d it could
never have been found but for the agency that conveyed him to the
spot. Tradition speaks of it being a long subterranean passage,
running east to west, and opening out close to a road that was quite
accessible to carts. It was honeycombed with compartments, and so
carefully were they constructed that only the initiated could have
discovered their locality. Some of the cells still contained
quantities of contraband, so that the Board of Customs made a good
haul.

Turnbull frequently rubbed shoulders with men and women who eloquently
declaimed against the smugglers and their allies. He knew these people
were in the inner circle of the traffic. He realized also that it was
not good policy to let them see that he knew that they were merely
acting a part. He might some day have to make use of them. There was
a section who never disguised their antipathy to him. They saw that
through him the day of smuggling on that part of the coast was
well-nigh over--if not over altogether. It was he who had been the
instrument of emptying the vaults of treasure which they regarded as
legitimately theirs, and closing them to further enterprise. It was,
in fact, the system that he represented that was paralyzing their
honest efforts of contributing to their means of subsistence! These
were only some of the many indictments proclaimed against him and his
colleagues. The aggrieved ones strolled about with an air of injured
virtue, and their ferocious looks and veiled threats at the intruder
as he passed along betokened the belief in their prescriptive right to
plunder the Revenue. I think it is Macaulay who says that "no man is
so merciless as he who is under a strong self-delusion."

The seizure of the storehouse gave a staggering blow to the
"fair-traders," but it did not prevent them from making another
desperate attempt to land their wares, and also to have their revenge
by destroying a few of her Majesty's servants. On dark nights the horn
lanterns were seen about the links, the flare-light flashed across the
sea, and the curlew's shrill call was heard. These signs were now
known to the Preventive staff; but they also had their signs and their
means of conveying news, so that when the low, sneaking black lugger
again appeared, they were ready for the fray.

There she was, snugly anchored in the sleepy bay. The first boat-load
had left her side. The slow, dull sound of the horses' hoofs vibrated
through the hollows, and the