"
The arrangements were soon made. Before starting on the descent
O'Connor said to the men: "We wish to take the fellows who are hiding
down there alive if possible. They are the gang of the fellow known as
the 'Red Captain,' and have committed a score of murders; but if it is
absolutely necessary you will of course fire. There is one man among
them who is there on compulsion, and is less guilty than the rest. He
is a fair-haired man, and I should think you would notice the
difference between him and the rest. Whatever resistance they make it
is not probable that he will join in it. At any rate, do not fire at
him unless it is absolutely necessary to save life. Now see to your
priming before we start, and fix bayonets. Mind how you climb over
these rocks, because if any of you fall your muskets may go off and
shoot some one in front of you. Wherever it is possible scatter out
abreast of each other, so as to prevent the possibility of accident.
Now, then, march!"
Leading the way, Captain O'Connor descended the little track. It
extended but a short distance. Beyond that a chaos of fallen
rocks--the remains of a landslip many years previously--stretched away
to the shore.
"There is no working along these sideways, Desmond," Captain O'Connor
said after they had climbed along for some little distance.
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