"Wish I had some of them here!" There were retiring steps then, and Archy leaned forward towards the window, to utter a faint cry of pain, for his head had come in contact with something, and as he put up his hand he found that the window was protected by thick iron bars.
He stood listening till not a sound could be heard, and then he drew back from the window, thinking about his next course, gazing out into the darkness the while, and wishing he could have stepped out, leaped down, and fled at once.
"Made our plans badly," he thought to himself.

"I can't signal even if I could find my way to the cliff, and I ought to be able to get back here at once to seize all this store, and--" More unpleasant thoughts came back now about how hard it seemed to have to betray these people.
"Can't help it," he said to himself.

"I am a king's officer, and I've got to do my duty." Then to keep these thoughts from troubling him, he began to think again about the cutter.
They never expected that he would get valuable information so soon.

He had been wonderfully fortunate, but what was to be his next course?
Certainly to get back to the ship as soon as possible, but that was not possible till morning, and he was miles away from the cove.
What should he do?
Two hours would be plenty for the work, and as he guessed it was not much past twelve now.

How was he to pass all those weary hours?
If he could find some barn or even a haystack he would not have cared, but it seemed to him that he would have to pass the remainder of the night in walking, and watching so that he did not encounter any of the smuggler gang on his way back and so raise their suspicions.
Better be off at once.