406 THE SMUGGLER. 



Clare, that he was atoning to the spirit of the father, by seek- 

 ing to avenge the child; and the whole tale of her wrongs and 

 death, which he had heard from Layton, as they came, had 

 raised the desire of so doing almost to an enthusiasm. Human 

 passions and infirmities, indeed, will mingle with our best feel- 

 ings ; and as he gazed upon Mr. Radford's house, and remem- 

 bered all that he had endured for the last six years, he said to 

 himself, with some bitterness, " That man shall now taste a 

 portion of the same cup he has forced upon others." 



Sir Henry Layton woke from his reverie sooner than his 

 companion ; and turning his horse, he spoke for a few moments 

 with Mowle, somewhat longer with another person wrapped in 

 a dark horseman's coat behind, and then gave various distinct 

 orders to the dragoons, who immediately separated into small 

 parties, and, taking different roads, placed themselves in such 

 positions as to command every approach to the house. Then 

 riding forward with Sir Robert Croyland, the officers of cus- 

 toms, and one or two soldiers, he turned up the little avenue 

 which led from the road, consulting with Edith's father as he 

 went. At about a couple of hundred yards from the house he 

 paused, turning his head and saying to Mowle, " You had 

 better, I think, all dismount ; and, making fast the horses, get 

 behind the nearest laurels and evergreens, while Sir Robert 

 and I ride on alone, and ask admission quietly. When the 

 door is opened, you can come up and make yourselves masters 

 of the servants till the search is over. I do not anticipate 

 any resistance ; but if the young man be really here, it may 

 be made." 



He then rode on with the baronet at a quicker pace, the 

 noise of their horses' feet, as they trotted on and approached 

 the great doors, covering the sound of the movements of the 

 party they left behind. 



The house, to which the actual possessor had given the name of 

 Radford Hall, was an old-fashioned country mansion, and pre- 

 sented, like many another building at that time, several large 

 iron hooks, standing out from the brick-work on each side of 

 the door- way, on which it was customary for visitors on horse- 

 back to hang their rein while they rang the bell, or till a ser- 

 vant could be called to take them to the stable. Sir Robert 

 Croyland was acquainted with this peculiarity of the house, 

 though Layton was not, and he whispered to his companion, 



