CHAPTER EIGHT.
THE ESCAPE--CONCEALED IN A CAVERN.
Bill drew his head in from the window, and beckoned to Jack, whofollowed him up; and as there was no time to be lost, he at once droppeddown on to the top of the wall. Jack came next, fortunately withoutdislodging any stones, which might have rattled down and betrayed theirproceedings. Bill leading, they made their way on hands and knees alongthe top of the wall, which, being fringed in most places with bushes,contributed to conceal them from any passers-by. They had to movecautiously for the reason before given, and also to avoid the risk offalling down any gap in the wall which time might have produced.
As Bill had expected, the further end of the wall was broken graduallyaway, forming an easy descent. Down this they climbed, feeling theirway with their feet, and not letting go of one mass of ruin till theyhad found a foothold on a lower. Thus they at length had thesatisfaction of standing on the firm ground outside the walls.
They had now to consider in which direction they should direct theirflight.
The river was on one side of them, and though they might swim acrossthey would run the risk of being discovered while so doing. Theyfinally decided to make for the sea shore, to the westward of the bay,and to lie hid among the rocks till the search for them should be givenup.
They accordingly stole round the building, keeping on the side away fromthe guard-room, till they got into a lane which led at the back of thevillage down towards the shore. If they could once get there they hopedto be safe.
Few lights in the village were burning, as the inhabitants retired earlyto bed; but two or three still twinkled from some cottages at thefarther end. Possibly the owners had gone out fishing, and had onlylately returned.
They had got some distance from the tower, and no cottage was near, whenJack stopped.
"I've been thinking that we might get on board one of the fishing-boats,which have just come in, and go off in her," he whispered.
"I could not do it," said Bill. "I have said before--what would thepoor fishermen think in the morning when they found their boat gone, theonly means they may have of supporting their wives and families?"
Jack did not agree with Bill in this, but it was not a time to argue thepoint, so they set off again, and continued running till they reached agap in the cliff, down which the road led. They then made their way tothe left, under the cliffs, in the direction of the village where theyhad so long resided.
The tide was out, and they wisely kept close down to the water, so thatthe returning sea might obliterate their footsteps.
Jack proposed returning to Captain Turgot's, but Bill observed that thatwould not be fair to their friends, who would, of course, be exposed togreat danger by again harbouring them, and who yet would not like todeliver them up.
"No, no, we must not do that," he said. "The sooner we can find a placeto hide in the better. The cliff hereabouts appears to be broken, andfull of hollows, and perhaps, if we search for it, we shall discoversome spot fit for our purpose."
While they were talking the moon rose; and, though on the decrease,afforded a good deal of light, and greatly assisted them in theirsearch.
The sea where they were would, they saw, at high tide, completely coverthe whole beach, so they must take care to find a place beyond itsreach.
They anxiously searched about. The night was drawing on, and they mustfind concealment before daylight, which would expose them to the view ofany boats passing near the beach, or to people looking for them from thecliffs above.
They climbed up at several places without discovering any hollowsufficiently deep to conceal them effectually; still they persevered,and at last they reached a black rock which projected out from thecliff, and ran some way down the beach. From its appearance they sawthat it must be covered at high-water. They made their way round it, asthe sides were too smooth to climb over, and then once more reached thefoot of the cliff.
The tide was now rising rapidly, and they saw that they would be exposedto the danger of being caught by the sea, could they not get somedistance up the cliff. They were hurrying on when Bill exclaimed--
"There's a cave, and it may perhaps run some way back in the cliff. Weshall soon find out by the feel of the rock whether the water fills itup, and if not, we couldn't have a better hiding-place."
They climbed up the slippery rock, and found themselves in a cavern witha low arched entrance. This looked promising. They groped their wayonwards. As they advanced, their ears caught the gentle sound of a tinystreamlet, which issued from the rock, while the ground beneath theirfeet was perfectly dry, consisting in some places of hard rock, inothers of soft, warm sand.
Looking back, they could distinguish the ocean, with the moonlightshining on it.
"We shall be safe here, I think," said Bill. "When daylight comes, weshall be able to find our way farther in, and perhaps discover some nookin which we may remain hidden, even were people to come to the mouth ofthe cave to look for us."
Jack agreed that there was no risk of the tide rising to the place wherethey then were, so they sat down on the dry sand, and being tired fromtheir exertions, very soon fell fast asleep.
Jack was not much addicted to dreaming. When he went to sleep he did soin right earnest, and might have slept through a general engagement, ifhe had not been called to take a part in it.
Bill had a more imaginative mind, which was seldom altogether at rest.He fancied sometimes that he was escaping from the top of the tower, andtumbling head over heels to the bottom; at others that he was runningalong, with the Frenchmen shouting after him to stop. Then he fanciedthat one with a long pair of legs had overtaken him, and was graspinghim tightly by the arm.
He awoke with a start, and found that Jack was trying to arouse him.Daylight was streaming through the mouth of the cavern; beyond could beseen the blue sea shining brightly in the rays of the sun, with achasse-maree, or some other small vessel, gliding swiftly across it,impelled by a smart breeze off shore.
Jack had taken it into his head that the people on board might see them.
"I don't think there's much chance of that," said Bill. "Even if theyhappen to turn their glasses this way, depend on it, if we sit quiet,they'll not discover us."
The vessel soon disappeared, and they then looked about to examine morecarefully the cavern in which they had taken refuge.
The tide was still at its highest, and the water washed up to the ledgein front of the cavern. The ground rose considerably above that pointto where they sat, and on looking round they saw that it continued torise behind them for some distance.
Bill advised that they should at once explore it, observing that though,even at spring-tide, with the wind off shore, the water might not reachto where they sat; yet should a gale blow from the northward, it mightdrive the waves far up the cavern, and expose them to great danger. "Wecannot tell what may happen," he said, "and it's as well to be preparedfor the worst. Besides, if the soldiers come to look for us, they mayfind the mouth of the cavern, and make their way some distance in, butif they do not discover us they'll fancy we are not here, and go awayagain as wise as they came."
Jack saw the wisdom of this proposal. They accordingly groped their wayon, aided by the light, which, though dim, pervaded the part of thecavern they had reached. Every now and then they stopped, and, onlooking back, could still see the entrance, with the bright sea beyondit.
At length they came to a rock, which seemed to stop their furtherprogress; but, feeling about them, found that the cavern made a turnhere to the left. They now proceeded with the greatest caution, forfear of coming to some hole down which they might fall.
"If we had a torch we might see what sort of a place we have got to,"observed Jack.
"But we haven't got a torch, and no chance of getting one; and so wemust find out by making good use of our hands," answered Bill. "We mustmove slowly on, and feel every inch of the way, putting out one handbefore we lift up the other."
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sp; They were groping forward on their hands and knees, and were in totaldarkness; still, as they looked back, there was a faint glimmer oflight, which appeared round the corner of the rock, and this wouldenable them to find their way back again. Hitherto they had met onlywith smooth rock, gently inclining upwards; possibly it might lead them,if they went on long enough, to the top of the cliff, though they hopedthat there was no opening in that direction.
Here, at all events, they thought that they should be secure, evenshould their pursuers enter the cavern.
As they were getting hungry, they agreed to go back and eat theirbreakfast in daylight near the spring, which would afford them a draughtof cool water. They returned as they had come, feeling their way alongthe rock.
Just before they reached the turning in the cavern, they discovered arecess which would hold both of them; and they agreed to make it theirhiding-place should the soldiers by any chance come to look for them.
Without much difficulty they got back to the spot where they had slept,which was close to the stream. Here they sat down, and produced theprovisions which they had brought from the tower. On examining theirstock, they calculated that they had sufficient to last them for acouple of days.
"When that's gone, what shall we do?" asked Jack.
"We must try to pick up some shell-fish from the rocks," answered Bill."The soldiers by that time will have got tired of looking for us, and ifany persons from the top of the cliffs see us they won't know who weare, and will fancy we are fisher-boys getting bait. Perhaps beforethat time a smuggling lugger may come off here, and we may manage tohail her before we run short of food; at all events, there's no usebeing frightened about what may happen."
Every now and then one or the other went towards the mouth of the caveto look out. As long as the tide remained high there was no danger oftheir being discovered; but at low water the French soldiers were verylikely to come along the sands, and could scarcely fail to see the mouthof the cavern.
The tide was now rapidly going down, black rocks appearing one by oneabove the surface.
They accordingly determined to retire to the inner part of the cavern,and to wait there till they calculated that the tide would once morehave come in.
"We must make up our minds to enjoy six hours of daylight, and to enduresix of darkness," observed Bill.
"I sha'n't care much about that; we can but go to sleep and amuseourselves the best way we can think of while the tide is in," said Jack.
"If we had some hooks and lines we might fish," said Bill.
"We should only catch rock fish, and they are not fit to eat," repliedJack.
The boys carried out their plan. It was an easy matter to get throughthe sleeping-time, but they became somewhat weary from having nothing todo during the period that the tide was in. They could do little more,indeed, than sit looking at the sea, and watching the few vessels whichappeared in the offing. Now and then they got up and walked about tostretch their legs. They were afraid of bathing, lest while swimmingabout they might be seen from any part of the cliff above.
Whether the soldiers had come to look for them they could not tell; onething was certain, they had not been discovered, and there were no signsof any persons having approached the mouth of the cavern.
They husbanded their food, but it was rapidly diminishing. At nightthey therefore, when the tide had gone out, crept down on the sands, andmanaged to cut off some limpets and other shell-fish with their knivesfrom the rocks. These would have sustained them for some days had theybeen able to cook them, but they had no means of lighting a fire.Though limpets may help to keep body and soul together for a short time,they are not wholesome food, especially when raw. Their bread was allgone, but as long as they had some figs and cheese they got down thelimpets very well; but both figs and cheese came to an end, and theyboth felt that they were getting very weak.
"If we don't take care we shall starve," said Bill.
"We must do something or other. I don't see anything but trying to geton board a lugger, as we talked of; but then in searching for her weshould run the chance of being made prisoners again."
"You must come round to my plan, and run off with a boat of some sort,"said Jack.
"That's just what I cannot do," said Bill.
"It's either that or starving," said Jack.
"We should have to get food first, even if we did run off with a boat,"observed Bill. "It would never do to put to sea without something toeat. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll try and make my way back toCaptain Turgot's. It cannot be far from this. I'll ask them to give ussome food. They are sure to do that, though they might not like hidingus; and perhaps they might tell us of some boat in which we could getoff without the owner being the worse for the loss. If you'll stayhere, I'll go this very evening as soon as the tide is out. I calculatethat I should have time to get there and back before the flood is up;and I'm not afraid of being refused, at all events." Jack wanted to gotoo; but Bill urged that one was less likely to be discovered than two,and that it would be better for him to go alone. Jack at last agreed tothis, and directly the sand appeared below the mouth of the cavern, Billset out.