He knew all about navigation and I knew all about engines, having been a marine engineer in my youth." But a less desperate job called for immediate attention.

The men engaged in transferring the cargo from the barges to the steamer wanted to knock off work for the night; but the offer of double pay persuaded them to stick to it, and they worked with such good will that by midnight every bale was safely below hatches in the _Fanny_.

Crawford then instructed the shipping agent to be off in the tug at break of day, giving him letters to post which would apprise the Committee in Belfast of what had happened, and give them the means of communicating with himself according to previously concerted plans.
Before morning a change occurred in the weather, which Crawford regarded as providential.

He was gladdened by the sight of a sea churned white by half a gale, while a mist lay on the water, reducing visibility to about 300 yards.

It would be impossible for the Port Officer's motor-boat to face such a sea, or, if it did, to find the _Fanny_, unless guided by her fog-whistle.