was
well. The landing was successfully made without interruption, and the
men gaily entered on the task of transporting the cargo to its
destination, believing, as they had a right to believe, that a big
haul would be stored without a single hitch in the process. The
accomplices scattered after their work was done, and the sailors
returned to their vessel, no doubt well satisfied with the night's
enterprise. But notwithstanding the many scouts they sent out, they
were quite oblivious of the fact that their movements had been closely
watched. Sail was set, and the sneaking craft crept out into the
illimitable darkness, having apparently completed its work unseen by
unfriendly eyes. There was not a little talk round the countryside
about the landing that had taken place without any one in authority to
check its progress. Wise, knowing people said it was timidity, and
others attributed it to indifference to the public service; the truth
being, it was neither the one nor the other. It was, in fact, a
carefully-planned scheme to discover exactly where the mysterious cave
was situated; and although in spite of exhaustive search the entrance
to it could not be found, they had got a clue to its locality. A
vigorous policy of exploration was inaugurated, but after many weeks
of toil the operations were abandoned without the mystery having been
penetrated. It was thought that time and opportunity would solve the
problem, but how it was to be solved no one knew. There was, indeed,
great speculation as to what might happen should another landing be
attempted, but month after month passed without any indication of
this, and the little population had settled down to a dull monotony.
Except for a casual reference to the stirring times, the smugglers and
their emissaries were apparently all but forgotten. The Preventive men
were secretly as much on the alert as when the smugglers were most
active. They purposely adopted an apparent indifference with the idea
of luring the rovers into over-confidence. Each party took into
account the possibility of being betrayed. In all secretive illegal
societies there are suspects. Jimmy Stone having changed his mode of
life, suspicion fell very naturally on him; but though he sometimes
darkly hinted at the identity and the secrets of his late allies, he
was never known to definitely divulge anything that would incriminate
them. The nephew of Mrs. Clarkson was another marked man, as was also
a frien