Certainly the adventures of that night were giving him every opportunity. He went to the edge and looked over. The sea banged up to him, and the grey curved shadow of the Cove seemed to be miles below him. The little path ran on the edge of the cliff between two precipitous slopes, and its downward curve was sharp.
He pulled himself together, thinking of Hesther waiting there by the cottage alone. Dunbar had already started; he followed.
When he had gone a little way his knees began to wobble, his legs taking on a strange life of their own. His imagination had all his days been dangerous for him in any crisis, because he always saw more than was truly there: now the sea breeze blew on either side of him, the path was so narrow that there was not room to plant his two feet at the same time, the dim shadow light confused his eyes and the roar of the sea leapt at him like a wild animal.
However he pressed forward, looking neither to right nor to left, and, with what thankfulness, he felt the wet sand yield beneath him and saw the boat drawn up under an overhanging rock only a few feet away from him!
"There it is," said Dunbar, eyeing the boat with intense satisfaction. "Now I think we're all right. I don't see what's going to stop us. We'll be across there in half an hour and then have a good hour before the train." He held out his hand.
"Harkness, I simply can't tell you what I think of your doing all this for us. Coming down here just to have a holiday, and then taking all these risks for people you'd never seen before. It's fine of you and I'll never forget it."
"It's nothing at all," said Harkness, blushing, as he always did when himself was at all in discussion. "As a matter of fact, I've had what has been, I suppose, the most interesting evening of my life, and I daresay it isn't all over yet."
"There's not much fear of their catching us now," said Dunbar; "but you've been in more real actual danger than you imagine. As I said just now, anything might have happened to us if he had caught us. You don't know how remote that house is. He could do what he pleased without any one being the wiser, and be off in the morning leaving our corpses behind him. The only servants in that house are those two Japs."
"There's Jabez," said Harkness.
"Jabez is outside and is only temporary. He wouldn't have stayed after to-morrow anyway. He hates the man. Fine fellow, Jabez. I don't know how I would have managed this affair without him. He fell in love with Hesther. He'd do anything for her. And then like the rest of the neighbourhood he detested the Japanese.