our eyes."

"Perhaps he is crouching in among the rocks down there."

"Wal, I rayther think he'd manage to git up a leetle further out of the
reach of the surf than all that."

"He may be farther on."

"True; an I dare say he is, too."

"There don't seem to be any place below these rocks, where he would be
likely to be."

"No; I think that jest here he could climb up, as fur as that thar
shelf, certain. He may be old an rheumatic, but he's able enough to
climb that fur."

"I don't think anything could have happened to him here, or we should
see some signs of him."

"Course we would--we'd see his remains--we'd see his basket, or his
hat, floatin and driftin about. But thar's not a basket or a hat
anywhar to be seen."

"The cliff is long here, and runs in so from that point, that if he
went up any distance, it would be easy for him to be caught by the
rising tide."

"Course it would. O, yes, course. That's the very thing that struck
me. It's very dangerous for an ole inexperienced man. But come, we
mustn't stand talkin, we must hurry on, or we may as well go back agin,
at onst."

Starting forward, they walked on for some time in silence. For about a
hundred yards they were able to keep close to the edge of the cliff, so
as to look over; but after that they encountered a dense alder thicket.
In order to traverse this, they had to go farther inland, where there
was some sort of an opening. There they came to a wood where the
underbrush was thick, and the walking difficult. This they traversed,
and at length worked their way once more to the edge of the cliff.
Looking down here, they found the scene very much like what it had been
farther back. The waves were dashing beneath them among rocks whose
black crests were at times visible among the foam, while from the
cliffs there were the same projecting shelves which they had noticed
before.

"See there!" cried Bart, pointing to a place behind them. "Do you see
how the cliff seems to go in there--just where the alder bushes grow?
That looks like a place where a man might be caught. I wonder if he
isn't there."

"Can't we go and see?"

"I don't think you can git thar."

"O, it isn't far," said Bart. "I'll run back and look down. The rest
of you had better go on; I'll join you soon."

"I'll go with you," said Bruce.

"Very well."

Bruce and Bart then set out, and forced their way through the dense
alder bushes, until at length they found t