ill be in two days," said he. "I'm sorry, though, you're
afflicted with a scoundrel of a brother. I had the same trouble myself
once, and know what it is like."

"Tim's no scoundrel," said I hotly, "though he's on the wrong side.
He's a gentleman; and when it comes to that, I've no right to talk of
him as my brother at all."

"Well, please yourself," said Captain Felton, who evidently did not care
to discuss the matter. "That doesn't concern me, as long as you handle
the _Gnat_ smartly and get into no scrapes yourself. We can't afford to
let private concerns interfere with the king's business."

Two days later all was ready, and, to my great relief, we weighed anchor
and ran out of the bay with a brisk south-easterly breeze. The _Gnat_
proved an excellent sailer, and, fitted as she was with ten six-
pounders, and manned by a crew of twenty smart hands, she was a
formidable enough customer for any smuggler that had to reckon with her.

We put in at Larne in expectation of getting some news of the marauders
we were in search of, but found none. We were, however, warned to keep
our eyes open not only for smugglers, but for foreign craft which were
said to be at the old business of landing arms for the Ulster rebels,
who by all accounts were in a very red-hot state, and longing anxiously
for the signal to rise. Indeed, so threatening did things appear
generally that the authorities gave Captain Felton peremptory
instructions to allow nothing to stand in the way of his communicating
immediately to headquarters any intelligence (particularly as to the
expected French landing) with which in the course of his cruise he might
meet.

"This puts a boot on our other leg," said the captain to me that
evening, as we watched the sunset light fade over Fair Head. "It seems
to me collecting customs will be the least part of our business. Never
mind. I'd sooner put a bullet into a rebel any day than into a poor
beggar who tries to land a keg of whisky for nothing. Fortune send us
either, though!"

It seemed as if this wish were not without reason; for though we cruised
up and down for a fortnight, watching every bay and creek between
Ballycastle and Sheep Haven, we came upon nothing but honest fisher
craft and traders.

At last, to my relief--for I was growing impatient to hear news of my
little mistress--Captain Felton bade me run the cutter into Lough
Swilly. And knowing my desire, he made an excuse to send me ashor