THE SMUGGLER. 53 



Edward Digby the most; but he knew that there was a cer- 

 tain sort of perversity about his servant, which made him 

 less willing to answer a distinct question than to volunteer any 

 information; and therefore he fixed upon another point, in- 

 quiring, " What do you mean, Somers, by saying that he is, 

 or was, the richest man in the country?" 



"Why, sir, that is as it maybe," answered the man; "but 

 one thing is certain, Miss Croyland has three times refused to 

 marry this young Radford, notwithstanding all her father could 

 say; and as for the young gentleman himself, why he's no 

 gentleman at all: going about with all the bad characters in 

 the county, and carrying on his father's old trade, like a high- 

 wayman. It has not quite answered so well though, for they 

 say old Radford lost fully fifty thousand pounds by his last 

 venture, which was run ashore somewhere about Romney Hoy. 

 The boats were sunk, part of the goods seized, and the rest 

 sent to the bottom. You may be sure he's a dare-devil, how- 

 ever, for whenever the servants speak of him, they sink their 

 voice to a whisper, as if the fiend were at their elbow." 



Sir Edward Digby was very well inclined to hear more ; 

 but while the man was speaking, the bell he had mentioned, 

 rang, and the young baronet, who had a certain regard for his 

 own personal appearance, hastened to dress and to descend to 

 the drawing-room. 



CHAPTER VI. 



IT is sometimes expedient, in telling a tale of this kind, to in- 

 troduce the different personages quietly to the reader one after 

 the other, and to suffer him to become familiar with them se- 

 parately, before they are all brought to act together, that he 

 may have a clear and definite notion of their various charac- 

 ters, dispositions, and peculiarities, and be enabled to judge at 

 once of the motives by which they are actuated, when we re- 

 cite the deeds that they perform. 



Having twice or thrice mentioned one of the prominent 

 persons in this history, without having brought him visibly 

 upon the scene (as, in the natural course of events, I must 

 very soon do), I shall now follow the plan above-mentioned ; 

 and, in order to give the reader a distinct notion of Mr. Rad- 



