The hope of legal reinforcements seemed to be receding, thought Patricia, as they set off towards the Pill Box. It appeared that she had been mistaken about Carn’s knowledge, for if he had been planning to make his _coup_ that night he must have been on the spot by that time. And, since he was not, the management of the bun-fight was left entirely to the three of them. In the Pill Box it was Algy who decided that the safest way to fix their rope was to pass it round a section of the wall, by way of two embrasures, tying it on the outside; though the actual work was left to Orace, as a man with some nautical experience. A change had come over Algy, sobering down his bubbling vapidness and turning him into a sensible man. It had been done by the bullet which had so nearly smashed him out of the adventure altogether—the fool had been stung by a hard fact, and it had brought out into the open the character which for years he had taken such pains to conceal. Automatically he rose from the ranks to a commission, with Pat as his only superior: Orace accepted the transformation philosophically. They paid out the rope hand over hand, prone on the turf (by Orace’s advice) so as not to be visible from below, for the moonlight was strengthening. The rope itself ran down in a kind of big groove in the rock, so that as they descended they would be almost hidden in the shadow. “It should be long enough,” said Algy. “I allowed plenty.” He was peeling off his raincoat, and stood in bathing costume like the other two. “Who goes first?” “Final orders,” said Patricia—“tuck the artillery up in your belts and mind it doesn’t clank against the rock; don’t make one-millionth of a splash swimming; and don’t talk—you know how sound travels over water. Now, good luck to everyone! Follow your leader. . . .” Before either of the men could stop her she had twisted over the edge with the rope in her hands, and was sliding down, bracing herself off the cliff wall with her feet. She was strong and without fear, and the rope was longer than it need have been. She still had hold of it when her feet grounded on the pebbly beach with the water lapping round her knees. She stepped back and waved her arm. Algy stood beside her in a minute, and Orace joined them after a similar interval. Without a word they waded in and pushed off. All three were strong swimmers, but one of them had a dud leg and another was still recovering from the effects of that glancing bullet across his skull. Before them lay two miles of sea, and at the end of it a desperately daring hazard. The water was ideally calm and not too chilly for the distance. Patricia, who was like a fish in the water, hung a length behind the others, so that she could see if either of them crocked up. She turned over on her side and nestled her ear into the water, ploughing on with long, easy, noiseless strokes.