Would they attempt to land in different places and rush him, he
wondered. Or would they content themselves with lying off and attempting
to shoot him down from a distance? The last would be the safest all
round, both for them and for him--for, landing, they would, for the
moment, be more or less at his mercy; and, snapping at him from a
distance, he would have certain chances of cover in his favour.
The top of the ridge was flattened in places, there were even
depressions here and there, very slight, but quite enough to shelter any
one lying prone in them from bombardment from sea-level. He chose the
deepest he could find, and crawled into it, and lay, with his chin in
his hands, watching the oncoming boats.
If he could have managed it, he would have slipped down to the rock wall
and crept into his burrow, but it was on that side the boats were
coming, and the sharp eyes on board would inevitably see him, and so get
on the track of his hiding-place.
If the chance offered--if they left that end of the rock unspied upon
for three minutes--he would try it.
They parted at the Quette d'Amont, two going along the south side and
two along the north.
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