By the light of the
lantern on the beach I could see the shifting faces of the crowd, and
the troop of horses standing behind, quite quiet, shoulder to shoulder,
shaved from forelock to tail, all smooth and shining with grease. I had
heard of these Cornish horses, and how closely they were clipped; but
these beat all I had ever imagined. I could see no hair on them; and I
saw them quite close; for in the hurry each horse, as his turn came, was
run out alongside the boat; the man who led him standing knee-deep until
the kegs were slung across by the single girth. As soon as this was
done, a slap on the rump sent the beast shoreward, and the man scrambled
out after him. There was scarcely any talk, and no noise except that
caused by the wading of men and horses.
Now all this time I carried my parcel of little dolls in a satchel slung
at my shoulder, and was wondering to whom I ought to deliver it. I knew
a word or two of English, picked up from the smugglers that used to be
common as skate at Roscoff in those days; so I made shift to ask one of
the men alongside where the freighter might be. As well as I could make
out, he said that the freighter was not on the beach; but he pointed to
a tall man standing beside the lantern and gave me to understand that
this was the "deputy." So I slipped over the gunwale and waded ashore
towards him.
As I came near, the man moved out of the light, and strolled away into
the darkness to the left, I don't know upon what errand.
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