'm sure he won't think I should make signals to the ships.
Why should I? There's nothing to signal about."

He focussed and re-focussed the glass, and held its larger end towards
the sloop and placed one eye at the little orifice; but the left would
not close and the right would not look at the sloop, but persisted in
rolling about in every direction in search of Eben, who, the boy felt
certain now, must be crouching back in one of the rugged clefts watching
every movement he made.

Aleck did the best he could to look calm and unconcerned, but anyone who
had seen him from near at hand would have pronounced it as being a
dismal failure.

Then all at once he started. Down went the glass, and he craned forward
towards the edge of the shelf to look down, for all at once there was a
hoarse rumbling sound and a tremendous plash and crash as if a mass of
rock had fallen from somewhere beneath him right into the rock-strewn
gully below.

He could not resist the desire to lie down upon his breast and edge
himself forward till his face was over the edge and he could look right
down into the water, which was all in motion, swaying and eddying,
foaming round the half-submerged blocks of weed-hung stone, and behaving
generally according to its custom as the tide went and came, for these
chasms displayed little change, the water being very deep and never
leaving any part of the bottom bare.

There was nothing fresh to see, and after a time the lad drew back, to
resume his old attitude with the glass to his eye.

But he had hardly settled down again before he experienced a slight
quivering sensation, as if the cliff had suddenly received a blow, while
directly after there was a deep roar as of stones falling along some
vast slope. Then once more silence, with the water whispering and
gurgling far below.

"Part of the cliff given way," thought Aleck, as he called to mind
places here and there where masses of the rocky rampart which guarded
the western shores had evidently fallen, and about which he had heard
traditionary stories. But these falls had taken place in far distant
times. No one that he had heard speak of them could go farther back
than chronicling the event as something of which "my grandfather heered
tell."

Aleck thought no more of the sounds and went on watching the two
vessels, till suddenly they seemed to be doing something in the way of
action. A boat was lowered from each, and the lad's glass was powe