Though he presumed that Mrs. Doubledick’s shake of the head signified ignorance of her husband’s whereabouts, in this he was in error. Doubledick had returned home late at night, unaware of the impending crisis in his affairs. His wife gave him Mr. Polwhele’s message, and he anticipated a very pleasant interview with the riding-officer on his return from circumventing the smugglers. Rising early, he happened to see from his bedroom window the crowd of Frenchmen swarming from the lugger, and without waiting to finish dressing, he ran down to the taproom, pulled up a trap-door behind the bar, and descended into the capacious cellar beneath, having strictly charged his wife not to reveal his whereabouts. He was shaking with fear, rather of possible consequences which his imagination foresaw than of immediate bodily harm. Delarousse could scarcely fail to discover before long that Doubledick had given him misleading information, and he was a man whose wrath it was not wise to face. Between thirty and forty Frenchmen, strong, hardy fellows, marched rapidly up the hill behind their leader, whose agility was remarkable in one so corpulent. They had just risen upon the crest when the clang of a bell struck upon their ears. "En avant, mes gars!" cried Delarousse. "Courez, à toutes jambes!" And being on fairly level ground, they broke into a double. The Squire, being now convinced that the Towers, as the most conspicuous dwelling-house in the neighbourhood, was the object of the Frenchmen’s raid, displayed none of that indecision and vacillation which so often beset him in the matters of every-day life. He was now keen, alert, and ready, as became a man who had served in the King’s navy. He smiled grimly as he saw the Frenchmen hasting towards him, as yet half a mile away. "A pack of fools!" he thought; "but ’tis hard that I should be molested when on the brink of ruin." In a few sharp, decisive words he bade Dick and Reuben close and bolt the doors and shutters, and haul against the former such heavy articles of furniture as they could move in the few minutes at their disposal. Meanwhile he himself collected several old muskets that were at hand, with powder and slugs, in some cases relics of ancient trophies of arms treasured by the family. If he could hold the enemy at bay even for a short time, their project would be ruined, for the alarm bell and the sound of shots would arouse the whole countryside, and unless the invaders were supported by other vessels, they must soon retire to the lugger. At the first glance he had seen that they were not French regular soldiers, and concluded that their landing was not the foretaste of a general invasion, but merely a chance filibustering raid.