suddenly
active in the prosecution of smugglers, Hatteraick was known to have
uttered deep threats, would not appear a very heinous crime.

Against this hypothesis it was urged that a crew of fifteen or twenty men
could not have lain hidden upon the coast, when so close a search took
place immediately after the destruction of their vessel; or, at least,
that if they had hid themselves in the woods, their boats must have been
seen on the beach; that in such precarious circumstances, and when all
retreat must have seemed difficult if not impossible, it was not to be
thought that they would have all united to commit a useless murder for
the mere sake of revenge. Those who held this opinion supposed either
that the boats of the lugger had stood out to sea without being observed
by those who were intent upon gazing at the burning vessel, and so gained
safe distance before the sloop got round the headland; or else that, the
boats being staved or destroyed by the fire of the Shark during the
chase, the crew had obstinately determined to perish with the vessel.
What gave some countenance to this supposed act of desperation was, that
neither Dirk Hatteraick nor any of his sailors, all well-known men in the
fair trade, were again seen upon that coast, or heard of in the Isle of
Man, where strict inquiry was made. On the other hand, only one dead
body, apparently that of a seaman killed by a cannon-shot, drifted
ashore. So all that could be done was to register the names, description,
and appearance of the individuals belonging to the ship's company, and
offer a reward for the apprehension of them, or any one of them,
extending also to any person, not the actual murderer, who should give
evidence tending to convict those who had murdered Francis Kennedy.

Another opinion, which was also plausibly supported, went to charge this
horrid crime upon the late tenants of Derncleugh. They were known to have
resented highly the conduct of the Laird of Ellangowan towards them, and
to have used threatening expressions, which every one supposed them
capable of carrying into effect. The kidnapping the child was a crime
much more consistent with their habits than with those of smugglers, and
his temporary guardian might have fallen in an attempt to protect him.
Besides, it was remembered that Kennedy had been an active agent, two or
three days before, in the forcible expulsion of these people from
Derncleugh, and that harsh and menacing languag