A reckless gang of men were assembled in the low tavern kept
my a man named Rigby.
The latter was a remarkable man. He kept a low seashore
resort, a place where fishermen and the roughest sort of men
gathered, and yet he was a man of considerable education and a
great deal of cunning, and coined more good money in this
little seaside tavern then did other rumsellers who occupied
saloons in the great city, that cost thousands to fit up and
decorate.
Rigby was too cunning and careful to be a smuggler himself,
but he was also cunning enough to "scoop in" the major portion
of the earnings of the men engaged in the perilous trade.
It was only when the business had grown to large proportions
that the Government organized a regular plan for its
suppression; and at the time our story opens, the play between
the smugglers and the Government agents was at its finest
point. It was well known that there were parties in New York
who had, and were still realizing immense sums of money by
cheating the Government of its legitimate revenue.
The Collector of the Port did not care so much about the crews
of the vessels, it was the owners and capitalists he was
seeking to trail down.
The smugglers had given over the search for Spencer Vance, and
in parties of twos and threes, had gathered at Rigby's, until
at least fifteen or twenty men were assembled. They were all
smugglers and members of the crew of the smuggler yacht
"Nancy."
As intimated in our opening chapters, the men ostensibly were
fishermen, and their boat was stated to be a fishing-boat; and
to lend color to the claim, the men did go off between times
on fishing expeditions, and the latter little trick had been
their best "blind" and "throw off."
Again, as intimated in our former chapters, three Government
officers had mysteriously disappeared, and the duty had
devolved upon the Government officials not only to stay the
illegal traffic, but to ferret out and bring to punishment the
murderers of the missing detectives.
There was no actual proof, however, that the men were
murdered; as far as the Government officials were advisedly
concerned, the detectives were merely missing. It was
reported by some "Smart Alec" that the detectives had been put
on outgoing vessels bound for some distant port, and that in
good season they would turn up, and then again there was the
chance that the officers might have met with accidents in
their perilous undertaking.
Spencer Vance, however, was fully satisfied in his own mind
that his brother officers had been murdered. He knew too well
that tragic events are of constant occurrence which never come
to light; tragedies so terrible that were the details to be
known, a thrill of horror would go throughout the whole land.
There are horrors enough that do become public, but there are
as many more that never come to the surface.
The men, as stated, gathered at Rigby's; they had just
returned from a search for Spencer Vance.
There was no doubt in their minds as to the truth of the
report that he was a spy in their midst. The fact that he had
declined to go out on the yacht that night was to them proof
as clear as "Holy Writ" that he was a Government officer.
It was important to catch him and put him out of the way as
soon as possible, as there were several very valuable
shipments on the way to New York, and chances favored the men
for making quite large sums of money.
Our readers must not understand that the vessel engaged in the
smuggling business carried no other freight; the goods
intended to be smuggled in was but a small part of their
cargo, but amounted on each vessel to enough to yield enormous
profits to the capitalists as well as to the actual smuggler
crews.
One of the men, as he drunk off a glass of grog, remarked:
"Boys, it's a cold day for us that the fellow should have
received a warning; it's money out of our pockets!"
There was a one-eyed, ugly visaged fellow sitting off in a
corner of the room, who remarked:
"You lads will see colder days yet; you may say the business
is all up, and we'd better take the 'Nancy' over to the
mackerel banks and work for a few honest pennies."
"What makes you say that, Jake?"
"I'm only telling yer the truth; yer a chicken-hearted lot,
and losing all yer game; for what? the pretty face of a
she-devil!"
Too well the men all understood one-eyed Jake's savage
suggestion.
"You don't think," said one of them, "that the gal is dead
against us?"
"Well, I think she is as dead against us as a few dollars in
gold can make a female who's fond of gewgaws, and ambitious to
be a fine lady."
"Do you mean to say Renie receives money?"
"Well, I don't think bad enough of the gal to say she'd go
agin us for fun. I tell you, boys, the thing is dead agin us
unless the gal is silenced!"
The men all entered loud protests; the girl was a great
favorite yet with most of them, as she had grown up in their
midst.
"Oh, I expected you'd growl when you learned the truth, and
it's the gal or us--, as you all think so much of the gal, I
propose we lay provision in the 'Nancy,' and go off after
mackerel.
"What would you propose, Jake?"
"I propose sending the gal away."
"You would do her no harm?"
"I wouldn't harm a hair of her head; but she's doing us a good
deal of harm all the same."
"It's already been suggested to Tom Pearce to send the gal
away."
"He'll never do it!"
"But he must."
"It's all right to say he must; but who'll make old Tom Pearce
do a thing when he's made up his mind that he won't?"
"What would you propose?"
"I'd propose that we smuggle the gal."
"How smuggle her?"
"Take her out on the 'Nancy,' and put her aboard some outgoing
vessel as a passenger."
"That wouldn't do, Jake."
"Then let's go mackerel-fishing, for the other trade is
knocked dead in the head."
The men were all drinking, and became more or less excited
under the influence of the liquor.
Jake was a bad fellow at heart, but he was one of the most
daring men in the crew of jolly smugglers and the men had
great confidence in his judgment.
"I tell you, boys, the gal must be disposed of, or she'll give
information right; just see how we stand now; there's a boat
due, there's a big haul for us, and this man has been in our
midst for two weeks or more, and he's got all the points and--"
The man's further speech was interrupted by the entrance of
a stranger.