Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 431 | Page 9

feverish excitement. There at first
appeared, from the temper of the roisterers, to be no cause for any very
grave apprehension; but the aspect of affairs soon changed, and I
eagerly availed myself of a suggestion of Dick Redhead's, and gave

directions that preparation for its execution should be instantly and
silently commenced. The thought had struck Dick when perched up
there alone, and naturally looking about for all available means of
defence, should he be discovered. Let me restate my position and
responsibilities. It was my duty to rescue Lee, the agent of the Customs,
from the dangerous predicament in which he was placed; and the
question was, how to effect this without loss of life. It would, no doubt,
have been easy enough to have turned up one or two of the loose planks,
and have shot half the smugglers before they could have made their
escape. This, however, was out of the question, and hence the adoption
of Dick's proposal. It was this: in the loft where we lay, for stand
upright we could not, there was, amongst several empty ones, one full
cask, containing illicit spirits of some kind, and measuring, perhaps,
between forty and fifty gallons. It was wood-hooped, and could be
easily unheaded by the men's knives, and at a given signal, be soused
right upon the heads of the party beneath, creating a consternation,
confusion, and dismay, during which we might all descend, and end the
business, I hoped, without bloodshed.
This was our plan, and we had need to be quick about it, for, as I have
said, the state of affairs below had suddenly changed, and much for the
worse. A whistle was heard without; the front entrance was hastily
unbarred, and in strode Wyatt, Black Jack, and well did he on this
occasion vindicate the justice of his popular designation. Everybody
was in a moment silent, and most of those who could stood up. 'What's
this infernal row going on for?' he fiercely growled. 'Do you want to get
the sharks upon us again?' There was no answer, and one of the men
handed him a pannikin of liquor, which he drank greedily. 'Lee,' he
savagely exclaimed, as he put down the vessel, 'you set out with us in
half an hour at latest.'
'Mercy, mercy!' gasped the nerveless, feeble wretch: 'mercy!'
'Oh, ay, we'll give you plenty of that, and some to spare. You, too,
Ransome, prepare yourself, as well as your dainty daughter here'--He
stopped suddenly, not, it seemed, checked by the frenzied outcries of
the females, but by a renewed and piercing whistle on the outside. In

the meantime, our fellows were getting on famously with the hoops of
the huge spirit-cask. 'Why, that is Richards' whistle,' he exclaimed.
'What the furies can this mean? Unbar the door!'
This was instantly done, and a man, a sailor by his dress, rushed in.
'The Fair Rosamond is captured, and the preventive men are in
possession of her.'
My 'Quick! quick!' to the men, though uttered too loud, from the
suddenness of the surprise, was happily lost in the rageful outburst of
Wyatt. 'Hellfire!' he roared out. 'But you lie; it cannot be.'
'It is true,' rejoined the man. 'I and Clarke went on shore about an hour
ago in the punt, just to get a nip of brandy this cold night, as you won't
let us break bulk on board. When we returned, Tom went up the side
first, was nabbed, and I had hardly time, upon hearing him sing out, to
shove off and escape myself.'
We were now ready, and two of the planks just over Wyatt's head were
carefully turned over. He seemed for a moment paralysed--for a
moment only. Suddenly he sprang towards Mary Ransome, grasped her
hair with one hand, and in the other held a cocked pistol: 'You,' he
shouted--'you, accursed minx, have done this. You went out two hours
ago'--
I lifted my hand. 'Hurra! Take that, you cowardly lubber!' roared Dick
Redhead; and down went the avalanche of liquid, knocking not only the
pistol out of Wyatt's hand, but himself clean off his legs, and nearly
drowning Mary Ransome, her mother, and half-a-dozen others. A rope
had been made fast to one of the rafters, down which we all quietly slid
before the astonished smugglers could comprehend what had happened.
Resistance was then out of the question, and they did not attempt it. I
took Wyatt and one or two others into custody, for having contraband
spirits in their possession; and the others were permitted to make
themselves scarce as quickly as might be--a licence they promptly
availed themselves of.
I have but a few words to add. Henry Ransome died, I heard, not long

afterwards, of pulmonary consumption, brought on by the