s."

"I left them down to quay with the rest: they're all together there,"
said Adam, unwilling to lose the opportunity of securing a few minutes
alone with Eve, and yet unable to command his voice so that it should
sound in its ordinary tone.

The jar in it caught Joan's quick ear, and, turning, she said, "Why,
whatever have 'ee bin about, then? What's the manin' of it all? Did
they play 'ee false, or how?"

Adam gave a puzzled shake of the head. "You know quite as much about it
as I do," he said. "We started, and got on fair and right enough so far
as Down End, and I was for at once dropping out the kegs, as had been
agreed upon to do, at Sandy Bottom--"

"Well?" said Joan.

"Yes, 'twould ha' been well if we'd done it. Instead of which, no
sooner was the fires seen to be out--meaning, as all thought, that the
Hart was safe off--than nothing would do but we must go on to Yellow
Rock, which meant waiting for over an hour till the tide served for
it."

"But you never gived in to 'em, Adam?"

"Gived in?" he repeated bitterly. "After Jerrem had once put the
thought into their heads you might so well have tried to turn stone
walls as get either one to lay a finger on anything. They wanted to
know what was the good o' taking the trouble to sink the kegs overboard
when by just waitin' we could store all safe in the caves along there,
under cliff."

"Most half drunk, I s'pose?" said Joan.

"By Jove! then they'd pretty soon something to make 'em sober," replied
Adam grimly; "for in little more than half an hour we spied the two
boats comin' up behind us, and 'fore they was well caught sight of
they'd opened out fire."

"And had 'ee got to return it?" asked Joan.

"Not till they were close up we didn't, and then I b'lieve the sight of
us would have been enough; only, as usual, Mr. Jerrem must be on the
contrary, and let fly a shot that knocked down the bow-oar of the
foremost boat like a nine-pin. That got up their blood a bit, and then
at it our chaps went, tooth and nail--such a scrimmage as hasn't been
seen hereabouts since the Happy-go-Lucky was took and Welland shot in
her."

"Lord save us! However did 'ee manage to get off so well?" said Joan.

"Get off?" he said. "Why, we could have made a clean sweep of the whole
lot, and all the cry against me now is that I kept 'em from doing it.
The fools! not to see that our best chance is to do nothing more than
defend ourselves, and not run our necks into a noose