Consequently, at the moment when the officers were condoling with each other, Tonkin and his man were rowing into the creek, towards a large body of tub-carriers gathered on the shore. The boat moved very slowly, and a light thrown on the scene would have revealed, attached to its stern, a rope on which the first of a line of tubs was bobbing up and down. When it came within a few yards of the waiting men, half a dozen of them waded out and drew it high on the beach. The rope was then hauled in, scarcely a word being spoken, and in less than ten minutes thirty men, each carrying two tubs slung across his shoulders, were trudging to their appointed destinations. Tonkin was alone. As soon as the men had disappeared, he removed a plug from the bottom of the boat, and pushed it towards the middle of the stream, where it sank in eight feet of water. Then he set off with long strides towards the village. His business was accomplished: now he could deal with Doubledick. A few minutes after the flare had been announced in the inn, Doubledick, left alone for a moment, let himself down into the cellar. Not even his wife knew of his design. He slipped on a pair of goloshes, took up two heavy and cumbersome sacks, slung them over his shoulders, and hurried through the secret passage, which opened half-way up the narrow-stepped lane. The night was very dark; there was a blind wall on each side of the lane; and no one saw the laden man as he crept stealthily up the steps. Soon he came to a similar passage at right angles to the other, leading down to the bank of the stream. He turned into this, went more quickly to the bottom, and then trudged along among the rushes in the direction of the bridge. Coming to that point, he did not ascend by the steps that led to the road, but passed under the arches and continued his way along the stream. When he had walked about a quarter of a mile, he paused for a minute or two to take breath, then laboriously climbed up the steep bank with the assistance of bushes and saplings, and came panting to the top. He was now within a few yards of the path that led past the Parsonage across the moor, and joined the Truro road after a winding course of nearly a mile. At this hour of the evening he had no doubt that the Vicar would be in his study, and his small household engaged in preparations for the morrow.