In the King's Name Part 8

"Yes, your honour."

Billy Waters' pigtail swung round like a pump-handle, as he lumped up and pulled his forelock to his angry officer.

"How dare you speak like that, sir, on the deck of his majesty's vessel?

How dare you--you mutinous dog, you? Go forward, sir, and you, too, Tom Tully, and the cutter's crew, under the command of Mr Leigh, and think yourself lucky if you are not put under punishment."

"Very sorry, sir. Humbly beg pardon, sir," stammered the gunner.

"Silence, sir! Forward! Serve out cutla.s.ses and pistols to the men, and I'll talk to you afterwards."

Billy Waters chuckled to himself at the success of his scheme, and after a word or two of command, Hilary's little party, instead of jumping into the cutter and rowing ash.o.r.e, dropped down over the side on to the sands, and went off along the coast to the west.

"What's going to be done first, sir?" said the gunner.

"Well, Waters, I've just been thinking that we ought first to try and find some traces of the boats."

"Yes, sir; but how? They're fur enough away by now."

"Of course; but if we look along the sh.o.r.e here about the level that the tide was last night I daresay we shall find some traces of them in the sands, and that may give us a hint where to search inland, for I'll be bound to say they were landing cargo somewhere."

"I'll be bound to say you're right, sir," said Waters, slapping his leg.

"Spread out, my lads, and report the first mark of a boat's keel."

They tramped on quite five miles over the sand and s.h.i.+ngle, and amidst the loose rocks, without seeing anything to take their attention, when suddenly one of the men some fifty yards ahead gave a hail.

"What is it, my lad?" cried Hilary, running up.

"Only this here, sir," said the man, pointing to a long narrow groove in the sand, just such as might have been made by the keel of some large boat, whilst a closer inspection showed that the sand and s.h.i.+ngle had been trampled by many feet.

"Yes, that's a boat, certainly," said Hilary, looking sh.o.r.ewards towards the cliffs, which rose like a vast ramp along that portion of the coast.

There was nothing to be seen there; neither inlet nor opening in the rock, nor depression in the vast line of cliffs. Why, then, should a boat be run ash.o.r.e there? It looked suspicious. Nothing but a fis.h.i.+ng lugger would be likely to be about, and no fis.h.i.+ng lugger would have any reason for running ash.o.r.e here. Except at certain times of the tide it would be dangerous.

"It's the smugglers, Billy," cried Hilary eagerly; "and there must be some way here up the rock. Hallo! what have you got there?" he exclaimed, as the gunner, true to his instinct, dropped upon his knees and sc.r.a.ped the sand away from something against which he had kicked his foot.

"Pistol, sir," was the reply; and the gunner brushed the sand off the large clumsy weapon, and wiped away the thin film of rust.

"And a Frenchman," said Hilary, examining the make.

"Frenchman it is, sir, and she ar'n't been many hours lying here."

"Dropped by some one last night," said Hilary. "Hurrah! my lads, we've struck the scent."

Just then Tom Tully began to sniff very loudly, and turned his head in various directions, his actions somewhat resembling those of a great dog.

"What yer up to, matey?" cried Waters. "Ah! I know, sir. He was always a wunner after his grog, and he's trying to make out whether they've landed and buried any kegs of brandy here."

"Oh, nonsense!" cried Hilary; "they would not do that. Come along, my lads. One moment. Let's have a good look along the rocks for an opening. Can any of you see anything?"

"No, sir," was chorused, after a few minutes' inspection.

"Then now let's make a straight line for the cliff, and all of you keep a bright lookout."

They had about a couple of hundred yards to go, for the tide ran down very low at this point, and as they approached the great sandstone cliffs, instead of presenting the appearance of a perpendicular wall, as seen from a distance, all was broken up where the rock had split, and huge ma.s.ses had come thundering down in avalanches of stone. In fact, in several places it seemed that an active man could climb up to where a thin fringe of green turf rested upon the edge of the cliff; but this did not satisfy Hilary, who felt convinced that such a place was not likely to be chosen for the landing of a cargo.

No opening in the cliff being visible, he spread his men to search right and left, but there was no sand here; all was rough s.h.i.+ngle and broken _debris_ from the cliff with ma.s.sive weathered blocks standing up in all directions, forming quite a maze, through which they threaded their way.

"There might be a regular cavern about somewhere big enough to hold a dozen cargoes," thought Hilary, as he searched here and there, and then sat down to rest for a few minutes, and wiped the perspiration from his forehead, when it suddenly occurred to him that they had been hours away from the cutter, and that if he did not soon make some discovery he had better return.

"And I don't like to go back without having done something," he thought.

"Perhaps if we keep on looking we may make a find worth the trouble, and--what's that?"

Nothing much; only a little bird that kept rising up from a patch of wiry herbage at the foot of the cliff, jerking itself up some twenty or thirty feet and then letting itself down as it twittered out a pleasant little song.

Only a bird; but as he watched that bird, he did not know why, it suddenly went out of sight some twenty feet or so up the rock, and while he was wondering it came into sight again and fluttered downwards.

"Why, there must be a way through there," he cried, rising and gazing intently at the face of the rock, but seeing nothing but yellowish sandstone looking jagged and wild.

"No, there can't be," he muttered; "but I'll make sure."

Climbing over three or four large blocks, he lowered himself into a narrow pa.s.sage which seemed to run parallel with the cliff, but doubled back directly, and in and out, and then stopped short at a perpendicular ma.s.s some twenty feet high.

"Leads nowhere," he said, feeling very hot and tired, and, turning to go back disappointed and panting, he took another look up at the lowering face of the cliff to see now that a large portion was apparently split away, but remained standing overlapping the main portion, and so like it that at a short distance the fracture could not be seen.

"There's a way round there for a guinea," thought Hilary, "but how to get there? Why, of course, one must climb over here."

"Here" was a rugged piece of rock about fifty feet back from the _cul de sac_ to which he had reached, and placing his right foot in a c.h.i.n.k and drawing himself up he was soon on the top with a rugged track before him to the face of the cliff; but as he took a step forward, meaning to investigate a little, and then summon his men, a low chirping noise on his right took his attention, and going cautiously forward he leaned towards a rock to see what animal it was, when something came like a black cloud over his head and he was thrown violently down.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

HILARY LEIGH FINDS HIMSELF IN AN UNDIGNIFIED POSITION.

"That's a boat-cloak, and the brute's sitting on me," said Hilary Leigh to himself as he vainly struggled to get free and shout for help. He did utter a few inarticulate noises, but they were smothered in the folds of the thick cloak, and he felt as if he were about to be smothered himself. Getting free he soon found was out of the question, so was making use of the weapons with which he was armed, for his wrists were wrenched round behind his back and his elbows firmly lashed. So were his ankles, and at the same time he felt the pistols dragged out of his belt and his sword unhooked and taken away.

"Well, I've discovered the smugglers' place and no mistake," he thought; "but I might just as well have left it alone. Oh, this is too bad!

Only last night in trouble, and now prisoner! I wonder what they are going to do?"

He was not long left in doubt, for he suddenly felt himself roughly seized and treated like a sack, for he was hauled on to some one's back and borne along in a very uncomfortable position, his legs being banged against corners of the rock as if he were being carried through a very narrow place.

This went on for a few minutes, during which he was, of course, in utter darkness, and panting for breath. Then he was allowed to slide down, with a b.u.mp, on to the rock.

"They're not going to kill me," thought Hilary, "or they would not have taken so much trouble. I wish I could make Billy Waters hear."

He tried to shout, but only produced a smothered noise, with the result that some one kicked him in the side.

"That's only lent, my friend," thought Hilary. "It shall be paid back if ever I get a chance. What now? I am trussed; are they going to roast me?"