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Updated: May 29, 2025
The boatsmen thanked him, and Zackey was ordered off to fetch a jug of water; but his father's voice arrested him before he had gone a hundred yards. "Hold on a bit, my son. P'raps," he said, turning to Trezise, "you'd come up hum with me and have a dish o' tay? Missus have got it all ready."
"He's a smart lad," observed Trezise, as Zackey gave his father an intelligent look, and dashed away at the top of his speed. "Iss, a clever cheeld," assented Maggot. "Bin down in the mines, I dessay?" said Trezise. "Iss, oh iss; he do knaw tin," replied Maggot with much gravity.
"It's warm work," observed Maggot, as he looked down the hole, and saw that what the boatsman said was true, and that they would not be long of reaching the spot where the liquor had been concealed. Trezise admitted that it was warm work, and paused to wipe his heated brow. "I wish we had a drop o' water here," he said, looking up.
In a few minutes Maggot and his son went out and hastened to the old shaft, where they found the boatsmen still hard at work with pick and shovel clearing away the rubbish. "You haven't found a bunch o' copper yet, I dessay?" said Maggot with a grin. "No, not yet, but we shan't be long," replied Eben Trezise with a knowing smile.
"Why, iss, we've diskivered a noo vein," said Trezise with a sly smile, "and we're sinkin' a shaft here in the hope o' raisin' tin, or somethin'." "Ha! hope you'll let John an' me have a pitch in the noo bal, won't 'ee?" said Maggot with a laugh. "Oh, cer'nly, cer'nly," replied the boatsman; "if you'll lend us a hand to sink the shaft. You appear to have been in the water, and 'twill warm 'ee."
Without uttering a word the smugglers sauntered towards the mound, assuming a careless air, as though they were passing that way by chance. On drawing near they recognised Ebenezer Trezise, the coastguard-man. "Good-hevening, sur," said Maggot; "semmen as if you'd found a keenly lode."
"There's no saying," replied Eben Trezise; "you've heerd as well as we of lodes takin' the bit in their teeth an' disappearing eh?" "Well, iss, so they do sometimes; I'll not keep 'ee longer; good-hevenin' to 'ee," said Maggot, going outside the door and wishing them all manner of success as they returned to the old shaft. Reader, shall we follow the two knowing fellows to that shaft?
"Ha!" exclaimed Maggot; "not much chance o' findin' water in that hole, I do think no, nor brandy nuther." "Not so sure o' that," said Trezise, resuming his work. "Now, et is a shame to let 'ee die here for want of a drop o' water," said Maggot in a compassionate tone; "I'll send my booy hum for some."
Mrs Maggot observed that they were also armed with a pick and shovel. "Good-hevenin', missus; how dost do?" said the man who walked foremost, in a hearty voice. "Good-hevenin', Eben Trezise; how are you?" said Mrs Maggot. "Braave, thank 'ee," said Trezise; "we've come for a drop o' brandy, missus, havin' heard that you've got some here, an' sure us can smell it eh?"
"Hast 'ee found the brandy?" inquired Mrs Maggot, with a look of innocence, when the two men returned. "Not yet," replied Eben Trezise; "but we've not done. There's a certain shaft near by that has got a bad name for drinkin', missus; p'raps you may have heard on it? Its breath do smell dreadful bad sometimes."
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