rish coast, but to cruise in the
Baltic till a more favourable opportunity. He was to let Spender know
later where he could be reached with final instructions as to landing
the arms; the rendezvous so agreed upon subsequently was Lough Laxford,
a wild and inaccessible spot on the west coast of Sutherlandshire.
Crawford was warned by B.S. that he was far from confident of a
successful end to their labours at Hamburg. He had never before shipped
anything like so large a number of firearms; and the long process of
packing, and Crawford's own mysterious coming and going, would be
certain to excite suspicion, which would reach the secret agents of the
British Government, and lead either to a protest addressed to the German
authorities, followed by a prohibition on shipping the arms, or to
confiscation by the British authorities when the cargo entered British
territorial waters.

These fears must have been present to the mind of B.S. when he met
Crawford at the station in Hamburg on the 27th on his return from
Belfast, for the precautions taken to avoid being followed gave their
movements the character of an adventure by one of Stanley Weyman's
heroes of romance. Whether any suspicion had in fact been aroused
remains unknown. Anyhow, the barges were ready laden, with a tug waiting
till the tide should serve about midnight for making a start down the
Elbe, and through the canal to Kiel. The modest sum of L10 procured an
order authorising the tug and barges to proceed through the canal
without stopping, and requiring other shipping to let them pass. A black
flag was the signal of this privileged position, which suggested the
"Jolly Roger" to Crawford's thoughts, and gave a sense of insolent
audacity when great liners of ten or fifteen thousand tons were seen
making way for a tug-boat towing a couple of lighters.

For the success of the enterprise up to this point Crawford was greatly
indebted to the Jew, B.S. From first to last this gentleman "played the
game" with sterling honesty and straightforward dealing that won his
customers' warm admiration. Several times he accepted Crawford's word as
sufficient security when cash was not immediately forthcoming, and in no
instance did he bear out the character traditionally attributed to his
race.

On arrival at Kiel, Crawford, after a short absence from the tug, was
informed that three men had been inquiring from the lightermen and the
tug's skipper about the nature and destinatio