"You are lightest," he said. "Go first, Jack. Steal down by the side of the cliff, and get a good way round."
"No," said Jack, "there is neither time nor need. We must stay where we are, and wait and see which way they go. It will be time then to retreat."
"Hark at him! Sure, and if I wasn't certain that there's Oirish blood in his veins, I'd say his grandfather was the Juke o' Marlbrook."
"Right," growled Bart; and they drew back among the rocks and waited, lying down so as to be well hidden, Jack climbing a little way up the slope above them, and getting into a position which commanded the ravine leading down to the bay.
They had not long to wait before voices were heard coming up from the shore, and soon after the overseer made his appearance, in company with a young officer, both carrying pieces over their shoulders, and followed by half a dozen soldiers in their flannel undress.
They were chatting and smoking, and quite off their guard, taking matters so leisurely that the watcher felt doubtful as to their intentions, and lay trying to catch the bent of their conversation, as they went on toward the interior of the little island, their voices dying out in the distance, before he attempted to stir.
When he drew himself slowly back and crept through the bushes till he rejoined his companions, every mouth parted to ask for news; and anxiety, mingled with the stern determination painted in their faces, told of the stubborn resistance that their pursuers might expect before they had achieved their ends.
"They have gone right on into the woody part."
"Yes, the gin'ral's right," said Dinny.
"But I have my doubts of their intentions," said Jack.
"And so have I--big doubts," said Dinny; "so I won't thrust them."
"I don't think they've come in search of you," continued Jack.
"Not come in search of us?" said Abel, excitedly.
A shot rang out from the distance, followed immediately by another.
"That proves it," said Jack. "It is a shooting party."
"Av course it is," cried Dinny, laughing. "I could have told ye that, only I didn't think of it. It's the pigs they're after, and they're making free wid our flocks and herds."
"What a relief!" said Abel, wiping the sweat from his brow. "What shall we do next?"
"Keep in hiding; but I'll climb up till I can see their cutter. It may be near our boat."
"A born gin'ral," said Dinny, giving his head a roll and gazing approvingly at Jack. "There'll be two or three left in charge of their boat, and--what would you do next?"
Jack held up his hand, and softly retraced his course up the steep slope; and they could trace him from time to time by the waving of the leaves, but he went so cautiously that he was not seen once; and while they kept their eyes fixed upon one spot the bushes and leaves were seen to rustle softly some distance higher up.
Then they saw no more, but lay listening to the distant shouts and firing which reached their ears again and again, till, to the surprise of all three, Jack suddenly came upon them from behind.
"Well?" said Abel, eagerly.
Jack could not speak for a few moments, being breathless with exertion.
"Three men left with the cutter and they are ashore, lying upon the sands."
"Abel," said Jack, after a long, thoughtful silence, "we shall never be safe here with these people coming from time to time."
"No; that settles our plans. We must take the boat and go."
"Why not take our enemy's vessel? We could sail where we liked then."
"Didn't I say he was a born gin'ral?" cried Dinny, enthusiastically.
"Take their boat!" said Abel.
"They're three men, and we're three," said Bart, in a low growl.
"Four!" cried Dinny, excitedly. "Ye never see how Masther Jack can foight."
"Hush!" said the latter, sternly. "The men are lying about half asleep.
If we waited, we might get on board, cut the anchor rope, and drift out with the tide perhaps without rousing them."
"And if it came to the worst we could fight," said Abel.
"Are ye ready?" whispered Dinny. "See that your piece is well primed.
My shtick's loaded, and I'm ready to fire it off."
"Hush!" said Jack, sternly. "I will climb up to where I can watch the men, and if they go to sleep I will wave a branch. Then creep up to me, and we may succeed without trouble."
The proposal was agreed to at once, and a long, tedious time of waiting ensued, at the end of which Bart bared his arm.
"We're strong enough for 'em," he whispered. "Let's go at once and fight it out."
At that moment, high above their heads, a branch was seen waving just as a shot rang out at no great distance, shouts were heard, and the grunting of a herd of the wild pigs rose from the wooded part on their left.
"Too late!" whispered Abel.
"Right!" growled Bart.
"Then we'll foight for it," whispered Dinny. "Bedad, I believe they'll run as soon as they find us here, and small blame to 'em."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
ANOTHER ESCAPE.
The excitement seemed to bring Jack more and more to the front, and those who followed read in his actions why it was that he had been successful in freeing them from their pursuers at the time of the escape.
For, active as a goat, he crept from rock to rock, lowering himself down here, dropping there, and having from time to time to wait to give the rest an opportunity for keeping up. And all the while the parts of the cliff side that were the most wooded, and which offered the best shelter, were selected, and discovery by the sleeping men avoided.
It was an arduous task; but the guide was equal to the emergency, and continuously and silently proceeding succeeded at length in dropping down to the sandy shore about fifty yards from where the men lay apparently asleep and sheltered by a huge mass of weed-grown stone, while the cutter swung by its anchor a hundred yards further on beyond the sailors, and she rose and fell easily as the slight tide ran softly down.
Jack grasped the situation clearly, and felt how little time there was to lose. At any moment the heads of the hunting party might appear as they came down the ravine to the bay, while, supposing these to be really asleep, the first shout would bring them to their feet, and then all chance of escape would be gone.
The men had laid down close up under the cliff so as to be sheltered from the sun and from an instinctive desire to be beyond the reach of any venturesome wave, so that to reach the cutter the fugitives would have to pass her guardians between them and the sea.