intended to disobey.
When he had finished his narrative and his protestations against what he
considered a cowardly policy--a policy that would deprive Ulster of
succour as sorely needed as Derry needed the _Mountjoy_ to break the
boom--Carson put a few questions to him in regard to the feasibility of
his plans. Crawford explained the advantage it would be to transfer the
cargo from the _Fanny_ to a local steamer, which he felt confident he
could bring into Larne, and after the transhipment he would send the
_Fanny_ straight back to the Baltic, where she could settle her account
with the Danish authorities and recover her papers.

Some members of the Council were sceptical about the possibility of
transhipping the cargo at sea, but Crawford, who had fully discussed it
with Agnew, believed that if favoured by calm weather it could be done.
When Carson, after hearing all that was to be said on both sides in the
long debate between Fabius and Hotspur, finally supported the latter,
the question was decided. There was no split--there never was in these
deliberations in Ulster; those whose judgment was overruled always
supported loyally the policy decided upon.

Immediate measures were then taken to give effect to the decision. Kelly
knew of a suitable craft, the s.s. _Clydevalley_, for sale at that
moment in Glasgow, which would be in Belfast next morning with a cargo
of coal. This was providential. A collier familiar to every longshoreman
in Belfast Lough, carrying on her usual trade this week, could hardly be
suspected of carrying rifles when she returned next week ostensibly in
the same line of business. It was settled that Crawford should cross to
Glasgow at once and buy her; the steamer, when bought, was to go from
Belfast to Llandudno, where she would pick up Crawford on the sands, and
proceed to keep the rendezvous with Agnew at the Tuskar Light on Friday;
and, after taking over the _Fanny's_ cargo, would then steam boldly up
Belfast Lough and through the Musgrave Channel to the Belfast docks,
where he undertook to arrive on the Friday week, the 24th of April, the
various proposals which named Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee as ports of
discharge having all been rejected after full discussion. This last
decision was not approved by Crawford, for he and Spender had long
before this time agreed that Larne harbour was the proper place to land
the arms, both because the large number of country roads leading to it
would fac