Ralph had not been called upon to assist in the work of preparation, he and Jacques having done their day’s work on the journey to the top of the hill and back.  He saw from the exultation in the faces of the Frenchmen that they considered their position was impregnable, and he shuddered at the thought of the terrible carnage that would ensue if the boats of the English vessels should try to force an entrance.  The following morning a lookout on the cliffs reported that two boats had left the ships and were rowing toward the shore.  On reaching the foot of the cliffs they rowed along abreast at a distance of thirty or forty yards of the shores.  They stopped rowing at the mouth of the entrance, and were suddenly hailed by the captain of the schooner, who was standing on the cliff above.

“If you try to enter,” he said, “you will be destroyed at once.  We don’t want to harm you if you will leave us alone; but we have guns enough to blow a whole fleet out of water, and will use them if we are driven to it.”

“Thank you for your warning,” a voice shouted back from the boats, and then an order was given, and they rowed back to the ships.

“Well, have you found the place, Lieutenant Pearson?” the captain of the frigate asked as the young lieutenant stepped on deck.

“Yes, sir, we have found it.  It is just where the boat turned and came out again.”

“I can see no signs of it now,” the captain said, examining the shore with his telescope.

“No, sir; you wouldn’t until you were within a hundred yards of it.  But rowing close in as we were we saw it some time before we got there.  The rocks overlap each other, and there is a narrow channel some fifty yards long between them.  Apparently this makes a sharp turn at the other end and opens out.  We saw nothing of the vessels we were chasing yesterday, but on high ground facing the channel there is a battery of six guns planted so as to rake anything coming in.  There are some chains across the end.  While we were lying on our oars there we were hailed.”  And he then repeated the warning that had been given.

“Nasty place to get into—­eh?” the captain said thoughtfully.

“Very nasty, sir.  You see, the guns would play right down into the channel; then there are the chains to break down, and perhaps more batteries, and certainly the ships to tackle when we get inside.”

“Is there width for the frigate to enter?” the captain asked.

“Just width, I should say, and no more, sir.  We should certainly have to get the yards braced fore and aft, but the ship herself would go through with something to spare, I should say.”

“What depth of water is there close in shore?”

“Plenty of depth sir, right up to the foot of the cliffs; but of course I can say nothing as to the depth in the channel.”

“No, of course not,” the captain said.  “Well, it’s something that we have run these pests to earth at last, but I see it is going to be no easy matter to get at them.”