loaded a goodly cargo of brandy and gin, all of which was found on
board, and no doubt would shortly have been got ashore and placed in
one of the caves not far from Longnose. Moreover, the men were as good
as convicted when it was found that the spirits were in those small
casks or tubs which were only employed by the smugglers; and indeed
never had such a cargo of spirits to Guernsey been carried in such
small-sized kegs, for Guernsey always received its spirits in casks of
bold dimensions.

It was further pointed out at the trial that the luggers could not
have been bound on the voyage alleged, for they had not enough
provisions on board. The Solicitor-General also demonstrated the fact
that when these luggers were approached in deep water--that is, of
course after the three hours' chase--they could not possibly have been
making for Guernsey. The farther they stood from the shore the greater
would be their danger, for they would be likely at any hour to fall in
with the enemy's privateers which were known to be cruising not far
off.

But to return to the point in the narrative when we digressed. Captain
Stewart, a quarter of an hour before finally coming up with the
_I.O._, had fired several times to cause her to heave-to, but this
they declined to do, and all her crew but one deserted her as stated.
Leaving one of his own men on board her the naval officer, after
marking her with a broad arrow to indicate she had been seized, went
with his four remaining men in pursuit of the second lugger, which was
rowing away with all haste, and alongside which the _I.O.'s_ boat was
lying. But, as soon as Stewart began to approach, the men now quitted
the lugger and rowed back to the _I.O._ He opened fire at them, but
they still persisted, and seeing this he continued to pursue the
second lugger, boarded her and seized her, the time being now about
6.30 A.M.

Afterwards he waited until his other boat had come up, and left her
crew in charge of this second lugger, and then rowed off to the first
lugger again, but once more the _I.O.'s_ people deserted her and rowed
towards the shore. Undaunted he then went in pursuit of the third
lugger, but as a breeze came up she managed to get away. Presently he
was able to hail a neutral vessel who gave him a passage back, and at
midday he rejoined the _I.O._, which was subsequently taken captive
into Dover, and at a later date ordered to be condemned. She had
belonged to Deal and was no d