The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-12-06

which were strapped firmly so thsir shoulders.
 "When the Last had sone. and there vas no longer any daoger of discovery, l crept to the verge of the precipice and examined the means of their ascent. It was, as l had sUrmised. aladder of ropes, secured to the faoe of the rock. and swinging and vibrating to and fro in the night wind. The surf dashed against the rocks far beleS, and could distinguish two or three boats drawn up on the beach,"
 Have you informed any person of this discovery was my first eager ques- tion, as he finished.
 He at once gave me the gratifying as- surance that he had not.
 "But do you know the spot sufficiently well to find 1t again p asked.
 There will be no difficulty in finding it." he replied. "l have visited it several times by daylight, and am perfectly ac- quainted with the locality"
 "Then will lose no time in availing myself of your knowledge" said l. "Your revelation is a most opportune one for me; and by proceeding quickly and cautiously, hope to be able to effect the object this very night for which am come to Bonsecohrs."
 MT. Derwent assented to my arrange ments, which were planned and con- ducted with the utmost secresy and dis patch; and an hour later, under his guidance, myself and my men were re- pairing to the place which he had de- scribed. No person in the village was aware of our movements and in less than half an hour we were all snugly entrenched behind a friendly ledge awaiting the appearance of the contra bandists The place was one which had hitherto escaped my attention, by the reason of its distance from the village, as well as the peculiar character of its ap- breaches
 The night was extremely dark, and for long time we waited, but without re- ceiving any indication of the presence of those we sought. At length Mir. Der went touched my arm, and bade me look off to the north. did so, and saw three rapidly revolving lights twinkling upon the water, and apparently at no great distance from the shore.
 "lt is probably the signal of the snug gling vessel" said he "and harkl it is answered from the rocks behind us" The dull report of a musket coro- borated his words; and we now waited in almost breathless silence, screening our selves more perfectly behind the rocks. A long intexval elapsed besore we re- ceived any further intimation; but at length dark figure appeared suddenly upon the platform of rock before us, seeming to rise from the ground, and staggering under the weight of heavy burden, he hastily entered neighboring pass between the rocks.
 The men had been previously in- structed to remain quiet, and out of sight, until the last one had come and gone and as the smugglers continued to ascend the cliff and disappear through the pass, each of us counted them, one by one.
 "Twentieth and last" l exclaimed l; and emerged from my concealment. "Now, my lads" said 1, "draw your cut lasses and follow me. But softly-make no noise, or those cunning coast pirates may take wing before we can"
 My words were suddenly cut short by the unexpected appearance of another smuggler over the edge of the rock. Ne had gained footing, however, before he saw us and then turned in alarm to the ladder, only to find that his retreat was Cut of in that direction. Simultaneously he gave whistle, SO loud and clear tn at the rocks around echoed and re-echoed as at the blast of bugle.
 Yield" l exclaimed, and springing forward pressed the point of my cutlass against his breast. "Resist us at your peril" said l. "We are the coast-guards- men,"
 The smuggler, who was a light-built, agile youth, who could hardly be called a man, threw of his burden with the quickness of thought, and drawing his own weapon, delivered swinging blow at my head, which l parried. Another and another succeeded; but soon dis covered that he was no match for my ex- perience and practice; and before half a dozen thrusts and as many cuts were given and met, l had sent his cutlass whis.ling over the cliff.
 The prisoner thus taken was consigned to the care of two of my men and enter ing the passage, called upon the guardsmen to follow. After threading the intricate mazes of this passage for a short time, we suddenly emerged into the smugglers' cave ; and at once a scene was presented which might well have caused the heart of any other than a coast-guardsman to quake with terror. The way by which we entered, as alter ward discovered, was the sole ingress and egress of the cave; and warned by the signal of the one we had captured, and realizing at once that all way of retreat was cut of, the smuggiers had drawn themselves up in body, with their arms in readiness, before the mouth of the cave, and here, with the determin ation of despair, were awaiting our advance.
 "Yield without resistancew called out to them, stepping to the front. "Your lives will be spared"
 "As yours will not be, if you advance one step further!v replied a gigantic smuggler, whom instantly recogniz cd as Harley St. Ange- Come on if you will I'll open the ballp