The calm surface of the cove was spread out nearly two hundred feet below them. They could see two of the sheds, a few men moving about, and the seaplane lying high up on the beach; but the Raider, moored near the innermost sh.o.r.e, was at present invisible. Nor could they see the ledge, almost perpendicularly beneath them, but now and then they heard the crack of the overseer"s whip, and the crash of coals as they fell upon the beach. In front of them the air was slightly darkened by dust wafted up the face of the cliff.
As they climbed lower they moved still more slowly and cautiously, often pausing to rest. At one of these halts Trentham leant against a large boulder, and started back in haste as it moved, swaying slightly and noiselessly like those rocking stones which are to be found here and there on our coasts, and which, insecurely poised though they seem, are rarely moved from their seats. The risk of disturbing the boulder and betraying his presence brought a momentary pallor to his cheeks. When they moved on again, they tested every upstanding rock before putting any pressure upon it, and found more than one which very little force would cause to fall.
The boulders gave effective cover from observation from the beach, and the contour of the cliff hid them from the sentry on the cliff path several hundreds of yards away. But presently the descent became steeper; they caught sight of the top of the Raider"s wireless mast; the sounds from the ledge and the beach grew more distinct and the dust cloud denser. They seemed to have come to the end of the scattered ma.s.s of boulders, and peering over, they saw a fairly smooth slope, too steep to climb, lacking in cover, and ending in a sharp edge between fifty and sixty feet below. Any boulders that in times past may have rolled here had found no lodgment, or, at any rate, must have long since fallen into the cove.
While they were crouching behind the lowest of the boulders, wondering how they could determine the exact position of the prisoners, they heard a shout from beyond the ledge, followed by an answering call, fainter, more distant. They shrank back, half fearing that they had been seen; but the shouts were not repeated, and there was no sign of excitement among the men on the beach.
A few minutes later, apparently from a spot immediately beneath them, came the sound of a voice speaking in loud tones, yet not so clearly that they could distinguish the words. It broke off once or twice, and they listened for an answering voice, but heard none. Then one shouted word struck distinctly upon their ears. "Pig!" Stretching forward, they strained their hearing. "You shall zink all night ... shoot you dead. Understand?"
There was silence. Trentham"s and Hoole"s eyes met.
"Hahn?" murmured Trentham.
Hoole nodded.
"Bullying Meek," he whispered.
Trentham cast his eye along the irregular line of boulders. A few yards from the spot where they were crouching, two jagged rocks, between four and five feet high and about three feet wide at the base, stood almost parallel with the edge of the slope, and about two feet apart. Crawling to them, Trentham pushed them gently from behind, then more firmly, finally with all his strength. They did not yield by the smallest fraction of an inch. Carefully marking their position, the two men clambered back among the boulders, gained the top of the ridge more quickly than they had descended, and hastened to rejoin their party, guiding themselves by the trunks of trees and bushes which Hoole had been careful to "blaze" as they came. There was just light enough to see the marks.
When they regained the thicket where they had left the others, Grinson came forward eagerly to meet them.
"Any luck, sir?" he asked anxiously. "Did ye find Ephraim?"
"We know pretty well where he is," replied Trentham.
"Safe and sound?"
"That I can"t say exactly, but he "s sound enough to make Hahn call him a pig."
"Pig! A lamb like Ephraim! By thunder, sir, if I get my fingers on that there Hahn I "ll teach him! Ephraim a pig! Blast my--
"Steady, Grinson," interrupted Hoole. "Meek isn"t damaged by Hahn"s abuse. Things are more serious than that. From what we overheard, it"s pretty sure that Meek has refused to do something that Hahn ordered."
"Good lad! I "ll----"
"Wait. Hahn has given him all night to think it over; he threatens to shoot him."
Grinson was silenced. His heat was quenched by speechless care. Fixing his eyes anxiously on Trentham, he said quietly:
"Anything you order, sir."
"We "ll save him if we can," said Trentham. "We "ve hard work in front of us, but with care and good fortune--by the way, Hoole, can you find your way back in the dark?"
"The moon "s up, my son. She "s riding low, but she "ll last long enough for this stunt, I reckon."
"Good! Now, Grinson, cut a stout pole from a tree--as strong as you can find, three to four feet long."
"Ay, ay, sir!" responded the boatswain, whipping out his knife.
While he was gone about his task, Trentham explained to Lafoa, the interpreter, that the position of the prisoners had been roughly located, and asked him to inform the rest of the party. They would have to march to the cliff in the waning moonlight, keeping absolute silence, and be ready to do instantly and exactly what they were ordered. The safety of their chief Flanso and his fellow prisoners would depend on their prompt obedience.
On Grinson"s return, Trentham ordered one of the men to unwind the rope from his body, and the boatswain to fasten one end of it to the pole.
He then slung the pole over a thick branch of a tree, and bade half the party of natives hang on to it, while Grinson and the other half held the loose end of the rope. The test being satisfactory, and the rope having been wound over the pole, they formed up in single file, and, Hoole leading, set out over their former tracks for the cliff. Not a word was spoken. The bare feet of the natives made no sound; the footsteps of the white men could scarcely have been heard if any watchers had been lurking in the bush. The rays of the moon, near its setting, gave Hoole light enough to distinguish the blazed trees, and they marched rapidly. Presently the prevailing stillness was invaded by the soft rustle of the surf, and they caught sight of the glistening path of the moonlight stretching far across the sea. Slackening his pace a little, so as to reduce the slight sounds made by the white men"s boots, Hoole led the party unerringly to the crest of the boulder-strewn slope. There they halted.
There were whispered explanations and instructions. Grinson, in spite of his anxiety for Meek, was a little daunted by the difficulties of the plan unfolded to him. The exact position of the prisoners on the ledge was unknown. A sentry would certainly be on guard. An incautious movement, the accidental disturbance of a stone, a misjudgment of distance in the dark, might involve not only the failure of the scheme, but death to its authors. Trentham did not minimise the dangers; they had all been canva.s.sed by Hoole and himself; indeed, he was prepared to find that some factor which he had been unable to take into account would render his plan unworkable.
"But we are not going to attempt the impossible, Grinson," he said. "We shall first discover what "s possible, and then--well, you "re not the man to jib at a risk."
"True, sir, and Ephraim is worth it. I "ll say no more."
They waited until the sinking moon gave just light enough to see the two rocks which Trentham and Hoole had marked on their previous visit; then they stole down the slope among the boulders. For greater security the white men had removed their boots. On reaching the furthermost of the boulders they halted again. Trentham placed the log of wood across the gap between the two rocks, and got Grinson to loop the loose end of the rope under his armpits. When the moon had wholly disappeared below the hills behind, and the face of the cliff was dark, he crawled inch by inch down the bare slope, and peeped cautiously over the edge.
The cove, the beach, the ledge--all were now within his range of vision.
His eyes were first attracted by lights below. There was a glimmering lamp on the Raider"s deck forward; the deck appeared to be unoccupied, and no lights shone from the portholes. All three sheds were illuminated, and from the murmur of voices Trentham guessed that the Germans were at their evening meal. No one was moving on the beach.
Then he noticed a slight intermittent glow some distance away on his right; behind it a face was momentarily lit up. Without doubt it proceeded from the pipe of the sentry on the ledge. Trentham recalled the position as he had seen it from the other side of the cove when he made his first reconnaissance. The sentry was evidently posted at the inner end of the ledge, where one path led to the beach, another wound round the cliff. These were the only avenues of escape; the other end of the ledge was blocked. The fact that the sentry was smoking argued that discipline was less strict here than it would have been on board ship; probably vigilance also was less rigid. What had the Germans to fear from their cowed slaves, and the natives of the village they had terrorised?
Withdrawing his eyes from this extremity of the ledge, Trentham could just distinguish the outlines of baskets laid against the cliff wall.
Then he started, and felt his pulses quicken. Surely that pallid object below him, a little to his left, was a man"s face. He closed his eyes, and reopening them after a few moments found that he could see more clearly. Beyond doubt a white man was standing close against the wall.
His att.i.tude was peculiarly rigid. The explanation flashed upon Trentham; Meek was tied up.
Trentham looked up and down the ledge for the native prisoners. Black though they were, he expected to be able to discover them, even in the darkness, by some movement or sound. He was as much perplexed as surprised at discerning no sign of them. Where, then, were they kept?
Meek, however, was his first concern. How long had the seaman been tied up? Was he conscious, and able to a.s.sist in his release? It was impossible to tell. Wriggling along the edge of the slope until he was exactly over Meek"s position, Trentham took a short peg from his pocket, drove it into the soil, and attached to it a thin line of fibre which he had brought with him. Then, holding the line, he crawled carefully up the slope, and rejoined his party.
In a few whispered words he related the extent of his discoveries.
"Better "n we could expect, sir," murmured Grinson, with a long breath of relief. "If the look-out is smoking----"
"Yes," interrupted Trentham, "but we mustn"t rely too much on that. He may be relieved at any minute; we can"t tell. We must get to work while the men are still feeding. Ready, Hoole?"
"Sure!" was the reply.
Following the guiding line, of which Grinson now held the upper end, the two men crept down the slope. Grinson understood that the line would be used to signal how to deal with the thicker rope, which was coiled round the log laid across the two rocks. When they reached the edge, Trentham transferred the coil of rope from his own arms to those of Hoole, who was to descend first on to the ledge. They were both conscious that this was a critical moment. A fall of earth as the rope strained over the edge could hardly fail to arouse the sentry. A man issuing from one of the sheds might notice, even in the dark, the white clothes of the climber, stained though they were. The first misfortune might be avoided with care; the second was at the mercy of chance.
Hoole felt with his hand for a hard smooth spot upon the edge, over which the rope might pa.s.s without risk of displacing earth. Then he peered along the ledge from end to end. The sentry was still smoking; no one was visible but Meek. Sounds of talking came from the shed, punctuated by the regular recurring swish of the surf.
"Good luck!" Trentham whispered.
Hoole gave three jerks on the thin line he carried, then slid over the edge. The rope tightened under his armpits; the natives above slowly paid it out. He sank out of sight, and it seemed an age to Trentham before two jerks signalled that he had reached the ledge. A few seconds later a single jerk indicated that the rope might be drawn up. When it came over the edge, Trentham instantly pa.s.sed the loop over his shoulders, repeated the signal for lowering, and in half a minute was standing beside Hoole, close against the cliff wall.
Both were panting with excitement. No fresh sound was added to those they had already heard; their descent had been unperceived.
Each went at once about the task previously agreed on. Hoole took a few paces towards the sentry, and revolver in hand, stood on guard, while Trentham, with quick, silent cuts of his knife, released the half-unconscious seaman.
"Not a word, Meek," whispered Trentham, as he placed the loop under the man"s shoulders. "Grinson is waiting for you above."
He jerked on the line. Meek slowly ascended, and his clothes being dark, his form could scarcely be distinguished against the cliff. He had only just disappeared over the edge when a light was suddenly thrown on the beach by the opening of the door of one of the sheds. There was a burst of louder talking, and a group of seamen issued forth, and ambled down to a dinghy lying a few yards above the surf. Hoole and Trentham slipped silently down, and lay flat against the wall. They heard the sc.r.a.pe of the boat as it was hauled over the sand, the clatter of boots as the men climbed into it, then the rattle of oars in the rowlocks. The men were boarding the Raider; from her deck they might see movements on the ledge. Was this to be the end of the adventure?
For a few minutes the voices of the Germans rose from the vessel; then they ceased, and Hoole, raising his head cautiously, saw that the deck was clear.