Guy Mannering.

142 TWAVERLEY NOVELS.
prosecution of smugglers, Hatteraick was known to have
uttered deep threats, would not appear a very heinous
crime.
Against this hypothesis it was urged, that a crew of
fifteen or twenty men could not have lain hidden upon
the coast when so close a search took place immediately
after the destruction of their vessel; or, at least, that if
they had hid themselves in the woods, their boats must
have been seen on the beach; —that in such precarious
circumstances, and when all retreat must have seemed
difficult, if not impossible, it was not to be thought that
they would have all united to commit a useless murder,
for the mere sake of revenge. Those who held this
opinion supposed, either that the boats of the lugger had
stood out to sea without being observed by those who
were intent upon gazing at the burning vessel, and so
gained safe distance before the sloop got round the headland; or else, that, the boats being staved or destroyed
by the fire of the shot during the chase, the crew had
obstinately determined to perish with the vessel. What
gave some countenance to this supposed act of desperation was, that neither Dirk Hatteraick nor any of his
sailors, all well-known men in the fair-trade, were again
seen upon that coast, or heard of in the Isle of Man,
where strict inquiry was made. On the other hand, only
one dead body, apparently that of a seaman killed by a
cannon-shot, drifted ashore. So all that could be done
was to register the names, description, and appearance of
the individuals belonging to the ship's company, and
offer a reward for the apprehension of them, or any one
of them; extending also to any person, not the actual
murderer, who should give evidence tending to convict
those who had murthered Francis Kennedy.