Charles Tyrrell started off his chair, exclaiming, "The scoundrel! I trust, sir, you had no hand in such a business."
"No farther hand than might become a man of honour, sir," replied the lieutenant, calmly. "He told me the young lady was ready to go off with him, he was quite sure; that she would have a large fortune at her father's death--"
"Why her father has been dead for many months!" exclaimed Charles Tyrrell, again interrupting him.
"There must be some mistake," replied the lieutenant; "for I saw you talking to her father himself the very last time we met; and I am as certain as a man can be of anything in this world, that old Longly was alive not eight-and-forty hours ago."
"Old Longly!" exclaimed Charles Tyrrell; "that is quite another affair. I beg your pardon; I interrupted you by mistake; pray go on."
"Well, sir, as I was about to say, he told me if I would but carry them round to Guernsey or Jersey in the cutter, I should lay him under an infinite obligation, and it was settled that I was to land him that evening near the house; that he was to go to meet her, with two of the boat's crew to carry her things; that he and I were to land the next morning, to give you the meeting; and, when he had shot you, we were to go on board again, and get under weigh for Guernsey."
"A kind, pleasant, and jovial arrangement!" said Charles Tyrrell, with a touch of his father's bitterness in his tone and manner; "pray what prevented it from succeeding?"
"Why two things," replied the officer; "in the first place, while we were away, the people got intimation that it was Hargrave that had spied out the smuggled goods, and given the information which led to the seizure. His name, it is true, did not appear, but he was to have two thirds of the reward. In the next place, you see, the young lady was not quite so willing as he had represented her to be. We landed, indeed, at the hour appointed; and he went up with the two men and met her in the wood; but then she did not choose to come away with him; and when he made his entreaties somewhat too pressing, and got one of the men to help him lead her down to the boat, perhaps not so tenderly as might be, she set up a scream, which brought me up from the shore, and I insisted upon her being set free directly. She then ran back to her father's house; but it would seem the old gentleman had by this time found out the whole business, and refused to take her in; so that, if she had not met with John Hailes, the fisherman, and found shelter in his cottage, I do not know what would have become of her; for by this time we had put off, and perhaps reached the ship. Well, Hargrave and I had a bit of a quarrel that night, as you may suppose."
"I am glad to hear it, I am glad to hear it," exclaimed Charles Tyrrell, vehemently; "for the honour of human nature, I am glad to hear it."
"Why I did not like the job, it must be confessed," replied the young officer; "but, however, as I had engaged to stand his friend in the business with you, I could not get off, you see, and we landed the next morning in time to be with you. How it was that the fishermen, and hovellers, and smugglers got an inkling of what we were about, I don't know. But it seems they had found out, not only that Hargrave had given information, but that we were going to land early that morning, and they had laid an ambuscade just to the west of Stony Point; so that, before we had got a hundred yards from the boat, they were upon us, and Hargrave was in their hands in a minute. They did not offer to hurt us, though they were five or six to one; but they thrashed him with the stretchers in such a way, that I saw they would kill him outright before they had done; and consequently, getting all the boat's crew together, I made a rush for it, and got him more than half dead out of their hands. They pelted us all the way back to the boat with large stones, which hurt several of the men; but we got off notwithstanding, and, as soon as I could, I wrote a note to you, and going ashore higher up, sent it off by a boy. I hope it reached you."