134 



RECREATION. 



had an open countenance, lighted by 

 blue eyes, and a wealth of curly hair 

 clustered about his forehead. "Just 

 the man." I thought, " for a girl to fall 

 in love with." 



" Hallo, stranger ! " he exclaimed, as 

 I came abreast of him. " Are you 

 going to town ? " 



I answered in the affirmative. "Well," 

 he continued, " I'll go with you." 



I pulled up, and as he got in the 

 carriage, I remarked, sarcastically, 



" You seem confident you have only to 

 invite yourself to a lift, and get it." 



He burst into a peal of laughter. " I 

 go on the principle that every one 

 desires my company. You see, my 

 nerve is sufficient enough for a com- 

 mercial traveler." 



" Are you one ? " I inquired. 



" No," he answered meditatively, "I 

 have not struck that line yet ; I have 

 been most everything, but just now I 

 am a ship's purser on a furlough." 



" Indeed ! it must be pleasant, sail- 

 ing to different parts of Jthe world." 



"Well enough, if you are in a vessel 

 with a roving commission ; but in that 

 case there would be no money in it. I 

 make five times the amount of my 

 salary in smuggling, and in shoving the 

 queer, on a regular liner." 



" Shoving the queer ? " 



" Yes," he answered with a reckless 

 laugh. " When I am in Havana, Cuba, 

 Campeachy, y Tuspan, Tampico, and other 

 ports ( f Mexico, I buy large amounts 

 of goods and pay for them in counter- 

 feit money, which is so deceptive in 

 appearance that it passes through 

 several hands before being discovered. 

 The goods I purchase are smuggled 

 into Philadelphia, if possible, otherwise 

 I pay duty." 



"It must be a risky business," I re- 

 marked. 



" My nature craves a certain amount 

 of excitement, which is furnished by my 

 mode of living. Now our last trip will 

 give an illustration of the excitement I 

 derive from smuggling. 



" The ship's steward, a fellow by 

 the name of Breen, and myself, deed- 

 ed there was a chance of running 

 through some cigars. We purchased 

 40,000 Havanas, which we sewed in 

 rubber bags. These were to be dropped 

 over the side as we passed Indian 

 river, or cape Henlopen, on a signal 



from a small yacht. If we passed in 

 the night the signal would be three 

 flashes of a white light, followed by a red 

 and then a green ; if during the day the 

 yacht was to cross our bows trolling for 

 blue fish; and if all was clear, trure 

 would be a general waving of handker- 

 chiefs ; otherwise the yachtsmen would 

 attend solely to fishing. 



" We arrived off the Delaware before 

 falling in with the yacht, and laid our 

 course to approach within a few hun- 

 dred yards of the yacht which we saw at 

 anchor, as the captain and crew were 

 generally interested in these transac- 

 tions. Latterly, however, so much had 

 been confiscated, no one would enter in 

 this venture but the steward, though all 

 were willing in a passive way to do their 

 utmost to make the venture a success. 

 As we approached the yacht we waved 

 our handkerchiefs, but no notice was 

 taken of us. 



" I wonder what they mean?" asked 

 the steward; "can an officer be on 

 board?" 



"No," I replied. "I know every one 

 on board and I can see into the cabin ; 

 they are all friends " 



" Suppose we drop the bags over- 

 board?" 



" Suppose you do nothing of the 

 kind," remarked the first mate. " There 

 is a revenue cutter coming from behind 

 the lightship." 



" We tin ned anxiously in the direction 

 indicated and saw a cutter coming at a 

 gait that would land her alongside of us 

 in a few minutes. 



" It's all up, boys," said the mate, 

 "get those cigars under cover and on 

 the manifest as quickly as possible." 



" We hurried below. I to consign the 

 cigars to Senor Verastique, Vera Cruz, 

 and Breen to store them in a closet in 

 his room. We completed our arrange- 

 ment and reached the spar deck as the 

 customs officials came on board. The 

 leader, a stout man by the name of 

 MaGee, said, sneeringly: 



"Well, gentlemen, you have not been 

 able to purchase any fish, have you?" 



"No," I replied. 'When we want 

 fish, we drop a troll overboard." 



" Not baited with cigars, I hope," he 

 answered, with a leer. 



"What do you mean, sir?" I de- 

 manded, pretending to be indignant. 



" Oh, nothing. I see a sloop out yon- 



