oking at the spot, he saw that the clump of bushes
grew in a slight hollow, and that by turning to the right he would be
able to approach within twenty or thirty yards of it without exposing
himself to view. This he did, and in a short time lost sight of the
bushes. Moving with great caution, he made his way towards them, and
when he approached the slope into the hollow, lay down and crawled
along, keeping his gun in front of him. As he neared the spot he lay
down on his stomach in the short turf and wound himself along until he
could see down into the bushes. With his gun at his shoulder, and his
finger on the trigger, he gazed down into the hollow. To his surprise he
could see no signs of the fugitive. The leafless boughs afforded but
slight shelter, and after gazing fixedly at them for two or three
minutes, he became convinced that the man was no longer there. As soon
as he came to this conclusion he stood up and looked over the
surrounding country. It was bleak and bare, and entirely destitute of
hedges or any other shelter.

It was but for five or six minutes at the utmost that he had lost sight
of the bushes, and in that time the man could not have got far. "Where
on earth has he hidden himself?" Julian muttered.

He went down to the clump of bushes, still holding his gun in readiness
for instant use. The patch was but some thirty feet long by half as
wide. He walked backwards and forwards among the low bushes, but the
fugitive was certainly not there. Going to the end of the patch he could
see plainly enough the track where the man had entered, for although
there was little snow on the top of the ground it lay among the tufts of
grass. He walked round the clump, but there were no signs of any
footsteps leaving it. "This is the rummest thing I ever saw," he
muttered; "the fellow can't have flown away; yet, he certainly has not
walked off."

Thinking it over, an idea suddenly occurred to him. When sailing along
the coast with Bill, the latter had one day pointed out to him a hole in
the cliff some twenty feet above high-water mark. "Do you see that hole,
Mr. Julian?"

"Yes, I see it plain enough. What of it?"

"Well, sir, if I owned all the goods that have been taken into that hole
on dark still nights I should be a rich man."

"Do you mean to say that they run cargoes there, Bill?"

"Not kegs--they are too heavy and too awkward to get away--but laces,
and silks, and such like. Many a lugger when she comes