p a great mass of foam, but he had entered it perpendicularly,
feet foremost, and in a few seconds returned to the surface so close to
the cliffs that they overhung him, and thus effectually concealed him
from his pursuers.

Swimming cautiously along for a short distance close to the rocks, he
came to the entrance of a cavern which was filled by the sea. The inner
end of this cave opened into a small hollow or hole among the cliffs, up
the sides of which Ruby knew that he could climb, and thus reach the top
unperceived, but, after gaining the summit, there still lay before him
the difficulty of eluding those who watched there. He felt, however,
that nothing could be gained by delay, so he struck at once into the
cave, swam to the inner end, and landed. Wringing the water out of his
clothes, he threw off his jacket and vest in order to be as unencumbered
as possible, and then began to climb cautiously.

Just above the spot where Ruby ascended there chanced to be stationed a
seaman named Dalls. This man had lain down flat on his breast, with his
head close to the edge of the cliff, so as to observe narrowly all that
went on below, but, being a stout, lethargic man, he soon fell fast
asleep! It was just at the spot where this man lay that Ruby reached
the summit. The ascent was very difficult. At each step the hunted
youth had to reach his hand as high above his head as possible, and
grasp the edge of a rock or a mass of turf with great care before
venturing on another step. Had one of these points of rock, or one of
these tufts of grass, given way, he would infallibly have fallen down
the precipice and been killed. Accustomed to this style of climbing
from infancy, however, he advanced without a sensation of fear.

On reaching the top he peeped over, and, seeing that no one was near,
prepared for a rush. There was a mass of brown turf on the bank above
him. He grasped it with all his force, and swung himself over the edge
of the cliff. In doing so he nearly scalped poor Dalls, whose hair was
the "turf" which he had seized, and who, uttering a hideous yell, leaped
upon Ruby and tried to overthrow him. But Dalls had met his match. He
received a blow on the nose that all but felled him, and instantly after
a blow on each eye, that raised a very constellation of stars in his
brain, and laid him prone upon the grass.

His yell, however, and the noise of the scuffle, were heard by those of
the press-gang who we