I should say, Will, that he quarrelled with his father, perhaps over his
marriage, and left home in a passion. He was a man who, I could well
imagine, when he once quarrelled, would not be likely to take the first
step to make it up."

"Perhaps that was it, sir. Well, I am exceedingly obliged to you, and
will, you may be sure, investigate the contents of the bundle carefully."

Returning to the cottage, Will found Tom Stevens already there with a
small keg of brandy.

"This is good stuff, Will," he said; "it has been lying hidden for eight
years, and was some of the choicest landed. I got it as a favour, and had
to pay pretty high for it; but I knew you would not stick at the price."

"Certainly not, I wanted the best that could be got. Now, mother, mix us
three good stiff tumblers, and take a glass for yourself."

"It is twenty year since I tasted spirits," the old woman said, "though
John has often got a drop after a successful run; but this afternoon I
don't mind if I do try a little, if it is only to put the thought of them
bonfiring negroes out of my mind."

"I hope it will have that effect," Will laughed.

"Now, John, I told you about my adventures; let me hear a little village
gossip."

John's tale was not a very long, nor, it must be owned, a very interesting
one. Mary Johnson, Elizabeth Cruikshank, Mary Leaper, and Susie Thurston
had all had boys, while there had been five girls born. It was not
necessary, however, to specify the names of their mothers, as girls were
considered quite secondary persons in Scarcombe. One small cargo had been
run, but the revenue people were so sharp that the French lugger had given
up making the village a landing-place. John Mugby and his two sons had
been drowned, and John Hawkins's boat had been smashed up. As a result of
the decline of smuggling there had been a revulsion of the feeling against
Will, and the four men who had been the ringleaders in the movement had
made themselves so generally obnoxious that they had had to leave the
village.

At seven o'clock Will said:

"Now, father, I must be moving. Here are fifty guineas. They will last you
for nearly a year. I'll hand another fifty to Mr. Archer, and ask him to
send you twenty pounds at a time. I'll probably be back in England before
it has all gone, and if not I will manage to find a means of sending more
over to you."

"I sha'n't sleep," the old woman said; "I never shall sleep with all that
money in the h