St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-08-25
A Smuggler's Story.


me, an elderly London lawyer, stand
ing at the end of one of the two long
piers, which form the entrance to an
important packet port on the south
coast. While | Was pccIimy intentI\
into the darkness Il man came up and
stood beside me and looked out to SEA.
Al the same instant one of tho>. sudden
squalls which arc 81 common at that
time of year came rushing past us. and
the binding rain beat upon our faces.
'lou had better come into our watch
house tur Il hit, Slr." said my friend ;
Its close hv. I'm Il custom house oti
crr." And walking rapidly on he
brought me to IL neat looking small
house. built just where the picI began
To branch off from the harhol into the
sea. Opening the door he showed me
into "a good sized room lighted with gas.
and with IL capital tire blazing in the
glatc. On benches round the tire we've
three or four men dressed in uniform
like my friend. and in Il bed berth hard
10y. another man waS snoring away in
happy hli>Siuluc>>. recruiting himself
for his luIn of night duty.
"A fine night for smuggling. should
fancy" suggested.
been. said one: hut there's no Snug
CLING n"w-a-dal> /" speak of just IL
little trumpcrN lit of haccN now and
then, hardly worth taking j. there.
Frank - addressing the man opposite.
Frank with infinite disgust. agreed tu
this.
ou see. >ir." he went on to tell me.
these Liberals 20 on cutting down the
talitf 81 that there's nothing left now
just cigars and spirits. and ~ ON. Not
but what the ladies do their little bits
OF smuggling still. and dearly they loves
il, too. Why. >iI. Ia this day they Ir
W"ndcrtul clever in cnmcc:ling lace. aud
French gloves. although there's been nu
duty on them for Nc;II>. We often.
when We examine the ladies trunks.
find two or three pairs ot gloves IN an
old boot. or some lace. perhaps. >cwcd
up inside Il petticnat. We never >iN>
nothing, and they Z" home and tell
their friends how clever they We been
and done the custom hou>c."
still, said another man Who had
been silent until now. 1--WE do a hIt oi
business NOW and then. Last Year. sill
twelve casks of pitch came. over in one
"t ouG steamers. with Il heap of other
goods They pour the pitch hot int,
the casks, and when it cool> lis H. hard
a> stone almost. Well. there wa> uu
examining this pitch except l"u took Il
pickaNc and broke the whole c;l>k up
But our collector invented Il kind "i
augcr that. with Il little oil. went ri"ht
through the pitch in II" time. We tried
these sad casks with this. and in th,
center of every one of them was u tin
case with Thirty pounds of good cigaI,
in it three hundred weight altogether
Il very pretty haul fnI us
THAT WAS better than Nour draw III"
room furniture Jack. said IL Young off
Ger To one much older. Who Sit on ::
bench near me.
"NrNrr mind that" gr"wlcd the old
man.
Nv hat j. that ?" said |.
''Wcll, >ir, ii : rather hard upon Jack
there to tell it : but You see. Sir. he WAS
at IL large port in the North, and Il gen
tlcmau comes down to the office AM,
SAYS that he WAS expecting what h.,
called Il sweet nt drawing room turni
turr beautiful walnut wood he said
and all Ton Il wedding present for hi>
sister, who WAS going to get married
W ould they take care of il he'd h,
much obliged, and any expense They
told him they ii take anNthing. Th,
next steamer. >IIIc enough. the iuInitml,
came. and Il lovely set il WAS <ucl
conchrs. and easy chairs and sofas
We'll sir, our mcn took the greatest ear,
of it, and SAW it all packed safely in tn,
. railway truck and sent away. and ",
. shouldn't have heard anything moIt
about il. only at one of them large rail
way stations where luggage trains often
have to wait for Il long time. there wa.
Il policeman who'd served his time to {:
cabinet maker. and he got wind of thi,
furniture, and must get il look at it t,
see what sort of work them foreigners
turned out. So he got To the truck and
took up Il bit of tarpaulin and examined
the couch, which happened to he at th,
top. Pretty work. said he To himself
but my word, what II seat they dc
stuff well over yondcr there. Its !:
queer feel. though: | wonder what they
StutfS with Well. Sir. his curiosity got
over him. and he looks out to see if any
one waS coming, whips out his knife,
and cuts II little slit where it wouldn't
hc seen. and pulls out, To his great won
der. baccy Every bit of il was hrimtul
of excellent haccy. So they seized tn,
whole lot; but, lor'. what Il wipe it WIS
tor our men Jack there and his mates
1--WE told Hou over and over again
r that had nothing to do with it," said
the man, angiily.
"Wcll, You was there. retorted the
other.
"'TheN're clever fellows sometimes
sir. said another man, and II isn't {:
disgrace to he taken in 10y them. D'yor