desire to hide himself.

He rose, and went on again, reached the cliff above the Rock Pigeons'
Cave, and found the place where descent to the sea was possible. There
was no path, just a precipitous grass slope, and then steep rocks, and
below them the dark, moaning sea. A timid man might shrink from the
climb in daylight, a bold man would be rash to attempt it at night, but
of this short, slippery grass and these sharp rocks Neal had no fear at
all. He knew them all too well to fear them. He let himself slide down,
sure of the resting-place his feet would find. With firm hand-grips and
confident steps he descended from rock to rock until he stood at last
on a flat shelf, a foot or two above the sea. He saw the long channel,
rock-bounded, narrow, dark, along which he and Maurice had piloted
their boat. He saw beyond it the mouth of the cave--a space of actual
blackness on the gloomy face of the cliff. He heard the water drop from
the roof into the sea with heavy splashes. At his feet the long swell
writhed between the walls of rock, reached up black lips and drew them
down again with hollow, sobbing sound. From the extreme darkness of the
cave came the dull moaning of the ocean, as of some inarticulate monster
bowed with everlasting woe. A swim through this cold, lonely water,
between the smooth walls which rose higher and higher on either side,
into the impenetrable gloom of the echoing cavern and on to the extreme
end of it, was horrible to contemplate. But for Neal there were worse
horrors behind. His cowardice made him brave. He stripped and stood
shivering, though the night air was warm enough. He wrapped his clothes
into a bundle and, with his neck scarf, bound them firmly on his head.
He slipped without a splash into the water and struck out towards the
mouth of the cave.

The dull swell lifted him on its breast and drew him down again as if to
wrap him with huge cold hands. An undertow of receding water pulled him
to the rocks and he touched them with his hands. He reached the mouth of
the cave, and felt the splash of the drops which fell from it. He moved
very cautiously, fearing to strike suddenly on the sunken rocks. He felt
for them with his feet, reached them, stood upright waist-deep. Then,
with cold limbs and a numb terror in his heart, he plunged forward
again into the deep water within the cave. He swam on, with set teeth,
close-pressed lips, and eyes strained to see a foot in front of him into
the blac