ad important instructions for him, he still refused to let them
come on board. "If the orders are not signed by Sir Edward Carson," he
shouted back, "you can take them back to where they came from." But the
orders they brought had been signed by the leader, a special messenger
having been sent to London to obtain his signature, and the change of
plan they indicated was, in fact, just what Crawford desired. The bulk
of the arms were to be landed at Larne, the port he had always favoured,
and lesser quantities were to be taken to Bangor and Donaghadee.

It was 10.30 that night, the 24th of April 1914, when the _Mountjoy II_
steamed alongside the landing-stage at Larne, where she had been eagerly
awaited for a couple of hours. The voyage of adventure was over. Fred
Crawford, with the able and zealous help of Andrew Agnew, had
accomplished the difficult and dangerous task he had undertaken, and a
service had been rendered to Ulster not unworthy to rank beside the
breaking of the boom across the Foyle by the first and more renowned
_Mountjoy_.

FOOTNOTES:

[87] _Annual Register_, 1914, p. 1.

CHAPTER XIX

ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR

The arrangements that had been made for the landing and disposal of the
arms when they arrived in port were the work of an extremely efficient
and complete organisation. In the previous summer Captain Spender, it
will be remembered, had been appointed to a position on Sir George
Richardson's staff which included in its duties that of the organisation
of transport. A railway board, a supply board, and a transport board had
been formed, on which leading business men willingly served; every
U.V.F. unit had its horse transport, and in addition a special motor
corps, organised in squadrons, and a special corps of motor-lorries were
formed.

More than half the owners of motor-cars in Ulster placed their cars at
the disposal of the motor corps, to be used as and when required. The
corps was organised in sections of four cars each, and in squadrons of
seventeen cars each, with motor cyclist despatch-riders; a signalling
corps of despatch-riders and signallers completed the organisation. The
lively interest aroused by the practice and displays of the
last-mentioned corps did much to promote the high standard of
proficiency attained by its "flag-waggers," many of whom were women and
girls. In particular the signalling-station at Bangor gained a
reputation which attracted many English sympat