king as anxiously
as Tristan for the expected ship.

Meantime the _Fanny_ had crossed the North Sea, and Crawford sent Agnew
ashore at Yarmouth on the 7th of April with orders to hurry to Belfast,
where he was to procure another steamer and bring it to a rendezvous at
Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel. Crawford himself, having
rechristened the _Fanny_ for the second time (this time the _Doreen_),
proceeded down the English Channel, where he had a rather adventurous
cruise in a gale of wind. He kept close to the French coast, to avoid
any unwelcome attentions in British waters, but on the way had an attack
of malaria, which the Captain thought so grave that, no doubt with the
most humane motives, he declared his intention of putting Crawford
ashore at Dunkirk to save his life, a design which no persuasion short
of Crawford's handling of his revolver in true pirate fashion would make
the Norwegian abandon.

In the heavy seas of the Channel the _Doreen_ could not make more than
four knots, and she was consequently twenty-four hours late for the
rendezvous with Agnew at Lundy, where she arrived on the 11th of April.
The Bristol Channel seemed to swarm with pilot boats eager to be of
service, whose inquisitive and expert eyes were anything but welcome to
the custodian of Ulster's rifles; and to his highly strung imagination
every movement of every trawler appeared to betoken suspicion. And,
indeed, they were not without excuse for curiosity; for, a foreign
steamer whose course seemed indeterminate, now making for Cardiff and
now for St. Ives, observed at one time north-east of Lundy and a few
hours later south of the island--a tramp, in fact, that was obviously
"loitering" with no ascertainable destination, was enough to keep
telescopes to the eyes of Devon pilots and fisher-folk, and to set their
tongues wagging. But there was no help for it. Crawford could not leave
the rendezvous till Agnew arrived, and was forced to wander round Lundy
and up and down the Bristol Channel for two days and nights, until, at 5
a.m. on Monday morning, the 13th of April, a signal from a passing
steamer, the _Balmerino_, gave the welcome tidings that Agnew was on
board and was proceeding to sea.

When the two steamers were sufficiently far from Lundy lighthouse and
other prying eyes to make friendly intercourse safe, Agnew came on board
the _Doreen_, bringing with him another North Irish seaman whom he
introduced to Crawford. This man han