"They'll hold on as long as we want them now," observed Dore. Again and again he looked astern. Presently he shouted, "Lower the topsails! Starboard the helm, Tom! Haul away at the starboard braces!" and the lugger, on the port tack, stood close hauled to the southward. The sharpest eyes on board were turned in the direction their pursuer was supposed to be. Some time passed away. "There she is!" cried Ben. "Although we see her, she doesn't see us, as we are stern on, and much lower in the water than she is." Dick looked with all his might. He could just discern some object moving along over the water, but so indistinctly that he could not be certain it was a ship. Still, the commander of the corvette might suspect that the lugger had changed her course, and changed his also. "All right!" cried Dore, after watching the phantom-like stranger in the distance, until she totally disappeared. "She'll not catch us this cruise." The lugger was put about, on the starboard tack, and once more stood towards the English coast. "Shall we be in to-morrow morning?" asked Dick. "No, no," answered Ben. "Whatever happens, we shall make the coast at night, when the revenue men can't see us. We have friends on the look-out, who will make signals to show us when and where to run in. The weather is too fine at present, so that we shall have to dodge about and wait for a dark night, with thick rain or fog; but we don't much trust fogs, they may lift suddenly and show our whereabouts to those we do not want to see us. However, we must run some risks. We want to land our goods in quiet, but if any one interferes with us, we of course must fight to defend our property. All right and square, you will understand, but if there's bloodshed, it is the fault of those who wish to take it from us." Dick did not ask himself whether Ben was right or wrong. He forgot that one party were breaking the laws, the other performing their duty in protecting them. Next morning, when Dick came on deck, he found the lugger hove to, with the blue line of the English coast to the northward. Though the shore could be seen, the vessel herself was too far off to be discerned from thence. Most of the crew were below, but the watch on deck, vigilant as ever, were turning their eyes in every direction, so that, should a suspicious sail appear, they might at once shape a course which would enable them to avoid her. Dick, who had been accustomed to an active life, began to grow weary at having nothing to do. He walked the deck with his hands in his pockets, talking to the men, or he sat below listening to their yarns, which were generally not of a very edifying character.