Page:The Cornwall coast.djvu/53

 LOOE AND POLPERRO 47 that a former resident had a very interesting duck-pond. It had all the appearance of being like other ponds, and the revenue officers, who sometimes dined here with their hospitable host, could see nothing in the least suspicious. But, when desired, this duck-pond could be made to swing round on a pivot, and underneath it was a most convenient recess which was an admirable storehouse for such things as it was not expedient for the Preventive men to see. The ingenuity- fostered by smuggling was notorious, but surely few cleverer devices than this were ever conceived for the evasion of the King's revenue.