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20 SUSSEX SMUGGLERS.
came by: this Richard was the son of old Richard Mills, to whose house they had conveyed Chater for his better security, till they had resolved what to do with him. When they saw young Mills they called him in„ and related to him in what manner they had treated Chater, who was going to make information against their friend Diamond, the shepherd, and that in their way they came by a precipice thirty feet deep. To this Mills made answer, that if lie had been there he would have called a council of war, and thrown him down headlong. So it seems as if crueltv was the ruling principle among the wdiole body of smugglers, and that nothing less than death or destruction of all those they deemed their adversaries—that is,all such as endeavoured to prevent or interrupt them in the pernicious trade of smuggling—would content them.
They continued drinking at Scarderield's all that day, which was Monday, Chater being chained all the while by the leg, with an iron chain about three yards long, in a place belonging to old Mills, called a skilling, which is what they lay turf up in, and looked after by little Harry and old Mills : and in the dead of that night they agreed to go home separately, and to rally up some more of their gang, and to meet at Scardefield's on Wednesday.
Their design in this was, that the)' might appear at their own homes on Tuesday morning early, so that their neighbours might have no suspicion of what they had been about, or of what they had in hand still to do,, and likewise to consult with the rest of the gang what was best to be done.
They all met at Scardefield's on Wednesday evening according to appointment; that is, William Jackson, WilliamCarter,William Steel (one of the king's witnesses), |
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