下载辰思小说免费APP
’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，andthequickbrea
