"You three boys?"
"Yes, and Captain Duncan," replied Bob.
"And what did the smuggler say to you?" said the lieutenant, turning sharply on me.
"Say to us, _sir_?" I replied.
"Yes, answer quickly, and don"t repeat my words."
"I didn"t know smugglers spoke to people they could not see. Hasn"t my father told you that we were in hiding?"
The lieutenant was about to say something angry; but we were coming alongside of the bay, and my father stood up, very unwillingly as I could see by his manner, and guided the men so that they might avoid the rocks.
"I suppose we could almost run the cutter in here, Captain Duncan, eh?"
"Oh, yes, I think so," said my father, "on a very calm day. There is deep water all along, and a way could be found with ease."
"Such as the lugger people knew, of course. Steady, my lads, steady; that"s it, on that wave."
The men followed his instructions, and the boat was beached pretty close to the entrance to one cavern, the water being high, and we all jumped out.
"Get the lantern!" cried the lieutenant; "and light it now, c.o.xswain."
This was done, and two men being left in charge, the officer gave the order, swords were drawn, and he led the way in.
As he reached the mouth he placed two men as sentries at the entrance of the other hole where the water rained down, and turned to my father.
"You need not enter unless you like, captain. We may have a brush, for some of the scoundrels are perhaps still here. By the way, where"s the ledge where you people were hidden?"
"Up there," said Bob promptly, and I saw the officer scan the place.
"What, coming?" said the lieutenant.
"Yes," replied my father; "but I think these lads ought to stand aside in case of danger."
"Yes," was the short response. "Here, boys, you stop here. You are not armed," he added with a sneering laugh.
"I only wish we had your father"s cutla.s.ses here, Sep," whispered Bob, "and we"d show them."
We stood back as the man went first with the lantern, closely followed by the lieutenant with his drawn sword; and we waited as the last disappeared in the opening, fully expecting to hear shots fired.
But all was perfectly still, and Bigley was creeping slowly nearer and nearer to the opening when Bob Chowne made a rush.
"Here, you chaps get all the fun," he exclaimed. "I shall go in and see."
The two sentries laughed, for they were big brown good-tempered looking fellows, and in we all three went, to find ourselves in quite a long rugged pa.s.sage, running upward and opening into a big hollow at the end, where the lantern was being used to peer in all directions, till it was evident that nothing was there.
"We"re in the wrong hole," said the officer. "Now, my lads, forward!"
He went sharply out into the daylight again, to where the two sentries were on guard, and entered quickly, pa.s.sing through the dripping water closely followed by his men.
But there was not room for all, and he backed out directly.
"There"s nothing here," he cried angrily.
"Try the other hole," said Bob, running to where we had found the narrow opening behind an outlying b.u.t.tress of rock.
Bob stepped in first this time, the lieutenant following, and then the man with the lantern.
"Bravo, boy!" cried the lieutenant; "this is the place. Rather awkward, but here we are. Come along, my lads."
The sailors scrambled in as quickly as they could, and we all followed rather slowly down what was a jagged crack in the rock about two feet wide and sloping, so that one had to walk with the body inclined to the right.
This at the end of about twenty feet opened out into quite a large rough place, which contained some old nets and tins, along with about a dozen half rotten lobster-pots, but nothing more.
"There must be another place somewhere," cried the lieutenant after convincing himself that there was no inner chamber. "Lead on, c.o.xswain, with the light."
The man went on, and we were left to the last, hearing one of them whisper to his mate:
"This here"s a rum game, Jemmy; don"t look like much prize-money after all."
By the time we boys were out the lieutenant had disappeared with the c.o.xswain in the first cavern, and his men followed, leaving my father outside.
"Sep," he said, as I joined him, "where do you think the men went in?"
"That first place," I said decisively.
"Yes," said Bob Chowne; "that"s the hole."
"So I felt certain," said my father; and Bigley stood aside looking on, with his forehead full of wrinkles.
Another minute and the lieutenant was out with his men, the officer furious with rage.
"Captain Duncan, are you in league with these smuggling dogs, or are you not?"
"What do you mean, sir?" cried my father haughtily.
"Well, look here, sir," cried the officer moderating his tone. "You"ve brought us here on a fool"s errand. Where"s this cargo that you saw landed?"
"How can I tell, sir? You appealed to me as an officer to show you where it was landed. It was here. The men were going in and out of that cave for two or three hours."
"Then there must be an inner place," cried the lieutenant, stamping his foot with rage. "Come and search again, my lads."
They disappeared for another ten minutes or so, and then came back with the officer fuming with pa.s.sion.
"Fooled!" he exclaimed aloud, "fooled! Here, back to the boat."
Everybody embarked again, and the boat was rowed back in silence to the Gap, where we landed, and the lieutenant stepped out afterwards leaving his men afloat.