"how did you come to know?" grey demanded.
"miss hargrave told me. i suppose she couldn't think of anybody else, and she could not bear to break the news herself to mrs. rent. it was just before daylight."
"daylight!" tanza echoed. "daylight, when?"
"why, this morning," charlock went on. "don't you know that it is morning? i suppose you have been sitting here with the blinds drawn over the portholes, oblivious of the flight of time. at any rate, it is nearly five o'clock. but please allow me to go on with my story. as far as i could gather from miss hargrave, she went into rent's room yesterday afternoon and found him fast asleep. he had apparently been reading a bundle of letters, for they had fallen from his knee and lay in a mass on the carpet. quite mechanically the poor girl picked the letters up, and a word in one of them caught her eye and she began to read. she was so shocked and upset by what she saw that she came to me at once and told me about it. but you shall read for yourself, for the letters are in my possession."
"i don't think you need worry about that," grey said. "unless i am greatly mistaken, i know pretty well what those letters contain. they had been written by rent to the french maid, hortense; in fact, they are the very letters which rent obtained from your house on the night that miss hargrave came inquiring for rent. but, of course, i have forgotten that you know nothing about that, because you left me to see miss hargrave home. but don't let me interrupt you. i only want you to know that we are not quite so ignorant as you think us. i suppose i am right as to the gist of those letters?"
"absolutely," charlock went on. "you can imagine miss hargrave's state of mind. i was touched to see how she confided in me and promised to do all i could to help her. there were passages in those letters which throw a lurid light upon many things that have happened lately, and that was why i implored miss hargrave to do nothing rash. you see, i wanted to save mrs. rent and herself from as much trouble and scandal as possible. i implored the girl to go back home and say nothing whatever about her discovery. she promised that she would do so, and when she had regained control of herself i allowed her to go. but i might have known that one so ingenuous and innocent would find it impossible to carry about so dreadful a secret. for some time she managed to master herself, but an hour or so ago rent had a lucid interval and guessed something was wrong. perhaps his seared conscience pricked him. perhaps he surmised that the trouble had something to do with himself, for he insisted upon the girl telling him everything. she did so, with the result that you already know. so far as i could gather, when miss hargrave came to me just now in a state of mind bordering on distraction, rent affected to take the matter quite calmly. he rose from his seat and talked on indifferent topics for several minutes. then he lighted a cigarette and stood by the open window of his bedroom admiring the beauty of the morning. a minute or two later he flung himself over the balcony on to the stones below, and was picked up by a labourer in a dying condition. they carried him into his room and sent for the doctor. i am told the poor fellow suffers only occasionally, but they say that he cannot recover from the shock and that death is not far off. he has fits of insensibility, followed by periods of lucidity, during which time his mind is clear. strange to say, the blank in his memory has been filled up, and, from what he told miss hargrave, he knows everything that has taken place during the past fortnight. as yet, his mother has not been told; indeed, she was asleep when i came from the house."
there was a long pause when charlock had finished. tanza and grey regarded one another significantly.
"it is a shocking thing," the latter said presently. "but it has all happened for the best. of course, i will see rent if he wants me. i shall be here all day and you have only to send a messenger over."
"that is very good of you," charlock murmured. "if you don't mind, i will go back at once. there are many ways in which i can be useful. directly rent gains consciousness again i will not fail to send."
charlock went on his way back to the darkened household. it was not too late to snatch an hour or two in bed, and, despite the startling events of the evening before, grey slept soundly directly he reached his cabin. when he woke the sun was shining brightly and tanza was standing by his side. grey sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.
"anything fresh?" he asked. "i suppose you have had no messages yet from charlock?"
"not a word," tanza said. "i have allowed bark to go away under a promise that he will remain at hand and come here whenever he is wanted. i have not the least fear that he will play us false after what has happened. meanwhile, for the last hour or so i have been bestowing my attention upon swift."
"i hope he is better," grey murmured.
"well, he is clear and sensible, if that is what you mean. he is in a terribly shaken state and hasn't the smallest idea what took place last night. i have been reminding him about one or two things and you will find him ready to answer questions. i have given him a soothing draught, and i don't think he is likely to trouble us for some time, at any rate. after breakfast you can interview him."
grey found swift a white and pitiable object, propped up by pillows, doing his best to coax down a little food. there was a half-pleading, half-defiant look in his eyes as grey seated himself on the bed.
"you needn't be afraid of me," grey said. "i only want you to give me a little information. my dear fellow, if you only knew it, tanza and myself are the best friends you have. tanza has announced his intention of devoting himself to your case, and if you only play the man, he will set you on your feet again. i cannot understand how one of your ability should sink so low. surely, if we hold out a helping hand——"
"that is all i want," swift interposed eagerly. "i am a double-dyed fool, grey, and no one knows it better than myself. when i started to go down hill my friends began to turn their backs upon me, and i went on drinking out of sheer bravado. for the last two years i have been alone in the world; but, low as i have fallen, i would make a big effort to pull myself together if i could find a congenial friend. if tanza would take me in his employ it would be a godsend to me. i could make a struggle under a man like that. but, there, you did not come here to talk about myself. what have you discovered? and what can i do for you?"
"practically, we have discovered everything," grey said gravely. "we have made certain of what we have hitherto regarded only as suspicion. you are weak and ill, and i don't want to bother you unnecessarily. tell me in a word, has arnold rent discovered intermittent electricity or not?"
swift nodded his head vigorously.
"that will do," grey went on. "you need not say any more. there will be plenty of time to go in for explanations when you are well enough. all i want to know now is the exact position of the underground dynamo which was established some time ago within a few hundred yards of rent's offices. i don't suppose he told you about it, but i am sure you know where the thing is to be found."
by way of reply, swift reached for his coat, which was lying across the back of his bunk, and took from the breast-pocket a sheet of tracing-paper, which he handed over to grey. the latter glanced at it and smiled. when he turned to swift again the patient was lying with closed eyes as if on the verge of sleep. grey stole from the cabin to the deck where tanza was seated.
"come along," he said. "i have it at my fingers' ends. i'll just get a pair of india-rubber gloves and shoes and a mat and we can set out at once."
they came at length to a spot some little way from the workshop, where grey proceeded to make a close examination of the turf. he lifted a sheet of sod presently and disclosed a small grating underneath. kneeling on the india-rubber mat and carefully shielding his hands with gloves of the same material, he proceeded to pull out a switch or two and cut through a cable which led into the tiny manhole. then, without a further word to tanza, he strode right on until he came to the lawn of charlock's house, pausing at length in front of the fountain which surrounded the sundial. with the gloves still upon his hands, and the long rubber boots upon his feet, he waded through the water until he stood by the side of the sundial. he raised the cap and threw it aside. then from the cavity below he produced a small box.
"there!" he said, with an air of subdued triumph. "will you please examine the contents? i will forfeit my reputation if mrs. charlock's jewels are not inside."
