lace
that he was making for. Oh, my word, how plain and easy it all is when
you know how! Yes, that's it," he said aloud, excitedly, "and the
cutter's people are gone, so I'm not going to hold myself bound by
anything I have said to Eben. That poor fellow must have been left to
starve in some dark hole, and--no, he hasn't. `Go to my wife,' he said.
Of course! Because she knew where the prisoner was hid, and--to be
sure, she wasn't going to watch for Eben, as I thought, but to take the
prisoner something to eat and drink. Talk about wiping the dust out of
one's eyes! I've got mine clear now, and that poor fellow has to be
found, while, what is more, he must be somewhere down below where I
stand."

Aleck's brow ran into lines and puckers as he stood looking about him
for a few minutes before hurrying back to the perpendicular crevice he
had discovered, and upon reaching it there was the hissing rush of the
pebbles and a suggestion of a slapping sound as if water had struck
against the rock, but evidently far, far down, while the damp seaweedy
odour came cooler and fresher than ever to his nostrils.

"I could get down here," he muttered, "if I were no bigger than a
rabbit; but of course this isn't the way. There must be just such a
place as this, only many times as big, and I've got to find it."

"Ahoy!" came faintly the next minute, but not up the cavity, and the lad
stood puzzled and wondering for a few moments longer, before placing his
face as far in as he could, and, breathing in the soft, salt, moist air,
he shouted back down the hole, "Ahoy!" as loudly as he could.

Then he stood listening, for "Ahoy!" came from quite a different
direction, and then there was a reply from somewhere else, closely
followed by a shrill whistle.

"That's not from the prisoner," said Aleck, growing more excited. "The
sailors are coming back. Are they coming here, after all? Well, I'm
sorry for Eben, but that poor fellow must be rescued, and I shall have
to--"

Aleck did not say what, but hurried along the shelf again, startled by
the sound of falling stones, and the next minute he caught sight of the
smuggler's descending feet, and then the fierce-looking fellow dropped
lightly before him and caught him by the arm.

"They saw me," he panted, breathlessly, "and have been hot on my track--
I couldn't dodge them anyhow--quite surrounded. Look here, Master
Aleck--you know what it means if they get me--flogging now for esc