At the edge of the incline he let the bag slide, and it went to the bottom with the noise a cow might have made moving through the scrub.

Dick followed, scrambling down the rocks.
Having recovered the bag, he dragged it under the scrub to the opening in the wall, hastily concealing his tracks.

There was some difficulty in getting the bag through the space in the rock but he managed well; then he swung it free of the ladder, so that it dropped into the shaft and on to the broken reef below.

He clambered through on to the ladder, drew the loose scrub ferns into their places, and fitted into the crevice the wedge-shaped stone, kept as a last concealment of the retreat.
Standing on the ladder Dick waited, and presently heard sounds of men making their way into the Gaol Quarry.

His suspicions were correct: the party was seeking him.