. Then he felt himself caught by the throat, and by
the light of one of the torches he saw the man's cudgel in the act of
falling once more for a blow which he could only weakly parry, when
another cudgel flashed by, there was a crack just over his head, and
Humpy Dee uttered a yell of rage.

"You coward!" he roared. "Take that!" and quick as a flash Nic made out
that he struck at some one else, and attributed the side-blow in his
defence to Solly, who was, he believed, close by.

At that moment a loud, imperious voice from somewhere in front and above
shouted, so that the rocks echoed:

"Hold hard below there!"

Nic involuntarily lowered his cudgel and stood panting, giddy, and sick,
listening.

"Yah! never mind him," roared Humpy. "You, Pete, I'll pay you
afterwards."

"Now, boys, down with you."

"The poachers' companions," cried one of Nic's men, and they stepped
forward to the attack again, when a pistol-shot rang out and was
multiplied by the rocky sides of the arena, making the combatants pause,
so that the voice from above was plainly heard:

"Below there, you scoundrels! Surrender in the king's name. You are
surrounded."

"Brag, my lads!" roared Humpy Dee. "Stand to it, boys, and haul the
beggars out."

There was a moment's pause, just enough for the next words to be heard:

"At 'em, lads! You've got 'em, every man."

A roaring cheer followed, and Nic saw the torches through the cloud that
seemed to be thickening around them. He could hear shouts, which grew
louder and fiercer. There was the rattle of cudgels, savage yells
seemed to be bellowed in his ears, and he felt himself thrust and struck
and hauled here and there as a desperate fight went on for his
possession. Then, close at hand, there was a deafening cheer, a
tremendous shock, the rattle of blows, and he was down upon his knees.
Lastly, in a faint, dreamy way, he was conscious of the rush of cold
water about his face, in his ears the thundering noise of total
immersion, with the hot, strangling sense of drowning; and then all was
blank darkness, and he knew no more.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A STRANGE AWAKENING.

Another storm seemed to have gathered in Dartmoor--a terrible storm,
which sent the rain down in sheets, which creaked and groaned as they
washed to and fro, and every now and then struck against the rocks with
a noise like thunder. Great stones seemed to be torn up and thrown here
and there, making the shepherds s