“I could not tell without seeing it close in, sir; and besides it looks so different from right out yonder.”
“But are you sure this is right?”
“Oh yes, sir. Look, that’s the place—where there is that narrow rift, and if you look high up there is a hole. There, I can see it plainly.”
“Humph! Can you? Well, I cannot!”
“But you can see that broad ledge, sir, about two hundred feet up. That’s where I climbed down to, and we had the struggle—that boy and I.”
“No, I can’t see any ledges, Mr Raystoke. There may be one there, but if you had not been upon it, I don’t believe you would know that there was one.”
Archy looked up at the towering pile of rock, and was obliged to own that he was right. He shivered slightly as he swept the face of the cliff for the various points that had helped him in his descent, and, as he gazed out there in cold blood, it seemed to have been an extremely mad idea to have attempted the descent.
“Well, it is impossible to land here,” continued the lieutenant. “You are certain that this is the place?”
“Certain, sir.”
“Good. Then we’ll go back to the cutter, and this evening a strong party shall land. I’ll lead them myself, and we’ll try and surprise them. It’s quite likely that the signals I saw last night may mean business for to-night. If so, we shall be on the spot.”