ho 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 were nearest to the scene of conflict. They
rushed to the rescue, and reached the spot just as Ruby leaped over
his prostrate foe and fled towards Arbroath. They followed with a
cheer, which warned the two men in ambush to be ready. Ruby was lithe
as a greyhound. He left his pursuers far behind him, and dashed down
the gorge leading from the cliffs to the low ground beyond.

Here he was met by the two sailors, and by the lieutenant, who had
joined them. Minnie was also there, having been conducted thither by
the said lieutenant, who gallantly undertook to see her safe into the
town, in order to prevent any risk of her bein