which I had
forgotten. It was perfectly dry, but I was severely hurt by the fall,
and for some seconds I lay unable to move. I soon, however, recovered,
and attempted to scramble out on the opposite side. But the bank was
steep, and the top was above my reach. I fancied that it would be lower
farther down, and ran or rather scrambled on in that direction. It
didn't occur to me at the time that it would be wiser to remain
perfectly still, when my pursuers, if they were continuing the chase,
would have passed me unobserved in the darkness. I at last reached a
part where the bank was broken away, and began climbing up, when I heard
footsteps close to me; and, as I gained the top, I saw a man coming
along at full speed on the opposite side. I determined, however, not to
be caught if I could help it; but to my dismay, when I began to run, I
found that I had sprained my ankle. This, though it didn't stop me
altogether, prevented me from running as fast as before; but if I could
get through the hedge I thought that I might keep ahead, or that the
smugglers would not venture to follow me. To ascertain how far off they
were I gave a glance over my shoulder. This was fatal to my success,
for my foot caught in a low bush and down I came. In vain I endeavoured
to regain my feet. Next instant I found myself in the grasp of two men.

"Hulloa! Youngster; what made you try to get away from us?" asked one
of them, in an angry tone.

"I am on my way home, and wish to get there as soon as possible," I
answered.

"Who are you?" asked the man.

I told him without hesitation.

"And your father has joined Sir Reginald and the other squires about
here in persecuting the smugglers."

"I don't see what that has to do with my being in a hurry to get home,"
I replied.

"Maybe not; but we want to know where you were lying hid just before you
took to running," said the other man.

"I was not lying hid anywhere," I answered. "I was going along from
paying a visit to Roger Riddle, after seeing his son Mark, who was
caught by the Squire's keepers, and accused of poaching, when being
tired I sat down to rest and fell asleep."

"Whereabouts were you sleeping?" asked the smuggler.

"On the ground," I answered.

"So I suppose," said the man, with a laugh. "But whereabouts on the
ground?"

"Not far from the old barn, to the best of my recollection; but it was
too dark when I started to make out where I had been."

This answe