At length Aubyn reached the commencement of the cliff path. It was a starry night, sufficiently light to enable him to follow the well-known track without risk of blundering over the edge of the miniature precipice on to the sands twenty feet below.
After a mile or so the path skirted a slight indentation of the cliff. As Terence passed this spot he saw a light flash at the bottom of the hollow. Then the gleam vanished.
In the starlight Terence could discern the figure of a man. In spite of the chilliness of the night air he wore no overcoat. He was standing motionless, with his back towards the sub.
"The fellow's dropped something," soliloquised Aubyn. "I'll go and bear a hand."
The sand muffled his footsteps till he was within ten yards of the stranger. Hearing the sound the man faced about and flashed an electric torch upon the ground.
"Lost something, sir?" asked Terence affably. "Can I help you?"
"My pipe," returned the other. "It must have fallen out of my pocket."
The voice seemed strangely familiar, yet the sub. could not call the owner to memory.
"You live about here, I presume?" asked Aubyn. "I think I recognize your voice——"
The next moment he uttered an involuntary cry of pain and clasped his hand to his eyes. The stranger had suddenly thrown a handful of some burning substance straight into the young officer's face.