Thanks to the tender nursing he received, however, at Joan's loving hands, he presently began to mend. And it was when all danger was past that he learnt the fate of the two smugglers whom he had imprisoned in the vault beneath the church.
Jack Price had managed to escape, but had had the misfortune to run straight into the arms of the brigadier and his soldiers, who now patrolled the country round Hurst with more assiduity than before. Being recognized as one of the most prominent of the smugglers, he was seized, carried to Rye, and hanged within a fortnight; for such offenders as he had scant shrift in those times.
Bill Plunder was found dead in the vault, having been killed by the shot Tregenna had fired at him in exchange for his own.
An enormous quantity of smuggled goods which had been secreted in the vault, were confiscated by the authorities: for even Squire Waldron had begun to see that his reign of laxity was over.
Not a sign of the coffins was to be found, however; and a thrill of horror ran through every one at the thought that the smugglers
