Again was the flash and roar from the cliff, and Jack fairly chuckled, as one of the lanterns was snuffed out. "Took a part of 'er taffrail that time." But now the cutter was ready for action, and boom went one of her guns, and the next moment a ball struck the cliff below them, splintering the rock into fragments. Then again the cliff guns spoke, answered once more by the cutter's, and soon the action became general. The roar of the cliff guns and the revenue cutter's mingled with the howling blast, and made the night hideous with noise. Though so far above the sea, yet the spray of crashing breakers frequently swept over them as they worked the cliff guns, and it and the occasional flying sleet, at times, so dampened the powder that the guns had to be recharged. Ande was in his element. Here was a real battle, and he paused not to think that he was firing upon a government boat. The wild soldier blood of his ancestors was coursing through his veins like molten fire. He had cast aside the sou'wester hat, as obstructing his vision, and truly he looked a martial figure with his bandaged head and flowing locks swept by the blast. In the midst of the detonating roar, a figure bounded from the gloom behind them. Jack, with a sulphurous oath, swung his cutlass on high, thinking that some revenue men had landed and were charging, but Ande grasped the blade before it could descend. Although he cut his own hand badly in the act, yet he saved the stranger's life. "Dick!" "Ande!" It was Dick, who, searching in the locality for his friend, was attracted by the noise of battle. He asked no questions, but stolidly set to work to assist in charging and firing the guns. At length the cutter's guns were fairly silenced; she had been beaten off and her lights were seen fainter and fainter in her hasty retreat out to sea. "Now, stand by, men; one more shot to let them remember Captain Carter and Prussia Cove." It was the gunner, Jack, who spoke, as he finished aiming the last piece. There was another flash, and away bounded the iron messenger. A moment and one of the lights of the distant cutter was quenched, as if the bay had engulfed it. "As I'm a sinner, ef that didn't go straight through their cabin winders. And now, les down below and see 'ow fares the captain and the cargo." They descended and found the King of Prussia in excellent humour. The whole cargo had been safely landed and concealed in numerous secret places, and even the lugger had mysteriously disappeared. "And let's shake hands with our new comrades of the night," said the captain, as he grasped the hands of Ande and Dick. "You 'ave shown us your good will to-night, and ye had better now turn in and get a bit of rest afore morning, when, if ye are so minded, you can take the way back to Helston. But, mind 'ee, my lads, no word of to-night's affair."