Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/214

 "Can't imagine unless—Ssh! They're coming up again!"

Whether the mist grew momentarily thinner or whether his sight had grown more accustomed to the darkness Nelson didn't know, but a second later he caught a dim vision of two shapes appearing above the cliff's edge. The vision was instantly lost, however, and they had only the sounds to guide them. The men seemed to be bearing to their left, and after an instant Martin tugged at Nelson and they skirmished in that direction. Once Nelson tripped over something and sprawled on his hands and knees, and Martin fell to the ground beside him and they kept very still for a minute. But if Nelson had made any noise it had gone unnoted by the men, for the boys could still, hear them ahead there. Once there came the unmistakable sound of a heavy object dropping with a jarring thud onto a wooden surface.

"Boxes," whispered Nelson. "They're piling them up over there."

"We might fill our pockets with them and beat it," suggested Martin. "Think they've gone back yet?"

"I don't know. Listen. Hear anything?" 189