Stockdale was so excited by the events of the evening, and thedilemma that he was placed in between conscience and love, that hedid not sleep, or even doze, but remained as broadly awake as atnoonday. As soon as the grey light began to touch ever so faintlythe whiter objects in his bedroom he arose, dressed himself, andwent downstairs into the road.

　　The village was already astir. Several of the carriers had heardthe well-known tramp of Latimer's horse while they were undressingin the dark that night, and had already communicated with each otherand Owlett on the subject. The only doubt seemed to be about thesafety of those tubs which had been left under the church gallery-stairs, and after a short discussion at the corner of the mill, itwas agreed that these should be removed before it got lighter, andhidden in the middle of a double hedge bordering the adjoiningfield. However, before anything could be carried into effect, thefootsteps of many men were heard coming down the lane from thehighway.

　　'Damn it, here they be,' said Owlett, who, having already drawn thehatch and started his mill for the day, stood stolidly at the mill-door covered with flour, as if the interest of his whole soul wasbound up in the shaking walls around him.

　　The two or three with whom he had been talking dispersed to theirusual work, and when the excise officers, and the formidable body ofmen they had hired, reached the village cross, between the mill andMrs. Newberry's house, the village wore the natural aspect of aplace beginning its morning labours.

　　'Now,' said Latimer to his associates, who numbered thirteen men inall, 'what I know is that the things are somewhere in this hereplace. We have got the day before us, and 'tis hard if we can'tlight upon 'em and get 'em to Budmouth Custom-house before night.

　　First we will try the fuel-houses, and then we'll work our way intothe chimmers, and then to the ricks and stables, and so creep round.

　　You have nothing but your noses to guide ye, mind, so use 'em to-dayif you never did in your lives before.'

　　Then the search began. Owlett, during the early part, watched fromhis mill-window, Lizzy from the door of her house, with the greatestself-possession. A farmer down below, who also had a share in therun, rode about with one eye on his fields and the other on Latimerand his myrmidons, prepared to put them off the scent if he shouldbe asked a question. Stockdale, who was no smuggler at all, feltmore anxiety than the worst of them, and went about his studies witha heavy heart, coming frequently to the door to ask Lizzy somequestion or other on the consequences to her of the tubs beingfound.

　　'The consequences,' she said quietly, 'are simply that I shall lose'em. As I have none in the house or garden, they can't touch mepersonally.'

　　'But you have some in the orchard?'

　　'Owlett rents that of me, and he lends it to others. So it will behard to say who put any tubs there if they should be found.'

　　There was never such a tremendous sniffing known as that which tookplace in Nether-Moynton parish and its vicinity this day. All wasdone methodically, and mostly on hands and knees. At differenthours of the day they had different plans. From daybreak tobreakfast-time the officers used their sense of smell in a directand straightforward manner only, pausing nowhere but at such placesas the tubs might be supposed to be secreted in at that very moment,pending their removal on the following night. Among the placestested and examined wereHollow trees Cupboards CulvertsPotato-graves Clock-cases HedgerowsFuel-houses Chimney-flues Faggot-ricksBedrooms Rainwater-butts HaystacksApple-lofts Pigsties Coppers and ovens.

　　After breakfast they recommenced with renewed vigour, taking a newline; that is to say, directing their attention to clothes thatmight be supposed to have come in contact with the tubs in theirremoval from the shore, such garments being usually tainted with thespirit, owing to its oozing between the staves. They now sniffed at-Smock-frocks Smiths' and shoemakers' apronsOld shirts and waistcoats Knee-naps and hedging-glovesCoats and hats TarpaulinsBreeches and leggings Market-cloaksWomen's shawls and gowns ScarecrowsAnd as soon as the mid-day meal was over, they pushed their searchinto places where the spirits might have been thrown away in alarm:-Horse-ponds Mixens Sinks in yardsStable-drains Wet ditches Road-scrapings, andCinder-heaps Cesspools Back-door gutters.

　　But still these indefatigable excisemen discovered nothing more thanthe original tell-tale smell in the road opposite Lizzy's house,which even yet had not passed off.

　　'I'll tell ye what it is, men,' said Latimer, about three o'clock inthe afternoon, 'we must begin over again. Find them tubs I will.'

　　The men, who had been hired for the day, looked at their hands andknees, muddy with creeping on all fours so frequently, and rubbedtheir noses, as if they had almost had enough of it; for thequantity of bad air which had passed into each one's nostril hadrendered it nearly as insensible as a flue. However, after amoment's hesitation, they prepared to start anew, except three,whose power of smell had quite succumbed under the excessive wearand tear of the day.

　　By this time not a male villager was to be seen in the parish.

　　Owlett was not at his mill, the farmers were not in their fields,the parson was not in his garden, the smith had left his forge, andthe wheelwright's shop was silent.

　　'Where the divil are the folk gone?' said Latimer, waking up to thefact of their absence, and looking round. 'I'll have 'em up forthis! Why don't they come and help us? There's not a man about theplace but the Methodist parson, and he's an old woman. I demandassistance in the king's name!'

　　'We must find the jineral public afore we can demand that,' said hislieutenant.

　　'Well, well, we shall do better without 'em,' said Latimer, whochanged his moods at a moment's notice. 'But there's great cause ofsuspicion in this silence and this keeping out of sight, and I'llbear it in mind. Now we will go across to Owlett's orchard, and seewhat we can find there.'

　　Stockdale, who heard this discussion from the garden-gate, overwhich he had been leaning, was rather alarmed, and thought it amistake of the villagers to keep so completely out of the way. Hehimself, like the excisemen, had been wondering for the last half-hour what could have become of them. Some labourers were ofnecessity engaged in distant fields, but the master-workmen shouldhave been at home; though one and all, after just showing themselvesat their shops, had apparently gone off for the day. He went in toLizzy, who sat at a back window sewing, and said, 'Lizzy, where arethe men?'

　　Lizzy laughed. 'Where they mostly are when they're run so hard asthis.' She cast her eyes to heaven. 'Up there,' she said.

　　Stockdale looked up. 'What--on the top of the church tower?' heasked, seeing the direction of her glance.

　　'Yes.'

　　'Well, I expect they will soon have to come down,' said he gravely.

　　'I have been listening to the officers, and they are going to searchthe orchard over again, and then every nook in the church.'

　　Lizzy looked alarmed for the first time. 'Will you go and tell ourfolk?' she said. 'They ought to be let know.' Seeing hisconscience struggling within him like a boiling pot, she added, 'No,never mind, I'll go myself.'

　　She went out, descended the garden, and climbed over the churchyardwall at the same time that the preventive-men were ascending theroad to the orchard. Stockdale could do no less than follow her.

　　By the time that she reached the tower entrance he was at her side,and they entered together.

　　Nether-Moynton church-tower was, as in many villages, without aturret, and the only way to the top was by going up to the singers'

　　gallery, and thence ascending by a ladder to a square trap-door inthe floor of the bell-loft, above which a permanent ladder wasfixed, passing through the bells to a hole in the roof. When Lizzyand Stockdale reached the gallery and looked up, nothing but thetrap-door and the five holes for the bell-ropes appeared. Theladder was gone.

　　'There's no get............