rward at once, followed closely by the midshipman,
keeping, as far as possible, down beyond the slope of the descent.

Presently, he came to a path. He saw at once that this was very
different from the others--it was regularly cut, sloping gradually down
the face of the sharp descent, and was wide enough for a cart to pass.
He at once took his way down it, moving with the greatest caution, lest
a sentry should be posted some distance below. It was very dark, for,
in many places, the trees met overhead.

About halfway down he suddenly came to a stop, for, in front of him,
rose a bank breast high. Here, if anywhere, a sentry should have been
placed, and, holding his companion's arm, James listened intently for
some time.

"Mind what you are doing," he said in a whisper. "This is a breastwork
and, probably, the path is cut away on the other side. Fortunately, we
are so far down the hill now, that there is not much risk of their
hearing any slight noise we might make. You stand here, till I find out
what's on the other side."

James climbed over the breastwork, and cautiously let himself go on the
other side. He fell some five or six feet.

"Come on," he said in a low voice. "Lower yourself down by your arms. I
can reach your legs then."

The gap cut in the path was some ten feet across, and six feet deep.
When, with some difficulty, they clambered up on the other side, they
found the path obstructed by a number of felled trees, forming a thick
abattis. They managed to climb the steep hillside, and kept along it
until past the obstruction. Then they got on to the path again, and
found it unbroken to the bottom.

"So far, so good," James said. "Now, do you stop here, while I crawl
forward to the water. The first thing to discover is whether they have
a sentinel stationed anywhere near the bottom of this path."

The time seemed terribly long to Middleton before James returned,
though it was really but a few minutes.

"All right!" he said, as he approached him. "There is no one here,
though I can hear some sentries farther up the river. Now you can come
forward, and have a drink. Fortunately, the river is high."

After having satisfied their thirst, Middleton asked:

"Where are you going now? I don't care how far we have got to march,
for, after that drink, I feel ready for anything."

"It won't do to hide anywhere near," James said; "for, if the boat
which comes to take us off were to be seen, it would put them