free from fever. This proved to be the case; but she was ordered to
keep her bed for a day or two.

On the morning after the storm, the wind had gone down much, although a
tremendous sea was still breaking on the shore. Messages arrived, in
the course of the day, to say that all the missing boats, with one
exception, had succeeded in gaining the shore before the storm was full
on. The missing boat was never heard of again.

Two days later, James Walsham had strolled up the hill to the east of
the town, and was lying, with a book before him, in a favourite nook of
his looking over the sea. It was one of the lovely days which sometimes
come late in autumn, as if the summer were determined to show itself at
its best, before leaving. It could not be said that James was studying,
for he was watching the vessels passing far out at sea, and inwardly
moaning over the fact that he was destined for a profession for which
he had no real liking, instead of being free to choose one of travel
and adventure.

Presently, he heard voices behind him. The position, in which he was
lying, was a little distance down on the slopes, on the seaward side of
the path, and, as a screen of bushes grew behind it, he could not be
seen by anyone passing along.

"All the men, with their pistols and cutlasses, are to assemble here at
ten o'clock tonight, Johnson. But do not give them orders till late,
and let them come up, one by one, so as not to attract attention.
Lipscombe's men are to assemble at the same hour, and march to meet us.
This time, I think, there is no mistake. The cargo is to be landed
where I told you. It will be high tide at twelve o'clock, and they are
sure to choose that hour, so that the cutter can run close in. I have
sent off a man on horseback to Weymouth, for the revenue cutter to come
round. If she's in time, we shall catch that troublesome lugger, as
well as her cargo. She has been a thorn in our side for the last year.
This time, I do hope we shall have her."

The speakers then moved on out of hearing, but James Walsham recognized
the voice, as that of the revenue officer commanding the force at
Sidmouth.

Smuggling was, at that time, carried on on a large scale along the
coast, and there were frequent collisions between those engaged in it
and the revenue officers. The sympathies of the population were wholly
with the smugglers, and the cheating of the revenue was not at all
considered in the light of a crime.