CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
Eben Megg had only just disappeared when the faint, monotonous cry of"Ahoy!" rose once more from below, setting the thoughts buzzing andthrobbing about in Aleck's brain in a most extraordinary way. For thelad felt utterly puzzled--he knew not why. He felt that there wassomething he ought to know, and yet he did not know it, and he failed tograsp the reason why he could not understand it. There was some mysterythat he ought to clear up, he felt; but, all the same, simple as it was,he could not find it out.
Like the children playing at a nursery game, he was so close that he wasburning, and at one moment he was on the point of being as wise as thesmuggler, but just then a loud piercing whistle rang out, followed byanswering shouts, and he did grasp at once from whence they came, andwaited anxiously, fully expecting to hear more shouts, some of atriumphant character, telling that the fugitive was in view or perhapscaught.
"I oughtn't to mind, of course," he muttered, as he strained his ears tocatch the next sound; "but somehow I do, and, as I said, for that poorwoman's sake. Ah! They've caught him now. No; it was only an ordershouted. Why, they're coming right up here--I can hear them plainly!"
The lad listened excitedly, for though he could see nothing of thesailors he could follow them by the sounds they made and tell that theyhad spread out over a good deal of ground in their hunt for the escapedman.
Nearer and nearer they came till Aleck felt that they must have reachedthe ledge from which he had watched the rippling sea, while directlyafter they were so near to the hiding-place that he could catch a gooddeal of what was said, the voices ascending and then seeming to curlover and drop down the steep rockside where he stood.
"They haven't caught him yet," thought Aleck, after some few minutes'beating of the cliff-top and slopes had taken place. "Perhaps theywon't catch him, after all, for he must be as cunning as a fox abouthiding-places. Why, they must be coming here!" he thought, excitedly,as the voices began to come nearer and nearer. "They'll find me, forcertain, and then--
"Well, what then?" he thought, as he came to a sudden stop. "Supposethey do catch me and ask me why I'm here! Why, I can tell them I cameto try and find someone whom I heard calling for help; and I can't helpwhat Eben says, I must let the sailors help me then."
He listened, and felt certain that the sailors and their leader camealong as far as the great piece of rock he had been obliged tocircumvent, and once round that the men were bound to find him.
"Ahoy!" came faintly again.
"Ahoy yourself!" said a voice. "Who's that so far off? Some fellow haswandered right away and lost himself. Idiot! Why didn't he keep withintouch of his messmates? Ahoy, there! Ahoy! Ahoy!"
The cry was answered, and in a few minutes Aleck was able to detect thefact from the dying-away of the voices that the search party weregrowing more distant, so that the next mournful "Ahoy!" fell upon hisears alone, sounding so despairing that the desire to go in search ofthe appealer for help was stronger than he could restrain.
Glancing back and upward then at the spot where Eben had disappeared, hewent cautiously forward for a few yards, to find to his astonishmentthat from being fairly broad the rugged shelf along which he wasproceeding rapidly narrowed till progress grew risky, while at the endof another dozen feet or so it ceased, and he came to a dead stand,looking in vain for a way forward and a sight of some crack or passagealong which he could descend towards the sea.
Then he listened for a repetition of the call for help as a guide to hisnext proceedings; but all was still save the querulous cry of a gull.
"I can't understand it a bit," he said, looking about him in a moreperplexed way than ever. "Eben Megg spoke as if he knew about someonebeing in trouble; yes, and that if he did not return I was to go to hiswife. Why, what nonsense it seems! How could he who has been away fordays know anything about--about--oh! Was there ever such a dense,wooden-headed idiot as I am!" he raged out. "Why, of course! I can seenow as clear as clear. It's that young middy--what's his name?--callingfor help. They must have trapped him during the struggle, and there isa regular smugglers' cave somewhere, after all. The poor fellow must beshut up in it; and that explains why Eben looked so furiously at me whenhe found me here. He thought I had discovered the secret hiding-placethat he was making for. Oh, my word, how plain and easy it all is whenyou know how! Yes, that's it," he said aloud, excitedly, "and thecutter's people are gone, so I'm not going to hold myself bound byanything I have said to Eben. That poor fellow must have been left tostarve 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 besure, she wasn't going to watch for Eben, as I thought, but to take theprisoner something to eat and drink. Talk about wiping the dust out ofone's eyes! I've got mine clear now, and that poor fellow has to befound, while, what is more, he must be somewhere down below where Istand."
Aleck's brow ran into lines and puckers as he stood looking about himfor a few minutes before hurrying back to the perpendicular crevice hehad discovered, and upon reaching it there was the hissing rush of thepebbles and a suggestion of a slapping sound as if water had struckagainst the rock, but evidently far, far down, while the damp seaweedyodour came cooler and fresher than ever to his nostrils.
"I could get down here," he muttered, "if I were no bigger than arabbit; but of course this isn't the way. There must be just such aplace 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 ladstood puzzled and wondering for a few moments longer, before placing hisface 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 differentdirection, and then there was a reply from somewhere else, closelyfollowed by a shrill whistle.
"That's not from the prisoner," said Aleck, growing more excited. "Thesailors are coming back. Are they coming here, after all? Well, I'msorry for Eben, but that poor fellow must be rescued, and I shall haveto--"
Aleck did not say what, but hurried along the shelf again, startled bythe sound of falling stones, and the next minute he caught sight of thesmuggler's descending feet, and then the fierce-looking fellow droppedlightly 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, MasterAleck--you know what it means if they get me--flogging now for escaping!You don't want me to be took?"
"No, Eben; but--"
"Don't talk, my lad. I'm hard set. You're a gentleman, and won'tbetray a poor fellow?"
"No, but I won't help to keep that poor young officer a prisoner."
"Ah, you've found out then--you know where he is?"
"Then it is true that you've got him shut up somewhere?"
"Somewhere?" cried the man, sharply, in a hoarse whisper. "Then youhaven't found the place?"
"No," said Aleck, frankly, "only guessed that he is somewhere hidden,and keeps calling out."
"Look here, Master Aleck, it is true, and if I swear that as soon as allis safe I'll help you to set him free and put him where he can get backto his ship, will you swear, too, that you'll never tell where ourstores are?"
"I'm not going to swear anything, Eben."
The man made a fierce gesture, and the lad felt that he was at thefellow's mercy, where a sharp thrust of the hand would send him headlongdown, most likely to his death. But he did not shrink.
"I promise you I won't betray you, Eben," he said, "if you give me yourword to set the poor young fellow free."
"Come on, then--if there's time," said the smuggler, hoarsely. "I canhear 'em coming on fast. Now, then, I'm going to show you what all uschaps have sworn on our lives never to let out. Quick! I know you'vegot plenty of game in you, my lad. I'm going to jump down there."
He pointed down over the edge of
the shelf as he spoke.
"Are you mad?" said Aleck, hoarsely, feeling that the man must be topropose what seemed to be like a leap into the next world.
"Not me, my lad. Look! I trust you to come after me sharp--before thecutter's men see you. Come, you won't shrink now?"
"He came along this way, I'll swear," came from overhead, quite loudly,and a whistle rang out again.
Eben Megg seized Aleck's arm with his left hand, and with his rightcaught the lad's fingers for a moment in a firm grip.
"Jump just as I do. I'll be ready to catch you."
Aleck nodded, and then felt ready to shut his eyes, for the man gave oneglance upward where a loud murmur of voices could be heard, and thenstepped close to the edge of the shelf, placed his feet close together,drew himself up stiffly, and then made a little jump, just sufficient tolet himself drop, as it were, clear of the rock, his back being visiblejust for a moment, and then there was a slight pat coming from below.
Aleck stood with his heart seeming to rise to his throat as if to chokehim, while he listened intently for the sound of a falling bodyloosening a little avalanche of stones.
But all was still below, while above there was the trampling of feet,and a voice said, loudly:
"Are you sure he came this way?"
"Quite, sir. He must have dodged round by that great block of stone."
"Forward then," cried the first voice, while from below where he stoodcame a low, hoarse whisper:
"Now, then, jump!"
For a moment Aleck felt that it was too much. Coward or no coward, hedared not make such a leap in the dark as that. Then, setting histeeth, he stepped close to the edge of the shelf, placed his feetexactly as he had seen the smuggler prepare to drop, and then, with hiselbows pressed close to his sides and his open hands raised to a levelwith his chest, he took the little leap, with the opposite side of therift seeming to rush upward past his staring eyes, while he dropped whatseemed, from the time it lasted, to his overstrained nerves andimagination a tremendous depth--in reality about seven feet--before hisfeet came flat upon the rock and a strong arm caught him across thechest like a living protecting bar.
Aleck's eyes turned dim, and the rock face in front spun round beforehim as he felt himself pressed backward--a few feet beneath what seemedto be a rugged stone eave, which protected him and his companion frombeing seen by anyone who should peer over the edge, while the nextmoment the smuggler's lips were close to his ear and the breath came hotas the man whispered:
"I never knowed a lad before who dared to jump like that. Come on,Master Aleck; I'd trust you with anything now."