und the Point. Steering was Marjorie's special duty, and long
practice had made her very skilful in avoiding dangerous spots, and
tacking against cross-currents. She it was, too, who begged Estelle not
to jump about in the boat, and so imperil the lives of the party by her
delight in the new world about her.

'Ripping, isn't it?' said Alan, joining in Marjorie's laugh at their
little cousin's restlessness.

'Oh, it's lovely!' cried Estelle, eagerly. 'But, look, Alan! What is
that dark patch in the cliff?'

'Oh, _that_ isn't anything!' he returned. 'You will soon see a far
bigger hole in the cliff than that. There are heaps of caves about here;
some quite shallow like that one; others very deep and high and dark,
and some---- '

'Some to which we have never been able to find the way,' interrupted
Marjorie, as Alan hesitated. 'I know there used to be---- '

'Thomas,' said Alan, also interrupting, as he looked over his shoulder
at the man behind him, 'do you know the way from the cliff into the
Smuggler's Bay?'

'What makes you think that, sir?' asked the man, sullenly.

'You were a fisherman once, weren't you? At all events you went out with
the fishing fleet as a boy,' said Marjorie, 'and Aunt Betty says you
know the coast better than anybody.'

'And did you smuggle once?' demanded Georgie, looking up from the
preparation of a bent pin for some attempts at fishing.

Thomas gave a hoarse laugh. 'What I know, I know,' he said,
mysteriously. 'It isn't fit, and my lady would not like it, if I was to
tell you all I know.'

'That means you know a great deal,' exclaimed Alan, triumphantly. 'Now I
am sure of what I only guessed before. There is a way down, and I will
find it out somehow without you telling me a word.'

Thomas's face reddened with anger at his meaning being caught up so
quickly, but before he could reply Marjorie broke in.

'Tell me when to turn in,' she said, as they left the shelter of the
headland, and the cool briny air fanned their cheeks.

The water was rougher, and the little boat danced upon the swell as they
rounded the outlying rocks. Estelle was on the look-out for dangers, but
Marjorie understood her business too well, and they glided along without
even grazing a single jagged point. The gulls, startled from their perch
on the heights by the approach of the boat, rose, flapping and
shrieking. It seemed as if hundreds were circling about the rocks, only
to settle down again as the littl