84 THE SMUGGLE!*. 



won't do to stay here too long. Perhaps they may have gone 

 into the cottage. Girls like these often seek an object in their 

 walk, and visit this poor person or that:" and thus thinking, 

 he advanced to the little gate, went into the garden, and 

 knocked with his knuckles at the door of the house. A 

 woman's voice bade him come in; and, doing so, he found a 

 room, small in size, but corresponding in neatness and cleanli- 

 ness with the outside of the place. It was tenanted by three 

 persons: a middle-aged woman, dressed as a widow, with a 

 fine and placid countenance, who was advancing towards the 

 door as he entered; a very lovely girl of eighteen or nineteen, 

 who bore a strong resemblance to the widow ; and a stout, 

 powerful, good-looking man, of about thirty, well dressed, 

 though without any attempt at the appearance of a station 

 above the middle class, with a clean, fine, checked shirt, 

 having the collar cast back, and a black silk handkerchief tied 

 lightly in what is usually, termed a sailor's knot. The two 

 latter persons were sitting very close together, and the girl 

 was smiling gaily at something her companion had just said. 



" Two lovers!" thought the young baronet; but, as that 

 was no business of his, he went on to inquire of the good wo- 

 man of the house if she had seen some young ladies pass that 

 way; and having named them, he added, to escape scandal, 

 " I am staying at the house, and am afraid, if I do not meet 

 with them, I shall not easily find my way back." 



" They were here a minute ago, sir," replied the widow, 

 " and they went round to the east. They will take the Hal- 

 den road back, I suppose. If you make haste, you will catch 

 them easily." 



" But which is the Halden road, my good lady?" asked Sir 

 Edward Digby; and she, turning to the man who was sitting 

 by her daughter, said, " I wish you would show the gentle- 

 man, Mr. Harding." 



The man rose cheerfully enough, considering the circum- 

 stances, and led the young baronet with a rapid step, by a 

 footpath that wound round the edge of the wood, to another 

 broad road about three hundred yards distant from that by 

 which the young officer had come. Then, pointing with his 

 hand, he said: "There they are, going as slow as a Dutch 

 butter-tub. You can't miss them, or the road either, for it 

 leads straight on," 



