o carry on the affairs of the
nation, and duties and taxes must be levied to supply those funds. We
should show them that smuggling is a practice which it is the duty of
all loyal men to put a stop to."

"I understand your wishes, Sir Reginald, and agree with you that
energetic measures are necessary; and you may depend upon my exerting
myself to the utmost."

"My great object, at present, is to capture the `Saucy Bess.' The
revenue officers afloat will, of course, do their duty; but she has so
often eluded them that my only hope is to catch her while she is engaged
in running her cargo. I will give a handsome reward to any one who
brings reliable information which leads to that desirable result."

"I am afraid that, although one or two smugglers may be captured, others
will soon take their places; as while the present high duties on
spirits, silks, and other produce of France exist, the profit to be made
by smuggling will always prove a temptation too strong to be resisted,"
observed my father. "If the smugglers find that a vigilant watch is
kept on this part of the coast they will merely carry on their
transactions in another part."

"At all events, my dear Mr Cheveley, we shall have the satisfaction of
knowing that we have done our duty in removing what I consider a
disgrace to our community," observed Sir Reginald. "As to lowering the
duties, that is what I will never consent to. I shall always oppose any
scheme of the sort while I hold my place in Parliament. I feel that I
am bound to preserve things as they are, and am not to be moved by the
brawling cries of demagogues."

"Of course, Sir Reginald, you understand these things better than I do.
I have never given my mind to politics, and have always been ready to
record my vote in your favour, and to induce as many as possible of my
parishioners to follow my example."

All this time I had been sitting on the tenter-hooks of expectation,
wondering if my father would again refer to the subject which had
induced him to pay a visit to the baronet.

"I must wish you good morning, Sir Reginald," he said, rising. "You
will, I feel sure, not forget your promise regarding my son Dick, and if
Captain Grummit cannot take him, I trust that you will find some other
captain who does not insist on his midshipmen having so large an
allowance."

"Of course, my dear Mr Cheveley, of course," said the baronet, rising;
"although it did not strike me as anything unreas