o gaze wonderingly at the thick
darkness which closed him in.

Vince had fared the same. Had any one told him that he could sleep
under such circumstances, in the darkness of that water den, the
dwelling-place of animals which had proved to him that they could upon
occasion be desperate and fierce, he would have laughed in his face; but
about the same time as his companion he had lurched over sidewise and
fallen fast asleep.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

GETTING DEEPER IN THE HOLE.

For some moments Mike sat up, gazing straight before him, dazed,
confused, not knowing where he was. Time, space, his life, all seemed
to be gone; and all he could grasp was the fact that he was there.

At last, as his brain would not work to help him, he began to try with
his ringers, feeling for the information he somehow seemed to crave.

He touched the sand, then a hand, and started from it in horror, for he
could not understand why it was there.

By degrees the impression began to dawn upon him that he had been
awakened by some noise, but by what sound he could not tell. He could
only feel that it was a noise of which he ought to be afraid, till
suddenly there was something or somebody splashing or wallowing in the
water.

That was enough. The whole tide of thought rushed through him in an
instant, and, snatching at the hand, he tugged at it and whispered
excitedly,--

"Cinder--Vince!--wake up. They've come back."

"Eh? What's the matter? Come back? What, the smugglers? Don't speak
so loud."

"No, no--the seals. Light the lanthorn. Where did you put the club and
stick?"

"Stop a moment. What's the matter with you? I've only just dropped
asleep. Did you say the seals had come back?"

"Yes: there, don't you hear them?"

"No," said Vince, after a few moments' pause, "I can't hear anything.
Can you?"

"I can't now," said Mike, in a hoarse whisper; "but they woke me by
splashing, and then I roused you."

"Been dreaming, perhaps," said Vince. "I suppose we must have both
dropped asleep for a few minutes. Never mind, we can keep awake better
now, and--Hullo!"

"What is it?"

"Here: look out, Mike--look out!"

There was no time to look out, no means of doing so in the darkness, and
after all no need. Vince had placed his hand upon something hairy and
moist, and let it stay there, as he wondered what it was, till that
which he had felt grasped the fact that the touch was an unaccustomed
one, and a monstr