"I think he's had enough, Gumley. Now I must go. I'll see you again soon."
CHAPTER XVI
A RUN AT SANDY COVE
It took Jack much longer in the darkness to return to the Fury than it had taken to reach the cottage, and he found that Babbage was becoming uneasy.
"All safe, men?" he said.
"Ay, ay, sir. And you, sir?"
"Right as a trivet. Heave the anchor, boys; I want to be fifty miles away by the morning."
He required a little time for thinking out a plan for turning to account his discovery of the signaler's code, and meanwhile it was desirable to keep out of the smugglers' reach. Before dawn he dropped anchor at a little fishing village fifty miles west of Luscombe. It was a remote and secluded spot, and there was little chance of the Fury's presence coming to the ears of the Luscombe folk for some days.
"I'm going ashore again, Babbage. Lie quietly here. I may be away a couple of days."
Still disguised, he went into the village, hired a gig, and drove thirty miles in the Luscombe direction to the village of Middleton, about ten miles from the sea. He put up at the Pig and Whistle, scribbled a note to the riding-officer and despatched it by a horseman to Wynport.