228 THE SMUGGLER* 



moment, of the presence of the troops on the side of High 

 Halden ; for they were observed to halt, to pause for a minute 

 or two, then re-tread their steps for a short distance, and take 

 their way over the side of the hill, as if tending towards Piu- 

 renden or Little Ingham. 



"You should cut them off, sir; you should cut them off!" 

 cried Mowle, addressing Captain Irby; "or, by Jove, they'll 

 be over the hill above Brook Street, and then we shall never 

 catch them, amongst all the woods and copses up there! 

 They'll escape, to a certainty!" 



" I think not, if I know my man," answered Captain Irby, 

 coolly; "and, at all events, Mr. Mowle, I must obey my 

 orders. But there he comes over the hill; so that matter's 

 settled. Now let them get out if they can. You have heard 

 of a rat-trap, Mr. Mowle?" 



Mowle turned his eyes in the direction of an opposite hill, 

 about three-quarters of a mile distant from the spot where he 

 himself stood, and there, coming up at a rapid pace, appeared 

 an officer in a plain grey cloak, with two or three others in 

 full regimentals, round him, while a larger body of cavalry 

 than any he had yet seen, met his eyes, following their com- 

 mander about fifty yards behind, and gradually crowning the 

 summit of the rise, where they halted. The smugglers could 

 not be at more than half a mile's distance from this party, 

 and the moment that it appeared, the troops from the side of 

 High Halden and from Cuckoo Point began to advance at a 

 quick trot, while Captain Irby descended into the lower 

 ground more slowly, watching, with a small glass that he 

 carried in his hand, the motions of all the other bodies, when 

 the view was not cut off by the hedge-rows and copses, as his 

 position altered. Mowle kept his eyes upon the body of 

 smugglers, and upon the dragoons on the opposite hill, and 

 he soon perceived a trooper ride down from the latter group 

 to the former, as if bearing them some message. 



The next instant there was a flash or two, as if the smug- 

 glers had fired upon the soldier sent to them; and then, 

 retreating slowly towards a large white house, with some 

 gardens and shrubberies and various out-buildings around it, 

 they manifested a design of occupying the grounds with the 

 intention of there resisting the attack of the cavalry. A 

 trooper instantly galloped down, at full speed, towards Cap- 



