s operated; and, besides, as there were numerous gangs covering a space of fifty miles along the coast, i

ked his way up until at the age of nineteen he held the position of second mate on a large schooner; and when he was assigned to t

ay in the port of Havana a ragged sailor dropped into a groggery kept by a Frenchman a

of the jolly fellows who were in for a good time, and in t

and well knew, when as a sea-tramp he ship

y night when the ves

having slipped inwa

y low and watche

d one of the mates had charge of the deck; a light shone in the distance, like a red star dancing ov

en miles off shore, as though their footsteps might be heard? Alas! it was a case of

lled not for the coward tread, and the gleaming eye, the pale face, and the anxious glance hither and thither. No, no; but the smugglers feared a

gnals; false lights might gleam across the waters like an ignis fatuus luring on a famished traveler in the desert, and within

a prison loomed out over across the wate

as a momentous crisis. He had hit the vessel the first clip, and he had struck the trail which had baffled men who claimed a larger experience in that particular branch of the detective service. He had "piped" down to a critical moment, but he

ained their eyes. Soon there followed a succession of lights, signal lights telling their story, and then the schoone

less with excitement as

s' methods under more exciting circumstances, when Spencer Vance was better prepared to checkmate the game. We have here

ff the coast, the detective appeared at a fishing vi

ing to "pipe" down. His game was to follow certain clews until he trailed up to the capitalists, the real

e, and considered that he was fast working down to a dead open-and-shut, and the really guilty parties, when

cht; it was understood that a smuggler was expected off the c

sending out the long-looked-for signals, hove in sight off the horizon; and it was on these vigil nights the detective had sailed out with the men. He had thought his game well played, his disguise perfe

er him going off and braving death in the way of duty, and he would have gon

s boat lay, determined to go off to the yacht, when a second time an appa