The pity was,
we hadn't time for a look at 'em!
"Sir John had warned me to hold my fire. But neither he nor I were
prepared for what happened next. For first one of them let out a
yell, and right on top of it half a dozen were screaming '_Imboscata!
Imboscata!_"--and with that we heard a rush of feet and, looking
over, saw the last two or three scrambling for dear life off the edge
of the platform and down the rocks to their boat.
"'Quick, Billy--quick! Damme, but we'll risk it!' cried Sir John,
snatching up his spare gun. 'If we make a mess of it,' says he,
'plug a bullet into one of the powder kegs! Understand?' says he.
"'Sakes alive, master!' says I. 'You bain't a-going to clamber down
that gizzy-dizzy place sure 'nuff!'
"'Why, o' course I be,' says he, and already he had his legs over and
was lowering himself. 'Turn on your back, stick out your heels, and
hold your gun wide of you, _so_,' says he; 'and you'll come to no
harm.'
"Well, as it happened, I didn't. Not for a hundred pound would I go
down that cliff again in cold blood, and my stomach turns wambly in
bed o' nights when I dream of it.
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