160 THE SMUGGLER. 



than for any one else, because he always stands by his own, 

 and will see no harm come to them. If this is to go on, sir, 

 you and I may as well leave the county." 



" It shall not go on," answered the officer; "but we must 

 have a little patience, my good friend. Long impunity makes 

 a man rash. This worthy Mr. Radford seems to have become 

 so already; otherwise, he would never have risked carrying 

 so large a venture across the country in open day." 



" I don't think that, in this, he was rash at all, sir," 

 answered Mowle, lowering his tone, and speaking in a whisper; 

 " and if you will listen for a moment, I'll tell you why, My 

 belief is, that the whole of this matter is but a lure to take us 

 off the right scent ; and I have several reasons for thinking so. 

 In the first place, the run was but a trifling affair, as far as I 

 can learn, not worth five hundred pounds. I know that what 

 we have got is not worth a hundred, and it has cost me as 

 good a horse as I ever rode in my life. Now from all I hear, 

 the cargo that Mr. Radford expects is the most valuable that 

 ever was run from Duugeuess Point to the North Foreland. 

 So, if my information is correct, and I am sure it is " 



"Who did you get it from?" demanded the officer, "if the 

 question is a fair one." 



"Some such questions might not be," answered Mowle; 

 "but I don't mind answering this, colonel. I got it from Mr. 

 Radford himself. Ay, sir, you may well look surprised ; but 

 I heard him with my own ears say that it was worth at least 

 seventy thousand pounds. So you see my information is pretty 

 good. Now, knowing this, as soon as I found out what value 

 was in this lot, I said to myself, this is some little spec of 

 young Rad ford's own. But when I came to consider the 

 matter, I found that must be a mistake too; for the old man 

 helped the Ramleys out of their scrape so impudently, and 

 took such pains to let it be well understood that he had an 

 interest in the affair, that I felt sure there was some motive 

 at the bottom, sir. In all these things, he has shown himself, 

 from a boy, as cautious as he is daring, and that's the way he 

 has made such a power of money. He's not a man to appear 

 too much in a thing, even for his son's sake, if he has not 

 some purpose to answer; and, depend upon it, I'm right when 

 I say that this run was nothing but a trap, or a blind, as they 

 call it, to make us think, in case we've got any information of 



