'We must search your house.'
'Have you a warrant?'
'No—we do not require one when the scent lies strong. The drag leads this way.'
'I do not demand one. Come in. For what are you in search?'
'Oh! you know well enough,' said the officer in command, entering. 'There has been at least one cargo that has to be dispersed to-night, but the rascals have snuffed us, and have slipped away. We shall catch them yet. But as a preliminary we will look for their tracks here. If they have taken to their heels they cannot have carried off their burdens. They must be deposited somewhere. You confounded old rogue, who are at the bottom of it all, we shall not let you off if we can find a thread of rope by which to hang you.'
'It is a little dark for finding such a thread,' said Job. 'Jane, light all the candles in the kitchen to assist the gentlemen. There is a pair of horn spectacles of my grandmother's I can lend the officer.'
Suddenly Mrs. Marley cried out—'My child! Winefred! Where is she?'
She had discovered that her daughter was not in her bed. She had vanished.
'Where is Winefred?' cried the mother, forgetting everything in a paroxysm of maternal anxiety. 'Captain Rattenbury, where is she?'