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| 1 | 88 | 177 | 265 | 353 |
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Presently they came close down upon the beach. The air smelt salt; the
noise of the surf increased; and here, in a large walled garden, there
stood a small house of two storeys, with stables and other offices.
The foremost torch-bearer unlocked a door in the wall, and after the
whole party had passed into the garden, again closed and locked it on the
other side.
Dick and his men were thus excluded from any farther following, unless
they should scale the wall and thus put their necks in a trap.
They sat down in a tuft of furze and waited. The red glow of the torches
moved up and down and to and fro within the enclosure, as if the link
bearers steadily patrolled the garden.
Twenty minutes passed, and then the whole party issued forth again upon
the down; and Sir Daniel and the baron, after an elaborate salutation,
separated and turned severally homeward, each with his own following of
men and lights.
As soon as the sound of their steps had been swallowed by the wind, Dick
got to his feet as briskly as he was able, for he was stiff and aching
with the cold.
"Capper, ye will give me a back up," he said.
They advanced, all three, to the wall; Capper stooped, and Dick, getting
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