" cried Spink. "Ye might as weel look for
kegs at the bottom o' the deep sea."

"Perhaps so; nevertheless, I have taken a fancy to go there. If I
find nothing, I will take a look into the Forbidden Cave."

"The Forbidden Cave!" almost howled Swankie. "Wha iver heard o'
smugglers hidin' onything there? The air in't wad pushen a rotten."

"Perhaps it would, yet I mean to try."

"Weel-a-weel, ye may try, but ye might as weel seek for kegs o' gin
on the Bell Rock."

"Ha! it's not the first time that strange things have been found on
the Bell Bock," said Ruby suddenly. "I have heard of jewels, even,
being discovered there."

"Give way, men; shove off," cried the lieutenant. "A pleasant pull to
you, lads. Good night."

The two boats parted, and while the lieutenant and his friends made
for the shore, the smugglers rowed towards Arbroath in a state of
mingled amazement and despair at what they had heard and seen.

"It was Ruby Brand that spoke last, Davy."

"Ay; he was i' the shadow o' Captain Ogilvy and I couldna see his
face, but I thought it like his voice when he first spoke."

"Hoo _can_ he hae come to ken aboot the jewels?"

"That's mair than I can tell."

"I'll bury them," said Swankie, "an' then it'll puzzle onybody to
tell whaur they are."

"Ye'll please yoursell," said Spink.

Swankie was too angry to make any reply, or to enter into further
conversation with his comrade about the kegs of gin, so they
continued their way in silence.

Meanwhile, as Lieutenant Lindsay and his men had a night of work
before them, the captain suggested that Minnie, Ruby, and himself
should be landed within a mile of the town, and left to find their
way thither on foot. This was agreed to; and while the one party
walked home by the romantic pathway at the top of the cliffs, the
other rowed away to explore the dark recesses of the Forbidden Cave.

CHAPTER XXI

THE BELL ROCK AGAIN--A DREARY NIGHT IN A STRANGE HABITATION

During that winter Ruby Brand wrought diligently in the workyard at
the lighthouse materials, and, by living economically, began to save
a small sum of money, which he laid carefully by with a view to his
marriage with Minnie Gray.

Being an impulsive man, Ruby would have married Minnie, then and
there, without looking too earnestly to the future. But his mother
had advised him to wait till he should have laid by a little for a
"rainy day". The captain had recommended patience, tobacco, and
p