So they went and said "good-bye" to Mrs. Warrender, and then Jon folded up the map so that it fitted properly into his pocket, took up the knapsack and led the way down to the iron bridge that crossed the river on the other side of the town.

"I just don't know what we're going to do about these 'earthen vessels', Newpenny," he went on. "I haven't got an idea and, you know, we might wander over two counties and never find a clue."

They were crossing the bridge now and, as this was the first time they had explored this part of the town, they stopped for a minute to look down at the brown water filling the river as the tide came in. On this side of Rye they were on the edge of the real Marsh and could see at once that it was different from the levels round Winchelsea. It was wider and bigger in every way and stretched, as flat as a table, as far as they could see to the east.

They came down the slope of the bridge, which set them above the low level of the Marsh, and went off along the east bank of the river towards the sea. They reached the little town of Rye Harbour after an hour and walked on to the wide, white stretch of Camber Sands a little farther on and had their lunch on the top of the dunes.

After they had eaten, they walked barefoot back along the sands until they came again to the harbour and found the ferryman, who took them over the river. Behind an old black shed on the other side they looked again at the smugglers' map, and Jon said:

"We ought to be able to find this track here. On the map it's shown as near to the sea as we can get. Let's do the same."

There was no sand this side of the river and they soon found themselves walking behind a great bank of shingle, which in some places was strengthened by wooden stakes and old railway sleepers.

"Let's get on to the top," Penny suggested. "It's not very exciting down here."

"Maybe not," Jon replied. "But I bet we're walking on the smugglers' track. This would be a good place for them to go, I should think, and I expect there's another quick way across to Camber Castle, too. All right! Let's climb up."

Once up, they realized that this was the artificial bank built to keep back the sea. Here the beach was of shelving shingle divided by old breakwaters, and although now that the tide was out there was some sand, it was not a very inviting prospect.

"I wouldn't like to be here when there's a storm," Jon said. "Can't you imagine how the waves would crash against this bank?"