e the _Iris_ as the galley was dropped into the leaden waters.
But just at that moment the _Badger's_ people overheard some men on
the lugger exclaim, "Now's your time," whereupon the crew of the
lugger also launched their boat, forsook the _Iris_, and began to row
off as fast as they could. The _Badger_ called to them--among whom was
a man named Albert Hugnet--ordering them under pain of being shot to
come alongside the cutter. They replied that they were coming, but
that they could not find their thole-pins, saying that they had only
two oars on one side and one oar on the other. This was said in
English, and was obviously a mere excuse to gain time. Meanwhile the
cutter's galley and men had come alongside the lugger, in which they
found 110 half-ankers, containing 382 gallons of brandy, and 157
half-ankers of Geneva, 55 bags of tea, and 19 bags containing 355 lbs.
of manufactured tobacco.

As the men of the _Iris_ showed no signs of coming back, the
prize-crew on the lugger hailed the _Badger_, giving information that
the smugglers were escaping. "Lie close," came the command, so the
cutter trimmed her sheets and went in pursuit, and fired some shots in
the direction of the retreating boat. But it was no use, for the boat
was quickly lost from sight among the waves and disappeared entirely.
There was some sea on at the time, so no one among the Revenue men
envied the _Iris's_ crew their task of rowing across to Boulogne, a
distance of somewhere about twenty-seven miles, in that weather and
athwart very strong tides, with the certainty of having a worse time
as the Ridens and the neighbourhood of Boulogne was approached. In
fact the chief mate of the cutter remarked, some time after, though he
had seen these tub-boats go across the sea in all weathers, and were
splendidly seaworthy, yet he considered it was not very wise of the
_Iris's_ crew to risk it on such a night as that.

Convinced, then, that the men were making for France, the lugger, with
her prize crew on board, presently sailed up after the cutter, hoping
to come across their captives. But neither cutter nor lugger could
find the men, and concluded, no doubt, that the tub-boat had
foundered. But, at a later date, Albert Hugnet was arrested, and in
the following June was brought to trial and punished. It then came out
that the whole boat-load had escaped with their lives. For Andres
Finshaw was called as evidence for the defence. He had been one of the
lug