alf-past
one. I shall have the boat waiting at one, close to the slip at
George's Pier; the tide will be running in; I will pull over, and take
you on board in a jiffy; and then away we go for beautiful Guernsey." A
few more low sounds of tender entreaty followed, and then the girl
seemed to yield a reluctant consent. The man, observing that she was
faint, proposed that she should walk on the green and take the air.
Shipp had then an opportunity of observing the pair. The girl was a
pretty, graceful, innocent-looking creature, about twenty-two years of
age. The man was a tall, swarthy, good-looking fellow, apparently a
master in the merchant service. Shipp at once recognized him as an
individual who had been, a few weeks before, convicted before the
magistrates of Liverpool for smuggling, and heavily fined. By
representation to the board, the fine had been considerably mitigated.

Shortly afterward, as Shipp was passing along the pier to the packet, he
again passed the lovers, who were just separating. "Remember half-past
one," said the man.--"I will," replied the girl, firmly; "tell brother
Tom I shall scold him when I come on board, for not coming over to see
me." The packet was moving from the pier, and the man stepped on board
at the same moment as Mr. Shipp. The former was almost immediately
accosted with great warmth by an individual, who pressed forward to meet
him. The two shook hands familiarly, the friend exclaiming, "Ah!
Captain, how are you? I haven't seen you this age. How's your wife?--is
she in Liverpool?"--"No," replied the other, "I left her at home in
Whitehaven three weeks ago, quite well and happy, thank you."--"And who
is that pretty girl whom you've just parted with? I'll tell your wife,
you rogue, the next time I see her. She ought to be jealous of
you."--"Oh," replied the captain, "she is sister to a new acquaintance
of mine; I've just been bidding her good-bye, as we sail to-morrow
morning."

Shipp now became interested in the event, as he was convinced that some
plot had been contrived, which would, in all probability, be fatal to
the happiness of an innocent girl. When the passengers landed, he
followed close to the man of whose proceedings he had become so
strangely cognizant. As if fate had determined to let him into the whole
secret, scarcely had the smuggler parted from the friend whom he had met
in the packet, when he encountered a young man whom he addressed by the
familiar appellation