The night was a very dark one.

There was no moon, and the stars were obscured, and although he strained his eyes to the utmost, he could not make out the vessel from which the light had been shown.
"How foolish to show such a bright light!" he said to himself.

"It would have been almost sure to attract the attention of anyone on the watch." He made his way to the path, and descended to the edge of the water, and waited, expecting momentarily to be joined by people from above.
But no one came.

He strained his ears listening for the fall of approaching oars; but all was silent.
Half an hour passed, and then it flashed across him that the signal must have been made to deceive the revenue men, and to cause them to assemble at that spot, and so leave the point really determined upon free for operations.
With an exclamation of disgust at his own stupidity, in having been deceived, James ran up the path again at the top of his speed, and then took the road along the cliff.

For two miles, he ran without interruption, and then saw a dark mass in front of him.