augh.

"Then there is some stowed?"

The man gave himself a wrench, and his face puckered up again with
anger.

"Lookye here," he said, more quietly, "I don't say there is, and I don't
say there arn't; but suppose there is, you're going to swear as you
won't take no notice."

"No, I'm not," said Aleck, boldly.

"Then you do want me to chuck you down yonder?"

"You've got to catch me first," cried the boy, making a backward bound
which took him ten feet downward before he landed and kept his feet,
following up his leap by running along the ledge of stony slate he had
reached and then beginning to climb rapidly.

The man had followed him at once, leaping boldly, but without Aleck's
success, for he slipped, through the stones giving way, and went down
quite five-and-twenty feet in a rough scramble before he checked himself
and took up the pursuit, which he soon found would be useless, for his
young adversary was lighter and far more active, and soon showed that he
was leaving him behind.

"There, hold hard, Master Aleck," he growled, looking up at the lad. "I
won't hurt yer now."

"Thankye," said the boy, mockingly, as he stopped, holding on by a
projecting rock in the stiff slope, and well on his guard to go on
climbing if there was the slightest sign of pursuit.

"You made me wild by hitting out at me."

"Serve you right, you great lumbering coward, to serve me like that!"

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yes, you did--brute! You squeezed my wrist as hard as you could."

"Well, I didn't want to hurt you much. But you did make me wild, you
know, hitting me like you did."

"Look here," cried Aleck, fiercely, as the man took a step to continue
climbing to where the boy stood, some thirty feet above him, "you come
another step, and I'll send this big stone down at you--it is loose."

"I don't want to ketch you now, only to talk quiet without having to
shout."

"I can hear you plainly enough. Sit down."

The great muscular fellow dropped at once, seating himself upon the
slope and digging his heels into the loose screes to keep from sliding
down.

"There y'are," he growled.

"Now, then," said Aleck, "what do you want to say?"

"Only about you coming along here to-day. You warn't trying to spy out
nowt, was yer?"

"No," cried Aleck; "of course I wasn't. I've known for long enough that
you people at Eilygugg do a lot of smuggling. I've stood with the
captain, my uncle, of a night and seen you