'We will walk as far as the smugglers' hole and then return,' said she, taking possession of him with an easy spirit that made him adore her grace, and wonder where she had learnt her engaging airs. 'Where did you go yesterday?' 'To a little village ten miles down the coast,' he answered. 'Did you notice the other night as we walked home the light of a flare upon the sea?' 'Yes.' 'Well, it proved, as I suspected, a distress signal. It was burnt on a roughly constructed raft which managed, by dint of boards and other contrivances, to strand itself in safety. They were eight men. I heard the tale in your town. They were smugglers who had lost their vessel by a butt-end starting. They trudged to the little village and were put up there, and are still there.' 'Are you a smuggler?' she exclaimed, looking with vivid keenness into his face. 'I am Captain Jackman,' he answered, bowing and laughing. 'No smuggler, but no scorner of the trade. I went yesterday to see those men, and think that I have secured the services of five of the stoutest of them.' 'What! for smuggling, Captain Jackman?' 'No, for a sweeter, swifter, and richer pursuit, madam, which I would whisper in your ear with feverish delight, sure of your sympathy and approval, if this hand'--he took it--'were mine.' She began to tremble. She was being made love to in reality. She was a little frightened. Greatly she enjoyed the situation she had placed herself in, and said, with her head hanging down-- 'My father must know what we do.' 'You want me to consult with him about our marriage?' 'Oh, not so fast, Captain Jackman,' she exclaimed, colouring with delight at his impetuosity. 'He will never give his consent,' he said. 'He doesn't like merchantmen. He hates poor men, and so I do. He'll talk of our three or four days of acquaintanceship, and heap every objection he can find and create.' 'And then,' said the girl, speaking firmly, with her face of beauty improved with an expression of decision almost feverish in its impulse, 'there is a second road.' She looked at him boldly. 'Why not take that second road at once?' he exclaimed softly, passing his arm through hers; and the love-sick girl let it lie there, and cherished it. 'No, Captain Jackman----' 'Walter.' 'Walter, then, we will be truthful and above-board; you shall go and ask my father's consent and answer his questions. He may not refuse. That would be so much better. For him now, and for memory for us in after years.' 'I would do whatever you wish. I have no queen but you,' answered Captain Jackman, who certainly was as much in love with the girl as she with him. 'How long are you stopping in this place?' she asked. 'I am at your service,' he replied.