und from Bordeaux
to Calais. If so, it was an obvious and foolish lie. Mr. Gray--for
that was the mate's name--then inquired how many men were aboard, and
the answer returned that there were seven. Gray then called the
lugger's men aft, and separated the English from the foreign, and
found there were five French and two English. The two latter, said the
Frenchman (who was none other than Albert Hugnet, whom we spoke of
just now), were just passengers. A few minutes later, the skipper
contradicted himself and said there were not seven but nine, all told.
Gray then proceeded to look for the other two, and jumped down forward
into the forepeak. As the place was dark he put his cutlass in first
and rummaged about. In a moment the cutlass brought up against
something soft. Gray had struck a man, hiding there, on the legs and
thighs.

He was called upon by the cutter's mate to come out, and instantly
obeyed, fearing no doubt that the cutlass would assail him again if he
didn't. As he emerged he was followed by another man, and another, and
yet another; in fact from that dark hole there came out a procession
of seven, all of whom were found to be Englishmen. It was noticeable
that most, if not all, were dressed in short jackets and petticoat
trousers. They were clearly sailors, and not landsmen--passengers or
anything else. In plain language they were out-and-out smugglers. What
was especially to be noted was the fact that their trousers were quite
wet right up to their middles. In some cases their jackets were also
wet up to their elbows. All this clearly pointed to the fact that they
had not long since put off from the shore, where they had succeeded in
landing a contraband cargo by wading from the lugger to the beach; and
such a thick atmosphere as there was on the previous night must have
made it highly convenient for them. Nevertheless, even for these
weather-hardened seamen, it cannot have been altogether pleasant
penned up in sopping clothes in a dark forepeak with an unseen cutlass
waving about in their midst and seizure pending.

These men also Gray ordered to go aft, and put them together so that
he might see how many altogether were English and how many French. It
was found that there were nine of them English and five French. Taking
possession of the helm, Gray let the sails draw and ran down to the
_Eagle_, telling his prisoners he was going to get further
instructions from his commander. There were no tubs foun