’Iamonlypartlyinman’sclothes，’shefaltered，shrinkingbacktothewall。’ItisonlyhisgreatcoatandhatandbreechesthatI’vegoton，whichisnoharm，ashewasmyownhusband；andIdoitonlybecauseacloakblowsaboutso，andyoucan’tuseyourarms。Ihavegotmyowndressunderjustthesame——itisonlytuckedin！Willyougoawayupstairsandletmepass？Ididn’twantyoutoseemeatsuchatimeasthis！’
’ButIhavearighttoseeyou！Howdoyouthinktherecanbeanythingbetweenusnow？’Lizzywassilent。’Youareasmuggler，’
hecontinuedsadly。
’Ihaveonlyashareintherun，’shesaid。
’Thatmakesnodifference。Whateverdidyouengageinsuchatradeasthatfor，andkeepitsuchasecretfrommeallthistime？’
’Idon’tdoitalways。Ionlydoitinwinter-timewhen’tisnewmoon。’
’Well，Isupposethat’sbecauseitcan’tbedoneanywhenelse……
Youhaveregularlyupsetme，Lizzy。’
’Iamsorryforthat，’Lizzymeeklyreplied。
’Wellnow，’saidhemoretenderly，’noharmisdoneasyet。Won’tyouforthesakeofmegiveupthisblamableanddangerouspracticealtogether？’
’Imustdomybesttosavethisrun，’saidshe，gettingratherhuskyinthethroat。’Idon’twanttogiveyouup——youknowthat；butI
don’twanttolosemyventure。Idon’tknowwhattodonow！WhyI
havekeptitsosecretfromyouisthatIwasafraidyouwouldbeangryifyouknew。’
’Ishouldthinkso！IsupposeifIhadmarriedyouwithoutfindingthisoutyou’dhavegoneonwithitjustthesame？’
’Idon’tknow。Ididnotthinksofarahead。Ionlywentto-nighttoburnthefolksoff，becausewefoundthattheexcisemenknewwherethetubsweretobelanded。’
’Itisaprettymesstobeinaltogether，isthis，’saidthedistractedyoungminister。’Well，whatwillyoudonow？’
Lizzyslowlymurmuredtheparticularsoftheirplan，thechiefofwhichwerethattheymeanttotrytheirluckatsomeotherpointoftheshorethenextnight；thatthreelanding-placeswerealwaysagreeduponbeforetherunwasattempted，withtheunderstandingthat，ifthevesselwas’burntoff’fromthefirstpoint，whichwasRingsworth，asithadbeenbyherto-night，thecrewshouldattempttomakethesecond，whichwasLulsteadCove，onthesecondnight；
andifthere，too，dangerthreatened，theyshouldonthethirdnighttrythethirdplace，whichwasbehindaheadlandfurtherwest。
’Supposetheofficershinderthemlandingtheretoo？’hesaid，hisattentiontothisinterestingprogrammedisplacingforamomenthisconcernathershareinit。
’Thenweshan’ttryanywhereelseallthisdark——that’swhatwecallthetimebetweenmoonandmoon——andperhapsthey’llstringthetubstoastray-line，andsink’emalittle-waysfromshore，andtakethebearings；andthenwhentheyhaveachancethey’llgotocreepfor’em。’
’What’sthat？’
’O，they’llgooutinaboatanddragacreeper——that’sagrapnel——
alongthebottomtillitcatchholdofthestray-line。’
Theministerstoodthinking；andtherewasnosoundwithindoorsbutthetickoftheclockonthestairs，andthequickbreathingofLizzy，partlyfromherwalkandpartlyfromagitation，asshestoodclosetothewall，notinsuchcompletedarknessbutthathecoulddiscernagainstitswhitewashedsurfacethegreatcoatandbroadhatwhichcoveredher。
’Lizzy，allthisisverywrong，’hesaid。’Don’tyourememberthelessonofthetribute-money？“RenderuntoCaesarthethingsthatareCaesar’s。“Surelyyouhaveheardthatreadtimesenoughinyourgrowingup？’
’He’sdead，’shepouted。
’Butthespiritofthetextisinforcejustthesame。’
’Myfatherdidit，andsodidmygrandfather，andalmosteverybodyinNether-Moyntonlivesbyit，andlifewouldbesodullifitwasn’tforthat，thatIshouldnotcaretoliveatall。’
’Iamnothingtolivefor，ofcourse，’herepliedbitterly。’Youwouldnotthinkitworthwhiletogiveupthiswildbusinessandliveformealone？’
’Ihaveneverlookedatitlikethat。’
’Andyouwon’tpromiseandwaittillIamready？’
’Icannotgiveyoumywordto-night。’And，lookingthoughtfullydown，shegraduallymovedandmovedaway，goingintotheadjoiningroom，andclosingthedoorbetweenthem。Sheremainedthereinthedarktillhewastiredofwaiting，andhadgoneuptohisownchamber。
PoorStockdalewasdreadfullydepressedallthenextdaybythediscoveriesofthenightbefore。Lizzywasunmistakablyafascinatingyoungwoman，butasaminister’swifeshewashardlytobecontemplated。’IfIhadonlystucktofather’slittlegrocerybusiness，insteadofgoinginfortheministry，shewouldhavesuitedmebeautifully！’hesaidsadly，untilherememberedthatinthatcasehewouldneverhavecomefromhisdistanthometoNether-
Moynton，andneverhaveknownher。
Theestrangementbetweenthemwasnotcomplete，butitwassufficienttokeepthemoutofeachother’scompany。Onceduringthedayhemetherinthegarden-path，andsaid，turningareproachfuleyeuponher，’Doyoupromise，Lizzy？’Butshedidnotreply。Theeveningdrewon，andheknewwellenoughthatLizzywouldrepeatherexcursionatnight——herhalf-offendedmannerhadshownthatshehadnottheslightestintentionofalteringherplansatpresent。Hedidnotwishtorepeathisownshareoftheadventure；but，actashewould，hisuneasinessonheraccountincreasedwiththedeclineofday。Supposingthatanaccidentshouldbefallher，hewouldneverforgivehimselffornotbeingtheretohelp，muchashedislikedtheideaofseemingtocountenancesuchunlawfulescapades。
Ashehadexpected，sheleftthehouseatthesamehouratnight，thistimepassinghisdoorwithoutstealth，asifsheknewverywellthathewouldbewatching，andwereresolvedtobravehisdispleasure。Hewasquiteready，openedthedoorquickly，andreachedthebackdooralmostassoonasshe。
’Thenyouwillgo，Lizzy？’hesaidashestoodonthestepbesideher，whonowagainappearedasalittlemanwithafacealtogetherunsuitedtohisclothes。
’Imust，’shesaid，repressedbyhissternmanner。
’ThenIshallgotoo，’saidhe。
’AndIamsureyouwillenjoyit！’sheexclaimedinmorebuoyanttones。’Everybodydoeswhotriesit。’
’GodforbidthatIshould！’hesaid。’ButImustlookafteryou。’
Theyopenedthewicketandwentuptheroadabreastofeachother，butatsomedistanceapart，scarcelyawordpassingbetweenthem。
Theeveningwasratherlessfavourabletosmugglingenterprisethanthelasthadbeen，thewindbeinglower，andtheskysomewhatcleartowardsthenorth。
’Itisratherlighter，’saidStockdale。
’’Tis，unfortunately，’saidshe。’Butitisonlyfromthosefewstarsoverthere。Themoonwasnewto-dayatfouro’clock，andI
expectedclouds。Ihopeweshallbeabletodoitthisdark，forwhenwehavetosink’emforlongitmakesthestufftastebleachy，andfolksdon’tlikeitsowell。’
Hercoursewasdifferentfromthatoftheprecedingnight，branchingofftotheleftoverLord’sBarrowassoonastheyhadgotoutofthelaneandcrossedthehighway。BythetimetheyreachedChaldonDown，Stockdale，whohadbeeninperplexedthoughtastowhatheshouldsaytoher，decidedthathewouldnotattemptexpostulationnow，whileshewasexcitedbytheadventure，butwaittillitwasover，andendeavourtokeepherfromsuchpracticesinfuture。Itoccurredtohimonceortwice，astheyrambledon，thatshouldtheybesurprisedbytheexcisemen，hissituationwouldbemoreawkwardthanhers，foritwouldbedifficulttoprovehistruemotiveincomingtothespot；buttheriskwasaslightconsiderationbesidehiswishtobewithher。
TheynowarrivedataravinewhichlayontheoutskirtsofChaldon，avillagetwomilesontheirwaytowardsthepointoftheshoretheysought。Lizzybrokethesilencethistime:’Ihavetowaitheretomeetthecarriers。Idon’tknowiftheyhavecomeyet。AsItoldyou，wegotoLulsteadCoveto-night，anditistwomilesfurtherthanRingsworth。’
Itturnedoutthatthemenhadalreadycome；forwhileshespoketwoorthreedozenheadsbrokethelineoftheslope，andacompanyofthematoncedescendedfromthebusheswheretheyhadbeenlyinginwait。ThesecarriersweremenwhomLizzyandotherproprietorsregularlyemployedtobringthetubsfromtheboattoahiding-placeinland。TheywereallyoungfellowsofNether-Moynton，Chaldon，andtheneighbourhood，quietandinoffensivepersons，whosimplyengagedtocarrythecargoforLizzyandhercousinOwlett，astheywouldhaveengagedinanyotherlabourforwhichtheywerefairlywellpaid。
Atawordfromhertheyclosedintogether。’Youhadbettertakeitnow，’shesaidtothem；andhandedtoeachapacket。Itcontainedsixshillings，theirremunerationforthenight’sundertaking，whichwaspaidbeforehandwithoutreferencetosuccessorfailure；but，besidesthis，theyhadtheprivilegeofsellingasagentswhentherunwassuccessfullymade。Assoonasitwasdone，shesaidtothem，’TheplaceistheoldonenearLulsteadCove；’thementillthatmomentnothavingbeentoldwhithertheywerebound，forobviousreasons。’Owlettwillmeetyouthere，’addedLizzy。’I
shallfollowbehind，toseethatwearenotwatched。’
