172 HARE AND SMUGGLER 



The continual passing to and fro of the men 

 cheered the hare in his niche, for it served to 

 alarm the stoats and keep them at a distance. 



Scarcely had the last of the kegs been hidden 

 away when one of the smugglers, he who had cried 

 out in his sleep, gave a false alarm, causing the 

 others to rush to the adit, where one after the 

 other they slid down the rope to the cave, all 

 except the sentry, whose duty it was to haul up 

 the line and stow it away. An old hand at the 

 trade and a man of iron nerve, he proceeded to 

 coil the rope in the most leisurely way before 

 he came out of the adit, bringing the rope on 

 his arm. He thought he was alone, but he 

 was not ; the hare kept as close to his heels 

 as a dog, while the stoats followed at a short 

 distance. 



Dark though it was, the smuggler held along 

 the brink of the cliff till compelled to swerve by a 

 great pile of rocks that looked against the murky 

 sky like a black wall. By and by as he skirted it 

 he stopped and, shifting the rope to his left arm, 

 began feeling the face of the rock with his right. 

 He was searching for the rude steps by which 

 he would reach the summit of the earn to hide 

 the rope, the hare meanwhile remaining so close 

 to his feet that once it actually grazed his sea- 

 boots with its soft side. Presently he found 



