ioned themselves on either side of
it. The sill was not more than breast high. The other three men
quickly returned, bearing a heavy boat's-mast, which they meant to use
as a battering-ram. It had been arranged that Cuttance should throw up
the window, and, at the same moment, his comrades should rush at the
shutter with the mast. The leader could not see their faces, but there
was light sufficient to enable him to distinguish their dark forms
standing in the attitude of readiness. He therefore stepped forward and
made a powerful effort to force up the window, but it resisted him,
although it shook violently.

Those inside sprang up at the sound, and the smugglers sank down, as if
by mutual consent, among the bushes which grew thickly near the window.

"I told you it was only the wind," said Oliver Trembath, who had opened
the shutter and gazed through the window for some time into the
darkness, where, of course, he saw nothing.

Well was it for him that Cuttance refused to follow Bill's advice, which
was to charge him through the window with the mast. The former knew
that, with the window fastened, it would be impossible to force an
entrance in the face of such a youth as Tregarthen, even although they
succeeded in rendering the other _hors de combat_, so he restrained
Bill, and awaited his opportunity.

Oliver's remark appeared to be corroborated by a gust of wind which came
while he was speaking, and shook the window-frame violently.

"There it is again," he said, turning to his host with a smile. "Depend
upon it, they won't trouble you on such a night as this."

He closed and refastened the shutter as he spoke, and they all returned
to their places at the table.

Unfortunately Oliver had not thought of examining the fastening of the
window itself. Had he done so, he would have seen that it was almost
wrenched away. Cuttance saw this, however, and resolved to make sure
work of it next time.

When the men with the battering-ram were again in position, he and Bill
applied their united strength to the window, and it instantly flew up to
the top. At same moment, bolts and bars gave way, and the shutter went
in with a crash. Making use of the mast as a rest, Cuttance sprang on
the window-sill and leaped into the room.

The whole thing was done with such speed, and, if we may so express it,
with such simultaneity of action, that the bold smuggler stood before
the astonished inmates almost as soon as th