When the lieutenant and his four men had landed, the boat again pushed
off, and the party on shore made their way along over the rocks at the
edge of the water, until they were opposite the rock where Lieutenant
Desmond had seen the man appear. Then the ascent was commenced. The
four officers went first, the men following in a line.
"Bear a little to the left," Captain O'Connor said; "it is likely to lie
somewhere in that direction. The man we saw would have been making
towards the path and not from it. Keep a sharp look-out between these
great rocks; there is no saying where the entrance to their hiding-place
may be."
Almost as he spoke there was a sharp crack of a rifle, and the bullet
struck the rock on which he was standing.
"Come on, lads!" he shouted, "the sooner we are there the less time they
have got to fire;" and with a cheer the men hurried forward, scrambling
recklessly over the rocks. Again and again puffs of smoke darted out
from the rocks in front; and one of the soldiers fell, shot through the
heart.
"Don't stop to fire!" Captain O'Connor shouted as a yell of rage broke
from the men; "you will do no good, and it will only give them more
time."
A dozen more shots were fired. One of the coast-guard men was shot
through the shoulder; but this was the only casualty, for the quick
movements of the men as they scrambled over the boulders disconcerted
the aim of those above. Breathless and panting the four officers gained
the spot from which the shots had been fired, the men close up behind
them; but not a soul was to be seen.
"Wait a moment till you get breath, lads," their leader said. "They
can't be far from here. We will find their hiding-place presently,
never fear."
As they stood panting there was a shout from above. The soldiers were
standing along the edge of the cliff, looking down upon the fight.
Sergeant Morris waved his arm.
"They have made away to your left, sir!" he shouted at the top of his
voice. "We have just caught sight of them among the rocks!"
In two or three minutes Captain O'Connor led the way in that direction.
"Keep your eyes sharply about, lads. No doubt the place is cunningly
hidden. Search among every clump of bushes between the rocks."
Presently the sergeant shouted down again from above:
"I think you are far enough now, sir! We did not catch sight of them
beyond that!"
For an hour the search continued, but without avail.
"They must be here somewhere, lads," Captain O'Connor said. "We will
find them if we have to stop here a week, and have provisions brought
down from the village. It's pretty evident there is no opening between
the great rocks or we must have found it. We must examine the smaller
boulders. They may have one so placed that it can be dropped down over
the entrance. That flat slab is a likely looking place, for instance.
Three or four of you get hold of it and heave it up."
The men gathered round to lift it. Ralph stooped down and peeped under
as they did so.
"Hurrah!" he shouted, "there is an opening here."
Several of the others now got hold of the stone. It was up-ended and
thrown backwards, and the entrance to a passage some three feet high and
two feet wide was revealed.