ed Lulworth and were watching at a
spot between that and St. Alban's Head, where a cargo had been run a
month or two before, when they caught sight of the signal off Lulworth.
Well, you may guess they did not get much for their pains. The carts had
all made off as soon as they heard the _Boxer's_ guns, and knew that the
game was up, for the night anyhow, and they found every light out in
Lulworth, and everyone, as it seemed, fast asleep. I believe, from what
I have heard, that there was a great row afterwards between Captain
Downes and the revenue officer ashore. The chap ashore would have it
that it was all the captain's fault for being in such a hurry, and that
if he had waited an hour they would have got all the carts with the
cargo, even if he had not caught the lugger.

"Well, that was true enough; but I don't see that Downes was to blame,
for until he came along he could not be sure where the lugger was, and
indeed she was so close in under the cliff that it is like enough he
would have missed her altogether and have gone on another two or three
miles, if it had not been that they caught the noise of the boats
alongside her taking in the kegs. The lugger got away all right; she is
a fast craft, and though the _Boxer_ can walk along in a strong wind, in
a light breeze the lugger had the legs of her altogether. That shows
you, Mr. Julian, that Captain Downes has cut his eye-teeth, and that it
is mighty hard to fool him. He was never nearer making a good capture
than he was that night. The lugger ran her cargo two nights afterwards
at the very spot where the woman had told the revenue man that she was
going to do it. There was a little bit of a fight, but the coast-guard
were not strong enough to do any good, and had to make off, and before
they could bring up anything like a strong force, every bale and keg had
been carried inland, and before morning there was scarce a farmhouse
within ten miles that had not got some of it stowed away in their snug
hiding-places. Downes will be more vicious than ever after that job, and
you see, master, you are like to run a goodish risk of getting your head
broke and of being hauled off to jail. Still, if you would like to join
some night in a run we can put you in the way."

"Yes, I should like it very much," Julian said. "There can't be much
risk, for there has not been anything like a regular fight anywhere
along this part of the coast for the last two years, and from what I
ha