Part 42 (1/2)

This he passed with ease, and he uttered a cry of astonishment the next moment, for he found hiash which stopped further progress in the way he intended, but offered apparently, as it curved round and down, an easy descent to the very part he wished to reach And so it proved, for proceeding cautiously, he began to descend by a narrow ledge or shelf, with the overhanging wall on his right and a sheer fall of twenty feet on his left

A few yards further it was forty feet, and again a few yards placed him in a position that cut off all view of the bottoiddy here,” he said to hi such a place?”

He ht, and found that it was singularly cracked and riven, but it afforded good hold Directly after a short pause and peer forward and doard to try if he could see any signs of the poor felloho had called for help, he stepped on again slowly and cautiously, anchoring hi his ar outward and get a better vien

”Hullo!” he ejaculated, in wonder ”How strange!” and he began to sniff, as a cool dank puff of air saluted his nostrils and he recognised the peculiar odour of decaying seaweed

”This narrow crack ht down to the sea somewhere,” he said to himself ”Well, why not? Rocks do split all sorts of ways There, I'ht,” he added, for there was another moist puff of cool air, and in co sound, one which he well knew, for he had heard it thousands of ti back over one another after being cast up by a wave

”This is queer,” hehis are, which curved ht, so that he could not see above a couple of yards, while upon getting to the end of these he found that he had to pass an angle in the rock face which brought hie widened out considerably

”I must be just under where I lay down to look over,” he said to hi plenty of room now he turned to look upward, and then stopped short as if turned to stone, for from somewhere just beyond where he stood ca a retiring wave, and with it a distant hollow-sounding ”_Ahoy_!”

But Aleck did not start forward to peer down soe cliffs to the sea, but, as has been said, stood fast, looking upward, as if turned to stone, his attention having been seized upon by the rattling, rustling soundabove his head, and the next ht so close to hi on a level with his eyes

They stopped short, with the toes resting for a few htly upon the broad ledge with a panting ejaculation of relief

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

There was another ejaculation uttered upon that rough ledge of rock, and it was uttered by Aleck, in the forave forth a hoarse cry, sprang upon hi breathlessly the while as if exhausted by previous exertions, while his lips were drawn back froenerally the aspect of sorily, dragging at the o Why, I thought the press-gang had taken you right away?”

”Did yer?” growled the h his set teeth, while his dark eyes see here?”

”Having the skin rubbed off the back of et free ”Be quiet! Are you rasp

”But you'll have e here if you don't rowled thehis breath

”What about?” said Aleck, uneasily, for the man's manner was terrible in its intensity

”What about?” snarled Eben

”Yes; I don't understand you I say, Eben, have you escaped?”

The lared at him, and the look which met his--a look full of enquiry and perfectly fearless--seemed to disarm him so,on to us the other night”

”Mine? No; I was fast asleep in bed when the shots woke me, and I went up the cliff to see”