered, and an officer was rowed to the lugger.

  "So we have caught you, my friends, at last," he said, as he sprang onboard.

  "You wouldn't have done it, if it had not been for the frigate," theskipper said.

  "No; I will say your craft sails like a witch," the officer replied. "Iwish we could have done it without her. It will make all the differenceto us. The frigate will get the lion's share of the prize. What is thevalue of your cargo?"

  "Two hundred kegs of brandy," the skipper replied, "and fifteen hundredpounds' worth of lace and silks."

  "A good prize," the officer said. "Not your own, I hope, for you havemade a brave chase of it."

  "No," the skipper answered. "Fortunately, I only took a very smallshare this time. It's bad enough to lose my boat; I own two-thirds ofher."

  "I am sorry for you," the officer said, for he was in high spirits atthe success of the chase, and could afford to be pleasant. "Here comesa boat from the frigate. You played them a rare trick, and might havegot off, if it hadn't been for that lucky shot of ours.

  "I see you were just getting out a stern chaser," and he pointed to thegun. "It is well for you that you didn't fire it, as you can't becharged with armed resistance."

  "I wish I had fired it, for all that. It might have been my luck tocripple you."

  "It would have made no difference if you had," the officer replied."The frigate would have overhauled you. With this wind she would sailfive feet to your four."

  The boat from the frigate now came alongside.

  "How are you, Cotterel?" the officer said, as he stepped on board."That was a lucky shot of yours; but I think it's lucky for the luggerthat you hit her, for the captain was so savage, at that trick theyplayed him, that I believe he would have sunk her when he came up toher again. I heard him say to the first lieutenant, 'I won't give her achance to play me such a trick again.'"

  "What orders have you brought?" the other asked.

  "We are outward bound, so you are to put a crew on board and take herinto port; but, as we are very short of hands, we will relieve you ofthe prisoners."

  All on board the lugger were at once ordered into the frigate's boat,and were rowed off to the ship. On gaining the deck, they were drawn upin line, and the captain and first lieutenant came up. The good humourof the former had been restored by the capture of the lugger.

  "Hallo!" he said, looking at the bandaged heads and arms of some of themen, "so you have been having a fight trying to run your cargo, Isuppose. That will make it all the worse for you, when you get onshore. Now, I might press you all without giving you a choice, but Idon't want unwilling hands, so I will leave it to you. Which is it tobe--an English prison for two or three years, or a cruise on board theThetis?"

  The greater part of the men at once stepped forward, and announcedtheir willingness to volunteer.

  "Who have we here," the captain asked, looking at the three countrymen.

  "They are passengers, sir," the skipper of the lugger said, with a halfsmile.

  A few questions brought to light the facts of the surprise while thecargo was being landed.

  "Well, my lads," the captain said, "you are in the same boat with therest. You were engaged in an unlawful enterprise, and in resisting hismajesty's officers. You will get some months in prison anyhow, if yougo back. You had better stay on board, and let me make men of you."

  The countrymen, however, preferred a prison to a man o' war.

  James Walsham had been turning over the matter in his mind. He hadcertainly taken no part in the fray, but that would be difficult toprove, and he could not account for his presence except byacknowledging that he was there to warn them. It would certainly be acase of imprisonment. Surely, it would be better to volunteer thanthis. He had been longing for the sea, and here an opportunity openedfor him for abandoning the career his mother intended for him, withoutsetting himself in opposition to her wishes. Surely she would preferthat he should be at sea for a year or two to his being disgraced byimprisonment. He therefore now stepped forward.

  "I do not belong to the lugger's crew, sir, and had nothing to do withrunning their cargo, though I own I was on the spot at the time. I amnot a sailor, though I have spent a good deal of time on board fishingboats. Mr. Horton, whom I see there, knows me, and will tell you that Iam a son of a doctor in Sidmouth. But, as I have got into a scrape, Iwould rather serve than go back and stand a trial."

  "Very well, my lad," the captain said. "I like your spirit, and willkeep my eye on you."

  The three countrymen and four of the French sailors, who declined tojoin the Thetis, were taken back to the cutter, and the Thetis at onceproceeded on her way down channel. James had given a hastily scribbledline, on the back of an old letter which he happened to have in hispocket, to the men who were to be taken ashore, but he had very littlehope that it would ever reach his mother. Nor, indeed, did it ever doso. When the cutter reached Weymouth with the lugger, the men capturedin her were at once sent to prison, where they remained until they weretried at assizes three months afterwards; and, although all wereacquitted of the charge of unlawful resistance to the king's officers,as there was no proof against any of the six men individually, theywere sentenced to a year's imprisonment for smuggling.

  Whether Jim's hurriedly written letter was thrown overboard, or whetherit was carried in the pocket of the man to whom he gave it until worninto fragments, James never knew, but it never reached his mother.

  The news that James was missing was brought to her upon the day afterthe event by Mr. Wilks. He had, as usual, gone down after breakfast toreport how Aggie was getting on, with a message from his mother thather charge was now so completely restored that it was unnecessary forher to stay longer at the Hall, and that she should come home thatevening at her usual time. Hearing from the girl that James had notreturned since he went out at nine o'clock on the previous evening, theold soldier sauntered down to the beach, to inquire of the fishermen inwhose boat James had gone out.

  To his surprise, he found that none of the boats had put to sea theevening before. The men seemed less chatty and communicative thanusual. Most of them were preparing to go out with their boats, and noneseemed inclined to enter into a conversation. Rather wondering at theirunusual reticence, Mr. Wilks strolled along to where the officer of therevenue men was standing, with his boatswain, watching the fishermen.

  "A fine morning, lieutenant."

  "Yes," the latter assented. "There will be wind presently. Have youheard of the doings of last night?"

  "No," Mr. Wilks said in surprise, "I have heard nothing. I was justspeaking to the fishermen, but they don't seem in as communicative amood as usual this morning."

  "The scamps know it is safest for them to keep their mouths shut, justat present," the officer said grimly. "I have no doubt a good many ofthem were concerned in that affair last night. We had a fight with thesmugglers. Two of my men were shot and one of theirs, and there were agood many cutlass wounds on each side. We have taken a score ofprisoners, but they are all country people who were assisting in thelanding; the smugglers themselves all got off. We made a mess of theaffair altogether, thanks to some fellow who rushed down and gave thealarm, and upset all the plans we had laid.

  "It is too provoking. I had got news of the exact spot and hour atwhich the landing was to take place. I had my men all up on the cliff,and, as the fellows came up with kegs, they were to have been allowedto get a hundred yards or so inland and would there have been seized,and any shout they made would not have been heard below. LieutenantFisher, with his party from the next station, was to be a little wayalong at the foot of the cliffs, and when the boats came with thesecond batch, he was to rush forward and capture them, while we camedown from above. Then we intended to row off and take the lugger. Therewas not wind enough for her to get away.

  "All was going well, and the men wer
e just coming up the cliff with thetubs, when someone who had passed us on the cliff ran down shouting thealarm. We rushed down at once, but arrived too late. They showed fight,and kept us back till Fisher's party came up; but by that time theboats were afloat, and the smugglers managed to get in and carry themoff, in spite of us. We caught, as I tell you, some of the countrymen,and Fisher has taken them off to Weymouth, but most of them got away.There are several places where the cliff can be climbed by men who knowit, and I have no doubt half those fishermen you see there were engagedin the business."

  "Then the smuggler got away?" Mr. Wilks asked.

  "I don't know," the lieutenant said shortly. "I had sent word toWeymouth, and I hope they will catch her in the offing. The lugger camedown this way first, but we made her out, and showed a blue light. Shemust have turned and gone back again, for this morning at daylight wemade her out to the east. The cutter was giving chase, and at first randown fast towards her. Then the smugglers got the wind, and the last wesaw of them they were running up the Channel, the cutter some threemiles astern.

  "I would give a couple of months' pay to know who it was that gave thealarm. I expect it was one of those fishermen. As far as my men couldmake out in the darkness, the fellow was dressed as a sailor. But Imust say good morning, for I am just going to turn in."

  Mr. Wilks had been on the point of mentioning that James was missing,but a vague idea that he might, in some way, be mixed up with theevents of the previous night, checked the question on his lips; and yethe thought, as the officer walked away, it was not probable. Had Jamesbeen foolish enough to take part in such a business, he would eitherhave been taken prisoner, or would, after he escaped, have returnedhome. He had evidently not been taken prisoner, or the officer wouldhave been sure to mention it.

  Much puzzled, he walked slowly back to the fishermen. Some of the boatshad already pushed off. He went up to three of the men, whose boat,being higher up than the rest, would not be afloat for another quarterof an hour.

  "Look here, lads," he said. "My young friend Jim Walsham is missingthis morning, and hasn't been at home all night. As none of the fishingboats put out in the evening he cannot have gone to sea. Can any of youtell me anything about him?"

  The men gave no answer.

  "You need not be afraid of speaking to me, you know," he went on, "andit's no business of mine whether any of the men on the shore wereconcerned in that affair. The lieutenant has just been telling me oflast night; but hearing of that, and finding Jim is missing, I can'thelp thinking there is some connection between the two things. Nothingyou say to me will go further, that I can promise you; but the lad'smother will be in a terrible way. I can't make it out, for I know that,if he had anything to do with this smuggling business, he would havetold me. Again, if he was there and got away, he would naturally havecome straight home, for his absence would only throw suspicion uponhim."

  "Well, Mr. Wilks," the youngest of the sailors said, "I don't knownothing about it myself. No one does, so far as I know, but I haveheard say this morning as how he was there or thereabouts; but don'tyou let out as I told you, 'cause they would want to know who I heardit from."

  "You can rely upon my silence, my lad, and here's half a guinea todrink my health between you. But can't you tell me a little more?"

  "Well, sir, they do say as how it war Mr. Jim as came running down intothe middle of them on the beach, shouting the alarm, with the revenuemen close at his heels. I don't say as it were he--likely enough itweren't--but that's the talk, and that's all I have heared about thematter. How he came for to know of it, or how he got there, no oneknows, for sartin he has had nought to do with any landings afore. Hewas a lot among us, but I know as he never was told about it; for,though everyone would have trusted Jim, still, seeing how he wasplaced, with his mother up at the Hall, and the squire a magistrate, itwas thought better as he shouldn't be let into it. Everyone on theshore here likes Jim."

  "But if he was there, and he hasn't been taken prisoner--and I am surethe lieutenant would have told me if he was--why shouldn't he have gothome?"

  "We didn't know as he hadn't got home, did us, Bill?" the fishermanappealed to one of his comrades.

  "No," the other said. "We thought likely he had got safely away withthe rest. It war a dark night, and I expect as everyone was too busylooking after himself to notice about others."

  "He may have been wounded," the old soldier said anxiously, "and may bein hiding in some house near the place."

  The fisherman was silent. Such a thing was, of course, possible.

  "He might that," one of the sailors said doubtfully, "and yet I don'tthink it. The chase was a hot one, and I don't think anyone, wounded sobad as he couldn't make his way home, would have got away. I should sayas it wur more likely as he got on board one of the boats. It seems tome as though he might have come to warn us--that is to say, to warnthem, I mean--just to do em a good turn, as he was always ready to doif he had the chance. But he wouldn't have had anything to do with thescrimmage, and might have been standing, quiet like, near the boats,when the other lot came along the shore, and then, seeing as the gamewas up, he might, likely enough, have jumped on board and gone off tothe lugger."

  "That is possible," Mr. Wilks said. "Anyhow, I will go off at once, andmake inquiries at all the houses within a mile or so of the landingplace."