boat and some provender, started off over the muds to visit the Preventive Station and see whether there were any birds to be shot.

Old Jockey, as he was always called, was about the best known character in the place. He kept a punt, and big gun, and was always ready to attend shooting parties with his boat, or lend a hand at loading vessels, or any other odd jobs about the harbour. He stood a good six foot two in his mesh boots,' and looked as strong as a steam-tug; but appearances are deceitful; and, according to his own pitiful account, he was a martyr to bilious attacks, which made him so weak that, if a little lamb ran agin him it knocked him down' at times. He was a dead shot with his old rusty single barrel, and in a harmless way, without exception, the biggest liar I ever knew.

He was at the meeting-place before us, and saluted us as we came up with,H'aint got overmuch sport to-day, gentlemen, I doubt; a'most too airly for a wery great sight o'fowl.'

Captain Rowland kicked up an old mallard among the ditches,' I said, and I have got a couple of shanks and a plover. How are you? I have not seen you since I came back from Ireland. I had my big punt gun over there, and rare sport it was. Forty widgeon one shot and twenty-six another! What do you think of that? Cuts out Rakeston, eh! Jockey?'

'Lawk bless yer, there ain't nothin' here now. It ain't the same place as it was afore these here meshes was drained; there was fowl enough then. I remember being down here once when I was a boy, arter some teal as was on a bit o' water over there among the sandhills. I got three on 'em, and was loading again, and had just put in the powder and was ramming it down, when I seed a string of fowl flying up the channel right straight for where I was a-squatting. I had not no time to shove in the shot, so I pulled off the cap of the ramrod and let fly just as they was coming on all of a line. Three couple and a half o' mallard was strung right

through the head and another was knocked over wery badly bruised in the heye. By Gor, there wor a splash as they all on 'em tumbled into a pit! They splashed out such a lot of water that I might have got a'most a bushel of eels, only I hadn't nothin' to carry 'em away in. Lawk, there was a sight o' ducks in those times; that there was. Ah them was the days for the poor folk. 'Bacca was wery cheap, too, hereabouts then. Grog too! and lace for the ladies, bless 'em!'

I forgot to say that, in his younger days, Jockey had been up before the magistrates more than once for smuggling; and though of late years he had managed to keep out of trouble, I believe he had never very materially changed his old creed, that if a man bought honestly with his own money and landed on his own responsibility, in his own boat, no one could reasonably blame him if his views on the question of free trade happened to be a trifle more advanced than those of Her Majesty's government.

Knowing what I did of the old fellow, I was amused to see him look Rowland over, when he caught his name, in much the same way that a superannuated fox might be supposed to take stock of a new huntsman out for a Sunday walk through his pet cover. The inspection seemed to be satisfactory on the whole. Jockey was unusually talkative at lunch, and when we lit our pipes drew the conversation on to smuggling generally.

'Lawk! yes, sir. I have knowd sights of things brought ashore here right o' the middle o' the day, scores of times.'

'How used they to manage it?' asked Rowland, with an eye to business. 'What were the coastguard up to ?'

Coastguard! Lawk bless yer! they ain't no good. One way was when there was a regatta, may hap two or three boats would have a kind o' a race right out to a wessel they knewed and back; and just as some on 'em was a rounding, there would be a sight o' things hulled in, and back again all of a muck sweat, with 'em all stowed snug

under a sail or summut, and run the boat right up on to the beach; preventive men, and gentlemen and ladies too, mayhap, looking on and screeching and hollering like mad; for them is almost allust the closest races, mayhap the captain hisse'f giving 'em summut to drink his health with-Preventive captains is allust regular gentlemen.'

'I like your old friend Jockey,' said Rowland, as we drove home. 'He is quite a character in his way: he tells me he has known that boatrace dodge tried successfully often. It's worth knowing.'

'A regular old smuggler. The stories he was telling you were personal experiences, in all probability. By-the-by, your Codlingham regatta is next week, isn't it?'

'Yes; on Tuesday. I wish you would come over to us for a couple of nights on Monday for it. Do, if you have not got anything better to do you won't mind a small room?'

I accepted his invitation, and we agreed to meet in the morning at the 'Dun Cow,' a public not far from Rakeston, and have another day on the sands.

When I got there, soon after the time fixed, Rowland was waiting for me, in a state of great excitement.

That's all right,' he said, as soon as we had shaken hands. 'I am glad you have turned up, for I expect some fun to-morrow. You re

member Old Jockey's smuggling dodge. Well, from what I hear, I suspect they are going to try it on at the regatta. I am going to order all the men over from Rakeston quietly; so we will walk over to the preventive houses, if you don't mind, first.'

The weather next morning was splendid. Codlingham looked so gay and picturesque, with flags flying everywhere, that one almost forgot the smells.

There was a fresh breeze blowing, and by one the beach was crowded with visitors. The coastguard were there in unusual force. Captain Rowland was starter, and had always a sailor or two with him to help; and several other navy uniforms were dotted among the crowd not far away.

The programme began with swimming-races for men and boys; then came sailing and pair-oar matches, and-the great event of the day—a grand life-boat race, with three entries.

The match which had awakened Rowland's suspicions came next. Three boats, two belonging to Codlingham and one from Rakeston, were to sail round a twenty-foot boat, which had been lying all day a couple of miles out to sea, and to row back again. They were to be started from the top of the shinglebank under the cliff, and the race won by the boat which was first in its place again. Each was to carry four men and a boy to steer.

'Now for the fun!' said Rowland, as the men stood in their places ready for a start.

It was evident that a bold attempt was to be made to land something; and I was specially commissioned to make all the use I could of my eyes. Certainly I thought I had never seen four men who looked more up to a bit of smuggling of any sort than the Rakeston crew. They were all young men, with the exception of one old white-haired fellow with one eye, which twinkled through its half-closed lids with the most comical expression of mixed fun and suspicion.

My men know something of that old beggar,' whispered Rowland, as he passed me just before the start. Here, take my glass; I daren't use it myself. Now then, my men, are you ready?-one, two, three!'bang! And off they all rattled across the shingle, amid tremendous excitement.

The two Codlingham boats knocked over an old woman, and fouled half-way down to the sea; and the Rakeston men were well into their seats, with their sail hoisted before either of the others, were off the stones. They were leading, as nearly as I could see, by a good half-dozen lengths, when the boat they were to round was reached; but there, as it seemed, some mistake or other was made, for when the sails were lowered and the three could be distinguished again, the

Rakeston boat was some way behind the others.

'Not badly done that,' said Rowland, putting down the glass which he had snatched from me just before the boats turned. 'Jockey shall have half a crown next time I come across him. Look out; we are to have a race of it!'

The Codlingham boats still led, and were rowing splendidly together, but did not seem to be making very much way, and the Rakeston men gained on them at every stroke. Though as fully persuaded as Rowland himself that the race was only part of the old smuggling dodge Jockey had been telling us of a few days before, I found it impossible to help catching the general excitement, and shouted as loud as any one, as, almost at the same moment, the three boats grounded and the steaming crews splashed into the shallow water, and, in less time far than it takes me to write it, were straining and panting up the shingle. The Rakeston men were first at the bottom of the last ridge, where one of them slipped on a rotten dogfish, and one of the Codlingham crews wrenched their boat past, and, amid such cheering as one does not often hear, won by a nose. There seemed to be a pretty general notion that something was up. The crowd closed in round the boats so thickly and quickly that I found myself shut out, and the broad-shouldered fishermen, over whose sou'-westers I had to peep at what was going on as best I could, were evidently in full enjoyment of some excellent joke or other.

'Capital race,' said Rowland. 'You Rakeston fellows lost too much time rounding, eh? Your boat seemed a trifle heavy in the bows, I thought, as she came in. Couldn't have lightened her, I suppose? Halloa! what have you got here under the sail? Nets, eh? Queer ballast that, isn't it? Here, Jones, come and lift this out.'

'Don't be too hard on us, Captain,' said the one-eyed scamp, in the most dolorous voice; 'poor wife and children!'

A roar of laughter followed, as the suspicious nets were lifted out

by a sailor, and displayed-nothing. The whole thing was a sell, and the boat empty.

Poor Rowland, he was very sore about it. A good dinner, and a strong natural sense of the ridiculous, did a good deal towards restoring his equanimity; and, under the influence of a pipe in the garden, he was quite recovering when a servant-girl came out to say that some one wished to see him. It was Jockey West, who was standing by a mysterious little keg, looking very serious. He took off his hat when he saw us.

'Servant, sir, servant, yer honour.' 'Nothing wrong, I hope,' said Rowland. Do you want me?'

'Yer honour hain't heard, then, I doubt.'

'Heard what? What is it?'

'Two boat-loads o' things brought ashore at Rakeston this arternoon, and gone right away! Most onfortinate, there weren't not a prewentive-man about the place-all on 'em gone to Codlingham. Bacca and brandy, mostly, I doubt. Two o' my boat's-loads."

"Your boat's? What! do you mean to say you let them have your boat?'

"Tworn't my fault; you hain't no call to speak to me o' that manner. I comed to tell yer.'

Well, well, go on; let us hear about it.'

Well, sir, my boy' (Jockey's boy was about thirty, and a size larger than himself), 'my boy seed them a hailing, and rowed out to ax what they wanted: there was right a big boat; and blowed if they didn't tie his harms and his legs, and took two lots ashore afore they let him go.'

'Well, hang it all! did you see them ?'

'Seed 'em, in course I seed 'em, and spoke to 'em.'

'Then you will know them again.' 'Lor, sir! I was that bilious that I couldn't see nothing but yaller and green. They was furriners, owdacious furriners, but my eyes swam that, that I couldn't make out no more.'

'Your son could tell them again, of course?'

'It's wery distressin,' sir; they made him that drunk that he can't mind nothing about it. I says to him, You young warmint! says I, told you not to go out-least wise, I would have told you if I had happ'ed to ha' seed yer; but, Lawk, sir! he fears right of a muddle like. That's a long time since I ha' knowed such a sight o' things come in and no one to ax a question.'

'You said you spoke to them. What did they say?'

'One on 'em comed up with this here little keg, and said, "Here, old chap, send this to the Captain for