d, except by
sending signals down the line; but, to those Sir Gervaise had no
recourse, since he was satisfied Bluewater understood his plans, and he
then entertained no manner of doubt of his friend's willingness to aid
them.

Little heed was taken of any thing astern, by those on board the
Plantagenet. Every one saw, it is true, that ship followed ship in due
succession, as long as the movements of those inshore could be perceived
at all; but the great interest centred on the horizon to the southward
and eastward. In that quarter of the channel the French were expected to
appear, for the cause of this sudden departure was a secret from no one
in the fleet. A dozen of the best look-outs in the ship were kept aloft
the whole afternoon, and Captain Greenly, himself, sat in the
forward-cross-trees, with a glass, for more than an hour, just as the
sun was setting, in order to sweep the horizon. Two or three sail were
made, it is true, but they all proved to be English coasters; Guernsey
or Jerseymen, standing for ports in the west of England, most probably
laden with prohibited articles from the country of the enemy. Whatever
may be the dislike of an Englishman for a Frenchman, he has no dislike
to the labour of his hands; and there probably has not been a period
since civilization has introduced the art of smuggling among its other
arts, when French brandies, and laces, and silks, were not exchanged
against English tobacco and guineas, and that in a contraband way, let
it be in peace or let it be in war. One of the characteristics of Sir
Gervaise Oakes was to despise all petty means of annoyance; usually he
disdained even to turn aside to chase a smuggler. Fishermen he never
molested at all; and, on the whole, he carried on a marine warfare, a
century since, in a way that some of his successors might have imitated
to advantage in our own times. Like that high-spirited Irishman,
Caldwell,[2] who conducted a blockade in the Chesapeake, at the
commencement of the revolution, with so much liberality, that his
enemies actually sent him an invitation to a public dinner, Sir Gervaise
knew how to distinguish between the combatant and the non-combatant, and
heartily disdained all the money-making parts of his profession, though
large sums had fallen into his hands, in this way, as pure God-sends. No
notice was taken, therefore, of any thing that had not a warlike look;
the noble old ship standing steadily on towards the French coa