A quarter of an hour's slow and careful progress over the soft grassy
moor, and then they stopped short, for there was the chink of metal and
the sharp stamp of a horse.

"If ours challenge him with a neigh, we are lost," thought Fred, as he
stood trembling, and patting his horse's nose.

"Poor old lad, then!" whispered Samson; and, their attention taken by
their masters' caressing hands, the brave beasts remained silent, and
then moved on till there was a road to be crossed, and Samson halted.

"Can't help it, sir; there's no other way," he whispered; "and it's all
stones."

"Forward!" whispered Fred; and they crossed the road, but not without
making a sharp sound or two. Then they were once more on the soft turf,
and bore away more and more to their right, till Scarlett whispered--

"Are you making for the shore?"

"No; for the Rill Head--the cavern," said Fred.

"Then it must be close here, for we are only a little way from the edge
of the cliffs."

Endorsement of his words came in the low roar of a breaking wave from
below; and just then the stars peeped out from behind a cloud, and they
saw exactly where they stood.

Ten minutes later they were close by the narrow entrance, and as Fred
searched for the exact place he uttered a cry of satisfaction, for there
by the gaping rift lay two large bundles, whose contents he pretty well
guessed.

CHAPTER FIFTY.

BACK TO CAMP.

"Now, Samson," whispered Fred, "we must trust to our horses standing
fast."

"You let their halters lie on the ground, sir, and they'll not move,"
was the reply. "Wait a minute, till I've unrolled the rope from my
waist, and then I'm ready."

"What can I do?" said Scarlett, in a low anxious voice.

"Nothing, sir. Now, Master Fred, let's get them two down first off the
horses, and they can lie on the grass till we're ready for them. Then,
if you think as I do, me being strongest, you'll go down first, while I
hold the rope."

"Can you?"

"Can I?" exclaimed Samson, in a tone full of contempt. "Then when
you're down, I'll lower down the stuff first, and you take it and cast
the rope loose each time; and next, I'll let Sir Godfrey down and Master
Scar, and then--"

He stopped short.

"Your brother," said Fred, sharply. "We cannot do better."

Everything was done according to Samson's plans, beginning with the
helping down of the two wounded riders, after which Fred took the end of
the rope, and was lowered into wha