in the dreary time of waiting i talked with the detective chief. everything which he told me seemed to torture me; but there was a weird fascination in his experience as it bore on our own matter. i was face to face, for the first time in my life, with that callousness which is the outcome of the hard side of the wicked world. criminal-hunters, as well as criminals, achieve it; so i suppose do all whose fortunes bring them against the sterner sides of life. now and again it amazed me to hear this man, unmistakably a good fellow and an upright one, weighing up crime and criminals in a matter-of-fact way, without malice, without anger, without vindictiveness. he did seem to exercise in his habitual thought of his clientele that constructive condemnation which sways the rest of us in matters of moral judgment. the whole of his work, and attitude, and purpose, seemed to be only integral parts of a game which was being played. at that time i thought light of this, and consequently of him; but looking back, with judgment in better perspective, i am able to realise the value of just such things. there was certainly more chance of cooler thought and better judgment under these conditions, than when the ordinary passions and motives of human life held sway. this man did not seem to be chagrined, or put out personally in any way, by the failure of his task, or to have any rancour, from this cause, in his heart for[383] those to whom the failure was due. on the contrary, he, like a good sportsman, valued his opponent more on account of the cleverness which had baffled him. i imagined that at first he would have been angry when he learned how all the time in which he and his companions had been watching crom castle, and were exulting in the security which their presence caused, their enemies had been coming and going as they wished by a safe way, unknown; and had themselves been the watchers. but there was nothing of the kind; i really believe that, leaving out of course the possibly terrible consequences of his failure, he enjoyed the defeat which had come to him. in his own way he put it cleverly:
“those ducks knew their work well. i tell you this, in spite of the softies we have been, it isn’t easy to play any of us for a sucker. just fancy! the lot of us on sentry-go day and night round the castle, for, mind you, we never neglected the job for one half hour; and all the time, three lots of people—this push, you and the girl, and this dago lord of yours—all going and coming like rabbits in a warren. what puzzles me is how you and miss drake managed to escape the observation of whisky tommy’s lot, even if you went through us!”
it had been after five o’clock when the party set out to visit the manses; at six o’clock the reports began to come in. the first was a message scribbled on a leaf torn from a note book, and sent in one of the envelopes taken for the purpose.
“all right at auquharney.” from this on, messengers kept arriving, some on foot, some on horseback, some in carts: but each bearing a similar message, though couched in different terms. they came from auchlenchries, heila, mulonachie, ardendraught, inverquohomery, skelmuir, and auchorachan. at nine o’clock the first of the searchers returned. this was donald macrae;[384] knowing the country he had been able to get about quicker than any of the others who had to keep to the main roads. his report was altogether satisfactory; he had been to six places, and in each of them there was no ground for even suspicion.
it was nearly three hours before the rest were in, but all with the same story; in none of the manses let to visitors through an agent, and in none if occupied by their incumbents, could the fugitives have hidden. the last to come in were the two trackers, disappointed and weary. they had lost the track several times; but had found it again on some cross road. they had finally lost it in a dusty road near ardiffery and had only given up when the light had altogether gone. they themselves thought their loss was final, for they could not take up the track within a quarter of a mile of either side of the spot where they had lost it.
it was now too late to do anything more for this night; so, after a meal, all the men, except one who remained on watch, went to sleep for a few hours. we must start again before dawn. for myself i could not rest; i should have gone mad, i think, if i had to remain the night without doing something. so i determined to wheel over to whinnyfold and see how don bernardino had progressed. i was anxious, as i had not heard from him.
at whinnyfold all was still, and there was no sign of light in the house. i had brought with me the duplicate key which i had given to marjory, and which mrs. jack found for me on her dressing table; but when i inserted it, it would not turn. it was a yale lock; and it was not likely that it should have got out of order without the use of some force or clumsiness. i put it down in the first instance to the inexperience of the don in such mechanism. anyhow, there was nothing to be done[385] as to entry by that way, so i went round to the back to see if i could make an entry there. it was all safe, however; i had taken care to fasten every door and window on the previous night. as the front door was closed to me, it was only by force that i could effect entrance to my own house. i knocked softly at the door, and then louder; i thought perhaps, for some reason to be explained, the don had remained in the house and might now be asleep. there was no sound, however, and i began to have grave doubts in my own mind as to whether something serious might have happened. if so, there was no time to lose. anything having gone wrong meant that the blackmailers had been there. if i had to break open the door i might as well do it myself; for if i should get help from the village, discussion and gossip would at once begin, if only from the fact that i could not wait till morning.
i got a scaffold pole from the yard where some of the builder’s material still remained, and managed by raising it on my shoulder and making a quick run forward to strike the door with it just over the lock. the blow was most efficacious; the door flew open so quickly that the handle broke against the wall of the passage. for a few seconds i paused, looking carefully round to see if the sound had brought any one to the spot; but all was still. then carefully, and with my revolver ready in my right hand and the lamp of my bicycle in my left, i entered the house.
a glance into each of the two sitting-rooms of the ground floor showed me that there was no one there; so i closed the hall-door again, and propped it shut with the scaffold pole. quickly i ran over the house from top to bottom, looking into every room and space where anyone could hide. the cellar door was locked. it was odd indeed; there was not a sign of don bernardino[386] anywhere. with a sudden suspicion i turned into the dining-room and looked on the table, where the several caskets which we had taken from the cave had lain.
there was not a sign of them! some one had carried them off.
for a while i thought it must have been don bernardino. there came back to me very vividly the conversation which we had had in that very room only a day before; i seemed to see the red light of his eyes blaze again, as when he had told me that he would not stop at anything to gain possession of the treasure. it must have been, that when he found himself in possession, the desire overcame him to take away the treasure to where he could himself control it.
but this belief was only momentary. hard upon its heels came the remembrance of his noble attitude when i had come to ask his help for a woman in distress—i who had refused his own appeal to my chivalry only a few hours before. no! i would not believe that he could act so now. in strength of my belief i spoke aloud: “no! i will not believe it!”
was it an echo to my words? or was it some mysterious sound from the sea beneath? sound there certainly was, a hollow, feeble sound that seemed to come from anywhere, or nowhere. i could not locate it at all. there was but one part of the house unsearched, so i got a great piece of wood and broke open the door of the cellar. there was no one in it, but the square hole in the centre of it seemed like a mystery itself. i listened a moment; and the hollow sound came again, this time through the hole.
there was some one in the cave below, and the sound was a groan.
i lit a torch and leaning over the hole looked down. the floor below was covered with water, but it was only[387] a few inches deep and out of it came the face of the spaniard, looking strangely white despite its natural swarthiness. i called to him. he evidently heard me, for he tried to answer; but i could distinguish nothing, i could only hear a groan of agony. i rigged up the windlass, and taking with me a spare piece of rope lowered myself into the cave. i found don bernardino just conscious; he was unable, seemingly, to either understand my questions or to make articulate reply. i tied the spare rope round him, there being no time or opportunity to examine him as he lay in the water, and taking the spare end with me pulled myself up again. then, putting the rope to which he was attached on the windlass, i easily drew him up to the cellar.
a short time sufficed to give him some brandy, and to undress him and wrap him in rugs. he shivered at first, but the warmth soon began to affect him. he got drowsy, and seemed all at once to drop asleep. i lit a fire and made some tea and got provisions ready. in less than half an hour he awoke, refreshed and quite coherent. then he told me all that had passed. he had opened the door without trouble, and had looked into the dining-room where he found the caskets still on the table. he did not think of searching the house. he got a light and went into the cellar, leaving the door open, and set about examining the winch, so as to know the mechanism sufficiently well as to be able to raise and lower himself. whilst stooping over the hole, he got a violent blow on the back of the head which deprived him of his senses. when he became conscious again there were four men in the cellar, all masked. he himself was tied up with ropes and gagged. the men lowered each other till only one remained on guard. he heard them calling to each other. after a long wait they had come back, all of them carrying heavy burdens which[388] they began to haul up by the windlass. he said that it creaked loudly with the weight as they worked it. he had the unutterable chagrin of seeing them pack up in sacks and bags, extemporised from the material in the house, the bullion of the treasure which his ancestor had undertaken to guard, and to which he had committed his descendants until the trust should have been fulfilled. when all was ready for departure—which was not for many hours, and when two of the men had returned with a cart of some sort, whose wheels he heard rumbling—they consulted as to what they should do with him. there was no disguise made of their intent; all was spoken in his hearing with the most brutal frankness. one man, whom he described as with grey lips of terrific thickness, and whose hands were black, was for knifing him at once or cutting his throat, and announced his own readiness to do the job. he was overruled, however, by another, presumably the leader of the gang, who said there was no use taking extra risks. “let us put him into the cave,” he said. “he may break his neck; but anyhow it does not matter for the tide is rising fast and if anyone should come they will find that he met his death by an accident.”
this suggestion was carried out; he was, after the ropes and gag were removed with the utmost care but with the utmost brutality, lowered into the cave. he remembered no more till the deadly silence around him was broken by the sound, seemingly far away, of a heavy blow on wood which reverberated.
i examined him all over carefully, but could find no definite harm done to him. this knowledge in itself cheered him up, and his strength and nerve began to come back; with his strength came determination. he could, however, tell me nothing of the men who had attacked him. he said he would know their voices again,[389] but, what with their masks and his cramped position, he could not see enough to distinguish anything.
whilst he was recovering himself i looked carefully round the room and house. from the marks at one of the windows at the back i gathered that this was the means by which they had gained admission. they were expert housebreakers; and as i gathered from the detective that whisky tommy was a bank burglar—most scientific and difficult of all criminal trades, except perhaps, banknote forgery—i was not surprised that they had been able to gain admittance. none of the jewels which marjory and i had taken from the cave were left behind. the robbers had evidently made accurate search; even the rubies, which i had left in the pocket of the shooting-coat which i had worn in the cave, had disappeared.
one thing i gathered from their visit; they evidently felt secure as to themselves. they dared not risk so long delay had not their preparations been complete; and they must have been satisfied as to the mechanism of their escape since they could burden themselves with such weight of treasure. moreover, their hiding place, wherever it was, could not be far off. there were engaged in this job four men; besides, there were probably watchers. marjory had only recorded in her cipher six engaged in her abduction, when presumably their full strength would have been needed in case of unexpected difficulties or obstacles. the secret service chief presumed at least eight. i determined, therefore, that i would get back to crom as soon as possible, and, with the aid of this new light, consult as to what was best to be done. i wanted to take don bernardino with me, or to try to get a trap to take him on; but he said he would be better remaining where he was. “i can be of no use to any one till i get over this shock,” he said. “the rest here, if i remain longer, will do me good; and in[390] the morning i may be able to help.” i asked him if he was not afraid to be left alone in his present helpless condition: his reply showed great common sense:
“the only people whom i have to fear are the last who will come to this place!”
i made him as comfortable as i could, and fixed the catch of the door so that the lock would snap behind me. then i got on my bicycle and rode to crom as quickly as i could. as it was now nearly early morning the men were getting ready for their day’s work. cathcart and i discussed the new development with the detective chief. i did not tell him of the treasure. it was gone; and all i could do was to spare the spaniard’s feelings. it was enough that they knew of the attack on don bernardino, and that they had taken from my house whatever was of value in it. as i went over the practical side of the work before us, i had an idea. it was evident that these men had some secret hiding place not far away; why should it not be an empty house? i made the suggestion to my two companions, who agreed with me that we should at once make search for such a place. accordingly we arranged that one man of the force should go into ellon, as soon as it was possible to find any one up, and another into aberdeen to try to find out from various agents what houses in the district were at present unoccupied. in the meantime i looked over the list of manses and found that there were two which were open for letting, but had not yet been occupied, aucheries and ardiffery. we determined to visit the latter first, as it was nearer, amid a network of cross roads on the high road to fraserburgh. when we were arranging plans of movement, the two trackers who wanted to resume their work said that we might put them down on our way, as the spot they aimed for lay in the[391] same direction. we left two men behind; the rest of us kept together.
as we drove along in the brake, the trackers showed us how they had followed the carriage. it brought an agonising hope to me to think that we were actually travelling on the same road as marjory had gone. i had a secret conviction that we were going right. something within me told me so. i had in former days—days that now seemed so long ago—when i realised that i had the second sight, come to have such confidence in my own intuition that now something of the same feeling came back to me as a reality. oh! how i longed that the mysterious gift might now be used on behalf of her i loved. what would i not have given for one such glimpse of her in her present situation, as i had before seen of lauchlane macleod, or of the spirits of the dead from the skares. but it is of the essence of such supernatural power that it will not work to command, to present need, to the voice of suffering or of prayer; but only in such mysterious way and time as none can predicate. whilst i thought thus, and hoped thus, and prayed with all the intensity of my poor breaking heart, i seemed to feel in me something of the mood in which the previous visions had come. i became lost to all surroundings; and it was with surprise that i became conscious that the carriage had stopped and that the trackers were getting off. we arranged with them that after our visit to the manse at ardiffery we should return for them, or to see how they had got on with their task. they were not hopeful of following a two-day-old trail of a carriage on these dusty roads.
the cross road to ardiffery branched off to our left, and then to the left again; so that when we came near the place, we were still within easy distance, as the crow flies, from where we had left our men.
[392]
the manse at ardiffery is a lonely spot, close to the church, but quite away from the little clachan. the church stands in its own graveyard, in a hollow surrounded with a wall of considerable dimensions. the garden and policies of the house seem as though carved out of the woodland growth. there is a narrow iron gate, sheer in the roadway, and a straight path up to the front of the house; one arm branches to the right in a curved lane-way through fir trees leading to the stable and farm offices at the back of the house. at the gateway was a board with a printed notice that the house, with grounds, gardens and policies, was to be let until christmas. the key could be had from, and details supplied by, mrs. macfie, merchant at the ardiffery cross roads. the whole place had a deserted air; weeds were growing everywhere, and, even from the roadway, one could see that the windows were fouled from disuse.
as we drew near, the odd feeling of satisfaction—i can hardly describe it more fully—seemed to grow in me. i was not exultant, i was scarcely hopeful; but somehow the veil seemed to be lifting from my soul. we left the brake on the road, and went up the little avenue to the front of the house. for form’s sake we knocked, though we knew well that if those we sought should be within there would be little chance of their responding to our call. we left one man at the door, in case by any chance any one should come; the rest of us took the other way round to the back of the house. we had got about half way along it, where there was an opening into the fields, when the detective chief who was in front of us held up his hand to stop. i saw at a glance what had struck him.
whilst the rest of the rough roadway was unkempt and weed-grown, the gravel from this on, to the back of the house, had been lately raked.
[393]
“why?”
the only answer to the unspoken query of each of us was that marjory had made some marks, intentionally or unintentionally—or some one had; and the gang had tried to efface them.
fools! their very effort to obliterate their trace was a help to us.
