So I sat down for a minute or two to get a grip of my courage, and told myself over and over that I was a coward. The lesson of the night before came into my mind, and I knew that it was merely a baseless fear of the dark that possessed me; but the knowledge didn't strengthen me. I sat shaking, my teeth chattering in my head. To dive into that greenness seemed beyond my power; I saw myself struggling in the dark, choked beneath the water, entombed. And all at once, I don't know why, I rose and plunged, and in my eyes the water grew radiant again, and I was puffing safely in Ebb-Tide Pool. I swam for the shore, and warmed myself in the sun, blinking at the unaccustomed light, and telling myself, as I had done in the morning, that I was a fool to be afraid of nothing. And then I realized that the only way to prove my courage and recover my lost self-esteem was to dive back to the cave and out again till I knew the way by heart and had familiarized it from all terrors. But the thought of returning there wasn't pleasant, and it was only a sudden resolution like the one that had brought me safely to the light again that sent me diving back into the darkness. Yet once there something of my fear revived, and hardly waiting to draw breath I was under and out again. I told myself that was enough, and so climbed up to my clothes intending to dress and investigate the meaning of the recent battle. I had just slipped my shirt over my head, when there was a shout above me, and stones and earth came tumbling down the cliff. Looking up I saw three men struggling, and one of them breaking free tottered and came sprawling over the edge. The other two followed with more caution. They were in red uniform, and the man they were chasing was Dirk. He recovered his footing and came bounding down towards me. I was quick enough to take in the situation. The smugglers had been surprised by the runners, and here was Dirk making his last dash for freedom. So swift a thing is thought that I had time to remember the talk in the cave about the King's Man. Had some one betrayed them? Had my father.... "Dirk!" I cried to him, though taking care to screen myself from the runners who were still far above. "Dirk, come." "Off, kid," he shouted. "I'll show you," I said. But I could never have stopped him if he hadn't slipped and fallen. He lay grasping his ankle and rocking himself in an agony. "I'm done," he moaned, "done." "There's a cave," I said. "I know, kid," he growled, "and they know." "You don't know," I insisted, "and they don't know. I was there all the time." The runners, sure of their prize, were taking their time in the descent, not being used to such scrambling, and unwilling, I dare say, to soil their grand uniforms. "Dirk," I pressed, "see here. It's under the water. You dive and come up. It's all dark." But he only grinned bitterly at me, still holding his ankle.