another,
and another. Tired of inaction, they were peppering his bee-hive to stir
him up in case he was fast asleep inside.

The other boats rowed swiftly round to the firing, and he could imagine
them clustered there in a bunch, watching hopefully for him to come out;
and his blood boiled and chilled again at thought of what might have
been if he had been caught napping.

And then, seizing his chance, he crawled to the opposite side of his
hollow, peeped over, and saw the way clear. If only they would go on
peppering the bee-hive for another minute or two, he would have time to
slip down the Sark side of his rock and get to the great wall, and so
down into his new hiding-place.

If they tried to land, he could perhaps kill or wound two, three,
half-a-dozen, at risk of his own life. But the end would be the same.
With a dozen good shots coolly potting at him, he must go down in time,
and he had no desire either to kill or to be killed.

He wormed himself over the edge of his hollow and hurried along to the
tumbled rocks, carrying his gun and powder-flask--not that he wanted
them, but wanted still less to leave them behind. He scrambled over,
found his marked rocks, and slipped safely under the overhanging slab.
There he could peep out without danger of being seen; and he was barely
under cover when the first boat came slowly round again, every bearded
face intent on the rock, every eye searching for sign of him.

The other boats passed, and as each one came it seemed to him that every
eye on board looked straight up into his own, and he involuntarily
shrank down into the shadow of the slab. They could not possibly see
him, he was certain; and yet a thrill ran through him each time their
searching glances crossed his own.

The rough jests and laughter of the boats had given way now to angry
growls at his invisibility. He could hear them cursing him as they
passed, and even casting doubts on the veracity of his visitors of the
previous night. And these latter upheld their statements with such
torrents of red-hot patois that, if they had come to grips and fought
the matter out, he would not have been in the least surprised.

Then there came a long interval, when no boats came round. They had
probably taken their courage in their hands and landed, and were
searching the island. He dropped noiselessly into his well and clambered
up into the tunnel, and lay there with only his head out.

And, sure enough, before long