As he mounted, the cliff grew less steep and facilitated his progress. Eventually, in reaching up a hand for a hold, he touched grass and knew that his climb was near its end. He quickened his movements. Gradually the rock was left behind. He fell on his knees and began to crawl; the cliff was still too steep for him to stand erect. The grass was soothing to his bruised feet. He used hands and knees and feet in negotiating the slippery, grassy slope, and after a last breath-taking effort reached the top, rolling himself on to the level headland, where he lay temporarily exhausted.
His intention, once he had recovered sufficiently to make a move, was to strike inland, and cut across the wooded head of land which separated him from Saltern. He did not know how far he was from the town, but he estimated it at three miles. He thought at first the best plan was to take the short cut, though it entailed the risk of getting lost in the wood. The discovery of a goat track on the edge of the cliff, however, decided him to take the longer but more certain, though far more dangerous, route along the shore. The goat track would, he thought, enable him to skirt the coast successfully. And he had only to follow it to reach his objective, whereas in the dark wood there was probably little to guide his steps, and he might end by being lost altogether and spending the night in futile searching for a way out.
Having decided on the goat track, he proceeded to prepare for it. He knew he could not long walk in his stockinged feet over such a path. He therefore stripped off his shirt, tore it in two pieces and wrapped up his feet as best he could. The result was very cumbersome, but much more comfortable; and he set out confidently on his jaunt.
Although the night was a dark one, it was not so hopelessly black as to preclude all idea of direction. Dare could descry large solid objects at a distance of ten yards, and the path was dimly visible for two yards or so. This helped him a little, but he had to go very slowly.
There were times when a slip of the foot would have meant a fall of some hundreds of feet; there were other times when the path ran level and free from obstacles, well away from the edge of the cliff. But for the most part it skirted the precipice in a nerve-racking fashion.
The transforming of his shirt into bandages for his feet left the upper part of his body bare, and he flinched at times as the branches of obstructing boughs tore his skin. Fortunately the night was warm and he did not suffer from exposure, despite his recent swim.
He was in splendid condition, and although he had accomplished two dangerous feats and was engaged on another, he felt no fatigue. He experienced an exhilaration which made effort seem almost play.
The darkness was his greatest obstacle. It hid the dangers of the track from him and caused his imagination to play nervy tricks. It made boulders take on the form of crouching creatures and stunted trees appear as men. There were several occasions when he startled and was startled by sheep and goats; but on the whole his path was free from living creatures, except those created by his imagination.
Then suddenly, as he was mounting an incline, he saw a man rise out of the earth before him. He could hardly credit his senses with the apparition, but as if to prove to him that he was not dreaming, another vague shadowy form rose up and followed the first inland.
The darkness hid Dare from them, for he was in the shadow cast by some trees, while they were on the high back of the ridge towards which he was mounting. Excited by the possibility the appearance of these nocturnal figures presented, Dare flung himself down on the turf and waited. Another figure appeared, then another and another, until he had counted ten. Then there was an end.