THE SMUGGLER. 321 



of their little scheme. Nevertheless, he turned the matter in 

 his mind, in order to see whether he could not save Mrs. Clare 

 the trouble of going nearly to Goudhurst, by obtaining the 

 necessary articles of female apparel somewhere else. His own 

 women servants, however, were all short and stout; the only 

 other persons whom he could think of, as at all approaching 

 his son in height, he did not choose to trust; and, therefore, 

 it was at length determined that the original plan should be 

 followed. But the worthy gentleman laid strict injunctions 

 upon Mrs. Clare to be early in her proceedings, as lie feared 

 much, from all he had gathered, that the wood might be more 

 strictly searched in the course of the following day. 



When this was settled, and Mr. Radford had expressed his 

 thanks more than once, Mrs. Clare thought it a good oppor- 

 tunity of turning the conversation to Harding; and she asked 

 Mr. Radford if he had seen him, adding: " He has gone to 

 look for you, sir, and seems very quick and angry, because the 

 people down about his place have got a report that he in- 

 formed about the run, and he fancies you have said so." 



"Pooh! nonsense, Mrs. Clare, I never said anything of the 

 kind," replied Mr. Radford. " It is a story put about by the 

 custom-house officers themselves, just to cover the persons 

 from whom they had the information. But we shall discover 

 them some day, and pay them handsomely. Tell Harding not 

 to mind what people say, for I never thought of such a 

 thing." 



" That I will, sir," replied the widow, "for I'm sure it will 

 set his mind at rest. You must know very well, sir, that he's 

 as honest a man as ever lived." 



"To be sure, to be sure," answered Mr. Radford, with great 

 warmth of manner; "no one knows that better than I do, 

 Mrs. Clare." 



But whether Mr. Radford really felt the warmth which he 

 assumed, may be another question. His seemings were not 

 always the best indications of his real sentiments; and when 

 he left Mrs. Clare's cottage, after all had been arranged, his 

 first thought was, "We will reckon with Mr. Harding by-and- 

 bye. The account is not made up yet." 



Before I proceed to other scenes, it may be as well to go 

 on with the part assigned in this history to Mrs. Clare and 

 her daughter, at least, till the morning of the following day. 



