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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ravensdene Court, by J. S. (Joseph Smith)
+Fletcher
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Ravensdene Court
+
+
+Author: J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008  [eBook #26324]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAVENSDENE COURT***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Sankar Viswanathan, Suzanne Shell, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT
+
+by
+
+J. S. FLETCHER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Alfred A. Knopf
+MCMXXII
+
+Copyright, 1922, by
+Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
+
+Published July, 1922
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+I     THE INN ON THE CLIFF               9
+
+II    RAVENSDENE COURT                  21
+
+III   THE MORNING TIDE                  34
+
+IV    THE TOBACCO BOX                   46
+
+V     THE NEWS FROM DEVONPORT           58
+
+VI    SECRET THEFT                      71
+
+VII   YELLOWFACE                        84
+
+VIII  WAS IT A WOMAN?                   96
+
+IX    THE ENLARGED PHOTOGRAPH          108
+
+X     THE YELLOW SEA                   120
+
+XI    THE FIVE CONCLUSIONS             133
+
+XII   NETHERFIELD BAXTER               145
+
+XIII  THE SPOILS OF SACRILEGE          157
+
+XIV   SOLOMON FISH                     169
+
+XV    MR. JALLANBY--SHIP BROKER        181
+
+XVI   THE PATHLESS WOOD                193
+
+XVII  HUMFREY DE KNAYTHVILLE           206
+
+XVIII THE PLUM CAKE                    218
+
+XIX   BLACK MEMORIES                   230
+
+XX    THE POSSIBLE REASON              242
+
+XXI   THE CHINESE GENTLEMAN            254
+
+XXII  RED DAWN                         267
+
+XXIII THE FOURTH CHINAMAN              279
+
+XXIV  THE SILK CAP                     291
+
+XXV   CLEAR DECKS                      304
+
+
+
+
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE INN ON THE CLIFF
+
+
+According to an entry in my book of engagements, I left London for
+Ravensdene Court on March 8th, 1912. Until about a fortnight earlier I
+had never heard of the place, but there was nothing remarkable in my
+ignorance of it, seeing that it stands on a remote part of the
+Northumbrian coast, and at least three hundred miles from my usual
+haunts. But then, towards the end of February, I received the
+following letter which I may as well print in full: it serves as a
+fitting and an explanatory introduction to a series of adventures, so
+extraordinary, mysterious, and fraught with danger, that I am still
+wondering how I, until then a man of peaceful and even dull life, ever
+came safely through them.
+
+                           "RAVENSDENE COURT, NEAR ALNWICK
+                                         NORTHUMBERLAND
+                                       February 24, 1912
+
+     "_Dear Sir_,
+
+     "I am told by my friend Mr. Gervase Witherby of Monks
+     Welborough, with whom I understand you to be well
+     acquainted, that you are one of our leading experts in
+     matters relating to old books, documents, and the like, and
+     the very man to inspect, value, and generally criticize the
+     contents of an ancient library. Accordingly, I should be
+     very glad to secure your valuable services. I have recently
+     entered into possession of this place, a very old
+     manor-house on the Northumbrian coast, wherein the senior
+     branch of my family has been settled for some four hundred
+     years. There are here many thousands of volumes, the
+     majority of considerable age; there are also large
+     collections of pamphlets, manuscripts, and broadsheets--my
+     immediate predecessor, my uncle, John Christopher Raven, was
+     a great collector; but, from what I have seen of his
+     collection up to now, I cannot say that he was a great
+     exponent of the art of order, or a devotee of system, for an
+     entire wing on this house is neither more nor less than a
+     museum, into which books, papers, antiques, and similar
+     things appear to have been dumped without regard to
+     classification or arrangement. I am not a bookman, nor an
+     antiquary; my life until recently has been spent in far
+     different fashion, as a Financial Commissioner in India. I
+     am, however, sincerely anxious that these new possessions of
+     mine should be properly cared for, and I should like an
+     expert to examine everything that is here, and to advise me
+     as to proper arrangement and provision for the future. I
+     should accordingly be greatly obliged to you if you could
+     make it convenient to come here as my guest, give me the
+     benefit of your expert knowledge, and charge me whatever fee
+     seems good to you. I cannot promise you anything very lively
+     in the way of amusement in your hours of relaxation, for
+     this is a lonely place, and my family consists of nothing
+     but myself and my niece, a girl of nineteen, just released
+     from the schoolroom; but you may find some more congenial
+     society in another guest of mine, Mr. Septimus Cazalette,
+     the eminent authority on numismatics, who is here for the
+     purpose of examining the vast collection of coins and medals
+     formed by the kinsman I have just referred to. I can also
+     promise you the advantages of a particularly bracing
+     climate, and assure you of a warm welcome and every possible
+     provision for your comfort. In the hope that you will be
+     able to come to me at an early date,
+
+                     "I am, dear sir,
+
+                            "Yours truly,
+
+                                  "FRANCIS RAVEN.
+
+  "Leonard Middlebrook, ESQ.,
+
+    "35M, Old Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, W. C."
+
+Several matters referred to in this letter inclined me towards going
+to Ravensdene Court--the old family mansion--the thousands of ancient
+volumes--the prospect of unearthing something of real note--the
+chance of examining a collector's harvest--and perhaps more than
+anything, the genuinely courteous and polite tone of my invitation. I
+was not particularly busy at that time, nor had I been out of London
+for more than a few days now and then for several years: a change to
+the far-different North had its attractions. And after a brief
+correspondence with him, I arranged to go down to Mr. Raven early in
+March, and remain under his roof until I had completed the task which
+he desired me to undertake. As I have said already, I left London on
+the 8th of March, journeying to Newcastle by the afternoon express
+from King's Cross. I spent that night at Newcastle and went forward
+next morning to Alnmouth, which according to a map with which I had
+provided myself, was the nearest station to Ravensdene Court. And soon
+after arriving at Alnmouth the first chapter of my adventures opened,
+and came about by sheer luck. It was a particularly fine, bright,
+sharply-bracing morning, and as I was under no particular obligation
+to present myself at Ravensdene Court at any fixed time, I determined
+to walk thither by way of the coast. The distance, according to my
+map, was about nine or ten miles. Accordingly, sending on my luggage
+by a conveyance, with a message to Mr. Raven that I should arrive
+during the afternoon, I made through the village of Lesbury toward the
+sea, and before long came in sight of it ... a glorious stretch of
+blue, smooth that day as an island lake and shining like polished
+steel in the light of the sun. There was not a sail in sight, north
+or south or due east, nor a wisp of trailing smoke from any passing
+steamer: I got an impression of silent, unbroken immensity which
+seemed a fitting prelude to the solitudes into which my mission had
+brought me.
+
+I was at that time just thirty years of age, and though I had been
+closely kept to London of late years, my youth had been spent in
+lonely places, and I had an innate love of solitudes and wide spaces.
+I saw at once that I should fall in love with this Northumbrian coast,
+and once on its headlands I took my time, sauntering along at my
+leisure: Mr. Raven, in one of his letters, had mentioned seven as his
+dinner hour: therefore, I had the whole day before me. By noon the sun
+had grown warm, even summer-like; warm enough, at any rate, to warrant
+me in sitting down on a ledge of the cliffs while I smoked a pipe of
+tobacco and stared lazily at the mighty stretch of water across which,
+once upon a time, the vikings had swarmed from Norway. I must have
+become absorbed in my meditations--certainly it was with a start of
+surprise that I suddenly realized that somebody was near me, and
+looked up to see, standing close by and eyeing me furtively, a man.
+
+It was, perhaps, the utter loneliness of my immediate surroundings
+just then that made me wonder to see any living thing so near. At that
+point there was neither a sail on the sea, nor a human habitation on
+the land; there was not even a sheep cropping the herbage of the
+headlands. I think there were birds calling about the pinnacles of the
+cliffs--yet it seemed to me that the man broke a complete stillness
+when he spoke, as he quietly wished me a good morning.
+
+The sound of his voice startled me; also, it brought me out of a
+reverie and sharpened my wits, and as I replied to him, I took him in
+from head to foot. A thick-set middle-aged man, tidily dressed in a
+blue serge suit of nautical cut, the sort of thing that they sell,
+ready-made, in sea-ports and naval stations. His clothes went with his
+dark skin and grizzled hair and beard, and with the gold rings which
+he wore in his ears. And there was that about him which suggested that
+he was for that time an idler, lounging.
+
+"A fine morning," I remarked, not at all averse to entering into
+conversation, and already somewhat curious about him.
+
+"A fine morning it is, master, and good weather, and likely to keep
+so," he answered, glancing around at sea and sky. Then he looked
+significantly at my knickerbockers and at a small satchel which I
+carried over my shoulders. "The right sort o' weather," he added, "for
+gentlemen walking about the country--pleasuring."
+
+"You know these parts," I suggested.
+
+"No!" he said, with a decisive shake of his head. "I don't, master,
+and that's a fact. I'm from the south, I am--never been up this way
+before, and, queerly enough, for I've seen most of the world in my
+time, never sailed this here sea as lies before us. But I've a sort of
+connection with this bit of country--mother's side came from
+hereabouts. And me having nothing particular to do, I came down here
+to take a cast round, like, seeing places as I've heard of--heard of,
+you understand, but ain't never seen."
+
+"Then you're stopping in the neighbourhood?" I asked.
+
+He raised one of his brown, hairy hands, and jerked a thumb landwards.
+
+"Stopped last night in a little place, inland," he answered. "Name of
+Lesbury--a riverside spot. But that ain't what I want--what I want is
+a churchyard, or it might be two, or it might be three, where there's
+gravestones what bears a name. Only I don't know where that
+churchyard--or, again, there may be more than one--is, d'ye see?
+Except--somewhere between Alnmouth one way and Brandnell Bay,
+t'other."
+
+"I have a good map, if it's any use to you," I said. He took the map
+with a word of thanks, and after spreading it out, traced places with
+the end of his thick forefinger.
+
+"Hereabouts we are, at this present, master," he said, "and here and
+there is, to be sure, villages--mostly inland. And'll have graveyards
+to 'em--folks must be laid away somewhere. And in one of them
+graveyards there'll be a name, and if I see that name, I'll know where
+I am, and I can ask further, aiming at to find out if any of that name
+is still flourishing hereabouts. But till I get that name, I'm clear
+off my course, so to speak."
+
+"What is the name?" I asked him.
+
+"Name of Netherfield," he answered, slowly. "Netherfield. Mother's
+people--long since. So I've been told. And seen it--in old books, what
+I have far away in Devonport. That's the name, right enough, only I
+don't know where to look for it. You ain't seen it, master, in your
+wanderings round these parts?"
+
+"I've only come into these parts this morning," I replied. "But--if
+you look closely at that map, you'll observe that there aren't many
+villages along the coast, so your search ought not to be a lengthy
+one. I should question if you'll find more than two or three
+churchyards between here and Brandell Bay--judging by the map."
+
+"Aye, well, Netherfield is the name," he repeated. "Netherfield,
+mother's side. In some churchyards hereabouts. And there may be some
+of 'em left--and again there mayn't be. My name being Quick--Salter
+Quick. Of Devonport--when on land."
+
+He folded up and handed back the map, with an old-fashioned bow. I
+rose from the ledge of rock on which I had been resting, and made to
+go forward.
+
+"I hope you'll come across what you're seeking, Mr. Quick," I said.
+"But I should say you won't have much difficulty. There can't be many
+churchyards in this quarter, and not many gravestones in any of them."
+
+"I found nothing in that one behind," he answered, jerking his thumb
+towards Lesbury. "And it's a long time since my mother left these
+parts. But here I am--for the purpose, d'ye see, master. Time's no
+object--nor yet expense. A man must take a bit of a holiday some day
+or other. Ain't had one--me--for thirty odd year."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We walked forward, northing our course, along the headlands. And
+rounding a sharp corner, we suddenly came in sight of a little
+settlement that lay half-way down the cliff. There was a bit of a
+cottage or two, two or three boats drawn up on a strip of yellow sand,
+a crumbling smithie, and above these things, on a shelf of rock, a
+low-roofed, long-fronted inn, by the gable of which rose a mast,
+wherefrom floated a battered flag. At the sight of this I saw a gleam
+come into my companion's eye, and I was quick to understand it's
+meaning.
+
+"Do you feel disposed to a glass of ale?" I asked. "I should say we
+could get one down there."
+
+"Rum," he replied, laconically. "Rum is my drink, master. Used to
+that--I ain't used to ale. Cold stuff! Give me something that warms a
+man."
+
+"It's poor ale that won't warm a man's belly," I said with a laugh.
+"But every man to his taste. Come on, then."
+
+He followed in silence down the path to the lonely inn; once, looking
+back, I saw that he was turning a sharp eye round and about the new
+stretch of country that had just opened before us. From the inn and
+its surroundings a winding track, a merely rough cartway, wound off
+and upward into the land; in the distance I saw the tower of a church.
+Salter Quick saw it, too, and nodded significantly in its direction.
+
+"That'll be where I'll make next," he observed. "But first--meat and
+drink. I ate my breakfast before seven this morning, and this walking
+about on dry land makes a man hungry."
+
+"Drink you'll get here, no doubt," said I. "But as to meat--doubtful."
+
+His reply to that was to point to the sign above the inn door, to
+which we were now close. He read its announcement aloud, slowly.
+
+"'The Mariner's Joy. By Hildebrand Claigue. Good Entertainment for Man
+and Beast,'" he pronounced. "'Entertainment'--that means eating--meat
+for man; hay for cattle. Not that there's much sign of either in these
+parts, I think, master."
+
+We walked into the Mariner's Joy side by side, turning into a
+low-ceilinged, darkish room, neat and clean enough, wherein there was
+a table, chairs, the model of a ship in a glass case on the
+mantelpiece, and a small bar, furnished with bottles and glasses,
+behind which stood a tall, middle-aged man, clean-shaven, spectacled,
+reading a newspaper. He bade us good morning, with no sign of surprise
+at the presence of strangers, and looked expectantly from one to the
+other. I turned to my companion.
+
+"Well?" I said. "You'll drink with me? What is it--rum?"
+
+"Rum it is, master, thanking you," he replied. "But vittals, too, is
+what I want." He glanced knowingly at the landlord. "You ain't got
+such a thing as a plateful--a good plateful!--of cold beef, with a
+pickle--onion or walnut, 'tain't no matter. And bread--a loaf of real
+home-baked? And a morsel of cheese?"
+
+The landlord smiled as he reached for the rum bottle.
+
+"I daresay we can fit you up, my lad," he answered. "Got a nice round
+of boiled beef on go--as it happens. Drop of rum first, eh? And--yours
+sir?"
+
+"A glass of ale if you please," said I. "And as I'm not quite as
+hungry as our friend here, a crust of bread and a piece of cheese."
+
+The landlord satisfied our demands, and then vanished through a door
+at the back of his bar. And when he had expressed his wishes for my
+good health, Salter Quick tasted the rum, smacked his lips over it,
+and looked about him with evident approval.
+
+"Sort of port that a vessel might put into with security and comfort
+for a day or two, this, master," he observed. "I reckon I'll put
+myself up here, while I'm looking round--this will do me very well.
+And doubtless there'll be them coming in here, night-time, as'll know
+the neighbourhood, and be able to give a man points as to his
+bearings."
+
+"I daresay you'll be very comfortable here," I assented. "It's not
+exactly a desert island."
+
+"Aye, well, and Salter Quick's been in quarters of that sort in his
+time," he observed, with a glance that suggested infinite meaning. "He
+has, so! But this ain't no desert island, master. I can see they ain't
+short of good grub and sound liquor here!"
+
+He made his usual jerk of the thumb--this time in the direction of the
+landlord, who just then came back with a well-filled tray. And
+presently, first removing his cap and saying his grace in a devout
+fashion, he sat down and began to eat with an evidently sharp-set
+appetite. Trifling with my bread and cheese, I turned to the landlord.
+
+"This is a very lonely spot," I said. "I was surprised to see a
+licensed house here. Where do you get your customers?"
+
+"Ah, you wouldn't see it as you came along," replied the landlord. "I
+saw you coming--you came from Alnmouth way. There's a village just
+behind here--it 'ud be hidden from you by this headland at back of the
+house--goodish-sized place. Plenty o' custom from that, o' nights. And
+of course there's folks going along, north and south."
+
+Quick, his weather-stained cheeks bulging with his food, looked up
+sharply.
+
+"A village, says you!" he exclaimed. "Then if a village, a church. And
+if a church, a churchyard. There is a churchyard, ain't there?"
+
+"Why, there is a church, and there's a churchyard to it," replied the
+landlord. "What o' that?"
+
+Quick nodded at me.
+
+"As I been explaining to this gentleman," he said, "churchyards is
+what I'm looking for. Graves in 'em, you understand. And on them
+graves, a name. Name of Netherfield. Now I asks you, friendly--ha' you
+ever seen that name in your churchyard? 'Cause if so I'm at anchor.
+For the time being."
+
+"Well, I haven't," answered the landlord. "But our churchyard--Lord
+bless you, there's scores o' them flat stones in it that's covered
+with long grass--there might be that name on some of 'em, for aught I
+know; I've never looked 'em over, I'm sure. But----"
+
+Just then there came into the parlour a man, who from his rough dress,
+appeared to be a cattle-drover or a shepherd. Claigue turned to him
+with a glance that seemed to indicate him as authority.
+
+"Here's one as lives by that churchyard," he observed. "Jim! ha' you
+ever noticed the name of Netherfield on any o' them old gravestones up
+yonder? This gentleman's asking after it, and I know you mow that
+churchyard grass time and again."
+
+"Never seen it!" answered the new-comer. "But--strange things!--there
+was a man come up to me the other night, this side o' Lesbury, and
+asked that very question--not o' these parts, he wasn't. But--"
+
+He stopped at that. Salter Quick dropped his knife and fork with a
+clatter, and held up his right hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT
+
+
+It was very evident to Claigue and myself, interested spectators, that
+the new-comer's announcement, sudden and unexpected as it was, had had
+the instantaneous effect of making Quick forget his beef and his rum.
+Indeed, although he was only half-way through its contents, he pushed
+his plate away from him as if food were just then nauseous to him; his
+right hand lifted itself in an arresting, commanding gesture, and he
+turned a startled eye on the speaker, looking him through and through
+as if in angry doubt of what he had just said.
+
+"What's that?" he snapped out. "What says you? Say it again--no, I'll
+say it for you--to make sure that my ears ain't deceiving me! You met
+a man--hereabouts--what asked you if you knew where there was graves
+with a certain name on 'em? And that name was--Netherfield? Did you
+say that?--I asks you serious?"
+
+The drover, or shepherd, or whatever he was, looked from Quick to me
+and then to Claigue, and smiled, as if he wondered at Quick's
+intensity of manner.
+
+"You've got it all right, mister," he answered. "That's just what I
+did say. A stranger chap, he was--never seen him in these parts
+before."
+
+Quick took up his glass and drank. There was no doubt about his being
+upset, for his big hand trembled.
+
+"Where was this here?" he demanded. "Recent?"
+
+"Two nights ago," replied the man readily. "I was coming home,
+lateish, from Almwick, and met with this here chap a bit this side o'
+Lesbury. We walked a piece of the road together, talking. And he asked
+me what I've told you. Did I know these parts?--was I a native
+hereabouts?--did I know any churchyards with the name Netherfield on
+gravestones? And I said I didn't, but that there was such-like places
+in our parts where you couldn't see the gravestones for the grass, and
+these might be what he was asking after. And when we came to them
+cross-roads, where it goes to Denwick one direction and Boulmer the
+other, he left me, and I ain't seen aught of him since. Nor heard."
+
+Quick pushed his empty glass across the table, with a sign to Claigue
+to refill it; at the same time he pointed silently to his informant,
+signifying that he was to be served at his expense. He was evidently
+deep in thought by that time, and for a moment or two he sat staring
+at the window and the blue sea beyond, abstracted and pondering.
+Suddenly he turned again on his informant.
+
+"What like was this here man?" he demanded.
+
+"I couldn't tell you, mister," replied the other. "It was well after
+dark and I never saw his face. But, for the build of him, a strong-set
+man, like myself, and just about your height. And now I come to think
+of it, spoke in your way--not as we do in these quarters. A
+stranger--like yourself. Seafaring man, I took him for."
+
+"And you ain't heard of his being about?" asked Quick.
+
+"Not a word, mister," affirmed the informant. "He went Denwick way
+when he left me. That's going inland."
+
+Quick turned to me.
+
+"I would like to see that map of yours again, master, if you please,"
+he said. "I ought to ha' provided myself with one before I came here."
+He spread the map out before him, and after taking another gulp of his
+rum, proceeded to trace roads and places with the point of his finger.
+"Denwick?" he muttered. "Aye I see that. And these places where
+there's a little cross?--that'll mean there's a church there?"
+
+I nodded an affirmative, silently watching him, and wondering what
+this desire on the part of two men to find the graves of the
+Netherfields might mean. And the landlord evidently shared my wonder,
+for presently he plumped his customer with a direct question.
+
+"You seem very anxious to find these Netherfield gravestones," he
+remarked, with good-humoured inquisitiveness. "And so, apparently,
+does another man. Now, I've been in these parts a good many years, and
+I've never heard of 'em; never even heard the name."
+
+"Nor me!" said the other man. "There's none o' that name in these
+parts--'twixt Alnmouth Bay and Budle Point. I ain't never heard it!"
+
+"And he's a native," declared the landlord. "Born and bred and brought
+up here. Wasn't you, Jim?"
+
+"Never been away from it," assented Jim, with a short laugh. "Never
+been farther north than Belford, south than Warkworth, west than
+Whittingham. And as for east, I reckon you can't get much further that
+way than where we are now."
+
+"Not unless you take to the water, you can't," said Claigue. "No--we
+ain't heard of no Netherfields hereabouts."
+
+Quick seemed indifferent to these remarks. He suddenly folded up the
+map, returned it to me with a word of thanks, and plunging a hand in
+his trousers' pocket, produced a fistful of gold coins.
+
+"What's to pay?" he demanded. "Take it out o' that--all we've had, and
+do you help yourself to a glass and a cigar." He flung a sovereign on
+the table, and rose to his feet. "I must be stepping along," he
+continued, looking at me. "If so be as there's another man seeking
+for----"
+
+But at that he checked himself, remaining silent until Claigue counted
+out and handed over his change; silently, too, he pocketed it, and
+turned to the door. Claigue stopped him with an arresting word and
+motion of his hand.
+
+"I say!" he said. "No business of mine, to be sure, but--don't you
+show that money of yours over readily hereabouts--in places like this,
+I mean. There's folk up and down these roads that 'ud track you for
+miles on the chance of--eh, Jim?"
+
+"Aye--and farther!" assented Jim. "Keep it close, master."
+
+Quick listened quietly--just as quietly he slipped a hand to his hip
+pocket, brought it back to the front and showed a revolver.
+
+"That and me, together--eh?" he said significantly. "Bad look-out for
+anybody that came between us and the light."
+
+"They might come between you and the dark," retorted Claigue. "Take
+care of yourself! 'Tisn't a wise thing to flash a handful of gold
+about, my lad."
+
+Quick made no remark. He walked out on to the cobbled pavement in
+front of the inn, and when I had paid Claigue for my modest lunch, and
+had asked how far it was to Ravensdene Court, I followed him. He was
+still in a brown study, and stood staring about him with moody eyes.
+
+"Well?" I said, still inquisitive about this apparently mysterious
+man. "What next? Are you going on with your search?"
+
+He scraped the point of a boot on the cobble-stones for awhile, gazing
+downwards almost as if he expected to unearth something; suddenly he
+raised his eyes and gave me a franker look than I had so far had from
+him.
+
+"Master," he said, in a low voice, and with a side glance at the open
+door of the inn, "I'll tell you a bit more than I've said
+before--you're a gentleman, I can see, and such keeps counsel. I've an
+object--and a particular object!--in finding them graves. That's why
+I've travelled all this way--as you might say, from one end of England
+to the other. And now, arriving where they ought to be, I
+find--another man after what I'm after! Another man!"
+
+"Have you any idea who he may be?" I asked.
+
+He hesitated--and then suddenly shook his head.
+
+"I haven't!" he answered. "No, I haven't, and that's a fact. For a
+minute or two, in there, I thought that maybe I did know, or, at any
+rate, had a notion; but it's a fact, I haven't. All the same, I'm
+going Denwick way, to see if I can come across whoever it is, or get
+news of him. Is that your road, master?"
+
+"No," I replied. "I'm going some way farther along the headlands.
+Well--I hope you'll be successful in your search for the family
+gravestones."
+
+He nodded, very seriously.
+
+"I'm not going out o' this country till I've found 'em!" he asserted
+determinedly. "It's what I've come three hundred miles for. Good-day,
+master."
+
+He turned off by the track that led over the top of the headlands, and
+as long as I watched him went steadily forward without even looking
+back, or to the right or left of him. And presently I, too, went on my
+way, and rounding another corner of the cliff left the lonely inn
+behind me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But as I went along, following the line of the headlands, I wondered a
+good deal about Salter Quick and the conversation at the Mariner's
+Joy. What was it that this hard-bitten, travel-worn man, one who had
+seen, evidently, much of wind and wave, was really after? I gave no
+credence to his story of the family relationship--it was not at all
+likely that a man would travel all the way from Devonshire to
+Northumberland to find the graves of his mother's ancestors. There was
+something beyond that--but what? It was very certain that Quick wanted
+to come across the tombs of the dead and gone Netherfields, however,
+for whatever purpose--certain, too, that there was another man who had
+the same wish. That complicated matters, and it deepened the mystery.
+Why did two men--seafaring men, both of them--arrive in this
+out-of-the-way spot about the same time, unknown to each other, but
+each apparently bent on the same object? And what would happen if, as
+seemed likely, they met? It was impossible to find an answer to these
+questions; but the mystery was there, all the same.
+
+The afternoon remained fine, and, for the time of year, warm, and I
+took advantage of it by dawdling along that glorious stretch of
+sea-coast, taking in to the full its rich stores of romantic scenery
+and suggestion of long-past ages. Sometimes I sat for a long time,
+smoking my pipe on the edge of the headlands, staring at the blue of
+the water, the curl of the waves on the brown sands, conscious most of
+the compelling silence, and only dimly aware of the calling of the
+sea-birds on the cliffs. Altogether, the afternoon was drawing to its
+close when, rounding a bluff that had been in view before me for some
+time, I came in sight of what I felt sure to be Ravensdene Court, a
+grey-walled, stone-roofed Tudor mansion that stood at the head of a
+narrow valley or ravine--dene they call it in those parts, though a
+dene is really a tract of sand, while these breaks in the land are
+green and thickly treed--through which a narrow, rock-encumbered
+stream ran murmuring to the sea. Very picturesque in its old-worldness
+it looked in the mellowing light; the very place, I thought, which a
+bookman and an antiquary, such as I had heard the late owner to be,
+would delight to store with his collections.
+
+A path that led inland from the edge of the cliffs took me after a few
+minutes' walking to a rustic gate which was set in the boundary wall
+of a small park; within the wall rose a belt of trees, mostly oak and
+beech, their trunks obscured by a thick undergrowth. Passing through
+this, I came out on the park itself, at a point where, on a well-kept
+green, a girl, whom I immediately took to be the niece, recently
+released from the schoolroom, of whom Mr. Raven had spoken in his
+letter, was studying the lie of a golf ball. Behind her, carrying her
+bag of sticks, stood a small boy, chiefly remarkable for his large
+boots and huge tam-o'-shanter bonnet, who, as I appeared on the scene,
+was intently watching his young mistress's putter, wavering
+uncertainly in her slender hands before she ventured on what was
+evidently a critical stroke. But before the stroke was made the girl
+caught sight of me, paused, seemed to remember something, and then,
+swinging her club, came lightly in my direction--a tallish,
+elastic-limbed girl, not exactly pretty, but full of attraction
+because of her clear eyes, healthy skin, and general atmosphere of
+life and vivacity. Recently released from the schoolroom though she
+might be, she showed neither embarrassment nor shyness on meeting a
+stranger. Her hand went out to me with ready frankness.
+
+"Mr. Middlebrook?" she said inquiringly. "Yes, of course--I might have
+known you'd come along the cliffs. Your luggage came this morning, and
+we got your message. But you must be tired after all those miles?
+I'll take you up to the house and give you some tea."
+
+"I'm not at all tired, thank you," I answered. "I came along very
+leisurely, enjoying the walk. Don't let me take you from your game."
+
+"Oh, that's all right," she said carelessly, throwing her putter to
+the boy. "I've had quite enough; besides, it's getting towards dusk,
+and once the sun sets, it's soon dark in these regions. You've never
+seen Ravensdene Court before?"
+
+"Never," I replied, glancing at the house, which stood some two or three
+hundred yards before us. "It seems to be a very romantically-situated,
+picturesque old place. I suppose you know all its nooks and corners?"
+
+She gave her shoulders--squarely-set, well-developed ones--a little
+shrug, and shook her head.
+
+"No, I don't," she answered. "I never saw it before last month. It's
+all that you say--picturesque and romantic enough. And queer! I
+believe it's haunted."
+
+"That adds to its charm," I remarked with a laugh. "I hope I shall
+have the pleasure of seeing the ghost."
+
+"I don't!" she said. "That is, I hope I shan't. The house is odd
+enough without that! But--you wouldn't be afraid?"
+
+"Would you?" I asked, looking more closely at her.
+
+"I don't know," she replied. "You'll understand more when you see the
+place. There's a very odd atmosphere about it. I think something must
+have happened there, some time. I'm not a coward, but, really, after
+the daylight's gone----"
+
+"You're adding to its charms!" I interrupted. "Everything sounds
+delightful!"
+
+She looked at me half-inquiringly, and then smiled a little.
+
+"I believe you're pulling my leg," she said. "However--we'll see. But
+you don't look as if you would be afraid--and you're not a bit like
+what I thought you'd be, either."
+
+"What did you think I should be?" I asked, amused at her candour.
+
+"Oh, I don't know--a queer, snuffy, bald-pated old man, like Mr.
+Cazalette," she replied. "Booky, and papery, and that sort of thing.
+And you're quite--something else--and young!"
+
+"The frost of thirty winters have settled on me," I remarked with mock
+seriousness.
+
+"They must have been black frosts, then!" she retorted. "No!--you're a
+surprise. I'm sure Uncle Francis is expecting a venerable, dry-as-dust
+sort of man."
+
+"I hope he won't be disappointed," I said. "But I never told him I was
+dry as dust, or snuffy, or bald----"
+
+"It's your reputation," she said quickly. "People don't expect to find
+such learning in ordinary young men in tweed suits."
+
+"Am I an ordinary young man, then?" I demanded. "Really----"
+
+"Oh, well, you know what I mean!" she said hastily. "You can call me
+a very ordinary young woman, if you like."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the sort!" said I. "I have a habit of always
+calling things by their right names, and I can see already that you
+are very far from being an ordinary young woman."
+
+"So you begin by paying me compliments?" she retorted with a laugh.
+"Very well--I've no objection, which shows that I'm human, anyhow. But
+here is my uncle."
+
+I had already seen Mr. Francis Raven advancing to meet us; a tall,
+somewhat stooping man with all the marks of the Anglo-Indian about
+him: a kindly face burnt brown by equatorial suns, old-fashioned,
+grizzled moustache and whiskers; the sort of man that I had seen more
+than once coming off big liners at Tilbury and Southampton, looking as
+if England, seen again after many years of absence, were a strange
+country to their rather weary, wondering eyes. He came up with
+outstretched hands; I saw at once that he was a man of shy, nervous
+temperament.
+
+"Welcome to Ravensdene Court, Mr. Middlebrook!" he exclaimed in quick,
+almost deprecating fashion. "A very dull and out-of-the-way place to
+which to bring one used to London; but we'll do our best--you've had a
+convoy across the park, I see," he added with a glance at his niece.
+"That's right!"
+
+"As charming a one as her surroundings are delightful, Mr. Raven," I
+said, assuming an intentionally old-fashioned manner. "If I am treated
+with the same consideration I have already received, I shall be loth
+to bring my task to an end!"
+
+"Mr. Middlebrook is a bit of a tease, Uncle Francis," said my guide.
+"I've found that out already. He's not the paper-and-parchment person
+you expected."
+
+"Oh, dear me, I didn't expect anything of the sort!" protested Mr.
+Raven. He looked from his niece to me, and laughed, shaking his head.
+"These modern young ladies--ah!" he exclaimed. "But come--I'll show
+Mr. Middlebrook his rooms."
+
+He led the way into the house and up the great stair of the hall to a
+couple of apartments which overlooked the park. I had a general sense
+of big spaces, ancient things, mysterious nooks and corners; my own
+rooms, a bed-chamber and a parlour, were delightful. My host was
+almost painfully anxious to assure himself that I had everything in
+them that I was likely to want, and fussed about from one room to the
+other, seeing to details that I should never have thought of.
+
+"You'll be able to find your way down?" he said at last, as he made
+for the door. "We dine at seven--perhaps there'll be time to take a
+little look round before then, after we've dressed. And I must
+introduce Mr. Cazalette--you don't know him personally?--oh, a
+remarkable man, a very remarkable man indeed--yes!"
+
+I did not waste much time over my toilet, nor, apparently did Miss
+Marcia Raven, for I found her, in a smart gown, in the hall when I
+went down at half-past-six. And she and I had taken a look at its
+multifarious objects before Mr. Raven appeared on the scene, followed
+by Mr. Cazalette. One glance at this gentleman assured me that our
+host had been quite right when he spoke of him as remarkable--he was
+not merely remarkable, but so extraordinary in outward appearance that
+I felt it difficult to keep my eyes off him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE MORNING TIDE
+
+
+Miss Raven had already described Mr. Cazalette to me, by inference, as
+a queer, snuffy bald-pated old man, but this summary synopsis of his
+exterior features failed to do justice to a remarkable original. There
+was something supremely odd about him. I thought, at first, that my
+impression of oddity might be derived from his clothes--he wore a
+strangely-cut dress-coat of blue cloth, with gold buttons, a buff
+waistcoat, and a frilled shirt--but I soon came to the conclusion that
+he would be queer and uncommon in any garments. About Mr. Cazalette
+there was an atmosphere--and it was decidedly one of mystery. First
+and last, he looked uncanny.
+
+Mr. Raven introduced us with a sort of old-world formality (I soon
+discovered, as regards him, that he was so far unaware that a vast
+gulf lay between the manners and customs of society as they are
+nowadays and as they were when he left England for India in the
+'seventies: he was essentially mid-Victorian) and in order to keep up
+to it, I saluted Mr. Cazalette with great respect and expressed myself
+as feeling highly honoured by meeting one so famous as my
+fellow-guest. Somewhat to my surprise, Mr. Cazalette's tightly-locked
+lips relaxed into what was plainly a humorous smile, and he favoured
+me with a knowing look that was almost a wink.
+
+"Aye, well," he said, "you're just about as well known in your own
+line, Middlebrook, as I am in mine, and between the pair of us I've no
+doubt we'll be able to reduce chaos into order. But we'll not talk
+shop at this hour of the day--there's more welcome matters at hand."
+
+He put his snuff box and his gaudy handkerchief out of sight, and
+looked at his host and hostess with another knowing glance, reminding
+me somehow of a wicked old condor which I had sometimes seen at the
+Zoological Gardens, eyeing the keeper who approached with its meal.
+
+"Mr. Cazalette," remarked Miss Raven, with an informing glance at me,
+"never, on principle, touches bite or sup between breakfast and
+dinner--and he has no great love of breakfast."
+
+"I'm a disciple of the justly famed and great man, Abernethy,"
+observed Mr. Cazalette. "I'd never have lived to my age nor kept my
+energy at what, thank Heaven, it is, if I hadn't been. D'ye know how
+old I am, Middlebrook?"
+
+"I really don't, Mr. Cazalette," I replied.
+
+"Well I'm eighty years of age," he answered with a grin. "And I'm
+intending to be a hundred! And on my hundredth birthday, I'll give a
+party, and I'll dance with the sprightliest lassie that's there, and
+if I'm not as lively as she is I'll be sore out of my calculations."
+
+"A truly wonderful young man!" exclaimed Mr. Raven. "I veritably
+believe he feels--and is--younger than myself--and I'm twenty years
+his junior."
+
+So I had now discovered certain facts about Mr. Cazalette. He was an
+octogenarian. He was uncannily active. He had an almost imp-like
+desire to live--and to dance when he ought to have been wrapped in
+blankets and saying his last prayers. And a few minutes later, when we
+were seated round our host's table, I discovered another fact--Mr.
+Cazalette was one of those men to whom dinner is the event of the day,
+and who regard conversation--on their own part, at any rate--as a
+wicked disturbance of sacred rites. As the meal progressed (and Mr.
+Raven's cook proved to be an unusually clever and good one) I was
+astonished at Mr. Cazalette's gastronomic powers and at his love of
+mad dishes: indeed, I never saw a man eat so much, nor with such
+hearty appreciation of his food, nor in such a concentrated silence.
+Nevertheless, that he kept his ears wide open to what was being said
+around him, I soon discovered. I was telling Mr. Raven and his niece
+of my adventure of the afternoon, and suddenly I observed that Mr.
+Cazalette, on the other side of the round table at which we sat, had
+stopped eating, and that, knife and fork still in his queer, claw-like
+hands, he was peering at me under the shaded lamps, his black, burning
+eyes full of a strange, absorbed interest. I paused--involuntarily.
+
+"Go on!" said he. "Did you mention the name Netherfield just then?"
+
+"I did," said I. "Netherfield."
+
+"Well, continue with your tale," he said. "I'm listening. I'm a
+silent man when I'm busy with my meat and drink, but I've a fine pair
+of ears."
+
+He began to ply knife and fork again, and I went on with my story,
+continuing it until the parting with Salter Quick. When I came to
+that, the footman who stood behind Mr. Cazalette's chair was just
+removing his last plate, and the old man leaned back a little and
+favoured the three of us with a look.
+
+"Aye, well," he said, "and that's an interesting story, Middlebrook,
+and it tempts me to break my rule and talk a bit. It was some
+churchyard this fellow was seeking?"
+
+"A churchyard--in this neighbourhood," I replied. "Or--churchyards."
+
+"Where there were graves with the name Netherfield on their stones or
+slabs or monuments," he continued.
+
+"Aye--just so. And those men he foregathered with at the inn, they'd
+never heard of anything at that point, nor elsewhere?"
+
+"Neither there nor elsewhere," I assented.
+
+"Then if there is such a place," said he, "it'll be one of those
+disused burial-grounds of which there are examples here in the north,
+and not a few."
+
+"You know of some?" suggested Mr. Raven.
+
+"I've seen such places," answered Mr. Cazalette. "Betwixt here--the
+sea-coast--and the Cheviots, westward, there's a good many spots that
+Goldsmith might have drawn upon for his deserted village. The folks
+go--the bit of a church falls into ruins--its graveyard gets choked
+with weeds--the stones are covered with moss and lichen--the monuments
+fall and are obscured by the grass--underneath the grass and the weed
+many an old family name lies hidden. And what'll that man be wanting
+to find any name at all for, I'd like to know!"
+
+"The queer thing to me," observed Mr. Raven, "is that two men should
+be wanting to find it at the same time."
+
+"That looks as if there were some very good reason why it should be
+found, doesn't it?" remarked his niece. "Anyway, it all sounds very
+queer--you've brought mystery with you, Mr. Middlebrook! Can't you
+suggest anything, Mr. Cazalette? I'm sure you're good at solving
+problems."
+
+But just then Mr. Cazalette's particular servant put a fresh dish in
+front of him--a curry, the peculiar aroma of which evidently aroused
+his epicurean instinct. Instead of responding to Miss Raven's
+invitation he relapsed into silence, and picked up another fork.
+
+When dinner was over I excused myself from sitting with the two elder
+men over their wine--Mr. Cazalette, whom by that time I, of course,
+knew for a Scotchman, turned out to have an old-fashioned taste for
+claret--and joined Miss Raven in the hall, a great, roomy, shadowy
+place which was evidently popular. There was a great fire in its big
+hearth-place with deep and comfortable chairs set about it; in one of
+these I found her sitting, a book in her hand. She dropped it as I
+approached and pointed to a chair at her side.
+
+"What do you think of that queer old man?" she asked in a low voice as I
+sat down. "Isn't there something almost--what is it?--uncanny?--about
+him?"
+
+"You might call him that," I assented. "Yes--I think uncanny would fit
+him. A very marvellous man, though, at his age."
+
+"Aye!" she exclaimed, under her breath. "If I could live to see it, it
+wouldn't surprise me if he lived to be four hundred. He's so queer. Do
+you know that he actually goes out early--very early--in the morning
+and swims in the open sea?"
+
+"Any weather?" I suggested.
+
+"No matter what the weather is," she replied. "He's been here three
+weeks now, and he has never missed that morning swim. And sometimes
+the mornings have been Arctic--more than I could stand, anyway, and
+I'm pretty well hardened."
+
+"A decided character!" I said musingly. "And somehow, he seems to fit
+in with his present surroundings. From what I have seen of it, Mr.
+Raven was quite right in telling me that this house was a museum."
+
+I was looking about me as I spoke. The big, high-roofed hall, like
+every room I had so far seen, was filled from floor to ceiling with
+books, pictures, statuary, armour, curiosities of every sort and of
+many ages. The prodigious numbers of the books alone showed me that I
+had no light task in prospect. But Miss Raven shook her head.
+
+"Museum!" she exclaimed. "I should think so! But you've seen
+nothing--wait till you see the north wing. Every room in that is
+crammed with things--I think my great-uncle, who left all this to
+Uncle Francis recently, must have done nothing whatever but buy, and
+buy, and buy things, and then, when he got them home, have just dumped
+them down anywhere! There's some order here," she added, looking
+round, "but across there, in the north wing, it's confusion."
+
+"Did you know your great-uncle?" I asked.
+
+"I? No!" she replied. "Oh, dear me, no! I'd never been in the north
+until Uncle Francis came home from India some months ago and fetched
+me from the school where I'd been ever since my father and mother
+died--that was when I was twelve. No, except my father, I never knew
+any of the Raven family. I believe Uncle Francis and myself are the
+very last."
+
+"You must like living under the old family roof?" I suggested.
+
+She gave me a somewhat undecided look.
+
+"I'm not quite sure," she answered. "Uncle Francis is the very soul of
+kindness--I think he's the very kindest person, man or woman, I ever
+came across, but--I don't know."
+
+"Don't know--what?" I asked.
+
+"Don't know if I really like this place," she said. "As I said to you
+this afternoon, this is a very odd house altogether, and there's a
+strange atmosphere about it, and I think something must have happened
+here. I--well, personally, I feel as if I were something so very small
+and insignificant, shut up in immensity."
+
+"That's because it's a little strange, even now," I suggested. "You'll
+get used to it. And I suppose there's society."
+
+"Uncle Francis is a good deal of a recluse," she answered. "It's
+really a very good thing that I'm fond of outdoor life, and that I
+take an interest in books, too. But I'm very deficient in knowledge in
+book matters--do teach me something while you're here!--I'd like to
+know a good deal about all these folios and quartos and so on."
+
+I made haste to reply that I should be only too happy to put my
+knowledge at her disposal, and she responded by saying that she would
+like to help me in classifying and inspecting the various volumes
+which the dead-and-gone great-uncle had collected. We got on very well
+together, and I was a little sorry when my host came in with his other
+guest--who, a loop-hole being given him, proceeded to give us a
+learned dissertation on the evidences of Roman occupation of the North
+of England as evidenced by recent and former discoveries of coins
+between Trent and Tweed: it was doubtless very interesting, and a
+striking proof of Mr. Cazalette's deep and profound knowledge of his
+special subject, and at another time I should have listened to it
+gladly. But--somehow I should just then have preferred to chat quietly
+in the corner of the hearth with Miss Raven.
+
+We all retire early--that, Mr. Raven informed me with a shy laugh, as
+if he were confessing a failing, was the custom of the house. But, he
+added, I should find a fire in my sitting-room, so that if I wanted to
+read or write, I should be comfortable in my retirement. On hearing
+that, I begged him to countermand any such luxuries on my account in
+future; it was my invariable habit, I assured him, to retire to bed at
+ten o'clock, wherever I was--reading or writing at night, I said,
+were practices which I rigidly tabooed. Mr. Cazalette, who stood by,
+grimly listening, nodded approval.
+
+"Wise lad!" he said. "That's another reason why I'm what I am. Don't
+let any mistake be made about it!--the old saw, much despised and
+laughed at though it is, has more in it than anybody thinks for. Get
+to your pillow early, and leave it early!--that's the sure thing."
+
+"I don't think I should like to get up as early as you do, though,"
+remarked Mr. Raven. "You certainly don't give the worms much chance!"
+
+"Aye, and I've caught a few in my time," assented the old gentleman,
+complacently. "And I hope to catch a few more yet. You folk who don't
+get up till the morning's half over don't know what you miss."
+
+I slept soundly that night--a strange bed and unfamiliar surroundings
+affect me not at all. Just as suddenly as I had dropped asleep, I
+woke. My windows face due east--I was instantly aware that the sun had
+either risen or was just about to rise. Springing out of bed and
+drawing up the blind of one of the three tall, narrow windows of my
+room, I saw him mounting behind a belt of pine and fir which stretched
+along a bluff of land that ran down to the open sea. And I saw, too,
+that it was high tide--the sea had stolen up the creek which ran right
+to the foot of the park, and the wide expanse of water glittered and
+coruscated in the brilliance of the morning glory.
+
+My watch lay on the dressing-table close by; glancing at it, I saw
+that the time was twenty-five minutes to seven. I had been told that
+the family breakfasted at nine, so I had nearly two-and-a-half hours
+of leisure. Of course, I would go out, and enjoy the freshness of the
+morning. I turned to the window again, just to take another view of
+the scenery in front of the house, and to decide in which direction I
+would go. And there, emerging from a wicket-gate that opened out of an
+adjacent plantation, I caught sight of Mr. Cazalette.
+
+It was evident that this robust octogenarian had been taking that
+morning swim of which Miss Raven had told me the previous evening. He
+was muffled up in an old pea-jacket; various towels were festooned
+about his shoulders; his bald head shone in the rising sun. I watched
+him curiously as he came along the borders of a thick yew hedge at the
+side of the gardens. Suddenly, at a particular point, he stopped, and
+drawing something out of his towels, thrust it, at the full length of
+his arm, into the closely interwoven mass of twig and foliage at his
+side. Then he moved forward towards the house; a bushy clump of
+rhododendron hid him from my sight. Two or three minutes later I heard
+a door close somewhere near my own; Mr. Cazalette had evidently
+re-entered his own apartment.
+
+I was bathed, shaved, and dressed by a quarter past seven, and finding
+my way out of the house went across the garden towards the wicket-gate
+through which I had seen Mr. Cazalette emerge--as he had come from the
+sea that way, it was, I concluded, the nearest way to it. My path led
+by the yew-hedge which I have just mentioned, and I suddenly saw the
+place where Mr. Cazalette had stood when he thrust his arm into it;
+thereabouts, the ground was soft, mossy, damp: the marks of his shoes
+were plain. Out of mere curiosity, I stood where he had stood, and
+slightly parting the thick, clinging twigs, peeped into the obscurity
+behind. And there, thrust right in amongst the yew, I saw something
+white, a crumpled, crushed-up lump of linen, perhaps a man's
+full-sized pocket-handkerchief, whereon I could make out, even in that
+obscurity (and nothing in the way of hedges can be thicker or darker
+than one of old, carefully-trimmed yew) brown stains and red stains,
+as if from contact with soil or clay in one case, with blood in the
+other.
+
+I went onward, considerably mystified. But most people, chancing upon
+anything mysterious try to explain it to their own satisfaction. I
+came to the conclusion that Mr. Cazalette, during his morning swim--no
+doubt in very shallow waters--had cut hand or foot against some sharp
+pebble or bit of rock, and had used his handkerchief as a bandage
+until the bleeding stopped. Yet--why thrust it away into the
+yew-hedge, close to the house? Why carry it from the shore at all, if
+he meant to get rid of it? And why not have consigned it to his
+dirty-linen basket and have it washed?
+
+"Decidedly an odd character," I mused. "A man of mystery!"
+
+Then I dismissed him from my thoughts, my mind becoming engrossed by
+the charm of my surroundings. I made my way down to the creek, passed
+through the belt of pine and fir over which I had seen the sun rise,
+and came out on a little, rock-bound cove, desolate and wild. Here one
+was shut out from everything but the sea in front: Ravensdene Court
+was no longer visible; here, amongst great masses of fallen cliff and
+limpet-encrusted rock, round which the full strength of the tide was
+washing, one seemed to be completely alone with sky and strand.
+
+But the place was tenanted. I had not taken twenty paces along the
+foot of the overhanging cliff before I pulled myself sharply to a
+halt. There, on the sand before me, his face turned to the sky, his
+arms helplessly stretched, lay Salter Quick. I knew he was dead in my
+first horrified glance. And for the second time that morning, I saw
+blood--red, vivid, staining the shining particles in the yellow,
+sun-lighted beach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE TOBACCO BOX
+
+
+My first feeling of almost stupefied horror at seeing a man whom I had
+met only the day before in the full tide of life and vigour lying
+there in that lonely place, literally weltering in his own blood and
+obviously the victim of a foul murder speedily changed to one of angry
+curiosity. Who had wrought this crime? Crime it undoubtedly was--the
+man's attitude, the trickle of blood from his slightly parted lips
+across the stubble of his chin, the crimson stain on the sand at his
+side, the whole attitude of his helpless figure, showed me that he had
+been attacked from the rear and probably stricken down by a deadly
+knife thrust through his shoulders. This was murder--black murder. And
+my thoughts flew to what Claigue, the landlord, had said, warningly,
+the previous afternoon, about the foolishness of showing so much gold.
+Had Salter Quick disregarded that warning, flashed his money about in
+some other public house, been followed to this out of the way spot and
+run through the heart for the sake of his fistful of sovereigns? It
+looked like it. But then that thought fled, and another took its
+place--the recollection of the blood-stained linen, rag, bandage, or
+handkerchief, which that queer man Mr. Cazalette had pushed into
+hiding in the yew-hedge. Had that--had Cazalette himself--anything to
+do with this crime?
+
+The instinctive desire to get an answer to this last question made me
+suddenly stoop down and lay my fingers on the dead man's open palm. I
+was conscious as I did so of the extraordinary, appealing helplessness
+of his hands--instead of being clenched in a death agony as I should
+have expected they were stretched wide; they looked nerveless, limp,
+effortless. But when my fingers came to the nearest one--the right
+hand--I found that it was stiff, rigid, stone-cold. I knew then that
+Salter Quick had been dead for several hours; had probably been lying
+there, murdered, all through the darkness of the night.
+
+There were no signs of any struggle. At this point the sands were
+unusually firm and for the most part, all round and about the body,
+they remained unbroken. Yet there were footprints, very faint indeed,
+yet traceable, and I saw at once that they did not extend beyond this
+spot. There were two distinct marks; one there of boots with nails in
+the heels; these were certainly made by the dead man; the other
+indicated a smaller, very light-soled boot, perhaps a slipper. A yard
+or so behind the body these marks were mingled; that had evidently
+been done when the murderer stole close up to his victim, preparatory
+to dealing the fatal thrust.
+
+Carefully, slowly, I traced these footsteps. They were plainly
+traceable, faint though they were, to the edge of the low cliff, there
+a gentle slope of some twelve or fifteen feet in height; I traced them
+up its incline. But from the very edge of the cliff the land was
+covered by a thick wire-like turf; you could have run a heavy gun
+over it without leaving any impression. Yet it was clear that two men
+had come across it to that point, had then descended the cliff to the
+sand, walked a few yards along the beach, and then--one had murdered
+the other.
+
+Standing there, staring around me, I was suddenly startled by the
+explosion of a gun, close at hand. And then, from a coppice, some
+thirty yards away, a man emerged, whom I took, from his general
+appearance, to be a gamekeeper. Unconscious of my presence he walked
+forward in my direction, picked up a bird which his shot had brought
+down, and was thrusting it into a bag that hung at his hip, when I
+called to him. He looked round sharply, caught sight of me, and came
+slowly in my direction, wondering, I could see, who I was. I made
+towards him. He was a middle-aged, big-framed man, dark of skin and
+hair, sharp-eyed.
+
+"Are you Mr. Raven's gamekeeper?" I asked, as I got within speaking
+distance. "Just so--I am staying with Mr. Raven. And I've just made a
+terrible discovery. There is a man lying behind the cliff
+there--dead."
+
+"Dead, sir?" he exclaimed. "What--washed up by the tide, likely."
+
+"No," I said. "He's been murdered. Stabbed to death!"
+
+He let out a short, sibilant breath, looking at me with rapidly
+dilating eyes: they ran me all over, as if he wondered whether I were
+romancing.
+
+"Come this way," I continued, leading him to the edge of the cliff.
+"And mind how you walk on the sand--there are footmarks there, and I
+don't want them interfered with till the police have examined them.
+There!" I continued, as we reached the edge of the turf and came in
+view of the beach. "You see?"
+
+He gave another exclamation of surprise: then carefully followed me to
+the dead man's side where he stood staring wonderingly at the stains
+on the sand.
+
+"He must have been dead for some hours," I whispered. "He's
+stone-cold--and rigid. Now, this is murder! You live about here, no
+doubt? Did you see or hear anything of this man in the neighbourhood
+last night--or in the afternoon or evening?"
+
+"I, sir?" he exclaimed. "No, sir--nothing!"
+
+"I met him yesterday afternoon on the headlands between this and
+Alnmouth," I remarked.
+
+"I was with him for a while at the Mariner's Joy. He pulled out a big
+handful of gold there, to pay for his lunch. The landlord warned him
+against showing so much money. Now, before we do more, I'd like to
+know if he's been murdered for the sake of robbery. You're doubtless
+quicker of hand than I am--just slip your hand into that right-hand
+pocket of his trousers, and see if you feel money there."
+
+He took my meaning on the instant, and bending down, did what I
+suggested. A smothered exclamation came from him.
+
+"Money?" he said. "His pocket's full o' money!"
+
+"Bring it out," I commanded.
+
+He withdrew his hand; opened it; the palm was full of gold. The light
+of the morning sun flashed on those coins as if in mockery. We both
+looked at them--and then at each other with a sudden mutual
+intelligence.
+
+"Then it wasn't robbery!" I exclaimed. "So--"
+
+He thrust back the gold, and pulling at a thick chain of steel which
+lay across Quick's waistcoat, drew out a fine watch.
+
+"Gold again, sir!" he said. "And a good 'un, that's never been bought
+for less than thirty pound. No, it's not been robbery."
+
+"No," I agreed, "and that makes it all the more mysterious. What's
+your name?"
+
+"Tarver, sir, at your service," he answered, as he rose from the dead
+man's side. "Been on this estate a many years, sir."
+
+"Well, Tarver," I said, "the only thing to be done is that I must go
+back to the house and tell Mr. Raven what's happened, and send for the
+police. Do you stay here--and if anybody comes along, be very careful
+to keep them off those footmarks."
+
+"Not likely that there'll be anybody, sir," he remarked. "As lonely a
+bit of coast, this, as there is, hereabouts. What beats me," he added,
+"is--what was he--and the man as did it--doing, here? There's naught
+to come here for. And--it must ha' happened in the night, judging by
+the looks of him."
+
+"The whole thing's a profound mystery," I answered. "We shall hear a
+lot more of it."
+
+I left him standing by the dead man and went hurriedly away towards
+Ravensdene Court. Glancing at my watch as I passed through the belt of
+pine, I saw that it was already getting on to nine o'clock and
+breakfast time. But this news of mine would have to be told: this was
+no time for waiting or for ceremony. I must get Mr. Raven aside, at
+once, and we must send for the nearest police officer, and--
+
+Just then, fifty yards in front of me, I saw Mr. Cazalette vanishing
+round the corner of the long yew-hedge, at the end nearest to the
+house. So--he had evidently been back to the place whereat he had
+hidden the stained linen, whatever it was? Coming up to that place a
+moment later, and making sure that I was not observed, I looked in
+amongst the twigs and foliage. The thing was gone.
+
+This deepened the growing mystery more than ever. I began, against my
+will, to piece things together. Mr. Cazalette, returning from the
+beach, hides a blood-stained rag--I, going to the beach, find a
+murdered man--coming back, I ascertain that Mr. Cazalette has already
+removed what he had previously hidden. What connection was there--if
+any at all--between Mr. Cazalette's actions and my discovery? To say
+the least of it, the whole thing was queer, strange, and even
+suspicious.
+
+Then I caught sight of Mr. Cazalette again. He was on the terrace, in
+front of the house, with Mr. Raven--they were strolling up and down,
+before the open window of the morning room, chatting. And I was
+thankful that Miss Raven was not with them, and that I saw no sign of
+her near presence.
+
+I determined to tell my gruesome news straight out--Mr. Raven, I felt
+sure, was not the man to be startled by tidings of sudden death, and I
+wanted, of set purpose, to see how his companion would take the
+announcement. So, as I walked up the steps of the terrace, I loudly
+called my host's name. He turned, saw from my expression that
+something of moment had happened, and hurried toward me, Cazalette
+trotting in his rear. I gave a warning look in in the direction of
+the house and its open windows.
+
+"I don't want to alarm Miss Raven," I said in a low voice, which I
+purposely kept as matter-of-fact as possible. "Something has happened.
+You know the man I was telling you of last night--Salter Quick? I
+found his dead body, half-an-hour ago, on your beach. He has been
+murdered--stabbed to the heart. Your gamekeeper, Tarver, is with him.
+Had you not better send for the police?"
+
+I carefully watched both men as I broke the news. Its effect upon them
+was different in both cases. Mr. Raven started a little; exclaimed a
+little: he was more wonder-struck than horrified. But Mr. Cazalette's
+mask-like countenance remained immobile; only, a gleam of sudden,
+almost pleased interest showed itself in his black, shrewd eyes.
+
+"Aye?" he exclaimed. "So you found your man dead and murdered,
+Middlebrook? Well, now, that's the very end that I was thinking the
+fellow would come to! Not that I fancied it would be so soon, nor so
+close at hand. On one's own doorstep so to speak. Interesting! Very
+interesting!"
+
+I was too much taken aback by his callousness to make any observation
+on these sentiments; instead, I looked at Mr. Raven. He was evidently
+too much surprised just then to pay any attention to his elder guest:
+he motioned me to follow him.
+
+"Come with me to the telephone," he said. "Dear, dear, what a very sad
+thing. Of course, the poor fellow has been murdered for his money? You
+said he'd a lot of gold on him."
+
+"It's not been for robbery," I answered. "His money and his watch are
+untouched. There's more in it than that."
+
+He stared at me as if failing to comprehend.
+
+"Some mystery?" he suggested.
+
+"A very deep and lurid one, I think," said I. "Get the police out as
+quickly as possible, and bid them bring a doctor."
+
+"They'll bring their own police-surgeon," he remarked, "but we have a
+medical man closer at hand. I'll ring him up, too. Yet--what can they
+do?"
+
+"Nothing--for him," I replied. "But they may be able to tell us at
+what hour the thing took place. And that's important."
+
+When we left the telephone we went to the morning-room, to get a
+mouthful of food before going down to the beach. Miss Raven was
+there--so was Cazalette. I saw at once that he had told her the news.
+She was sitting behind her tea and coffee things, staring at him: he,
+on his part, a cup of tea in one hand, a dry biscuit in the other, was
+marching up and down the room sipping and munching, and holding forth,
+in didactic fashion, on crime and detection. Miss Raven gave me a
+glance as I slipped into a place at her side.
+
+"You found this poor man?" she whispered. "How dreadful for you!"
+
+"For him, too--and far more so," I said. "I didn't want you to know
+until--later. Mr. Cazalette oughtn't to have told you."
+
+She arched her eyebrows in the direction of the odd, still orating
+figure.
+
+"Oh!" she murmured. "He's no reverence for anything--life or death. I
+believe he's positively enjoying this: he's been talking like that
+ever since he came in and told me of it."
+
+Mr. Raven and I made a very hurried breakfast and prepared to join
+Tarver. The news of the murder had spread through the household; we
+found two or three of the men-servants ready to accompany us. And Mr.
+Cazalette was ready, too, and, I thought, more eager than any of the
+rest. Indeed, when we set out from the house he led the way, across
+the gardens and pleasure-grounds, along the yew-hedge (at which he
+never so much as gave a glance) and through the belt of pine wood. At
+its further extremity he glanced at Mr. Raven.
+
+"From what Middlebrook says, this man must be lying in Kernwick Cove,"
+he said. "Now, there's a footpath across the headlands and the field
+above from Long Houghton village to that spot. Quick must have
+followed it last night. But how came he to meet his murderer--or did
+his murderer follow him? And what was Quick doing down here? Was he
+directed here--or led here?"
+
+Mr. Raven seemed to think these questions impossible of immediate
+answer: his one anxiety at that moment appeared to be to set the
+machinery of justice in motion. He was manifestly relieved when, as we
+came to the open country behind the pines and firs, where a narrow
+lane ran down to the sea, we heard the rattle of a light dog-cart and
+turned to see the inspector of police and a couple of his men, who had
+evidently hurried off at once on receiving the telephone message. With
+them, seated by the inspector on the front seat of the trap, was a
+professional-looking man who proved to be the police-surgeon.
+
+We all trooped down to the beach, where Tarver was keeping his
+unpleasant vigil. He had been taking a look round the immediate scene
+of the murder, he said, during my absence, thinking that he might find
+something in the way of a clue. But he had found nothing: there were
+no signs of any struggle anywhere near. It seemed clear that two men
+had crossed the land, descended the low cliffs, and that one had
+fallen on the other as soon as the sands were reached--the footmarks
+indicated as much. I pointed them out to the police, who examined them
+carefully, and agreed with me that one set was undoubtedly made by the
+boots of the dead man while the other was caused by the pressure of
+some light-footed, lightly-shoed person. And there being nothing else
+to be seen or done at that place, Salter Quick was lifted on to an
+improvised stretcher which the servants had brought down from the
+Court and carried by the way we had come to an outhouse in the
+gardens, where the police-surgeon proceeded to make a more careful
+examination of his body. He was presently joined in this by the
+medical man of whom Mr. Raven had spoken--a Dr. Lorrimore, who came
+hurrying up in his motor-car, and at once took a hand in his
+fellow-practitioner's investigations. But there was little to
+investigate--just as I had thought from the first. Quick had been
+murdered by a knife-thrust from behind--dealt with evident knowledge
+of the right place to strike, said the two doctors, for his heart had
+been transfixed, and death must have been instantaneous.
+
+Mr. Raven shrank away from these gruesome details, but Mr. Cazalette
+showed the keenest interest in them, and would not be kept from the
+doctor's elbows. He was pertinacious in questioning them.
+
+"And what sort of a weapon was it, d'ye suppose that the assassin
+used?" he asked. "That'll be an important thing to know, I'm
+thinking."
+
+"It might have been a seaman's knife," said the police-surgeon. "One
+of those with a long, sharp blade."
+
+"Or," said Dr. Lorrimore, "a stiletto--such as foreigners carry."
+
+"Aye," remarked Mr. Cazalette, "or with an operating knife--such as
+you medicos use. Any one of those fearsome things would serve, no
+doubt. But we'll be doing more good, Middlebrook, just to know what
+the police are finding in the man's pockets."
+
+The police-inspector had got all Quick's belongings in a little heap.
+They were considerable. Over thirty pounds in gold and silver. Twenty
+pounds in notes in an old pocket-book. His watch--certainly a valuable
+one. A pipe, a silver match-box, a tobacco-box of some metal, quaintly
+chased and ornamented. Various other small matters--but, with one
+exception, no papers or letters. The one exception was a slightly
+torn, dirty envelope addressed in an ill-formed handwriting to Mr.
+Salter Quick, care of Mr. Noah Quick, The Admiral Parker, Haulaway
+Street, Devonport. There was no letter inside it, nor was there
+another scrap of writing anywhere about the dead man's pockets.
+
+The police allowed Mr. Cazalette to inspect these things according to
+his fancy. It was very clear to me by that time that the old
+gentleman had some taste for detective work, and I watched him with
+curiosity while he carefully examined Quick's money, his watch (of
+which he took particular notice, even going so far as to jot down its
+number and the name of its maker on his shirt cuff), and the rest of
+his belongings. But nothing seemed to excite his interest very deeply
+until he began to finger the tobacco-box; then, indeed, his eyes
+suddenly coruscated, and he turned to me almost excitedly.
+
+"Middlebrook!" he whispered, edging me away from the others. "Do you
+look here, my lad! D'ye see the inside of the lid of this box? There's
+been something--a design, a plan, something of that sort,
+anyway--scratched into it with the point of a nail, or a knife. Look
+at the lines--and see, there's marks and there's figures! Now I'd like
+to know what all that signifies? What are you going to do with all
+these things?" he asked, turning suddenly on the inspector. "Take them
+away?"
+
+"They'll all be carefully sealed up and locked up till the inquest,
+sir," replied the inspector. "No doubt the dead man's relatives will
+claim them."
+
+Mr. Cazalette laid down the tobacco-box, left the place, and hurried
+away in the direction of the house. Within a few minutes he came
+hurrying back, carrying a camera. He went up to the inspector with an
+almost wheedling air.
+
+"Ye'll just indulge an old man's fancy?" he said, placatingly.
+"There's some queer marking inside the lid of that bit of a box that
+the poor man kept his tobacco in. I'd like to take a photograph of
+them. Man! you don't know that an examination of them mightn't be
+useful."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE NEWS FROM DEVONPORT
+
+
+The police-inspector, a somewhat silent, stolid sort of man, looked
+down from his superior height on Mr. Cazalette's eager face with a
+half-bored, half-tolerant expression; he had already seen a good deal
+of the old gentleman's fussiness.
+
+"What is it about the box?" he demanded.
+
+"Certain marks on it--inside the lid--that I'd like to photograph,"
+answered Mr. Cazalette. "They're small and faint, but if I get a good
+negative of them I can enlarge it. And I say again, you don't know
+what one mightn't find out--any little detail is of value in a case of
+this sort."
+
+The inspector picked up the metal tobacco-box from where it lay amidst
+Quick's belongings and looked inside the lid. It was very plain that
+he saw nothing there but some--to him meaningless scratches and he put
+the thing into Mr. Cazalette's hands with an air of indifference.
+
+"I see no objection," he said. "Let's have it back when you've done
+with it. We shall have to exhibit these personal properties before the
+coroner."
+
+Mr. Cazalette carried his camera and the tobacco-box outside the shed
+in which the dead man's body lay and began to be busy. A gardener's
+potting-table stood against the wall; on this, backed by a black
+cloth which he had brought from the house, he set up the box and
+prepared to photograph it. It was evident that he attached great
+importance to what he was doing.
+
+"I shall take two or three negatives of this, Middlebrook," he
+observed, consequentially. "I'm an expert in photography, and I've got
+an enlarging apparatus in my room. Before the day's out, I shall show
+you something."
+
+Personally, I had seen no more in the inner lid of the tobacco-box
+than the inspector seemed to have seen--a few lines and scratches,
+probably caused by thumb or finger-nail--and I left Mr. Cazalette to
+his self-imposed labours and rejoined the doctors and the police who
+were discussing the next thing to be done. That Quick had been
+murdered there was no doubt; there would have to be an inquest, of
+course, and for that purpose his body would have to be removed to the
+nearest inn, a house on the cross-roads just beyond Ravensdene Court;
+search would have to be set up at once for suspicious characters, and
+Noah Quick, of Devonport, would have to be communicated with.
+
+All this the police took in hand, and I saw that Mr. Raven was
+heartily relieved when he heard that the dead man would be removed
+from his premises and that the inquest would not be held there. Ever
+since I had first broken the news to him, he had been upset and
+nervous: I could see that he was one of those men who dislike fuss and
+publicity. He looked at me with a sort of commiseration when the
+police questioned me closely about my knowledge of Salter Quick's
+movements on the previous day, and especially about his visit to the
+Mariner's Joy.
+
+"Yet," said I, finishing my account of that episode, "it is very
+evident that the man was not murdered for the sake of robbery, seeing
+that his money and his watch were found on him untouched."
+
+The inspector shook his head.
+
+"I'm not so sure," he remarked. "There's one thing that's certain--the
+man's clothes had been searched. Look here!"
+
+He turned to Quick's garments, which had been removed, preparatory to
+laying out the body in decent array for interment, and picked up the
+waistcoat. Within the right side, made in the lining, there was a
+pocket, secured by a stout button. That pocket had been turned inside
+out; so, too, had a pocket in the left hip of the trousers,
+corresponding to that on the right in which Quick had carried the
+revolver that he had shown to us at the inn. The waistcoat was a
+thick, quilted affair--its lining, here and there, had been ripped
+open by a knife. And the lining of the man's hat had been torn out,
+too, and thrust roughly into place again: clearly, whoever killed him
+had searched for something.
+
+"It wasn't money they were after," observed the inspector, "but there
+was an object. He'd that on him that his murderer was anxious to get.
+And the fact that the murderer left all this gold untouched is the
+worst feature of the affair--from our point of view."
+
+"Why, now?" inquired Mr. Raven.
+
+"Because, sir, it shows that the murderer, whoever he was, had plenty
+of money on him," replied the inspector grimly. "And as he had, he'd
+have little difficulty in getting away. Probably he got an early
+morning train, north or south, and is hundreds of miles off by this
+time. But we must do our best--and we'll get to work now."
+
+Leaving everything to the police--obviously with relief and
+thankfulness--Mr. Raven retired from the scene, inviting the two
+medical men and the inspector into the house with him, to take, as he
+phrased, a little needful refreshment; he sent out a servant to
+minister to the constables in the same fashion. Leaving him and his
+guests in the morning-room and refusing Mr. Cazalette's invitation to
+join him in his photographic enterprise, I turned into the big hall
+and there found Miss Raven. I was glad to find her alone; the mere
+sight of her, in her morning freshness, was welcome after the gruesome
+business in which I had just been engaged. I think she saw something
+of my thoughts in my face, for she turned to me sympathetically.
+
+"What a very unfortunate thing that this should have happened at the
+very beginning of your visit!" she exclaimed. "Didn't it give you an
+awful shock, to find that poor fellow?--so unexpectedly!"
+
+"It was certainly not a pleasant experience," I answered. "But--I was
+not quite as surprised as you might think."
+
+"Why not?" she asked.
+
+"Because--I can't explain it, quite--I felt, yesterday, that the man
+was running risks by showing his money as foolishly as he did," I
+replied. "And, of course, when I found him, I thought he'd been
+murdered for his money."
+
+"And yet he wasn't!" she said. "For you say it was all found on him.
+What an extraordinary mystery! Is there no clue? I suppose he must
+really have been killed by that man who was spoken of at the inn? You
+think they met?"
+
+"To tell you the truth," I answered, "at present I don't know what to
+think--except that this is merely a chapter in some mystery--an
+extraordinary one, as you remark. We shall hear more. And, in the
+meantime--a much pleasanter thing--won't you show me round the house?
+Mr. Raven is busy with the police-inspector and the doctors, and--I'm
+anxious to know what the extent of my labours may be."
+
+She at once acquiesced in this proposition, and we began to inspect
+the accumulations of the dead-and-gone master of Ravensdene Court. As
+his successor had remarked in his first letter to me, Mr. John
+Christopher Raven, though obviously a great collector, had certainly
+not been a great exponent of system and order--except in the library
+itself, where all his most precious treasures were stored in tall,
+locked book-presses, his gatherings were lumped together anyhow and
+anywhere, all over the big house--the north wing was indeed a
+lumber-house--he appeared to have bought books, pamphlets, and
+manuscripts by the cart-load, and it was very plain to me, as an
+expert, that the greater part of his possessions of these sorts had
+never even been examined. Before Miss Raven and I had spent an hour in
+going from one room to another I had arrived at two definite
+conclusions--one, that the dead man's collection of books and papers
+was about the most heterogeneous I had ever set eyes on, containing
+much of great value and much of none whatever; the other, that it
+would take me a long time to make a really careful and proper
+examination of it, and longer still to arrange it in proper order.
+Clearly, I should have to engage Mr. Raven in a strictly business
+talk, and find out what his ideas were in regard to putting his big
+library on a proper footing. Mr. Raven at last joined us, in one of
+the much-encumbered rooms. With him was the doctor, Lorrimore, whom he
+had mentioned to me as living near Ravensdene Court. He introduced him
+to his niece, with, I thought, some signs of pleasure; then to me,
+remarking that we had already seen each other in different
+surroundings--now we could foregather in pleasanter ones.
+
+"Dr. Lorrimore," he continued, glancing from me to Miss Raven and then
+to the doctor with a smile that was evidently designed to put us all
+on a friendly footing, "Dr. Lorrimore and I have been having quite a
+good talk. It turns out that he has spent a long time in India. So we
+have a lot in common."
+
+"How very nice for you, Uncle Francis!" said Miss Raven. "I know
+you've been bored to death with having no one you could talk to about
+curries and brandy-pawnees and things--now Dr. Lorrimore will come and
+chat with you. Were you long in India, Dr. Lorrimore?"
+
+"Twelve years," answered the doctor. "I came home just a year ago."
+
+"To bury yourself in these wilds!" remarked Miss Raven. "Doesn't it
+seem quite out of the world here--after that?"
+
+Dr. Lorrimore glanced at Mr. Raven and showed a set of very white
+teeth in a meaning smile. He was a tall, good-looking man, dark of eye
+and hair; moustached and bearded; apparently under forty years of
+age--yet, at each temple, there was the faintest trace of silvery
+grey. A rather notable man, too, I thought, and one who was evidently
+scrupulous about his appearance--yet his faultlessly cut frock suit of
+raven black, his glossy linen, and smart boots looked more fitted to a
+Harley Street consulting-room than to the Northumbrian cottages and
+farmsteads amongst which his lot must necessarily be cast. He
+transferred his somewhat gleaming, rather mechanical smile to Miss
+Raven.
+
+"On the contrary," he said in a quiet almost bantering tone, "this
+seems--quite gay. I was in a part of India where one had to travel
+long distances to see a white patient--and one doesn't count the rest.
+And--I bought this practice, knowing it to be one that would not make
+great demands on my time, so that I could devote myself a good deal to
+certain scientific pursuits in which I am deeply interested. No!--I
+don't feel out of the world, Miss Raven, I assure you."
+
+"He has promised to put in some of his spare time with me, when he
+wants company," said Mr. Raven. "We shall have much in common."
+
+"Dark secrets of a dark country!" remarked Dr. Lorrimore, with a sly
+glance at Miss Raven. "Over our cheroots!"
+
+Then, excusing himself from Mr. Raven's pressing invitation to stay to
+lunch, he took himself off, and my host, his niece, and myself
+continued our investigations. These lasted until the lunch hour--they
+afforded us abundant scope for conversation, too, and kept us from
+any reference to the grim tragedy of the early morning.
+
+Mr. Cazalette made no appearance at lunch. I heard a footman inform
+Miss Raven, in answer to her inquiry, that he had just taken Mr.
+Cazalette's beef-tea to his room and that he required nothing else.
+And I did not see him again until late that afternoon, when, as the
+rest of us were gathered about the tea-table in the hall, before a
+cheery fire, he suddenly appeared, a smile of grim satisfaction on his
+queer old face. He took his usual cup of tea and dry biscuit and sat
+down in silence. But by that time I was getting inquisitive.
+
+"Well, Mr. Cazalette," I said, "have you brought your photographic
+investigations to any successful conclusion?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Cazalette," chimed in Miss Raven, whom I had told of the old
+man's odd fancy about the scratches on the lid of the tobacco-box.
+"We're dying to know if you've found out anything. Have you--and what
+is it?"
+
+He gave us a knowing glance over the rim of his tea-cup.
+
+"Aye!" he said. "Young folks are full of curiosity. But I'm not going
+to say what I've discovered, nor how far my investigations have gone.
+Ye must just die a bit more, Miss Raven, and maybe when ye're on the
+point of demise I'll resuscitate ye with the startling news of my
+great achievements."
+
+I knew by that time that when Mr. Cazalette relapsed into his native
+Scotch he was most serious, and that his bantering tone was assumed as
+a cloak. It was clear that we were not going to get anything out of
+him just then. But Mr. Raven tried another tack, fishing for
+information.
+
+"You really think those marks were made of a purpose, Cazalette?" he
+suggested. "You think they were intentional?"
+
+"I'll not say anything at present," answered Mr. Cazalette. "The
+experiment is in course of process. But I'll say this, as a student of
+this sort of thing--yon murderer was far from the ordinary."
+
+Miss Raven shuddered a little.
+
+"I hope the man who did it is not hanging about!" she said.
+
+Mr. Cazalette shook his head with a knowing gesture.
+
+"Ye need have no fear of that, lassie!" he remarked. "The man that did
+it had put a good many miles between himself and his victim long
+before Middlebrook there made his remarkable discovery."
+
+"Now, how do you know that, Mr. Cazalette?" I asked, feeling a bit
+restive under the old fellow's cock-sureness. "Isn't that guess-work?"
+
+"No!" said he. "It's deduction--and common-sense. Mine's a nature
+that's full of both those highly admirable qualities, Middlebrook."
+
+He went away then, as silently as he had come. And when, a few minutes
+later, I, too, went off to some preliminary work that I had begun in
+the library, I began to think over the first events of the morning,
+and to wonder if I ought not to ask Mr. Cazalette for some explanation
+of the incident of the yew-hedge. He had certainly secreted a piece of
+blood-stained, mud-discoloured linen in that hedge for an hour or so.
+Why? Had it anything to do with the crime? Had he picked it up on the
+beach when he went for his dip? Why was he so secretive about it? And
+why, if it was something of moment, had he not carried it straight to
+his own room in the house, instead of hiding it in the hedge while he
+evidently went back to the house and made his toilet? The circumstance
+was extraordinary, to say the least of it.
+
+But on reflection I determined to hold my tongue and abide my time.
+For anything I knew, Mr. Cazalette might have cut one of his feet on
+the sharp stones on the beach, used his handkerchief to staunch the
+wound, thrown it away into the hedge, and then, with a touch of native
+parsimony, have returned to recover the discarded article. Again, he
+might be in possession of some clue, to which his tobacco-box
+investigations were ancillary--altogether, it was best to leave him
+alone. He was clearly deeply interested in the murder of Salter Quick,
+and I had gathered from his behaviour and remarks that this sort of
+thing--investigation of crime--had a curious fascination for him. Let
+him, then, go his way; something, perhaps, might come of it. One thing
+was very sure, and the old man had grasped it readily--this crime was
+no ordinary one.
+
+As the twilight approached, making my work in the library impossible,
+and having no wish to go on with it by artificial light, I went out
+for a walk. The fascination which is invariably exercised on any of us
+by such affairs led me, half-unconsciously, to the scene of the
+murder. The tide, which had been up in the morning, was now out,
+though just beginning to turn again, and the beach, with its masses
+of bare rock and wide-spreading deposits of sea-weed, looked bleak and
+desolate in the uncertain grey light. But it was not without life--two
+men were standing near the place where I had come upon Salter Quick's
+dead body. Going nearer to them, I recognized one as Claigue, the
+landlord of the Mariner's Joy. He recognized me at the same time, and
+touched his cap with a look that was alike knowing and confidential.
+
+"So it came about as I'd warned him, sir!" he said, without preface.
+"I told him how it would be. You heard me! A man carrying gold about
+him like that!--and showing it to all and sundry. Why, he was asking
+for trouble!"
+
+"The gold was found on him," I answered. "And his watch and other
+things. He wasn't murdered for his property."
+
+Claigue uttered a sharp exclamation. He was evidently taken aback.
+
+"You hadn't heard that, then?" I suggested.
+
+"No," he replied. "I hadn't heard that, sir. Bless me! his money and
+valuables found on him. No! we've heard naught except that he was
+found murdered, here, early this morning. Of course, I concluded that
+it had been for the sake of his money--that he'd been pulling it out
+in some public-house or other, and had been followed. Dear me! that
+puts a different complexion on things. Now, what's the meaning of it,
+in your opinion, sir?"
+
+"I have none," I answered. "The whole thing's a mystery--so far. But,
+as you live hereabouts, perhaps you can suggest something. The
+doctors are of the opinion that he was murdered--here--yesterday
+evening: that his body had been lying here, just above high-water
+mark, since, probably, eight or nine o'clock last night. Now, what
+could he be doing down at this lonely spot? He went inland when he
+left your house."
+
+The man who was with Claigue offered an explanation. There was, he
+said, a coast village or two further along the headlands; it would be
+a short cut to them to follow the beach.
+
+"Yes," said I, "but that would argue that he knew the lie of the land.
+And, according to his own account, he was a complete stranger."
+
+"Aye!" broke in Claigue. "But he wasn't alone, sir, when he came here!
+He'd fallen in with somebody, somewhere, that brought him down
+here--and left him, dead. And--who was it?"
+
+There was no answering that question, and presently we parted, Claigue
+and his companion going back towards his inn, and I to Ravensdene
+Court. The dusk had fallen by that time, and the house was lighted
+when I came back. Entering by the big hall, I saw Mr. Raven, Mr.
+Cazalette, and the police-inspector standing in close conversation by
+the hearth. Mr. Raven beckoned me to approach.
+
+"Here's some most extraordinary news from Devonport--where Quick came
+from," he said. "The inspector wired to the police there this morning,
+telling them to communicate with his brother, whose name, you know,
+was found on him. He's had a wire from them this afternoon--read it!"
+
+He turned to the inspector, who placed a telegram in my hand. It ran
+thus:
+
+     "Noah Quick was found murdered at lonely spot on riverside
+     near Saltash at an early hour this morning. So far no clue
+     whatever to murderer."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+SECRET THEFT
+
+
+I handed the telegram back to the police-inspector with a glance that
+took in the faces of all three men. It was evident that they were
+thinking the same thought that had flashed into my own mind. The
+inspector put it into words.
+
+"This," he said in a low voice, tapping the bit of flimsy paper with
+his finger, "this throws a light on the affair of this morning. No
+ordinary crime, that, gentlemen! When two brothers are murdered on the
+same night, at places hundreds of miles apart, it signifies something
+out of the common. Somebody has had an interest in getting rid of both
+men!"
+
+"Wasn't this Noah Quick mentioned in some paper you found on Salter
+Quick?" I asked.
+
+"An envelope," replied the inspector. "We have it, of course.
+Landlord--so I took it to mean--of the Admiral Parker, Haulaway
+Street, Devonport. I wired to the police authorities there, telling
+them of Salter Quick's death and asking them to communicate at once
+with Noah. Their answer is--this!"
+
+"It'll be at Devonport that the secret lies," observed Mr. Cazalette
+suddenly. "Aye--that's where you'll be seeking for news!"
+
+"We've got none here--about our affair," remarked the inspector. "I
+set all my available staff to work as soon as I got back to
+headquarters this forenoon, and up to the time I set off to show you
+this, Mr. Raven, we'd learned nothing. It's a queer thing, but we
+haven't come across anybody who saw this man after he left you, Mr.
+Middlebrook, yesterday afternoon. You say he turned inland, towards
+Denwick, when he left you after coming out of Claigue's place--well,
+my men have inquired in every village and at every farmstead and
+wayside cottage within an area of ten or twelve miles, and we haven't
+heard a word of him. Where did he go? Whom did he come across?"
+
+"I should say that's obvious," said I. "He came across the man of whom
+he heard at the Mariner's Joy--the man who, like himself, was asking
+for information about an old churchyard in which people called
+Netherfield are buried."
+
+"We've heard all about that from the man who told him--Jim Gelthwaite,
+the drover," replied the inspector. "He's told us of his meeting with
+such a man, a night or two ago. But we can't get any information on
+that point, either. Nobody else seems to have seen that man, any more
+than they've seen Salter Quick!"
+
+"I suppose there are places along this coast where a man might hide?"
+I suggested.
+
+"Caves, now?" put in Mr. Cazalette.
+
+"There may be," admitted the inspector. "Of course I shall have the
+coast searched."
+
+"Aye, but ye'll not find anything--now!" affirmed Mr. Cazalette. "Yon
+man, that Jim the drover told of, he might be hiding here or there in
+a cave, or some out o' the way place, of which there's plenty in this
+part, till he did the deed, but when it was once done, he'd be away!
+The railway's not that far, and there's early morning trains going
+north and south."
+
+"We've been at the railway folk, at all the near stations," remarked
+the inspector. "They could tell nothing. It seems to me," he
+continued, turning to Mr. Raven, and nodding sidewise at Mr.
+Cazalette, "that this gentleman hits the nail on the head when he says
+it's to Devonport that we'll be turning for explanations--I'm coming
+to the conclusion that the whole affair has been engineered from that
+quarter."
+
+"Aye!" said Mr. Cazalette, laconically confident. "Ye'll learn more
+about Salter when ye hear more about Noah. And it's a very bonny
+mystery and with an uncommonly deep bottom to it!"
+
+"I've wired to Devonport for full particulars about the affair there,"
+said the inspector. "No doubt I shall have them by the time our
+inquest opens tomorrow."
+
+I forget whether these particulars had reached him, when, next
+morning, Mr. Raven, Mr. Cazalette, the gamekeeper Tarver, and myself
+walked across the park to the wayside inn to which Salter Quick's body
+had been removed, and where the coroner was to hold his inquiry. I
+remember, however, that nothing was done that morning beyond a merely
+formal opening of the proceedings, and that a telegram was received
+from the police at Devonport in which it was stated that they were
+unable to find out if the two brothers had any near relations--no one
+there knew of any. Altogether, I think, nothing was revealed that day
+beyond what we knew already, and so far as I remember matters, no
+light was thrown on either murder for some time. But I was so much
+interested in the mystery surrounding them that I carefully collected
+all the newspaper accounts concerning the murder at Saltash and that
+at Ravensdene Court, and pasted the clippings into a book, and from
+these I can now give something like a detailed account of all that was
+known of Salter and Noah Quick previous to the tragedies of that
+spring.
+
+Somewhere about the end of the year 1910, Noah Quick, hailing,
+evidently, from nowhere in particular, but, equally evidently, being
+in possession of plenty of cash, became licensee of a small tavern
+called the Admiral Parker, in a back street in Devonport. It was a
+fully-licensed house, and much frequented by seamen. Noah Quick was a
+thick-set, sturdy, middle-aged man, reserved, taciturn, very strict in
+his attention to business; a steady, sober man, keen on money matters.
+He was a bachelor, keeping an elderly woman as housekeeper, a couple
+of stout women servants, a barmaid, and a potman. His house was
+particularly well-conducted; it was mentioned at the inquest on him
+that the police had never once had any complaint in reference to it,
+and that Noah, who had to deal with a rather rough class of customers,
+was peculiarly adept in keeping order--one witness, indeed, said that
+having had opportunities of watching him, he had formed the opinion
+that Noah, before going into the public-house business, had held some
+position of authority and was accustomed to obedience. Everything
+seemed to be going very well with him and the Admiral Parker, when,
+in February, 1912, his brother, Salter Quick, made his appearance in
+Devonport.
+
+Nobody knew anything about Salter Quick, except that he was believed
+to have come to Devonport from Wapping or Rotherhithe, or somewhere
+about those Thames-side quarters. He was very like his brother in
+appearance, and in character, except that he was more sociable, and
+more talkative. He took up his residence at the Admiral Parker, and he
+and Noah evidently got on together very well: they were even
+affectionate in manner toward each other. They were often seen in
+Devonport and in Plymouth in company, but those who knew them best at
+this time noted that they never paid visits to, nor received visits
+from, any one coming within the category of friends or relations. And
+one man, giving evidence at the inquest on Noah Quick, said that he
+had some recollection that Salter, in a moment of confidence, had once
+told him that he and Noah were orphans, and hadn't a blood-relation in
+the world.
+
+According to all that was brought out, matters went quite smoothly and
+pleasantly at the Admiral Parker until the 5th of March, 1912--three
+days, it will be observed, before I myself left London for Ravensdene
+Court. On that date, Salter Quick, who had a banking account at a
+Plymouth bank (to which he had been introduced by Noah, who also
+banked there), cashed a check for sixty pounds. That was in the
+morning--in the early afternoon, he went away, remarking to the
+barmaid at his brother's inn that he was first going to London and
+then north. Noah accompanied him to the railway station. As far as
+any one knew, Salter was not burdened by any luggage, even by a
+handbag.
+
+After he had gone, things went on just as usual at the Admiral Parker.
+Neither the housekeeper, nor the barmaid, nor the potman, could
+remember that the place was visited by any suspicious characters, nor
+that its landlord showed any signs of having any trouble or any
+extraordinary business matters. Everything was as it should be, when,
+on the evening of the 9th of March (the very day on which I met Salter
+Quick on the Northumbrian coast), Noah told his housekeeper and
+barmaid that he had to go over to Saltash, to see a man on business,
+and should be back about closing-time. He went away about seven
+o'clock, but he was not back at closing-time. The potman sat up for
+him until midnight: he was not back then. And none of his people at
+the Admiral Parker heard any more of him until just after breakfast
+next morning, when the police came and told them that their employer's
+body had been found at a lonely spot on the bank of the river a little
+above Saltash, and that he had certainly been murdered.
+
+There were some points of similarity between the murders of Salter
+Quick and Noah Quick. The movements and doings of each man were
+traceable up to a certain point, after which nothing whatever could be
+discovered respecting them. As regards Noah Quick he had crossed the
+river between Keyham and Saltash by the ferry-boat, landing just
+beneath the great bridge which links Devon with Cornwall. It was then
+nearly dark, but he was seen and spoken to by several men who knew him
+well. He was seen, too, to go up the steep street towards the head of
+the queer old village: there he went into one of the inns, had a glass
+of whisky at the bar, exchanged a word or two with some men sitting in
+the parlour, and after awhile, glancing at his watch, went out--and
+was never seen again alive. His dead body was found next morning at a
+lonely spot on an adjacent creek, by a fisherman--like Salter, he had
+been stabbed, and in similar fashion. And as in Salter's case, robbery
+of money and valuables had not been the murderer's object. Noah Quick,
+when found, had money on him, gold, silver; he was also wearing a gold
+watch and chain and a diamond ring; all these things were untouched,
+as if the murderer had felt contemptuous of them. But here again was a
+point of similarity in the two crimes--Noah Quick's pocket's had been
+turned out; the lining of his waistcoat had been slashed and slit; his
+thick reefer jacket had been torn off him and subjected to a similar
+search--its lining was cut to pieces, and it and his overcoat were
+found flung carelessly over the body. Close by lay his hard felt
+hat--the lining had been torn out.
+
+This, according to the evidence given at the inquests and to the facts
+collected by the police at the places concerned, was all that came
+out. There was not the slightest clue in either case. No one could say
+what became of Salter Quick after he left me outside the Mariner's
+Joy; no one knew where Noah Quick went when he walked out of the
+Saltash inn into the darkness. At each inquest a verdict of wilful
+murder against some person or persons unknown was returned, and the
+respective coroners uttered some platitudes about coincidence and
+mystery and all the rest of it. But from all that had transpired it
+seemed to me that there were certain things to be deduced, and I find
+that I tabulated them at the time, writing them down at the end of the
+newspaper clippings, as follows:
+
+1. Salter and Noah Quick were in possession of some secret.
+
+2. They were murdered by men who wished to get possession of it for
+themselves.
+
+3. The actual murderers were probably two members of a gang.
+
+4. Gang--if a gang--and murderers were at large, and, if they had
+secured possession of the secret would be sure to make use of it.
+
+Out of this arose the question--what was the secret? Something, I had
+no doubt whatever, that related to money. But what, and how? I
+exercised my speculative faculties a good deal at the time over this
+matter, and I could not avoid wondering about Mr. Cazalette and the
+yew-hedge affair. He never mentioned it; I was afraid and nervous
+about telling him what I had seen. Nor for some time did he mention
+his tobacco-box labours--indeed, I don't remember that he mentioned
+them directly at all. But, about the time that the inquests on the two
+murdered men came to an end, I observed that Mr. Cazalette, most of
+whose time was devoted to his numismatic work, was spending his
+leisure in turning over whatever books he could come across at
+Ravensdene Court which related to local history and topography; he was
+also studying old maps, charts and the like. Also, he got from London
+the latest Ordnance Map. I saw him studying that with deep attention.
+Yet he said nothing until one day, coming across me in the library,
+alone, he suddenly plumped me with a question.
+
+"Middlebrook!" said he, "the name which that poor man mentioned to you
+as you talked with him on the cliff was--Netherfield?"
+
+"Netherfield," said I. "That was it--Netherfield."
+
+"He said there were Netherfields buried hereabouts?" he asked.
+
+"Just so--in some churchyard or other," I answered. "What of it, Mr.
+Cazalette?"
+
+He helped himself to a pinch of snuff, as if to assist his thoughts.
+
+"Well," said he presently, "and it's a queer thing that at the time of
+the inquest nobody ever thought of inquiring if there is such a
+churchyard and such graves."
+
+"Why didn't you suggest it?" I asked.
+
+"I'd rather find it out for myself," said he, with a knowing look.
+"And if you want to know, I've been trying to do so. But I've looked
+through every local history there is--and I think the late John
+Christopher Raven collected every scrap of printed stuff relating to
+this corner of the country that's ever left a press--and I can't find
+any reference to such a name."
+
+"Parish registers?" I suggested.
+
+"Aye, I thought of that," he said. "Some of 'em have been printed, and
+I've consulted those that have, without result. And, Middlebrook, I'm
+more than ever convinced that yon dead man knew what he was talking
+about, and that there's dead and gone Netherfields lying somewhere in
+this quarter, and that the secret of his murder is, somehow, to be
+found in their ancient tombs! Aye!"
+
+He took another big pinch of snuff, and looked at me as if to find out
+whether or no I agreed with him. Then I let out a question.
+
+"Mr. Cazalette, have you found out anything from your photographic
+work on that tobacco-box lid?" I asked. "You thought you might."
+
+Much to my astonishment, he turned and shuffled away.
+
+"I'm not through with that matter, yet," he answered.
+"It's--progressing."
+
+I told Miss Raven of this little conversation. She and I were often
+together in the library; we often discussed the mystery of the
+murders.
+
+"What was there, really, on the lid of the tobacco-box?" she asked.
+"Anything that could actually arouse curiosity?"
+
+"I think Mr. Cazalette exaggerated their importance," I replied, "but
+there were certainly some marks, scratches, which seemed to have been
+made by design."
+
+"And what," she asked again, "did Mr. Cazalette think they might
+mean?"
+
+"Heaven knows!" I answered. "Some deep and dark clue to Quick's
+murder, I suppose."
+
+"I wish I had seen the tobacco-box," she remarked. "Interesting,
+anyway."
+
+"That's easy enough," said I. "The police have it--and all the rest of
+Quick's belongings. If we walked over to the police-station, the
+inspector would willingly show it to you."
+
+I saw that this proposition attracted her--she was not beyond feeling
+something of the fascination which is exercised upon some people by
+the inspection of the relics of strange crimes.
+
+"Let us go, then," she said. "This afternoon?"
+
+I had a mind, myself, to have another look at that tobacco-box; Mr.
+Cazalette's hints about it, and his mysterious secrecy regarding his
+photographic experiments, made me inquisitive. So after lunch that day
+Miss Raven and I walked across country to the police-station, where we
+were shown into the presence of the inspector, who, in the midst of
+his politeness, frankly showed his wonder at our pilgrimage.
+
+"We have come with an object," said I, giving him an informing glance.
+"Miss Raven, like most ladies, is not devoid of curiosity. She wishes
+to see that metal tobacco-box which was found on Salter Quick."
+
+The inspector laughed.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed. "The thing that the old gentleman--what's his
+name? Mr. Cazalette?--was so keen about photographing. Why, I don't
+know--I saw nothing but two or three surface scratches inside the lid.
+Has he discovered anything?"
+
+"That," I answered, "is only known to Mr. Cazalette himself. He
+preserves a strict silence on that point. He is very mysterious about
+the matter. It is his secrecy, and his mystery, that makes Miss Raven
+inquisitive."
+
+"Well," remarked the inspector, indulgently, "it's a curiosity that
+can very easily be satisfied. I've got all Quick's belongings
+here--just as they were put together after being exhibited before the
+coroner." He unlocked a cupboard and pointed to two bundles--one, a
+large one, was done up in linen; the other, a small one, in a wrapping
+of canvas. "That," he continued, pointing to the linen-covered
+package, "contains his clothing; this, his effects: his money, watch
+and chain, and so on. It's sealed, as you see, but we can put fresh
+seals on after breaking these."
+
+"Very kind of you to take so much trouble," said Miss Raven. "All to
+satisfy a mere whim."
+
+The inspector assured her that it was no trouble, and broke the seals
+of the small, carefully-wrapped package. There, neatly done up, were
+the dead man's effects, even down to his pipe and pouch. His money was
+there, notes, gold, silver, copper; there was a stump of lead-pencil
+and a bit of string; every single thing found upon him had been kept.
+But the tobacco-box was not there.
+
+"I--I don't see it!" exclaimed the inspector. "How's this?"
+
+He turned the things over again, and yet again--there was no
+tobacco-box. And at that, evidently vexed and perplexed, he rang a
+bell and asked for a particular constable, who presently entered. The
+inspector indicated the various properties.
+
+"Didn't you put these things together when the inquest was over?" he
+demanded. "They were all lying on the table at the inquest--we showed
+them there. I told you to put them up and bring them here and seal
+them."
+
+"I did, sir," answered the man. "I put together everything that was on
+the table, at once. The package was never out of my hands till I got
+it here, and sealed it. Sergeant Brown and myself counted the money,
+sir."
+
+"The money is all right," observed the inspector. "But there's a metal
+box--a tobacco-box--missing. Do you remember it?"
+
+"Can't say that I do, sir," replied the constable. "I packed up
+everything that was there."
+
+The inspector nodded a dismissal; when we were alone again, he turned
+to Miss Raven and me with a queer expression.
+
+"That box has been abstracted at the inquest!" he said, "Now then!--by
+whom?--and why?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+YELLOWFACE
+
+
+It was very evident that the inspector was considerably puzzled, not
+to say upset, by the disappearance of the tobacco-box, and I fancied
+that I saw the real reason of his discomfiture. He had poohpoohed Mr.
+Cazalette's almost senile eagerness about the thing, treating his
+request as of no importance; now he suddenly discovered that somebody
+had conceived a remarkable interest in the tobacco-box and had
+cleverly annexed it--under his very eyes--and he was angry with
+himself for his lack of care and perception. I was not indisposed to
+banter him a little.
+
+"The second of your questions might be easily answered," I said. "The
+thing has been appropriated because somebody believes, as Mr.
+Cazalette evidently does, or did, that there may be a clue in those
+scratches, or marks, on the inside of the lid. But as to who it was
+that believed this, and managed to secrete the box--that's a far
+different matter!"
+
+He was thinking, and presently he nodded his head.
+
+"I can call to mind everybody who sat round that table, where these
+things were laid out," he remarked, confidently. "There were two or
+three officials, like myself. There was our surgeon and Dr. Lorrimore.
+Two or three of the country gentlemen--all magistrates; all well known
+to me. And at the foot of the table there were a couple of reporters:
+I know them, too, well enough. Now, who, out of that lot, would be
+likely to steal--for that's what it comes to--this tobacco-box? A
+thing that had scarcely been mentioned--if at all--during the
+proceedings!"
+
+"Well, I don't know," I remarked. "But you're forgetting one thing,
+inspector. That's--curiosity!"
+
+He looked at me blankly--clearly, he did not understand. Neither, I
+saw, did Miss Raven.
+
+"There are some people," I continued, "who have an itching--perhaps a
+morbid--desire to collect and possess relics, mementoes of crime and
+criminals. I know a man who has a cabinet filled with such
+things--very proud of the fact that he owns a flute which once
+belonged to Charles Pease; a purse that was found on Frank Muller; a
+reputed riding-whip of Dick Turpin's and the like. How do you know
+that one or other of the various men who sat round the table you're
+talking of hasn't some such mania and appropriated the tobacco-box as
+a memento of the Ravensdene Court mania?"
+
+"I don't know," he replied. "But I don't think it likely: I know the
+lot of them, more or less, and I think they've all too much sense."
+
+"All the same, the thing's gone," I remarked. "And you'll excuse me
+for saying it--you're a bit concerned by its disappearance."
+
+"I am!" he said, frankly. "And I'll tell you why. It's just because no
+particular attention was drawn to it at the inquest. So far as I remember
+it was barely mentioned--if it was, it was only as one item, an
+insignificant one, amongst more important things; the money, the watch and
+chain, and so on. But--somebody--somebody there!--considered it of so
+much importance as to appropriate it. Therefore, it is--just what I
+thought it wasn't--a matter of moment. I ought to have taken more care
+about it, from the time Mr. Cazalette first drew my attention to those
+marks inside the lid."
+
+"You're sure that it was on the table at the inquest?" I suggested.
+
+"I'm sure of that," he replied with conviction, "for I distinctly
+remember laying out the various objects myself. When the inquest was
+over, I told the man you've just seen to put them all together and to
+seal the package when he brought it back here. No--that tobacco-box
+was picked up--stolen--off that table."
+
+"Then there's more in the matter than lies on the surface," said I.
+
+"Evidently," said he. He looked dubiously from Miss Raven to myself.
+"I suppose the old gentleman--Mr. Cazalette--is to be--trusted? I
+mean--you don't think that he's found out anything with his
+photography, and is keeping it dark?"
+
+"Miss Raven and myself," I replied, "know nothing whatever of Mr.
+Cazalette except that he is a famous authority on coins and medals, a
+very remarkable person for his age, and Mr. Raven's guest. As to his
+keeping the result of his investigations dark, I should say that no
+one could do that sort of thing better!"
+
+"Aye, so I guessed," muttered the inspector. "I wish he'd tell us,
+though, if he has discovered anything. But I suppose he'll take his
+time?"
+
+"Precisely," said I. "Men like Mr. Cazalette do. Time is regarded by
+men of his peculiar temperament in somewhat different fashion to the
+way in which we younger folk regard it--having come a long way along
+the road of life, they refuse to be hurried. Well--I suppose you'll
+make some inquiries about that box? By the way, if it's not a
+professional secret, have you heard any more of the affair at
+Saltash?"
+
+"They haven't found out another thing," he answered, with a shake of
+the head. "That's as big a mystery as this!
+
+"What do you think, from your standpoint, of the two affairs?" I
+asked, more for the delectation of Miss Raven than for my own
+satisfaction--I knew she was curious about the double mystery. "Have
+you formed any conclusion?"
+
+"I've thought a great deal about it," he replied. "It seems to me that
+the two brothers, Salter and Noah Quick, were men who had what's
+commonly called a past, and that there was some strange secret in
+it--probably one of money. I think that in their last days they were
+tracked, shadowed, whatever you like to call it, by some old
+associates of theirs, who murdered them in the expectation of getting
+hold of something--papers, or what not. And what I would like to know
+is--why did Salter Quick come down here, to this particular bit of the
+North Country?"
+
+"He said--to look for the graves of his ancestors on the mother's
+side, the Netherfields," I answered.
+
+"Aye, well!" remarked the inspector, almost triumphantly. "I know he
+did--but I've had the most careful inquires made. There isn't such a
+name in any churchyard of these parts. There isn't such a name in any
+parish register between Alnmouth Bay and Fenham Flats--and that's a
+pretty good stretch of country! I set to work on those investigations
+as soon as you told me about your first meeting with Salter Quick, and
+every beneficed clergyman and parish clerk in the district--and
+further afield--has been at work. The name of Netherfield is
+absolutely unknown--in the past or present."
+
+"And yet," suddenly broke in Miss Raven, "it was not Salter Quick
+alone who was seeking the graves of the Netherfields! There was
+another man."
+
+The inspector gave her an appreciative look.
+
+"The most mysterious feature of the whole case!" he exclaimed. "You're
+right, Miss Raven! There was another man--asking for the same
+information. Who was he! Where is he? If only I could clap a hand on
+him----"
+
+"You think you'd be clapping a hand on Salter Quick's murderer?" I
+said sharply.
+
+To my surprise he gave me an equally sharp look and shook his head.
+
+"I'm not at all sure of that, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered quietly.
+"Not at all sure! But I think I could get some information out of him
+that I should be very glad to secure."
+
+Miss Raven and I rose to leave; the inspector accompanied us to the
+door of the police-station. And as we were thanking him for his polite
+attentions, a man came along the street, and paused close by us,
+looking inquiringly at the building from which we had just emerged and
+at our companion's smart semi-uniform. Finally, as we were about to
+turn away, he touched his cap.
+
+"Begging your pardon," he said; "is this here the police office?"
+
+There was a suggestion in the man's tone which made me think that he
+had come there with a particular object, and I looked at him more
+attentively. He was a shortish, thick-set man, hound-faced, frank of
+eye and lip; no beauty, for he had a shock of sandy-red hair and three
+or four days' stubble on his cheeks and chin; yet his apparent
+frankness and a certain steadiness of gaze set him up as an honest
+fellow. His clothing was rough; there were bits of straw, hay, wood
+about it, as if he were well acquainted with farming life; in his
+right hand he carried a stout ash-plant stick.
+
+"You are right, my friend," answered the inspector. "It is! What are
+you wanting?"
+
+The man looked up the steps at his informant with a glance in which
+there was a decided sense of humour. Something in the situation seemed
+to amuse him.
+
+"You'll not know me," he replied. "My name's Beeman--James Beeman. I
+come fro' near York. I'm t' chap 'at were mentioned by one o' t'
+witnesses at t' inquest on that strange man 'at were murdered
+hereabouts. I should ha' called to see you about t' matter before now,
+but I've nobbut just come back into this part o' t' country; I been
+away up i' t' Cheviot Hills there."
+
+"Oh?" said the inspector. "And--what mention was made of you?"
+
+James Beeman showed a fine set of teeth in a grin that seemed to
+stretch completely across his homely face.
+
+"I'm t' chap 'at were spoken of as asking about t' graves o' t'
+Netherfield family," he answered. "You know--on t' roadside one night,
+off a fellow 'at I chanced to meet wi' outside Lesbury. That's who I
+am!"
+
+The inspector turned to Miss Raven and myself with a look which meant
+more than he could express in words.
+
+"Talk about coincidence!" he whispered. "This is the very man we'd
+just mentioned. Come back to my office and hear what he's got to tell.
+Follow me," he continued, beckoning the caller. "I'm much obliged to
+you for coming. Now," he continued, when all four of us were within
+his room. "What can you tell me about that? What do you know about the
+grave of the Netherfields?"
+
+Beeman laughed, shaking his round head. Now that his old hat was
+removed, the fiery hue of his poll was almost alarming in its
+crudeness of hue.
+
+"Nowt," he said. "Nowt at all! I'll tell you all about it--that's what
+I've comed here for, hearing as you were wondering who I was and what
+had come o' me. I come up here--yes, it were on t' sixth o' March--to
+see about some sheep stock for our maister, Mr. Dimbleby, and I put up
+for t' first night at a temp'rance i' Alnwick yonder. But of course,
+temp'rances is all right for sleeping and braikfasting, but nowt for
+owt else, so when I'd tea'd there, I went down t' street for a
+comfortable public, where I could smoke my pipe and have a glass or
+two. And while I was there, a man come in 'at, from his description
+i' t' papers, 'ud be this here fellow that were murdered. I didn't
+talk none to him, but, after a bit, I heard him talking to t'
+landlord. And, after a deal o' talk about fishing hereabouts, I heard
+him asking t' landlord, as seemed to be a gr't fisherman and knew all
+t' countryside, if he knew any places, churchyards, where there were
+Netherfields buried? He talked so much about 'em, 'at 't name got
+right fixed on my mind. T' next day I had business outside Alnwick, at
+one or two farms, and that night I made further north, to put up at
+Embleton. Now then, as I were walking that way, after dark I chanced
+in wi' a man near Lesbury, and walked wi' him a piece, and I asked
+him, finding he were a native, if he knew owt o' t' Netherfield
+graves. And that 'ud be t' man 'at tell'd you 'at he'd met such a
+person. All right!--I'm t' person.'
+
+"Then you merely asked the question out of curiosity?" suggested the
+inspector.
+
+"Aye--just 'cause I'd heard t' strange man inquire," assented Beeman.
+"I just wondered if it were some family o' what they call
+consequence."
+
+"You never saw the man again whom you speak of as having seen at
+Alnwick?" the inspector asked. "And had no direct conversation with
+him yourself?"
+
+"Never saw t' fellow again, nor had a word with him," replied Beeman.
+"He had his glass or two o' rum, and went away. But I reckon he was t'
+man who was murdered."
+
+"And where have you been, yourself, since the time you tell us about?"
+asked the inspector.
+
+"Right away across country," answered Beeman readily. "I went across
+to Chillingham and Wooler, then forrard to some farms i' t' Cheviots,
+and back by Alnham and Whittingham to Alnwick. And then I heard all
+about this affair, and so I thought good to come and tell you what bit
+I knew."
+
+"I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Beeman," said the inspector. "You've
+cleared up something, at any rate. Are you going to stay longer in the
+neighbourhood?"
+
+"I shall be here--leastways, at Alnwick yonder, at t' Temp'rance--for
+two or three days yet, while I've collected some sheep together 'at
+I've bowt for our maister, on one farm and another," replied Beeman.
+"Then I shall be away. But if you ever want me, at t' 'Sizes, or wot
+o' that sort, my directions is James Beeman, foreman to Mr. Thomas
+Dimbleby, Cross-houses Manor, York."
+
+When this candid and direct person had gone, the inspector looked at
+Miss Raven and me with glances that indicated a good deal.
+
+"That settles one point and seems to establish another," he remarked
+significantly. "Salter Quick was not murdered by somebody who had come
+into these parts on the same errand as himself. He was murdered by
+somebody who was--here already!"
+
+"And who met him?" I suggested.
+
+"And who met him," assented the inspector. "And now I'm more anxious
+than ever to know if there is anything in that tobacco-box theory of
+Mr. Cazalette's. Couldn't you young people cajole Mr. Cazalette into
+telling you a little? Surely he would oblige you, Miss Raven?"
+
+"There are moments when Mr. Cazalette is approachable," replied Miss
+Raven. "There are others at which I should as soon think of asking a
+question of the Sphinx."
+
+"Wait!" said I. "Mr. Cazalette, I firmly believe, knows something. And
+now--you know more than you did. One mystery has gone by the board."
+
+"It leaves the main one all the blacker," answered the inspector.
+"Who, of all the folk in these parts, is one to suspect? Yet--it would
+seem that Salter Quick found somebody here to whom his presence was so
+decidedly unwelcome that there was nothing for it but--swift and
+certain death! Why? Well--death ensures silence."
+
+Miss Raven and I took our leave for the second time. We walked some
+distance from the police-station before exchanging a word: I do not
+know what she was thinking of; as for myself, I was speculating on the
+change in my opinion brought about by the rough-and-ready statement of
+the brusque Yorkshireman. For until then I had firmly believed that
+the man who had accosted our friend of the Mariner's Joy, Jim
+Gelthwaite, the drover, was the man who had murdered Salter Quick. My
+notion was that this man, whoever he was, had foregathered somewhere
+with Quick, that they were known to each other, and had a common
+object, and that he had knifed Quick for purposes of his own. And now
+that idea was exploded, and so far as I could see, the search for the
+real assassin was yet to begin.
+
+Suddenly Miss Raven spoke.
+
+"I suppose it's scarcely possible that the murderer was present at
+that inquest?" she asked, half-timidly, as if afraid of my ridiculing
+her suggestion.
+
+"Quite possible," said I. "The place was packed to the doors with all
+sorts of people. But why?"
+
+"I thought perhaps that he might have contrived to abstract that
+tobacco-box, knowing that as long as it was in the hands of the police
+there might be some clue to his identity," she suggested.
+
+"Good notion!" I replied. "But there's just one thing against it. If
+the murderer had known that, if he felt that, he'd have secured the
+box when he searched Quick's clothing, as he undoubtedly did."
+
+"Of course!" she admitted. "I ought to have thought of that. But there
+are such a lot of things to think of in connection with this
+case--threads interwoven with each other."
+
+"You've been thinking much about it?" I asked.
+
+She made no reply for a moment, and I waited, wondering.
+
+"I don't think it's a very comfortable thing to know that one's had a
+particularly brutal murder at one's very door and that, for all one
+knows, the murderer may still be close at hand," she said at last.
+"There's such a disagreeable feeling of uneasiness about this affair.
+I know that Uncle Francis is most awfully upset by it."
+
+I looked at her in some surprise. I had not seen any marked signs of
+concern in Mr. Raven.
+
+"I hadn't observed that," I said.
+
+"Perhaps not," she answered. "But I know him better. He's an unusually
+nervous man. Do you know that since this happened he's taken to going
+round the house every night, examining doors and windows?--And--he's
+begun to carry a revolver."
+
+The last statement made me think. Why should Mr. Raven expect--or, if
+not expect, be afraid of, any attack on himself? But before I could
+make any comment on my companion's information, my attention to the
+subject was diverted. All that afternoon the weather had been
+threatening to break--there was thunder about. And now, with startling
+suddenness, a flash of lightning was followed by a sharp crack, and
+that on the instant by a heavy downpour of rain. I glanced at Miss
+Raven's light dress--early spring though it was, the weather had been
+warm for more than a week, and she had come out in things that would
+be soaked through in a moment. But just then we were close to an old
+red-brick house, which stood but a yard or two back from the road, and
+was divided from it by nothing but a strip of garden. It had a deep
+doorway, and without ceremony, I pushed open the little gate in front,
+and drew Miss Raven within its shelter. We had not stood there many
+seconds, our back to the door (which I never heard opened), when a
+soft mellifluous voice sounded close to my startled ear.
+
+"Will you not step inside and shelter from the storm?"
+
+Twisting round sharply, I found myself staring at the slit-like eyes
+and old parchment-hued face of a smiling Chinaman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+WAS IT A WOMAN?
+
+
+Had Miss Raven and I suddenly been caught up out of that little coast
+village and transported to the far East on a magic carpet, to be set
+down in the twinkling of an eye on some Oriental threshold, we could
+scarcely have been more surprised than we were at the sight of that
+bland, smiling countenance. For the moment I was at a loss to think
+who and what the man could be; he was in the dress of his own country,
+a neat, close-fitting, high-buttoned blue jacket; there was a little
+cap on his head, and a pigtail dependent from behind it--I was not
+sufficiently acquainted with Chinese costumes to gather any idea of
+his rank or position from these things--for aught I knew to the
+contrary, he might be a mandarin who, for some extraordinary reason,
+had found his way to this out-of-the-world spot. And my answer to his
+courteous invitation doubtless sounded confused and awkward.
+
+"Oh, thank you," I said, "pray don't let us put you to any trouble. If
+we may just stand under your porch a moment--"
+
+He stood a little aside, waving us politely into the hall behind him.
+
+"Dr. Lorrimore would be very angry with me if I allowed a lady and
+gentleman to stand in his door and did not invite them into his
+house," he said, in the same even, mellifluous tones. "Please to
+enter."
+
+"Oh, is this Dr. Lorrimore's?" I said. "Thank you--we'll come in. Is
+Dr. Lorrimore at home?"
+
+"Presently," he answered. "He is in the village."
+
+He closed the door as we entered, passed us with a bow, preceded us
+along the hall, and threw open the door of a room which looked out on
+a trim garden at the rear of the house. Still smiling and bland he
+invited us to be seated, and then, with another bow, left the room,
+apparently walking on velvet. Miss Raven and I glanced at each other.
+
+"So Dr. Lorrimore has a Chinese man servant?" she said.
+"How--picturesque!"
+
+"Um!" I muttered.
+
+She gave me a questioning, half-amused glance, and dropped her voice.
+
+"Don't you like--Easterns?" she whispered.
+
+"I like 'em in the East," I replied. "In Northumberland they
+don't--shall we say they don't fit in with the landscape."
+
+"I think he fits in--here," she retorted, looking round. "This is a
+bit Oriental."
+
+She was right in that. The room into which we had been ushered was
+certainly suggestive of what one had heard of India. There were fine
+Indian rugs on the floor; ivories and brasses in the cabinets; the
+curtains were of fabric that could only have come out of some Eastern
+bazaar; there was a faint, curious scent of sandal-wood and of dried
+rose-leaves. And on the mantelpiece, where, in English households, a
+marble clock generally stands, reposed a peculiarly ugly Hindu god,
+cross-legged, hideous of form, whose baleful eyes seemed to follow all
+our movements.
+
+"Yes," I admitted, reflectively. "I think he fits in--here. Dr.
+Lorrimore said he had been in India for some years, didn't he? He
+appears to have brought some of it home with him."
+
+"I suppose this is his drawing-room," said Miss Raven. "Now, if only
+it looked out on palm-trees, and--and all other things that one
+associates with India."
+
+"Just so," said I. "What it does look out on, however, is a typical
+English garden on which, at present, about a ton of rain is
+descending. And we are nearly three miles from Ravensdene Court!"
+
+"Oh, but it won't keep on like that, for long," she said. "And I suppose,
+if it does, that we can get some sort of a conveyance--perhaps, Dr.
+Lorrimore has a brougham that he'd lend us."
+
+"I don't think that's very likely," said I. "The country practitioner,
+I think, is more dependent on a bicycle than on a brougham. But here
+is Dr. Lorrimore."
+
+I had just caught sight of him as he entered his garden by a door set
+in its ivy-covered wall. He ran hastily up the path to the
+house--within a minute or two, divested of his mackintosh, he opened
+the door of our room.
+
+"So glad you were near enough to turn in here for shelter!" he
+exclaimed, shaking hands with us warmly. "I see that neither of you
+expected rain--now, I did, and I went out prepared."
+
+"We made for the first door we saw," said Miss Raven. "But we'd no
+idea it was yours, Dr. Lorrimore. And do tell me!--the Chinese," she
+continued, in a whisper. "Is he your man-servant?"
+
+Lorrimore laughed, rubbing his hands together. That day he was not in
+the solemn, raven-hued finery in which he had visited Ravensdene
+Court; instead he wore a suit of grey tweed, in which, I thought, he
+looked rather younger and less impressive than in black. But he was
+certainly no ordinary man, and as he stood there smiling at Miss
+Raven's eager face, I felt conscious that he was the sort of somewhat
+mysterious, rather elusive figure in which women would naturally be
+interested.
+
+"Man-servant!" he said, with another laugh. "He's all the servant I've
+got. Wing--he's too or three other monosyllabic patronymics, but Wing
+suffices--is an invaluable person. He's a model cook, valet,
+launderer, general factotum--there's nothing that he can't or won't
+do, from making the most perfect curries--I must have Mr. Raven to try
+them against the achievements of his man!--to taking care about the
+halfpennies, when he goes his round of the tradesmen. Oh, he's a
+treasure--I assure you, Miss Raven, you could go the round of this
+house, at any moment, without finding a thing out of place or a speck
+of dust in any corner. A model!"
+
+"You brought him from India, I suppose?" said I.
+
+"I brought him from India, yes," he answered. "He'd been with me for
+some time before I left. So, of course, we're thoroughly used to each
+other."
+
+"And does he really like living--here?" asked Miss Raven. "In such
+absolutely different surroundings?"
+
+"Oh, well, I think he's a pretty good old hand at making the best of the
+moment," laughed Lorrimore. "He's a philosopher. Deep--inscrutable--in
+short, he's Chinese. He has his own notions of happiness. At present he's
+supremely happy in getting you some tea--you mightn't think it, but that
+saffron-faced Eastern can make an English plum-cake that would put the
+swellest London pastry-cook to shame! You must try it!"
+
+The Chinaman presently summoned us to tea, which he had laid out in
+another room--obviously Lorrimore's dining-room. There was nothing
+Oriental in that; rather, it was eminently Victorian, an affair of
+heavy furniture, steel engravings, and an array, on the sideboard, of
+what, I suppose, was old family plate. Wing ushered us and his master
+in with due ceremony and left us; when the door had closed on him,
+Lorrimore gave us an arch glance.
+
+"You see how readily and skilfully that chap adapts himself to the
+needs of the moment," he said. "Now, you mightn't think it, but this
+is the very first time I have ever been honoured with visitors to
+afternoon tea. Observe how Wing immediately falls in with English
+taste and custom! Without a word from me, out comes the silver
+tea-pot, the best china, the finest linen! He produces his choicest
+plum-cake; the bread-and-butter is cut with wafer-like thinness; and
+the tea--ah, well, no Englishwoman, Miss Raven, can make tea as a
+Chinese man-servant can!"
+
+"It's quite plain that you've got a treasure in your house, Dr.
+Lorrimore," said Miss Raven. "But then, the Chinese are very clever,
+aren't they?"
+
+"Very remarkable people, indeed," assented our host. "Shrewd,
+observant, penetrative. I have often wondered if this man of mine
+would find any great difficulty in seeing through a brick wall!"
+
+"He would be a useful person, perhaps, in solving the present
+mystery," said I. "The police seem to have got no further."
+
+"Ah, the Quick business?" remarked Lorrimore. "Um!--well, as regards
+that, it seems to me that whatever light is thrown on it will have to
+be thrown from the other angle--from Devonport. From all that I heard
+and gathered, it's very evident that what is really wanted is a strict
+examination into the immediate happenings at Noah Quick's inn, and
+also into the antecedents of Noah and Salter. But is there anything
+fresh?"
+
+I told him, briefly, all that had happened that afternoon--of the
+information given by James Beeman and of the disappearance of the
+tobacco-box.
+
+"That's odd!" he remarked. "Let's see--it was the old gentleman I saw
+at Ravensdene Court who had some fancy about that box, wasn't it?--Mr.
+Cazalette. What was his idea, now?"
+
+"Mr. Cazalette," I replied, "saw, or fancied he saw, certain marks or
+scratches within the lid of the box which he took to have some
+meaning: they were, he believed, made with design--with some purpose.
+He thought that by photographing them, and then enlarging his
+photograph, he would bring out those marks more clearly, and possibly
+find out what they were really meant for."
+
+"Yes?" said Lorrimore. "Well--what has he discovered?"
+
+"Up to now nobody knows," said Miss Raven. "Mr. Cazalette won't tell
+us anything."
+
+"That looks as if he had discovered something," observed Lorrimore.
+"But--old gentlemen are a little queer, and a little vain. Perhaps
+he's suddenly going to let loose a tremendous theory and wants to
+perfect it before he speaks. Oh, well!" he added, almost
+indifferently, "I've known a good many murder mysteries in my
+time--out in India--and I always found that the really good way of
+getting at the bottom of them was to go right back!--as far back as
+possible. If I were the police in charge of these cases, I should put
+one question down before me and do nothing until I'd exhausted every
+effort to solve it."
+
+"And that would be--what?" I asked.
+
+"This," said he. "What were the antecedents of Noah and Salter Quick?"
+
+"You think they had a past?" suggested Miss Raven.
+
+"Everybody has a past," answered Lorrimore. "It may be this; it may be
+that. But nearly all the problems of the present have their origin and
+solution in the past. Find out what and where those two middle-aged
+men had been, in their time!--and then there'll be a chance to work
+forward."
+
+The rain cleared off soon after we had finished tea, and presently
+Miss Raven and I took our leave. Lorrimore informed us that Mr. Raven
+had asked him to dinner on the following evening; he would accordingly
+see us again very soon.
+
+"It will be quite an event for me!" he said, gaily, as he opened his
+garden gate. "I live like an anchorite in this place. A little--a
+very little practice--the folk are scandalously healthy!--and a great
+deal of scientific investigation--that's my lot."
+
+"But you have a treasure of a servant," observed Miss Raven. "Please
+tell him that his plum-cake was perfection."
+
+The Chinaman was just then standing at the open door, in waiting on
+his master. Miss Raven threw him a laughing nod to which he responded
+with a deep bow--we left them with that curious picture in our minds:
+Lorrimore, essentially English in spite of his long residence in the
+East; the Chinaman, bland, suave, smiling.
+
+"A curious pair and a strange combination!" I remarked as we walked
+away. "That house, at any rate, has a plenitude of brain-power in it.
+What amazes me is that a clever chap like Master Wing should be
+content to bury his talents in a foreign place, out of the world--to
+make curries and plum-cake!"
+
+"Perhaps he has a faithful devotion to his master," said Miss Raven.
+"Anyway, it's very romantic, and picturesque, and that sort of thing,
+to find a real live Chinaman in an English village--I wonder if the
+poor man gets teased about his queer clothes and his pigtail?"
+
+"Didn't Lorrimore say he was a philosopher?" said I. "Therefore he'll
+be indifferent to criticism. I dare say he doesn't go about much."
+
+That the Chinaman was not quite a recluse, however, I discovered a day
+or two later, when, going along the headlands for a solitary stroll
+after a stiff day's work in the library, I turned into the Mariner's
+Joy for a glass of Claigue's undeniably good ale. Wing was just coming
+out of the house as I entered it. He was as neat, as bland, and as
+smiling as when I saw him before; he was still in his blue jacket, his
+little cap. But he was now armed with a very large umbrella, and on
+one arm he carried a basket, filled with small parcels; evidently he
+had been on a shopping expedition. He greeted me with a deep obeisance
+and respectful smile and went on his way--I entered the inn and found
+its landlord alone in his bar-parlour.
+
+"You get some queer customers in here, Mr. Claigue," I observed as he
+attended to my modest wants. "Yet it's not often, I should think, that
+a real live Chinaman walks in on you."
+
+"He's been in two or three times, that one," replied Claigue.
+"Chinaman he is, no doubt, sir, but it strikes me he must know as much
+of this country as he knows of his own, for he speaks our tongue like
+a native--a bit soft and mincing-like, but never at a loss for a word.
+Dr. Lorrimore's servant, I understand."
+
+"He has been in Dr. Lorrimore's service for some years," I answered.
+"No doubt he's had abundant opportunities of picking up the language.
+Still--it's an odd sight to see a Chinaman, pigtail and all, in these
+parts, isn't it?"
+
+"Well, I've had all sorts in here, time and again," replied Claigue
+reflectively. "Sailor men, mostly. But," he added, with a meaning
+look, "of all the lot, that poor chap as got knifed the other week was
+the most mysterious! What do you make of it, sir?"
+
+"I don't know what to make of it," said I. "I don't think anybody
+knows what to make of it. The police don't, anyhow!"
+
+"The police!" he exclaimed, with a note of derision. "Yah! they're
+worse than a parcel of old women! Have they ever tried? Just a bit of
+surface inquiry--and the thing slips past. Of course, the man was a
+stranger. Nobody cares; that's about it. My notion is that the police
+don't care the value of that match whether the thing's ever cleared up
+or not. Nine days' wonder, you know, Mr. Middlebrook. Still--there's a
+deal of talk about."
+
+"I suppose you hear a good deal in this parlour of yours?" I
+suggested.
+
+"Nights--yes," he said. "A murder's always a good subject of
+conversation. At first, those who come in here of an evening--regular
+set there, in from the village at the back of the cliffs--they could
+talk of naught else, starting first this and that theory. It's died
+down a good deal, to be sure--there's been naught new to start it
+afresh, on another tack--but there is some talk, even now."
+
+"And what's the general opinion?" I inquired. "I suppose there is
+one?"
+
+"Aye, well, I couldn't say that there's a general opinion," he
+answered. "There's a many opinions. And some queer notions, too!"
+
+"Such as what?" I asked.
+
+"Well," said he, with a laugh, as if he thought the suggestion
+ridiculous, "there's one that comes nearer being what you might call
+general than any of the others. There's a party of the older men that
+come here who're dead certain that Quick was murdered by a woman!"
+
+"A woman!" I exclaimed. "Whatever makes them think that?"
+
+"Those footmarks," answered Claigue. "You'll remember, Mr.
+Middlebrook, that there were two sets of prints in the sand
+thereabouts. One was certainly Quick's--they fitted his boots. The
+other was very light--delicate, you might call 'em--made, without
+doubt, by some light-footed person. Well, some of the folk hereabouts
+went along to Kernwick Cove the day of the murder, and looked at those
+prints. They say the lighter ones were made by a woman."
+
+I let my recollections go back to the morning on which I had found
+Quick lying dead on the patch of yellow sand.
+
+"Of course," I said, reflectively, "those marks are gone, now."
+
+"Gone? Aye!" exclaimed Claigue. "Long since. There's been a good many
+tides washed over that spot since this, Mr. Middlebrook. But they
+haven't washed out the fact that a man's life was let out there! And
+whether it was man or woman that stuck that knife into the poor
+fellow's shoulders, it'll come out, some day."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," said I. "There's a goodly percentage of
+unsolved mysteries of that kind."
+
+"Well, I believe in the old saying," he declared. "Murder will out!
+What I don't like is the notion that the murderer may be walking about
+this quarter, free, unsuspected. Why, I may ha' served him with a
+glass of beer! What's to prevent it? Murderers don't carry a label on
+their foreheads!"
+
+"What do you think the police ought to do--or ought to have done?" I
+asked.
+
+"I think they should ha' started working backward," he replied, with
+decision. "I read all I could lay hands on in the newspapers, and I
+came to the conclusion that there was a secret behind those two men.
+Come! two brothers murdered on the same night--hundreds of miles
+apart! That's no common crime, Mr Middlebrook. Who were these two
+men--Noah and Salter Quick? What was their past history? That's what
+the police ought to ha' busied themselves with. If they lost or
+couldn't pick up the scent here, they should ha' tried far back. Go
+backward they should--if they want to go forward."
+
+That was the second time I had heard that advice, and I returned to
+Ravensdene Court reflecting on it. Certainly it was sensible. Who,
+after all, were Noah and Salter Quick--what was their life-story. I
+was wondering how that could be brought to light, when, having dressed
+for dinner, and I was going downstairs, Mr. Cazalette's door opened
+and he quietly drew me inside his room.
+
+"Middlebrook!" he whispered--though he had carefully shut the
+door--"you're a sensible lad, and I'll acquaint you with a matter.
+This very morning, as I was taking my bit of a dip, my pocket-book was
+stolen out of the jacket that I'd left on the shore. Stolen,
+Middlebrook!"
+
+"Was there anything of great value in it?" I asked.
+
+"Aye, there was!" answered Mr. Cazalette. "There was that in it which,
+in my opinion, might be some sort of a clue to the real truth about
+yon man's murder!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE ENLARGED PHOTOGRAPH
+
+
+I was dimly conscious, in a vague, uncertain fashion, that Mr.
+Cazalette was going to tell me secrets; that I was about to hear
+something which would explain his own somewhat mysterious doings on
+the morning of the murder; a half-excited, anticipating curiosity rose
+in me. I think he saw it, for he signed to me to sit down in an easy
+chair close by his bed; he himself, a queer, odd figure in his quaint,
+old-fashioned clothes, perched himself on the edge of the bed.
+
+"Sit you down, Middlebrook," he said. "We've some time yet before
+dinner, and I'm wanting to talk to you--in private, you'll bear in
+mind. There's things I know that I'm not willing--as yet--to tell to
+everybody. But I'll tell them to you, Middlebrook--for you're a
+sensible young fellow, and we'll take a bit of counsel together.
+Aye--there was that in my pocket-book that might be--I'll not say
+positively that it was, but that it might be--a clue to the identity
+of the man that murdered yon Salter Quick, and I'm sorry now that I've
+lost it and didn't take more care of it. But man! who'd ha' thought
+that I'd have my pocket-book stolen from under my very nose! And
+that's a convincing proof that there's uncommonly sharp and clever
+criminals around us in these parts, Middlebrook."
+
+"You lost your pocket-book while you were bathing, Mr. Cazalette?" I
+asked, wishful to know all his details.
+
+He turned on his bed, pointing to a venerable Norfork jacket which
+hung on a peg in a recess by the washstand. I knew it well enough: I
+had often seen him in it first thing of a morning.
+
+"It's my custom," said he, "to array myself in that old coatie when I
+go for my bit dip, you see--it's thick and it's warm, and I've had it
+twenty years or more--good tweed it is, and homespun. And whenever
+I've gone out here of a morning, I've put my pocket-book in the inside
+pocket, and laid the coat itself and the rest o' my scanty attire on
+the bank there down at Kernwick Cove while I went in the water. And I
+did that very same thing this morning--and when I came to my clothes
+again, the pocket-book was gone!"
+
+"You saw nobody about?" I suggested.
+
+"Nobody," said he. "But Lord, man, I know how easy it was to do the
+thing! You'll bear in mind that on the right hand side of that cove
+the plantation comes right down to the edge of the bit of cliff--well,
+a man lurking amongst the shrubs and undergrowth 'ud have nothing to
+do but reach his arm to the bank, draw my coatie to his nefarious
+self, and abstract my property. And by the time I was on dry land
+again, and wanting my garments, he'd be a quarter of a mile away!"
+
+"And--the clue?" I asked.
+
+He edged a little nearer to me, and dropped his voice still lower.
+
+"I'm telling you," he said. "Now you'll let your mind go back to the
+morning whereon you found yon man Quick lying dead and murdered on the
+sand? And you'll remember that before ever you were down at the place,
+I'd been there before you. You'll wonder how it comes about that I
+didn't find what you found, but then, there's a many big rocks and
+boulders standing well up on that beach, and its very evident that the
+corpse was obscured from my view by one or other and maybe more of
+'em. Anyway, I didn't find Salter Quick--but I did find something that
+maybe--mind, I'm saying maybe, Middlebrook--had to do with his
+murder."
+
+"What, Mr. Cazalette?" I asked, though I knew well enough what it was.
+I wanted him to say, and have done with it; his circumlocution was
+getting wearisome. But he was one of those old men who won't allow
+their cattle to be hurried, and he went on in his long-winded way.
+
+"You'll be aware," he continued, "that there's a deal of gorse and
+bramble growing right down to the very edge of the coast thereabouts,
+Middlebrook. Scrub--that sort o' thing. The stuff that if it catches
+anything loose, anything protruding from say, the pocket of a garment,
+'ll lay hold and stick to it. Aye, well, on one of those bushes, gorse
+or bramble I cannot rightly say which, just within the entrance to the
+plantation, I saw, fluttering in the morning breeze that came sharp
+and refreshing off the face of the water, a handkerchief. And there
+was two sorts o' stains on it--caused in the one case by mud--the
+soft mud of the adjacent beach--and in the other by blood. A smear of
+blood--as if somebody had wiped blood off his fingers, you'll
+understand. But it was not that, not the blood, made me give my
+particular attention to the thing, which I'd picked off with my thumb
+and finger. It was that I saw at once that this was no common man's
+property, for there was a crest woven into one corner, and a monogram
+of initials underneath it, and the stuff itself was a sort that I'm
+unfamiliar with--it wasn't linen, though it looked like it, and it
+wasn't silk, for I'm well acquainted with that fabric--maybe it was a
+mixture of the two, but it had not been woven or made in any British
+factory: the thing, Middlebrook, was of foreign origin."
+
+"What were the markings you speak of?" I asked.
+
+"Well, I tell you there was a crest; anyhow it was a coronet, or that
+make of a thing," he answered. "Woven in one corner--I mean worked in
+by hand. And the letters beneath it were a V and a de--small, that
+last--and a C. Man! that handkerchief was the property of some man of
+quality! And the stains being wet--the mud-stains, at any rate, though
+the smear of blood was dry--I gathered that it had been but recently
+deposited, by accident, where I found it. I reckoned it up this way,
+d'ye see, Middlebrook--the man who'd left it there had used it on the
+beach--maybe he'd cut his toe, bathing, or something o' that sort, or
+likely a cut finger, gathering a shell or a fossil--and had thrust it
+carelessly into a side-pocket, for a thorn to catch hold of as he
+passed. But there it was, and there I found it."
+
+"And what did you do with it, Mr. Cazalette?" I inquired with seeming
+innocence.
+
+"I'm telling you," he replied. "I had no knowledge, you're aware, of
+what lay behind me on the sands: I just thought it a queer thing that
+a man of quality's handkerchief should be there. And I slipped it
+among my towels, to bring along wi' me to the house here. But I'm
+whiles given to absent-mindedness, and not liking that I should put
+the blood-stained thing down on my dressing-table there and cause the
+maids to wonder, I thrust it into a hedge as I was passing along, till
+I could go back and examine it at my leisure. And when I'd got myself
+dressed, I went back and took it, and put it in a stout envelope into
+my pocket--and then you came along, Middlebrook, with your story of
+the murder, and I saw then that before saying a word to anybody, I'd
+keep my own counsel and examine that thing more carefully. And man
+alive! I've no doubt whatever that the man who left the handkerchief
+behind him was the man who knifed Salter Quick."
+
+"I gather, from all you've said, that the handkerchief was in the
+pocket-book you had stolen this morning?" I suggested.
+
+"You're right in that," said he. "Oh, it was! Wrapped up in a bit of
+oiled paper, and in an envelope, sealed down and attested in my
+handwriting, Middlebrook--date and particulars of my discovery of it,
+all in order. Aye, and there was more. Letters and papers of my own,
+to be sure, and a trifle money--bank-notes. But there was yet another
+thing that, in view of all we know, may be a serious thing to have
+fall into the hands of ill-doers. A print, Middlebrook, of the
+enlarged photograph I got of the inside of the lid of yon dead man's
+tobacco-box!"
+
+He regarded me with intense seriousness as he made this announcement,
+and not knowing exactly what to say, I remained silent.
+
+"Aye!" he continued. "And it's my distinct and solemn belief that it's
+that the thief was after! Ye see, Middlebrook, it's been spoken
+of--not widely noised abroad, as you might say, but still spoken of,
+and things spread, that I was keenly interested in those marks,
+scratches, whatever they were, on the inside of that lid, and got the
+police to let me make a photograph, and it's my impression that
+there's somebody about who's been keenly anxious to know what results
+I obtained."
+
+"You really think so?" said I. "Why--who could there be?"
+
+"Aye, man, and who could there be, wi' a crest and monogram on his
+kerchief, that 'ud murder yon man the secret way he has?" he retorted,
+answering my incredulous look with one of triumph. "Tell me that, my
+laddie! I'm telling you, Middlebrook, that this was no common murder
+any more than the murder of the man's own brother down yonder at
+Saltash, which is a Cornish riverside place, and a good four or five
+hundred miles away, was a common, ordinary crime! Man! we're living in
+the very midst of a mystery--and that there's bloody-minded, aye, and
+bloody-handed men, maybe within our gates, but surely close by us, is
+as certain to me as that I'm looking at you!"
+
+"I thought you believed that Salter Quick's murderer was miles away
+before ever Salter Quick was cold?" I observed.
+
+"I did--and I've changed my mind," he answered. "I'm not thinking it
+any more, and all the less since I was robbed of my venerable
+pocket-book, with those two exhibits o' the crime in its wame. The
+murderer is about! and though he mayn't have thought to get his
+handkerchief, he may have hoped that he'd secure some result o' my
+labours in the photographic line."
+
+"Mr. Cazalette!" said I, "what were the results of your labours? I
+don't suppose that the print which was in your pocket-book was the
+only one you possess?"
+
+"You're right there," he replied. "It wasn't. If the thief thought he
+was securing something unique, he was mistaken. But--I didn't want
+him, or anybody, to get hold of even one print, for as sure as we're
+living men, Middlebrook, what was on the inside of that lid was--a key
+to something!"
+
+"You forget that the tobacco-box itself has been stolen from the
+police's keeping," I reminded him.
+
+"And I don't forget anything of the sort," he retorted. "And the fact
+you've mentioned makes me all the more assured, my man, that what I
+say is correct! There's him, or there's them--in all likelihood it's
+the plural--that's uncommonly anxious, feverishly anxious, to get hold
+of that key that I suspicion. What were Salter Quick's pockets turned
+out for? What were the man's clothes slashed and hacked for? Why did
+whoever slew Noah Quick at Saltash treat the man in similar fashion?
+It wasn't money the two men were murdered for!--no, it was for
+information, a secret! Or, as I put it before, the key to something."
+
+"And you believe, really and truly, that this key is in the marks or
+scratches or whatever they are on the lid of the tobacco-box?" I
+asked.
+
+"Aye, I do!" he exclaimed. "And what's more, Middlebrook, I believe
+I'm a doited old fool! If I'd contrived to get a good, careful,
+penetrating look at that box, without saying anything to the police, I
+should ha' shown some common-sense. But like the blithering old idiot
+that I am, I spoke my thoughts aloud before a company, and I made a
+present of an idea to these miscreants. Until I said what I did, the
+murderous gang that knifed yon two men hadn't a notion that Salter
+Quick carried a key in his tobacco-box! Now--they know."
+
+"You don't mean to suggest that any of the murderers were present when
+you asked permission to photograph the box!" I exclaimed.
+"Impossible!"
+
+"There's very few impossibilities in this world, Middlebrook," he
+answered. "I'm not saying that any of the gang were present in Raven's
+outhouse yonder, where they carried the poor fellow's body, but there
+were a dozen or more men heard what I said to the police-inspector,
+like the old fool I was, and saw me taking my photograph. And men
+talk--no matter of what degree they are."
+
+"Mr. Cazalette," said I, "I'd just like to see your results."
+
+He got off his bed at that, and going over to a chest of drawers,
+unlocked one, and took out a writing-case, from which he presently
+extracted a sheet of cardboard, whereon he had mounted a photograph,
+beneath which, on the cardboard, were some lines of explanatory
+writing in its fine, angular style of caligraphy. This he placed in my
+hand without a word, watching me silently as I looked at it.
+
+I could make nothing of the thing. It looked to me like a series--a
+very small one--of meaningless scratches, evidently made with the
+point of a knife, or even by a strong pin on the surface of the metal.
+Certainly, the marks were there, and, equally certainly, they looked
+to have been made with some intent--but what did they mean?
+
+"What d'ye make of it, lad?" he inquired after awhile. "Anything?"
+
+"Nothing, Mr. Cazalette!" I replied. "Nothing whatever."
+
+"Aye, well, and to be candid, neither do I," he confessed. "And yet,
+I'm certain there's something in it. Take another look--and consider
+it carefully."
+
+I looked again--this is what there was to look at: mere lines, and at
+the foot of the photograph, Mr. Cazalette's explanatory notes and
+suggestions: I sat studying this for a few moments. "I make nothing of
+it. It seems to be a plan. But of what?"
+
+"It is a plan, Middlebrook," he answered. "A plan of some place. But
+there I'm done! What place? Somebody that's in the secret, to a
+certain point, might know--but who else could? I've speculated a deal
+on the meaning and significance of those lines and marks, but without
+success. Yet--they're the key to something."
+
+"Probably to some place that Salter Quick knew of," I suggested.
+
+"Aye, and that somebody else wants to know of!" he exclaimed. "But
+what place, and where?"
+
+"He was asking after a churchyard," said I, suddenly remembering
+Quick's questions to me and his evident eagerness to acquire
+knowledge. "This may be a rude drawing of a corner of it."
+
+"Aye, and he wanted the graves of the Netherfields," remarked Mr.
+Cazalette, dryly. "And I've made myself assured of the fact that there
+isn't a Netherfield buried anywhere about this region! No, it's my
+belief that this is a key to some spot in foreign parts, and that
+there's those who are anxious to get hold of it that they'll not
+stop--and haven't stopped--at murder. And now--they've got it!"
+
+"They've got--or somebody's got--your pocket-book," I answered. "But
+really, you know, Mr. Cazalette, this, and the handkerchief, mayn't
+have been the thief's object. You see, it must be pretty well known
+that you go down there to bathe every morning, and are in the habit of
+leaving your clothes about--and, well there may be those who're not
+particularly honest even in these Arcadian solitudes."
+
+"No--I'm not with you, Middlebrook!" he said. "Somewhere around us
+there's what I say--crafty and bloody murderers! But ye'll keep all
+this to yourself for awhile, and----"
+
+Just then the dinner-bell rang, and he put the photographic print
+away, and we went downstairs together. That was the evening on which
+Dr. Lorrimore was to dine with us--we found him in the hall, talking
+to Mr. Raven and his niece. Joining them, we found that their subject
+of conversation was the same that had just engaged Mr. Cazalette and
+myself--the tobacco-box. It turned out that the police-inspector had
+been round to Lorrimore's house, inquiring if Lorrimore, who, with the
+police-surgeon, had occupied a seat at the table whereon the Quick
+relics were laid out at the inquest, had noticed that now missing and
+consequently all-important object.
+
+"Of course I saw it!" remarked Lorrimore, narrating this. "I told him
+I not only saw it, but handled it--so, too, did several other
+people--Mr. Cazalette there had drawn attention to the thing when we
+were examining the dead man, and there was some curiosity about it."
+(Here Mr. Cazalette, standing close by me, nudged my elbow, to remind
+me of what he had just said upstairs.) "And I told the inspector
+something else, or, rather, put him in mind of something he'd
+evidently forgotten," continued Lorrimore. "That inquest, or, to be
+precise, the adjourned inquest, was attended by a good many strangers,
+who had evidently been attracted by mere curiosity. There were a lot
+of people there who certainly did not belong to this neighbourhood.
+And when the proceedings were over, they came crowding round that
+table, morbidly inquisitive about the dead man's belongings. What
+easier, as I said to the inspector, than for some one of them--perhaps
+a curio-hunter--to quietly pick up that box and make off with it?
+There are people who'd give a good deal to lay hold of a souvenir of
+that sort."
+
+Mr. Raven muttered something about no accounting for tastes, and we
+went in to dinner, and began to talk of less gruesome things.
+Lorrimore was a brilliant and accomplished conversationalist, and the
+time passed pleasantly until, as we men were lingering a little over
+our wine, and Miss Raven was softly playing the piano in the adjoining
+drawing-room, the butler came in and whispered to his master. Raven
+turned an astonished face to the rest of us.
+
+"There's the police-inspector here now," he said, "and with him a
+detective--from Devonport. They are anxious to see me--and you,
+Middlebrook. The detective has something to tell."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE YELLOW SEA
+
+
+I am not sure which, or how many, of us sitting at that table had ever
+come into personal contact with a detective--I myself had never met
+one in my life!--but I am sure that Mr. Raven's announcement that
+there was a real live one close at hand immediately excited much
+curiosity. Miss Raven, in the adjoining room, the door of which was
+open, caught her uncle's last words, and came in, expectantly--I think
+she, like most of us, wondered what sort of being we were about to
+see. And possibly there was a shade of disappointment on her face when
+the police-inspector walked in followed, not by the secret, subtle,
+sleuth-hound-like person she had perhaps expected, but by a little,
+rotund, rather merry-faced man who looked more like a prosperous
+cheesemonger or successful draper than an emissary of justice: he was
+just the sort of person you would naturally expect to see with an
+apron round his comfortable waist-line or a pencil stuck in his ear
+and who was given to rubbing his fat, white hands--he rubbed them now
+and smiled, wholesale, as his companion led him forward.
+
+"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Raven," said the inspector with an
+apologetic bow, "but we are anxious to have a little talk with you and
+Mr. Middlebrook. This is Mr. Scarterfield--from the police at
+Devonport. Mr. Scarterfield has been in charge of the investigations
+about the affair--Noah Quick, you know--down there, and he has come
+here to make some further inquiries."
+
+Mr. Raven murmured some commonplace about being glad to see his
+visitors, and, with his usual hospitality, offered them refreshment.
+We made room for them at the table at which we were sitting, and some
+of us, I think, were impatient to hear what Mr. Scarterfield had to
+tell. But the detective was evidently one of those men who readily
+adapt themselves to whatever company they are thrown into, and he
+betrayed no eagerness to get to business until he had lighted one of
+Mr. Raven's cigars and pledged Mr. Raven in a whisky and soda. Then,
+equipped and at his ease, he turned a friendly, all-embracing smile on
+the rest of us.
+
+"Which," he asked, looking from one to the other, "which of these
+gentlemen is Mr. Middlebrook?"
+
+The general turning of several pairs of eyes in my direction gave him
+the information he wanted--we exchanged nods.
+
+"It was you who found Salter Quick?" he suggested. "And who met him,
+the previous day, on the cliffs hereabouts, and went with him into the
+Mariner's Joy?"
+
+"Quite correct," said I. "All that!"
+
+"I have read up everything that appeared in print in connection with
+the Salter Quick affair," he remarked. "It has, of course, a bearing
+on the Noah Quick business. Whatever is of interest in the one is of
+interest in the other."
+
+"You think the two affairs one really--eh?" inquired Mr. Raven.
+
+"One!" declared Scarterfield. "The object of the man who murdered Noah
+was the same object as that of the man who murdered Salter. The two
+murderers are, without doubt, members of a gang. But what gang, and
+what object--ah! that's just what I don't know yet!"
+
+What we were all curious about, of course, was--what did he know that
+we did not already know? And I think he saw in what direction our
+thoughts were turning, for he presently leaned forward on the table
+and looked around the expectant faces as if to command our attention.
+
+"I had better tell you how far my investigations have gone," he said
+quietly. "Then we shall know precisely where we are, and from what
+point we can, perhaps, make a new departure, now that I have come
+here. I was put in charge of this case--at least of the Saltash
+murder--from the first. There's no need for me to go into the details
+of that now, because I take it that you have all read them, or quite
+sufficient of them. Now, when the news about Salter Quick came
+through, it seemed to me that the first thing to do was to find out a
+very pertinent thing--who were the brothers Quick? What were their
+antecedents? What was in their past, the immediate or distant past,
+likely to lead up to these crimes? A pretty stiff proposition, as you
+may readily guess! For, you must remember, each was a man of mystery.
+No one in our quarter knew anything more of Noah Quick than that he
+had come to Devonport some little time previous, taken over the
+license of the Admiral Parker, conducted his house very well, and had
+the reputation of being a quiet, close, reserved sort of man who was
+making money. As to Salter, nobody knew anything except that he had
+been visiting Noah for some time. Family ties, the two men evidently
+have none!--not a soul has come forward to claim relationship.
+And--there has been wide publicity."
+
+"Do you think Quick was the real name?" asked Mr. Cazalette, who from
+the first had been listening with rapt attention. "Mayn't it have been
+an assumed name?"
+
+"Well, sir," replied Scarterfield, "I thought of that. But you must
+remember that full descriptions of the two brothers appeared in the
+press, and that portraits of both were printed alongside. Nobody came
+forward, recognizing them. And there has been a powerful, a most
+powerful, inducement for their relations to appear, never mind whether
+they were Quick, or Brown, or Smith, or Robinson,--the most powerful
+inducement we could think of!"
+
+"Aye!" said Mr. Cazalette. "And that was----"
+
+"Money!" answered the detective. "Money! If these men left any
+relations--sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces--it's in the interest of
+these relations to come into the light, for there's money awaiting
+them. That's well known--I had it noised abroad in the papers, and let
+it be freely talked of in town. But, as I say, nobody's come along. I
+firmly believe, now, that these two hadn't a blood relation in the
+world--a queer thing, but it seems to be so."
+
+"And--this money?" I asked. "Is it much?"
+
+"That was one of the first things I went for," answered Scarterfield.
+"Naturally, when a man comes to the end which Noah Quick met with,
+inquiries are made of his solicitors and his bankers. Noah had both in
+our parts. The solicitors knew nothing about him except that he had
+employed them now and then in trifling matters, and that of late he
+had made a will in which, in brief fashion, he left everything of
+which he died possessed to his brother Salter, whose address he gave
+as being the same as his own; about the same time they had made a will
+for Salter, in which he bequeathed everything he had to Noah. But as
+to the antecedents of Noah and Salter--nothing! Then I approached the
+bankers. There I got more information. When Noah Quick first went to
+Devonport he deposited a considerable sum of money with one of the
+leading banks at Plymouth, and at the time of his death he had several
+thousand pounds lying there to his credit: his bankers also had charge
+of valuable securities of his. On Salter Quick's coming to the Admiral
+Parker, Noah introduced him to this bank: Salter deposited there a sum
+of about two thousand pounds, and of that he had only withdrawn about
+a hundred. So he, too, at the time of his death, had a large balance;
+also, he left with the bankers, for safe keeping, some valuable scrip
+and securities, chiefly of Indian railways. Altogether, those bankers
+hold a lot of money that belongs to the two brothers, and there are
+certain indications that they made their money--previous to coming to
+Devonport--in the far East. But the bankers know no more of their
+antecedents than the solicitors do. In both instances--banking matters
+and legal matters--the two men seem to have confined their words to
+strict business, and no more; the only man I have come across who can
+give me the faintest idea of anything respecting their past is a
+regular frequenter of the Admiral Parker who says that he once
+gathered from Salter Quick that he and Noah were natives of
+Rotherhithe, or somewhere in that part, and that they were orphans and
+the last of their lot."
+
+"Of course, you have been to Rotherhithe--making inquiries?" suggested
+Mr. Raven.
+
+"I have, sir," replied Scarterfield. "And I searched various parish
+registers there, and found nothing that helped me. If the two brothers
+did live at Rotherhithe, they must have been taken there as children
+and born elsewhere--they weren't born in Rotherhithe parish. Nor could
+I come across anybody at all who knew anything of them in seafaring
+circles thereabouts. I came to the conclusion that whoever those two
+men were, and whatever they had been, most of their lives had been
+spent away from this country."
+
+"Probably in the far East, as you previously suggested," muttered Mr.
+Cazalette.
+
+"Likely!" agreed Scarterfield. "Their money would seem to have been
+made there, judging by, at any rate, some of their securities. Well,
+there's more ways than one of finding things out, and after I'd
+knocked round a good deal of Thames' side, and been in some queer
+places, I turned my attention to Lloyds. Now, connected with Lloyds,
+are various publications having to do with shipping matters--the
+'Weekly Shipping Index,' the 'Confidential Index,' for instance;
+moreover, with time and patience, you can find out a great deal at
+Lloyds not only about ships, but about men in them. And to cut a long
+story short, gentlemen, last week I did at last get a clue about Noah
+and Salter Quick which I now mean to follow up for all it's worth."
+
+Here the detective, suddenly assuming a more business-like air than he
+had previously shown, paused, to produce from his breast-pocket a
+small bundle of papers, which he laid before him on the table. I
+suppose we all gazed at them as if they suggested deep and dark
+mystery--but for the time being Scarterfield let them lie idle where
+he had placed them.
+
+"I'll have to tell the story in a sort of sequence," he continued.
+"This is what I have pieced together from the information I collected
+at Lloyds. In October, 1907, now nearly five years ago, a certain
+steam ship, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, left Hong-Kong, in Southern
+China, for Chemulpo, one of the principal ports in Korea. She was
+spoken in the Yellow Sea several days later. After that she was never
+heard of again, and according to the information available at Lloyds
+she probably went down in a typhoon in the Yellow Sea and was totally
+lost, with all hands on board. No great matter, perhaps!--from all
+that I could gather she was nothing but a tramp steamer that did, so
+to speak, odd jobs anywhere between India and China; she had gone to
+Hong-Kong from Singapore: her owners were small folk in Singapore, and
+I imagine that she had seen a good deal of active service. All the
+same, she's of considerable interest to me, for I have managed to
+secure a list of the names of the men who were on her when she left
+Hong-Kong for Chemulpo--and amongst those names are those of the two
+men we're concerned about: Noah and Salter Quick."
+
+Scarterfield slipped off the india-rubber band which confined his
+papers, and selecting one, slowly unfolded it. Mr. Raven spoke.
+
+"I understood that this ship, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, was lost with
+all hands?" he said.
+
+"So she is set down at Lloyds," replied Scarterfield. "Never heard of
+again--after being spoken in the Yellow Sea about three days from
+Chemulpo."
+
+"Yet--Noah and Salter Quick were on her--and were living five years
+later?" suggested Mr. Raven.
+
+"Just so, sir!" agreed Scarterfield, dryly. "Therefore, if Noah and
+Salter Quick were on her, and as they were alive until recently,
+either the _Elizabeth Robinson_ did not go down in a typhoon, or from
+any other reason, or--the brothers Quick escaped. But here is a list
+of the men who were aboard when she sailed from Hong-Kong. She was, I
+have already told you, a low-down tramp steamer, evidently picking up
+a precarious living between one far Eastern port and another--a small
+vessel. Her list includes a master, or captain, and a crew of
+eighteen--I needn't trouble you with their names, except in two
+instances, which I'll refer to presently. But here are the names of
+Noah Quick, Salter Quick--set down as passengers. Passengers!--not
+members of the crew. Nothing in the list of the crew strikes me but
+the two names I spoke of, and that I'll now refer to. The first name
+will have an interest for Mr. Middlebrook. It's Netherfield."
+
+"Netherfield!" I exclaimed. "The name----"
+
+"That Salter Quick asked you particular questions about when he met
+you on the headlands, Mr. Middlebrook," answered Scarterfield, with a
+knowing look, "and that he was very anxious to get some news of
+William Netherfield, deck-hand, of Blyth, Northumberland--that's the
+name on the list of those who were aboard the _Elizabeth Robinson_
+when she went out of Hong-Kong--and disappeared forever!"
+
+"Of Blyth?" remarked Mr. Cazalette. "Um!--Blyth lies some miles to the
+southward."
+
+"I'm aware of it, sir," said Scarterfield, "and I propose to visit the
+place when I have made certain inquiries about this region. But I hope
+you appreciate the extraordinary coincidence, gentlemen? In October,
+1907, Salter Quick is on a tramp steamer in the Yellow Sea in company,
+more or less intimate, with a sailor-man from Blyth, in
+Northumberland, whose name is Netherfield: in March, 1912, he is on
+the sea-coast near Alnmouth, asking anxiously if anybody knows of a
+churchyard or churchyards in these parts where people of the name of
+Netherfield are buried? Why? What had the man Netherfield who was with
+Salter Quick in Chinese waters in 1907 got to do with Salter Quick's
+presence here five years later?"
+
+Nobody attempted to answer these questions, and presently I put one
+for myself.
+
+"You spoke of two names on the list as striking you with some
+significance," I said. "Netherfield is one. What is the other?"
+
+"That of a Chinaman," he replied promptly, referring to his
+documents. "Set down as cook--I'm told most of those coasting steamers
+in that part of the world carry Chinamen as cooks. Chuh Fen--that's
+the name. And why it's significant to me, when all the rest aren't, is
+this--during the course of my inquiries at Lloyds, I learnt that about
+three years ago a certain Chinaman, calling himself Chuh Fen, dropped
+in at Lloyds and was very anxious to know if the steamer _Elizabeth
+Robinson_, which sailed from Hong-Kong for Chemulpo in October, 1907,
+ever arrived at its destination? He was given the same information
+that was afforded me, and on getting it went away, silent. Now
+then--was this man, this Chinaman, the Chuh Fen who turned up in
+London, the same Chuh Fen who was on the _Elizabeth Robinson_? If so,
+how did he escape a shipwreck which evidently happened? And why--if
+there was no shipwreck, and something else took place of which we have
+no knowledge--did he want to know, after two years' lapse of time, if
+the ship did really get to Chemulpo?"
+
+There was a slight pause then, suddenly broken by Dr. Lorrimore, who
+then spoke for the first time.
+
+"Do you know what all this is suggesting to me?" he exclaimed, nodding
+at Scarterfield. "Something happened on that ship! It may be that
+there was no shipwreck, as you said just now--something may have taken
+place of which we have no knowledge. But one fact comes out
+clearly--whether the _Elizabeth Robinson_ ever reached any port or
+not, it's very evident--nay, certain!--that Noah and Salter Quick did.
+And--considering the inquiry he made at Lloyds--so did the Chinaman,
+Chuh Fen. Now--what could those three have told about the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_?"
+
+No one made any remark on that, until Scarterfield remarked softly:
+
+"I wish I had chanced to be at Lloyds when Chuh Fen called there!
+But--that's three years ago, and Chuh Fen may be--where?"
+
+Something impelled Miss Raven and myself to glance at Dr. Lorrimore.
+He nodded--he knew what we were thinking of. And he turned to
+Scarterfield.
+
+"I happen," he said, "to have a Chinaman in my employ at present--one
+Wing, a very clever man. He has been with me for some years--I brought
+him from India, when I came home recently. An astute chap, like----"
+
+He paused suddenly; the detective had turned a suddenly interested
+glance on him.
+
+"You live hereabouts, sir?" he asked. "I--I don't think I've caught
+your name?"
+
+"Dr. Lorrimore--our neighbour," said Mr. Raven hurriedly. "Close by."
+
+I think Lorrimore saw what had suddenly come into Scarterfield's mind.
+He laughed, a little cynically.
+
+"Don't get the idea, or suspicion, formed or half-fledged, that my man
+Wing had anything to do with the murder of Salter Quick!" he said. "I
+can vouch for him and his movements--I know where he was on the night
+of the murder. What I was thinking of was this--Wing is a man of
+infinite resource and of superior brains. He might be of use to you in
+tracing this Chuh Fen, if Chuh Fen is in England. When Wing and I
+were in London--we were there for some time after I returned from
+India, previous to my coming down here--Wing paid a good many visits
+to his fellow Chinamen in the East End, Limehouse way; he also had a
+holiday in Liverpool and another at Swansea and Cardiff, where, I am
+told, there are Chinese settlements. And I happen to know that he
+carries on an extensive correspondence with his compatriots. If you
+think he could give you any information, Mr. Scarterfield----"
+
+"I'd like to have a talk with him, certainly," responded the
+detective, with some eagerness. "I know a bit about these chaps--some
+of them can see through a brick wall!"
+
+Lorrimore turned to Mr. Raven.
+
+"If your coachman could run across with the dog-cart, or anything
+handy," he said, "and would tell Wing that I want him, here, he'd be
+with me at once. And he may be able to suggest something--I know that
+before he came to me--I picked him up in Bombay--he had knocked about
+the ports of Southern China a great deal."
+
+"Come with me and give my coachman instructions," said Mr. Raven.
+"He'll run over to your place in ten minutes; and while we are
+discussing this affair we may as well have as much light as we can get
+on it."
+
+He and Lorrimore left the room together; when they returned, the
+conversation reverted to a discussion of possible ways and means of
+finding out more about the antecedents of the Quicks. Half an hour
+passed in this--fruitlessly; then the door was quietly opened and
+behind the somewhat pompous figure of the butler I saw the bland,
+obsequious smile of the Chinaman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE FIVE CONCLUSIONS
+
+
+We who sat round that table during the next hour or so must have made a
+strange group. Mr. Raven, always a little nervous and flustered in manner;
+his niece, fresh and eager, in her pretty dinner dress, a curious contrast
+to the antiquated garb and parchment face of old Cazalette, who sat by
+her, watchful and doubting; the officialdom-suggesting figure of the
+police-inspector, erect and rigid in his close-fitting uniform; the
+detective, rubicund and confident, though of what one scarcely knew;
+Lorrimore and myself, keen listeners and watchers, and last, but not by
+any means the least notable, the bland, suave Chinaman in his neat native
+dress, sitting modestly in the background, inscrutable as an image carved
+out of ivory. I do not know what the rest thought, but it lay in my own
+mind that if there was one man in that room who might be trusted to find
+his way out of the maze in which we were wandering, that man was Dr.
+Lorrimore's servant.
+
+It was Lorrimore who, at the detective's request, explained to Wing
+why we had sent for him. The Chinaman nodded a grave assent when
+reminded of the Salter Quick affair--evidently he knew all about it.
+And--if one really could detect anything at all in so carefully-veiled
+a countenance--I thought I detected an increased watchfulness in his
+eyes when Scarterfield began to ask him questions arising out of what
+Lorrimore had said.
+
+"There is evidence," began the detective, "that this man Salter Quick,
+and his brother Noah Quick, were mixed up in some affair that had
+connection with a trading steamer, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, believed
+to have been lost in the Yellow Sea, between Hong-Kong and Chemulpo,
+in October 1907. On board that steamer was a certain Chinaman, who,
+two years later, turned up in London. Now, Dr. Lorrimore tells me that
+when you and he were in London, some little time ago, you spent a good
+deal of time amongst your own people in the East End, and that you
+also visited some of them in Liverpool, Cardiff, and Swansea. So I
+want to ask you--did you ever hear, in any of these quarters, of a man
+named Chuh Fen? Here--in London--two years after the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_ affair--that's three years back from now."
+
+The Chinaman moved his head very slightly.
+
+"No," he answered. "Not in London--nor in England. But I knew a man
+named Chuh Fen ten, eleven, years ago, before I went to Bombay and
+entered my present service."
+
+"Where did you know him?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Two--perhaps three places," said Wing. "Singapore, Penang, perhaps
+Rangoon, too. I remember him."
+
+"What was he?"
+
+"A cook--very good cook."
+
+"Would you be surprised to hear of his being in England three years
+ago?"
+
+"Not at all. Many Chinamen come here. I myself--why not others? If
+Chuh Fen came here, three years ago, perhaps he came as cook on some
+ship trading from China or Burma. Then--go back again."
+
+"I wonder if he did!" muttered the detective. "Still," he continued,
+turning to Wing, "a lot of your people when they come here, stop,
+don't they?"
+
+"Many stop in this country," said Wing.
+
+"Laundry business, eating-houses, groceries, and so on?" suggested
+Scarterfield. "And chiefly in the places I've mentioned, eh?--the East
+End of London, Liverpool, and the two big Welsh towns? Now, I want to
+ask you a question. This man I'm talking of, Chuh Fen, was certainly
+in London three years ago. Are there places and people in London where
+one could get to hear of him?"
+
+"Where I could get to hear of him--yes," answered Wing.
+
+"You say--where you could get to hear of him," remarked Scarterfield.
+"Does that mean that you would get information which I shouldn't get?"
+
+The very faintest ghost of a smile showed itself in the wrinkles about
+the Chinaman's eyes. He inclined his head a little, politely, and
+Lorrimore stepped into the arena.
+
+"What Wing means is that being a Chinaman himself, naturally he could
+get news of a fellow-Chinaman from fellow-Chinamen where you, an
+Englishman, wouldn't get any at all!" he said with a laugh. "I dare
+say that if you, Mr. Scarterfield, went down Limehouse way seeking
+particulars about Chuh Fen, you'd be met with blank faces and stopped
+ears."
+
+"That's just what I'm suggesting, doctor," answered the detective,
+good-humouredly. "I'll put the thing in a nutshell--my profound belief
+is that if we want to get at the bottom of these two murders we've got
+to go back a long way, to the _Elizabeth Robinson_ time, and that Chuh
+Fen is the only person I've heard of, up to now, who can throw a light
+on that episode. And it seems to me, to be plain about it, that Mr.
+Wing there could be extremely useful."
+
+"How?" asked Lorrimore. "He's at your service, I'm sure."
+
+"Well, by finding out if this Chuh Fen, when he was here, three years
+since, made any revelations to his Chinese brethren in Limehouse or
+elsewhere," replied Scarterfield. "He may have known something about
+the brothers Quick and concerning that _Elizabeth Robinson_ affair
+that would help immensely. Any little thing!--a mere scrap of
+information--just a bit of chance gossip--a hint--you don't know how
+valuable these things are. The mere germ of a clue--you know!"
+
+"I know," said Lorrimore. He turned to his servant and addressed him
+in some strange tongue in which Wing at once responded: for some
+minutes they talked together, volubly: then Lorrimore looked round at
+Scarterfield.
+
+"Wing says that if Chuh Fen was in London three years ago he can
+engage to find out how long he was here, whence he came and why, and
+where he went," he said. "I gather that there's a sort of freemasonry
+amongst these men--naturally, they seek each other out in strange
+lands, and there are places in London and the other parts to which a
+Chinaman resorts if he happens to land in England. This he can do for
+you--he's no doubt of it."
+
+"There's another thing," said Scarterfield. "If Chuh Fen is still in
+England--as he may be--can he find him?"
+
+Wing's smooth countenance, on hearing this, showed some sign of
+animation. Instead of replying to the detective, he again addressed
+his master in the foreign tongue. Lorrimore nodded and turned to
+Scarterfield with a slightly cynical smile.
+
+"He says that if Chuh Fen is anywhere in England he can lay hands on
+him, quickly," said Lorrimore. "But--he adds that it might not be at
+all convenient to Chuh Fen to come into the full light of day: Chuh
+Fen may have reasons of his own for desiring strict privacy."
+
+"I take you!" said Scarterfield, with a wink. "All right, doctor! If
+Mr. Wing can unearth Mr. Chuh Fen and that mysterious gentleman can
+give me a tip, I'll respect his privacy! So now--do we get at
+something? Do I understand that your man will help us by trying to
+find out some particulars of Chuh Fen, or laying hands on Chuh Fen
+himself? All expenses defrayed, you know," he went on, turning to
+Wing, "and a handsome remuneration if it leads to results. And--follow
+your own plans! I know you Chinamen are smart and deep at this sort of
+thing!"
+
+"Leave it to him," said Lorrimore. "To him and to me. If there's news
+to be had of this man Chuh Fen, he'll get it."
+
+"Then that is something done!" exclaimed Scarterfield, rubbing his
+hands. "Good!--I like to see even a bit of progress. But now, while
+I'm here, and while we're at business--and I hope this young lady
+doesn't find it dull business!--there's another matter. The inspector
+tells me there have been alarums and excursions about a certain
+tobacco-box which was found on Salter Quick, that Mr. Cazalette--you,
+sir, I think--had had various experiments in connection with it, and
+that the thing has been stolen. Now, I want to know all about
+that!--who can tell me most?"
+
+Mr. Cazalette was sitting between Miss Raven and myself; I leaned
+close to him and whispered, feeling that now was the time to bring
+every known fact to light.
+
+"Tell all--all--you told me just before dinner!" I urged upon him.
+"Table the whole pack of cards: let us get at something--now!"
+
+He hesitated, looking half-suspiciously from one to the other of those
+opposite.
+
+"D'ye think I'd be well advised, Middlebrook?" he whispered. "Is it
+wise policy to show all the cards you're holding?"
+
+"In this case, yes!" I said. "Tell everything!"
+
+"Well," he said. "Maybe. But--it's on your advice, you'll remember,
+and I'm not sure this is the time, nor just the company. However--"
+
+So, for the second time that day, Mr. Cazalette told the story of the
+tobacco-box and of his pocket-book, and produced his photograph. It
+came as a surprise to all there but myself, and I saw that Mr. Raven
+in particular was much perturbed by the story of the theft that
+morning. I knew what he was thinking--the criminal or criminals were
+much too close at hand. He cut in now and then with a question--but
+the detective listened in grim, absorbed silence.
+
+"Now, you know, this is really about the most serious and important
+thing I've heard, so far," he said, when Mr. Cazalette had finished.
+"Just let's sum it up. Salter Quick is murdered in a strange and
+lonely place. Not for his goods, for all his money and his
+valuables--not inconsiderable--are found on him. But the murderer was
+in search of something that he believed to be on Salter Quick, for he
+thoroughly searched his clothing, slashed its linings, turned his
+pockets out--and probably, no, we may safely say certainly, failed in
+his search. He did not get what he was after--any more than his
+fellow-murderer who slew Noah Quick, some hundreds of miles away from
+here, about the very same time, got what he was after. But now comes
+in Mr. Cazalette. Mr. Cazalette, inadvertently, never thinking what he
+was doing, draws public attention to certain marks and scratches,
+evidently made on purpose, in Salter Quick's tobacco-box. Do you see
+my point, gentlemen? The murderer hears of this and says to himself,
+'That box is the thing I want!' So--he appropriates it, at the
+inquest! But even then, so faint and almost illegible are the marks
+within the lid, he doesn't find exactly what he wants. But he knows
+that Mr. Cazalette was going to submit his photograph to an enlarging
+process, which would make the marks clearer; he also knows Mr.
+Cazalette's habits (a highly significant fact!) so he sets himself to
+steal Mr. Cazalette's pocket-book, theorizing that Mr. Cazalette
+probably has a copy of the enlarged photograph within it. And, this
+morning, while Mr. Cazalette is bathing, he gets it! Gentlemen!--what
+does this show? One thing as a certainty--the murderer is close at
+hand!"
+
+There was a dead silence--broken at last by a querulous murmur from
+Mr. Cazalette himself.
+
+"Ye may be as sure o' that, my man, as that Arthur's Seat o'erlooks
+Edinbro'!" he said. "I wish I was as sure o' his identity!"
+
+"Well, we know something that's gradually bringing us toward
+establishing that," remarked Scarterfield. "Let me see that photograph
+again, if you please."
+
+The rest of us watched Scarterfield as he studied the thing over which
+Mr. Cazalette and I had exercised our brains in the half-hour before
+dinner. He seemed to get no more information from a long perusal of it
+than we had got, and he finally threw it away from him across the
+table, with a muttered exclamation which confessed discomfiture. Miss
+Raven picked up the photograph.
+
+"Aye!" mumbled Mr. Cazalette. "Let the lassie look at it! Maybe a
+woman's brains is more use than a man's whiles."
+
+"Often!" said the detective. "And if Miss Raven can make anything of
+that----"
+
+I saw that Miss Raven was already wishful to speak, and I hastened to
+encourage her by throwing a word to Scarterfield.
+
+"You'd be infinitely obliged to her, I'm sure," I put in. "It would be
+a help?"
+
+"No slight one!" said he. "There's something in that diagram.
+But--what?"
+
+Miss Raven, timid, and a little shy of concentrated attention, laid
+the photograph again on the table.
+
+"Don't--don't you think there may be some explanation of this in what
+Salter Quick said to Mr. Middlebrook when they met on the cliffs?" she
+asked. "He told Mr. Middlebrook that he wanted to find a churchyard
+where there were graves of people named Netherfield, but he didn't
+know exactly where it was, though it was somewhere in this locality.
+Now supposing this is a rough outline of that churchyard? These outer
+lines may be the wall--then these little marks may show the situation
+of the Netherfield graves. And that cross in the corner--perhaps there
+is something buried, hidden, there, which Salter Quick wanted to
+find?"
+
+The detective uttered a sharp exclamation and snatched up the
+photograph again.
+
+"Good! Good!" he said. "Upon my word, I shouldn't wonder! To be sure,
+that may be it. What's against it?"
+
+"This," remarked Mr. Cazalette solemnly. "That there isn't anybody of
+the name of Netherfield buried between Alnmouth and Budle Bay! That's
+a fact."
+
+"Established," added the police-inspector, "by as an exhaustive
+inquiry as anybody could make. It is a fact--as Mr. Cazalette says."
+
+"Well," observed Scarterfield, "but Salter Quick may have been wrong
+in his locality. You can be sure of this--whatever secret he held was
+got from somebody else. He may have been twenty, thirty, even fifty
+miles out. But we know something--the Netherfield who was with him on
+the _Elizabeth Robinson_ hailed from Blyth, in this county. I'm going
+to Blyth myself--tomorrow; I'll find out if there are Netherfields
+buried about there. Personally, I believe Miss Raven's hit the nail on
+the head--this is a rough chart of a spot Salter Quick wanted to
+find--where, no doubt, something is hidden. What? Who knows?
+But--judging from the fact that two men have been murdered for the
+secret of it--something of great value. Buried treasure, no doubt."
+
+"That's precisely what I've been thinking from the very first,"
+murmured Mr. Cazalette. "And ye'll have to go back--to go back, my
+man!"
+
+"It's certainly the only way of going forward," agreed Scarterfield
+with a laugh. "But now, before we part, gentlemen, let us see where
+we've got to. I, for myself, have drawn five distinct conclusions
+about this affair:
+
+"_First_--That the Quicks, Noah and Salter, were in possession of a
+secret, which was probably connected with their shipmate of the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_, Netherfield, who hailed from Blyth;
+
+"_Second_--That certain men knew the Quicks to be in possession of
+that secret and murdered both to get hold of it;
+
+"_Third_--That they failed to get it from either Noah or Salter;
+
+"_Fourth_--That Mr. Cazalette's zeal about the tobacco-box, publicly
+expressed, put the criminals on a new scent, and that they, in
+pursuance of it, stole both the tobacco-box and Mr. Cazalette's
+pocket-book;
+
+"_Fifth_--That the criminals are--or were very recently, in fact, this
+very morning--in the vicinity of this place.
+
+"So," he continued, looking round, "the thing's narrowing. Let Mr.
+Wing there help by getting some news of Chuh Fen, if possible; as for
+me, I'm going to follow up the Netherfield line. I think we shall
+track these fellows yet--you never know how unexpectedly a clue may
+turn up."
+
+"You've not said anything about the handkerchief that I found,"
+observed Mr. Cazalette. "There's a clue, surely!"
+
+"Difficult to follow up, sir," replied Scarterfield. "There is such a
+thing as little articles of that sort being lost at the laundry, put
+into the wrong basket, and so on. Now if we could trace the owner of
+the handkerchief and find where he gets his washing done, and a great
+deal more--you see? But we'll not lose sight of it, Mr.
+Cazalette--only, there are more important clues than that to go on in
+the meantime. The great thing is--what was this precious secret that
+the Quicks shared, and that certainly had to do with some place here
+in Northumberland? Let's get at that--if we can."
+
+The two police officials went away with Dr. Lorrimore and his servant,
+all in deep converse, and the four of us who were left behind
+endeavoured to settle our minds for the repose of the night. But I saw
+that Mr. Raven had been upset by the recent talk: he had got it firmly
+fixed in his consciousness that the murderer of Salter Quick was, as
+it were, in our very midst.
+
+"How do I know that the guilty man mayn't be one of my own servants?"
+he muttered, as he, Mr. Cazalette and I took up our candles. "There
+are six men in the house--all strangers to me--and several employed
+outside. The idea's deucedly unpleasant!"
+
+"Ye may put it clear away from you, Raven," said Mr. Cazalette. "The
+murderer may be within bow-shot, but he's none o' yours. Ye'll look
+deeper, far, far deeper than that--this is no ordinary affair, and no
+ordinary men at the bottom of it." Then, when he and I had left our
+host, and were going along one of the upstairs passages towards our
+own rooms, he added: "No ordinary man, Middlebrook! but you see how
+ordinary folk are suspicioned! Raven'll be doubting the _bona fides_
+of his own footmen and his own garden lads next. No--no! it'll be
+deeper down than that, my lad!"
+
+"The mystery is deep," I agreed.
+
+"Aye--and I'm wondering if it was well to let yon Chinese fellow into
+all of it," he muttered significantly. "I'm no great believer in
+Orientals, Middlebrook."
+
+"Lorrimore answers for him," said I.
+
+"And who answers for Lorrimore?" he demanded. "What do you or I know
+of Lorrimore? I'm thinking yon Lorrimore was far too glib of his
+tongue--and maybe I was too ready myself and talked beyond reason to
+strangers. I don't know Lorrimore--nor his Chinaman."
+
+From which I gathered that Mr. Cazalette himself was not superior to
+suspicions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NETHERFIELD BAXTER
+
+
+However Mr. Raven's nerves may have been wrung by the mysterious
+events which found place around his recently acquired possessions,
+nothing untoward or disturbing occurred at Ravensdene Court itself at
+that time. Indeed, had it not been for what we heard from outside, and
+for such doings as the visit of the inspector and Scarterfield, the
+daily life under Mr. Raven's roof would have been regular and decorous
+almost to the point of monotony. We were all engaged in our respective
+avocations--Mr. Cazalette with his coins and medals; I with my books
+and papers; Mr. Raven with his steward, his gardeners, and his various
+potterings about the estate; Miss Raven with her flowers and her golf.
+Certainly there was relaxation--and in taking it, we sorted out each
+other. Mr. Raven and Mr. Cazalette made common cause of an afternoon;
+they were of that period of life--despite the gulf of twenty years
+between them--when lounging in comfortable chairs under old cedar
+trees on a sunlit lawn is preferable to active exercise; Miss Raven
+and I being younger, found our diversion in golf and in occasional
+explorations of the surrounding country. She had a touch of the
+nomadic instinct in her; so had I; the neighbourhood was new to both;
+we began to find great pleasure in setting out on some excursion as
+soon as lunch was over and prolonging our wanderings until the falling
+shadows warned us that it was time to make for home. What these
+pilgrimages led to--in more ways than one--will eventually appear.
+
+We heard nothing of Scarterfield, the detective, nor of Wing, pressed
+into his service, for some days after the consultation in Mr. Raven's
+dining-room. Then, as we were breakfasting one morning, the post-bag
+was brought in, and Mr. Raven, opening it, presently handed me a
+letter in an unfamiliar handwriting, the envelope of which bore the
+post-mark Blyth. I guessed, of course, that it was from Scarterfield,
+and immediately began to wonder what on earth made him write to me.
+But there it was--he had written, and here is what he wrote:
+
+                                               "NORTH SEA HOTEL,
+
+                                          "BLYTH, NORTHUMBERLAND
+
+                                                 "April 23, 1912
+
+     "_Dear Sir:_
+
+     "You will remember that when we were discussing matters the
+     other night round Mr. Raven's table I mentioned that I
+     intended visiting this town in order to make some inquiries
+     about the man Netherfield who was with the brothers Quick on
+     the _Elizabeth Robinson_. I have been here two days, and I
+     have made some very curious discoveries. And I am now
+     writing to ask you if you could so far oblige and help me in
+     my investigations as to join me here for a day or two, at
+     once? The fact is, I want your assistance--I understand that
+     you are an expert in deciphering documents and the like, and
+     I have come across certain things here in connection with
+     this case which are beyond me. I can assure you that if you
+     could make it convenient to spare me even a few hours of
+     your valuable time you would put me under great obligations
+     to you.
+
+                            "Yours truly,
+
+                                 "THOMAS SCARTERFIELD."
+
+I read this letter twice over before handing it to Mr. Raven. Its
+perusal seemed to excite him.
+
+"Bless me!" he exclaimed. "How very extraordinary! What strange
+mysteries we seem to be living amongst? You'll go, of course,
+Middlebrook?"
+
+"You think I should?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, certainly, certainly!" he said with emphasis. "If any of us can
+do anything to solve this strange problem, I think we should. Of
+course, one hasn't the faintest idea what it is that the man wants.
+But from what I observed of him the other evening, I should say that
+Scarterfield is a clever fellow--a very clever fellow who should be
+helped."
+
+"Scarterfield," I remarked, glancing at Miss Raven and at Mr.
+Cazalette, who were manifesting curiosity, "has made some discoveries
+at Blyth--about the Netherfield man--and he wants me to go over there
+and help him--to elucidate something, I think, but what it is, I don't
+know."
+
+"Oh, of course, you must go!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "How exciting! Mr.
+Cazalette! aren't you jealous already?"
+
+"No, but I'm curious," answered Mr. Cazalette, to whom I had passed
+the letter. "I see the man wants something deciphered--aye, that'll be
+in your line, Middlebrook. Didn't I tell all of you, all along, that
+there'd be more in this business than met the eye? Well, I'll be
+inquisitive to know what new developments have arisen! It's a strange
+fact, but it is a fact, that in affairs of this sort there's often
+evidence, circumstantial, strong, lying ready to be picked up. Next
+door, as it were--and as it is evidently in this case, for Blyth's a
+town that's not so far away."
+
+Far away or near away, it took me some hours to get to Blyth, for I
+had to drive to Alnwick, and later to change at Morpeth, and again at
+Newsham. But there I was at last, in the middle of the afternoon, and
+there, on the platform to meet me was the detective, as rubicund and
+cheerful as ever, and full of gratitude for my speedy response to his
+request.
+
+"I got your telegram, Mr. Middlebrook," he remarked as we walked away
+from the station, "and I've booked you the most comfortable room I
+could get in the hotel, which is a nice quiet house where we'll be
+able to talk in privacy, for barring you and myself there's nobody
+stopping in it, except a few commercial travellers, and to be sure,
+they've their own quarters. You'll have had your lunch?"
+
+"While I waited at Morpeth," I answered.
+
+"Aye," he said, "I figured on that. So we'll just get into a corner of
+the smoking-room and have a quiet glass over a cigar, and I'll tell
+you what I've made out here--and a very strange and queer tale it is,
+and one that's worth hearing, whether it really has to do with our
+affair or no!"
+
+"You're not sure that it has?" I asked.
+
+"I'm as sure as may be that it probably has!" he replied. "But still,
+there's a gulf between extreme probability and absolute certainty
+that's a bit wider than the unthinking reckon for. However, here we
+are--and we'll just get comfortable."
+
+Scarterfield's ideas of comfort, I found, were to dispose himself in
+the easiest of chairs in the quietest of corners with whisky and soda
+on one hand and a box of cigars on the other--this sort of thing he
+evidently regarded as a proper relaxation from his severe mental
+labours. I had no objection to it myself after four hours slow
+travelling--yet I confess I felt keenly impatient until he had mixed
+our drinks, lighted his cigar and settled down at my elbow.
+
+"Now," he said confidentially, "I'll set it all out in order--what
+I've done and found out since I came here two days ago. There's no
+need, Mr. Middlebrook, to go into detail about how I set to work to
+get information: we've our own ways and methods of getting hold of
+stuff when we strike a strange town. But you know what I came here
+for. There's been talk, all through this case, of the name
+Netherfield--from the questions that Salter Quick put to you when you
+met him on the cliffs, and from what was said at the Mariner's Joy.
+Very good--now I fell across that name, too, in my investigations in
+London, as being the name of a man who was on the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_, of uncertain memory, lost or disappeared in the year 1907,
+with the two Quicks. He was set down, that Netherfield, as being of
+Blyth, Northumberland. Clearly, then, Blyth was a place to get in
+touch with--and here in Blyth we are!"
+
+"A clear bit of preface, Scarterfield," said I approvingly. "Go ahead!
+I'm bearing in mind that you've been here forty-eight hours."
+
+"I've made good use of my time!" he chuckled, with a knowing grin.
+"Although I say it myself, Mr. Middlebrook, I'm a bit of a hustler.
+Well, self-praise, they say, is no recommendation, though to be sure
+I'm no believer in that old proverb, for, after all, who knows a man
+better than himself? So we'll get to the story. I came here, of
+course, to see if I could learn anything of a man of this place who
+answered to what I had already learnt about Netherfield of the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_. I went to the likely people for news, and I very
+soon found out something. Nobody knew anything of any man, old or
+young, named William Netherfield, belonging, present or past, to this
+town. But a good many people--most, if not all people--do know of a
+man who used to be in much evidence here some years ago; a man of the
+name of Netherfield Baxter."
+
+"Netherfield Baxter," I repeated. "Not a name to be readily
+forgotten--once known."
+
+"He's not forgotten," said Scarterfield, grimly, "and he was well
+enough known, here, once upon a time, and not so long since, either.
+And now, who was Netherfield Baxter? Well, he was the only child of an
+old tradesman of this town, whose wife died when Netherfield was a
+mere boy, and who died himself when his son was only seventeen years
+of age. Old Baxter was a remarkably foolish man. He left all he had to
+this lad--some twelve thousand pounds--in such a fashion that he came
+into absolute, uncontrolled possession of it on attaining his
+twenty-first birthday. Now then you can imagine what happened! My
+young gentleman, nobody to say him nay, no father, mother, sister,
+brother, to restrain him or give him a word in season--or a hearty
+kicking, which would have been more to the purpose!--went the pace,
+pretty considerably. Horses, cards, champagne--you know! The twelve
+thousand began to melt like wax in a fire. He carried on longer than
+was expected, for now and then he had luck on the race-course; won a
+good deal once, I heard, on the big race at Newcastle--what they call
+the Pitman's Darby. But it went--all of it went!--and by the beginning
+of the year 1904--bear the date in mind, Mr. Middlebrook--Netherfield
+Baxter was just about on his last legs--he was, in fact, living from
+hand to mouth. He was then--I've been particular about collecting
+facts and statistics--just twenty-nine years of age, so, one way or
+another, he'd made his little fortune last him eight years; he still
+had good clothes--a very taking, good-looking fellow he was, they
+say--and he'd a decent lodging. But in spring 1904 he was living on
+the proceeds of chance betting, and was sometimes very low down, and
+in May of that year he disappeared, in startlingly sudden fashion,
+without saying a word to anybody, and since then nobody has ever seen
+a vestige or ever heard a word of him."
+
+Scarterfield paused, looking at me as if to ask what I thought of it.
+I thought a good deal of it.
+
+"A very interesting bit of life-drama, Scarterfield," said I. "And
+there have been far stranger things than it would be if this
+Netherfield Baxter of Blyth turned out to be the William Netherfield
+of the _Elizabeth Robinson_. You haven't hit on anything in the shape
+of a bridge, a connecting link between the two?"
+
+"Not yet, anyway," he answered. "And I don't think it's at all likely
+that I shall, here, for, as I said just now, nobody in this place has
+ever heard of Netherfield Baxter since he walked out of his lodging
+one evening and clean vanished. To be sure, there's been nobody at all
+anxious to hear of him. For one thing, he left no near and dear
+relations or friends--for another, he left no debts behind him. The
+last fact, of course," added Scarterfield, with a wink, "was due to
+another, very pertinent fact--nobody, to be sure, in his latter
+stages, would give him credit!"
+
+"You've more to tell," I suggested.
+
+"Oh, much more!" he acquiesced. "We're about half-way through the
+surface matters. Now then--you're bearing in mind that Netherfield
+Baxter disappeared, very suddenly, in May 1904. Perhaps the town
+didn't make much to do over his disappearance for a good reason--it
+was just then in the very midst of what we generally call a nine days'
+wonder. For some months the Old Alliance Bank here had been in charge
+of a temporary manager, in consequence of the regular manager's
+long-continued illness. This temporary manager was a chap named
+Lester--John Martindale Lester--who had come here from a branch of the
+same bank at Hexham, across country. Now, this Lester was a young man
+who was greatly given to going about on a motor-cycle--not so many of
+those things about, then, as we see now; he was always tearing about
+the country, they say, on half-holidays, and Saturdays and Sundays.
+And one evening, careering round a sharp corner, somewhere just
+outside the town, in the dark, he ran full tilt into a cart that
+carried no tail-light, and--broke his neck! They picked him up dead."
+
+"Well?" said I.
+
+"You're wondering if that's anything to do with Netherfield Baxter's
+disappearance?" said Scarterfield. "Well--it's an odd thing, but out
+of all the folk that I've made inquiry of in the town, I haven't come
+across one yet who voluntarily suggested that it had! But--I do! And
+you'll presently see why I think so. Now, this man, John Martindale
+Lester, was accidentally killed about the beginning of the first week
+in May 1904. Three or four days later, Netherfield Baxter cleared out.
+I've been careful, in my conversations with the townfolk--officials,
+mostly--not to appear to connect Lester's death with Baxter's
+departure. But that there was a connection, I'm dead certain. Baxter
+hooked it, Mr. Middlebrook, because he knew that Lester's sudden death
+would lead to an examination of things at the Old Alliance Bank!"
+
+"Ah!" said I. "I begin to see things!"
+
+"So do I--through smoked glass, though, as yet," assented
+Scarterfield. "But--it's getting clearer. Now, things at the bank were
+examined--and some nice revelations came forth! To begin with, there
+was a cash deficiency--not a heavy one, but quite heavy enough. In
+addition to that, certain jewels were missing, which had been
+deposited with the bankers for security by a lady in this
+neighbourhood--they were worth some thousands of pounds. And, to add
+to this, two chests of plate were gone which had been placed with the
+bank some years before by the executors of the will of the late Lord
+Forestburne, to be kept there till the coming of age of his heir, a
+minor when his father died. Altogether, Mr. John Martindale Lester and
+his accomplices, or accomplice, had helped themselves very freely to
+things until then safe in the vaults and strong room."
+
+"Have you found out if Netherfield Baxter and the temporary
+bank-manager were acquainted?" I asked.
+
+"No--that's a matter I've very carefully refrained from inquiring
+into," answered Scarterfield. "So far, no one has mentioned their
+acquaintanceship or association to me, and I haven't suggested it, for
+I don't want to raise suspicions--I want to keep things to myself, so
+that I can play my own game. No--I've never heard the two men spoken
+of in connection with each other."
+
+"What is thought in the town about Lester and the valuables?" I
+inquired. "They must have some theory?"
+
+"Oh, of course, they have," he replied. "The theory is that Lester had
+accomplices in London, that he shipped these valuables off there, and
+that when his accomplices heard of his sudden death they--why, they
+just held their tongues. But--my notion is that the only accomplice
+Lester had was our friend Netherfield Baxter."
+
+"You've some ground?" I asked.
+
+"Yes--or I shouldn't think so," said Scarterfield. "I'm now coming to
+the reason of my sending for you, Mr. Middlebrook. I told you that
+this fellow Baxter had a decent lodging in the town. Well, I made it
+my business to go there yesterday morning, and finding that the
+landlady was a sensible woman and likely to keep a quiet tongue I just
+told her a bit of my business and asked her some questions. Then I
+found out that Baxter left various matters behind him, which she still
+had--clothes, books (he was evidently a chap for reading, and of
+superior education, which probably accounts for what I'm going to tell
+you), papers, and the like. I got her to let me have a sight of them.
+And amongst the papers I found two, which seem to me to have been
+written hundreds of years ago and to be lists with names and figures
+in them. My impression is that Lester found them in those chests of
+plate, couldn't make them out, and gave them to Netherfield Baxter, as
+being a better educated man--Baxter, I found out, did well at school
+and could read and write two or three languages. Well, now, I
+persuaded the landlady to lend me these documents for a day or two,
+and I've got them in my room upstairs, safely locked up--I'll fetch
+them down presently and you shall see if you can decipher them--very
+old they are, and the writing crabbed and queer--but Lord bless you,
+the ink's as black as jet!"
+
+"Scarterfield!" said I. "It strikes me you've possibly hit on a
+discovery. Supposing this stolen stuff is safely hidden somewhere
+about? Supposing Netherfield Baxter knew where, and that he's the
+William Netherfield of the _Elizabeth Robinson_? Supposing that he let
+the Quicks into the secret? Supposing--but, bless me! there are a
+hundred things one can suppose! Anyhow, I believe we're getting at
+something."
+
+"I've been supposing a lot of what you've just suggested ever since
+yesterday morning," he answered quietly. "Didn't I say we should have
+to hark back? Well, I'll fetch down these documents."
+
+He went away, and while he was absent I stood at the window of the
+smoking-room, looking out on the life of the little town and
+wondering. There, across the street, immediately in front of the hotel
+was the bank of which Scarterfield had been telling me--an
+old-fashioned, grey-walled, red-roofed place, the outer door of which
+was just then being closed for the day by a white-whiskered old porter
+in a sober-hued uniform. Was it possible--could it really be--that the
+story which had recently ended in a double murder had begun in that
+quiet-looking house, through the criminality of an untrustworthy
+employee? But did I say ended?--nay, for all I knew the murderers of
+the Quicks were only an episode, a chapter in the story--the end
+was--where?
+
+Then Scarterfield came back and from a big envelope drew forth and
+placed in my hands two folded pieces of old, time-yellowed parchment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE SPOILS OF SACRILEGE
+
+
+Until that moment I had not thought much about the reason of my
+presence at Blyth--I had, at any rate, thought no more than that
+Scarterfield had merely come across some writing which he found it
+hard to decipher. But one glance at the documents which he placed in
+my hands showed me that he had accidentally come across a really
+important find; within another moment I was deeply engrossed, and he
+saw that I was. He sat silently watching me; once or twice, looking up
+at him, I saw him nod as if to imply that he had felt sure of the
+importance of the things he had given me. And presently, laying the
+documents on the table between us, I smiled at him.
+
+"Scarterfield!" I said. "Are you at all up in the history of your own
+country?"
+
+"Couldn't say that I am, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered with a shake of
+his head. "Not beyond what a lad learns at school--and I dare say I've
+forgotten a lot of that. My job, you see, has always been with the
+hard facts of the actual present--not with what took place in the
+past."
+
+"But you're up to certain notable episodes?" I suggested. "You know,
+for instance, that when the religious houses were suppressed--abbeys,
+priories, convents, hospitals--in the reign of Henry the Eighth, a
+great deal of their plate and jewels were confiscated to the use of
+the King?"
+
+"Oh, I've heard that!" he admitted. "Nice haul the old chap got, too,
+I'm given to understand."
+
+"He didn't get all," said I. "A great deal of the monastic plate
+disappeared--clean vanished. It used to be said that a lot of it was
+hidden away or buried by its owners, but it's much more likely that it
+was stolen by the covetous and greedy folk of the neighbourhood--the
+big men, of course. Anyway, while a great deal was certainly sent by
+the commissioners to the king's treasury in London, a lot
+more--especially in out-of-the-way places and districts--just
+disappeared and was never heard of again. Up here in the North of
+England that was very often the case. And all this is merely a preface
+to what I'm going to tell you. Have you the least idea of what these
+documents are?"
+
+"No," he replied. "Unless they're lists of something--I did make out
+that they might be, by the way the words and figures are arranged.
+Like--inventories."
+
+"They are inventories!" I exclaimed. "Both. Written in crabbed
+caligraphy, too, but easy enough to read if you're acquainted with
+sixteenth century penmanship, spelling and abbreviations. Look at the
+first one. It is here described as an inventory of all the jewels,
+plate, et cetera, appertaining and belonging unto the Abbey of
+Forestburne, and it was made in the year 1536--this abbey, therefore,
+was one of the smaller houses that came under the £200 limit and was
+accordingly suppressed in the year just mentioned. Now look at the
+second. It also is an inventory--of the jewels and plate of the Priory
+of Mellerton, made in the same year, and similarly suppressed. But
+though both these houses were of the smaller sort, it is quite
+evident, from a cursory glance at these inventories that they were
+pretty rich in jewels and plate. By the term jewels is meant plate
+wherein jewels were set; as to the plate it was, of course, the
+sacramental vessels and appurtenances. And judging by these entries
+the whole mass of plate must have been considerable!"
+
+"Worth a good deal, eh?" he asked.
+
+"A great deal!--and if it's in existence now, much more than a great
+deal," I replied. "But I'll read you some of the items set down
+here--I'll read a few haphazard. They are set down, you see, with
+their weight in ounces specified, and you'll observe what a number of
+items there are in each inventory. We'll look at just a few. A
+chalice, twenty-eight ounces. Another chalice, thirty-six ounces. A
+mazer, forty-seven ounces. One pair candlesticks, fifty-two ounces.
+Two cruets, thirty-one ounces. One censer, twenty-eight ounces. One
+cross, fifty-eight ounces. Another cross, forty-eight ounces. Three
+dozen spoons, forty-eight ounces. One salt, with covering,
+twenty-eight ounces. A great cross, seventy-two ounces. A paten,
+sixteen ounces. Another paten, twenty ounces. Three tablets of proper
+gold work, eighty-five ounces in all. And so on and so on!--a very
+nice collection, Scarterfield, considering that these are only a few
+items at random, out of some seventy or eighty altogether. But we can
+easily reckon up the total weight--indeed, it's already reckoned up at
+the foot of each inventory. At Forestburne, you see, there was a sum
+total of two thousand two hundred and thirty-eight ounces of plate; at
+Mellerton, one thousand eight hundred and seventy ounces--so these two
+inventories represent a mass of about four thousand ounces. Worth
+having, Scarterfield!--in either the sixteenth or the twentieth
+century."
+
+"And, in the main, it would be--what?" asked Scarterfield. "Gold,
+silver?"
+
+"Some of it gold, some silver, a good deal of it silver-gilt," I
+replied. "I can tell all that by reading the inventories more
+attentively. But I've told you what a mere, cursory glance shows."
+
+"Four thousand ounces of plate--some of it jewelled!" he soliloquised.
+"Whew! And what do you make of it, Mr. Middlebrook? I mean--of all
+that I've told you?"
+
+"Putting everything together that you've told me," I answered, with
+some confidence, "I make this of it. This plate, originally church
+property, came--we won't ask how--into the hands of the late Lord
+Forestburne, and may have been in possession of his family, hidden
+away, perhaps, for four centuries. But at any rate, it was in his
+possession, and he deposited it with his bankers across the way. He
+may, indeed, not have known what was in it--again, he may have known.
+Now I take it that the dishonest temporary manager you told me of
+examined those chests, decided to appropriate their valuable contents,
+and enlisted the services of Netherfield Baxter in his nefarious
+labours. I think that these inventories were found in the chests--one,
+probably, in each--and that Baxter kept them out of sheer
+curiosity--you say he was a fellow of some education. As for the
+plate, I think he and his associate hid it somewhere--and, if you want
+my honest opinion, it was for it that Salter Quick was looking."
+
+Scarterfield clapped his hand on the table.
+
+"That's it!" he exclaimed. "Hanged if I don't think that myself! It's
+my opinion that this Netherfield Baxter, when he hooked it out of
+here, got into far regions and strange company, came into touch with
+those Quicks and told 'em the secret of this stolen plate--he was, I'm
+sure, the Netherfield of that ship the Quicks were on. Yes, sir!--I
+think we may safely bet on it that Salter Quick, as you say, was
+looking for this plate!"
+
+"And--so was somebody else," said I. "And it was that somebody else
+who murdered Salter Quick."
+
+"Aye!" he assented. "Now--who? That's the question. And what's the
+next thing to do, Mr. Middlebrook?"
+
+"It seems to me that the next thing to do is to find out all you can
+about this plate," I replied. "If I were you, I should take two people
+into your confidence--the head man, director, chairman, or whatever he
+is, at the bank--and the present Lord Forestburne."
+
+"I will!" he agreed. "I'll see 'em both, first thing tomorrow morning.
+Do you go with me, Mr. Middlebrook? You'll explain these old papers
+better than I should."
+
+So Scarterfield and I spent that evening together in the little hotel,
+and after dinner I explained the inventories more particularly. I came
+to the conclusion that if the four thousand ounces of plate specified
+in them were in the chests which the dishonest temporary bank-manager
+had stolen, he had got a very fine haul: the value, of course, of the
+plate, was not so much intrinsic as extrinsic: there were collectors,
+English and American, who would cheerfully give vast sums for
+pre-Reformation sacramental vessels. Transactions of this kind, I
+fancied, must have been in the minds of the thieves. There were
+features of the whole affair which puzzled me--not the least important
+was my wonder that this plate, undeniably church property, should have
+remained so long in the Forestburne family without being brought into
+the light of day. I hoped that our inquiries next morning would bring
+some information on that point.
+
+But we got no information--at least, none of any consequence. All that
+was known by the authorities at the bank was that the late Lord
+Forestburne had deposited two chests of plate with them years before,
+with instructions that they were to remain in the bank's custody until
+his son succeeded him--even then they were not to be opened unless the
+son had already come of age. The bank people had no knowledge of the
+precise contents of the chests--all they knew was that they contained
+plate. As for the present Lord Forestburne, a very young man, he knew
+nothing, except that his father's mysterious deposit had been burgled
+by a dishonest custodian. He expressed no opinion about anything,
+therefore. But the chief authority at the bank, a crusty and
+self-sufficient old gentleman, who seemed to consider Scarterfield and
+myself as busybodies, poohpoohed the notion that the inventories which
+we showed him had anything to do with the rifled Forestburne chests,
+and scorned the notion that the family had ever been in possession of
+goods obtained by sacrilege.
+
+"Preposterous!" said he, with a sniff of contempt. "What the chests
+contained was, of course, superfluous family plate. As for these
+documents, that fellow Baxter, in spite of his loose manner of living,
+was, I remember, a bit inclined to scholarship, and went in for old
+books and things--a strange mixture altogether. He probably picked up
+these parchments in some book-seller's shop in Durham or Newcastle. I
+don't believe they've anything to do with Lord Forestburne's stolen
+property, and I advise you both not to waste time in running after
+mare's nests."
+
+Scarterfield and I got ourselves out of this starchy person's presence
+and confided to each other our private opinions of him and his
+intelligence. For to us the theory which we had set up was
+unassailable: we tried to reduce it to strict and formal precision as
+we ate our lunch in a quiet corner of the hotel coffee-room, previous
+to parting.
+
+"More than one of us, Scarterfield, who have taken part in this
+discussion, have said that if we are going to get at the truth of
+things we shall have to go back," I observed. "Well, what you have
+found out here takes us back some way. Let us suppose--we can't do
+anything without a certain amount of supposition--let us, I say, for
+the sake of argument, suppose that the man Netherfield of Blyth, who
+was with Noah and Salter Quick on the ship _Elizabeth Robinson_, bound
+from Hong-Kong to Chemulpo is the same person as Netherfield Baxter,
+who certainly lived in this town a few years ago. Very well--now then,
+what do we know of Baxter? We know this--that a dishonest
+bank-manager stole certain valuables from the bank, died suddenly just
+afterwards, and that Baxter disappeared just as suddenly. The
+supposition is that Baxter was concerned in that theft. We'll suppose
+more--that Baxter knew where the stolen goods were; had, in fact,
+helped to secrete them. Well, the next we hear of him is--supposing
+him to be Netherfield--on this ship, which, according to the reports
+you got at Lloyds, was lost with all hands in the Yellow Sea. But--a
+big but!--we know now that whatever happened to the rest of those on
+board her, three men at any rate saved their lives--Noah Quick, Salter
+Quick and the Chinese cook, whose exact name we've forgotten, but one
+of whose patronymics was Chuh. Chuh turns up at Lloyds, in London, and
+asks a question about the ship. Noah Quick materialises at Devonport,
+and runs a public-house. Salter joins him there. And presently Salter
+is up on the Northumbrian coast, professing great anxiety to find a
+churchyard, or churchyards wherein are graves with the name
+Netherfield on them--he makes the excuse that that is the family name
+of his mother's people. Now we know what happened to Salter Quick, and
+we also know what happened to Noah Quick. But now I'm wondering if
+something else had happened before that?"
+
+"Aye, Mr. Middlebrook?" said Scarterfield. "And what, now?"
+
+"I'm wondering," I answered, leaning nearer to him across the little
+table at which we sat, "if Noah and Salter, severally, or conjointly,
+had murdered this Netherfield Baxter before they themselves were
+murdered? They--or somebody who was in with them, who afterwards
+murdered them? Do you understand?"
+
+"I'm afraid I don't," he said. "No--I don't quite see things."
+
+"Look you here, Scarterfield," said I. "Supposing a gang of men--men
+of no conscience, desperate, adventurous men--gets together, as men
+were together on that ship, the doings and fate of which seem to be
+pretty mysterious. They're all out for what they can get. One of them
+is in possession of a valuable secret, and he imparts it to the
+others, or to some of them--a chosen lot. There have been known such
+cases--where a secret is shared by say five or six men--in which
+murder after murder occurs until the secret is only held by one or
+two. A half-share in a thing is worth more than one-sixth,
+Scarterfield--and a secret of one is far more valuable than a secret
+shared with three. Do you understand now?"
+
+"I see!" he answered slowly. "You mean that Salter and Noah may have
+got rid of Netherfield Baxter and that somebody has got rid of them?"
+
+"Precisely!" said I. "You put it very clearly."
+
+"Well," he said, "if that's so, there are--as has been plain all
+along--two men concerned in putting the Quicks out of the way. For
+Noah was finished off on the same night that saw Salter finished--and
+there was four hundred miles distance between the scenes of their
+respective murders. The man who killed Noah was not the man who killed
+Salter, to be sure."
+
+"Of course!" I agreed. "We've always known there were two. There may
+be more--a gang of them, and remarkably clever fellows. But I'm
+getting sure that the desire to recover some hidden treasure,
+valuables, something of that sort, was at the bottom of it, and now
+I'm all the surer because of what we've found out about this monastic
+spoil. But there are things that puzzle me."
+
+"Such as what?" he asked.
+
+"Well, that eagerness of Salter Quick's to find a churchyard with the
+name Netherfield on the stones," I replied. "And his coming to that
+part of the Northumbrian coast expecting to find it. Because, so far
+as the experts know, there is no such name on any stone, nor in any
+parish register, in all that district. Who, then, told him of the
+name? You see, if my theory is correct, and Baxter told him and Noah,
+he'd tell them the exact locality."
+
+"Ah, but would he?" said Scarterfield. "He mightn't. He might only
+give them a general notion. Still--Netherfield it was that Salter
+asked for."
+
+"That's certain," said I. "And--I'm puzzled why. But I'm puzzled still
+more about another thing. If the men who murdered Noah and Salter
+Quick were in possession of the secret as well, why did they rip their
+clothes to pieces, searching for--something? Why, later, did somebody
+steal that tobacco-box from under the very noses of the police?"
+
+Scarterfield shook his head: the shake meant a great deal.
+
+"That fairly settles me!" he remarked. "Why, the murderer must have
+been actually present at the inquest."
+
+But at that I shook my head.
+
+"Oh, dear me, no!" said I. "Not at all! But--some agent of his was
+certainly there. My own impression is that Mr. Cazalette's eagerness
+about that box gave the whole show away. Shall I tell you how I figure
+things out? Well, I think there were men--we don't know who!--that
+either knew, with absolute certainty, or were pretty sure that Noah
+Quick, and Salter Quick were in possession of a secret and that one or
+the other--and perhaps both--carried it on him, in the shape of
+papers. Each was killed for that secret. The murderers found nothing,
+in either case. But Mr. Cazalette's remarks, made before a lot of men,
+drew attention to the tobacco-box, and the murderer determined to get
+it. And--what was easier than to abstract it, at the inquest, where it
+was exhibited in company with several other things of Salter's?"
+
+"I can't say if it was easy or not, Mr. Middlebrook," observed
+Scarterfield. "Were you there--present?"
+
+"I was there," said I. "So were most people of the neighbourhood--as
+many as could get into the room, anyway. A biggish room--there'd be a
+couple of hundred people in it. And many of them were strangers. When
+the proceedings were over, men were crowding about the table on which
+Quick's things had been laid out, for exhibition to the coroner and
+the jury--what easier than for someone to pick up that box? The place
+was so crowded that such an action would pass unnoticed."
+
+"Very evident it did!" observed Scarterfield.
+
+"But I've heard of such things being taken out of sheer
+curiosity--morbid desire to get hold of something that had to do with
+a murder. However, if this particular thing was abstracted by the
+murderer, or by somebody acting on his behalf it looks as if he, or
+they, were on the spot. And then--that affair of Mr. Cazalette's
+pocket-book!"
+
+"Well, Scarterfield," said I. "There's another way of regarding both
+these thefts. Supposing tobacco-box and pocket-book were stolen, not
+as means of revealing a secret, but so that no one else--Cazalette or
+anybody--should get at it! Eh?"
+
+"There's something in that," he admitted thoughtfully. "You mean that
+the murderers had already got rid of the Quicks so that there should
+be two less in the secret, and these things stolen lest outsiders
+should get any inkling of it?"
+
+"Precisely!" I answered. "Closeness and secrecy--that's been at the
+back of everything so far. I tell you--you're dealing with unusually
+crafty brains!"
+
+"I wish I could get the faintest idea of whose brains they were!" he
+sighed. "A direct clue, now--"
+
+Before he could say any more one of the hotel servants came into the
+coffee-room and made for our table.
+
+"There's a man in the hall asking for Mr. Scarterfield," he announced.
+"Looks like a seafaring man, sir. He says Mrs. Ormthwaite told him
+he'd find you here."
+
+"Woman with whom Baxter used to lodge," muttered Scarterfield, in an
+aside to me. "Come along, Mr. Middlebrook--you never know what you
+mayn't hear."
+
+We went out into the hall. There, twisting his cap in his hands, stood
+a big, brown-bearded man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SOLOMON FISH
+
+
+It needed but one glance at Scarterfield's visitor to assure me that
+he was a person who had used the sea. There was the suggestion of salt
+water and strong winds all over him, from his grizzled hair and beard
+to his big, brawny hands and square set build; he looked the sort of
+man who all his life had been looking out across wide stretches of
+ocean and battling with the forces of Nature in her roughest moods.
+Just then there was questioning in his keen blue eyes--he was
+obviously wondering, with all the native suspicion of a simple soul,
+what Scarterfield might be after.
+
+"You're asking for me?" said the detective.
+
+The man glanced from one to the other of us; then jerked a big thumb
+in the direction of some region beyond the open door behind his burly
+figure.
+
+"Mrs. Ormthwaite," he said, bending a little towards Scarterfield.
+"She said as how there was a gentleman stopping in this here house as
+was making inquiries, d'ye see, about Netherfield Baxter, as used to
+live hereabouts. So I come along."
+
+Scarterfield contrived to jog my elbow. Without a word, he turned
+towards the door of the smoking room, motioning his visitor to follow.
+We all went into the corner wherein, on the previous afternoon,
+Scarterfield had told me of his investigations and discoveries at
+Blyth. Evidently I was now to hear more. But Scarterfield asked for no
+further information until he had provided our companion with
+refreshment in the shape of a glass of rum and a cigar, and his first
+question was of a personal sort.
+
+"What's your name, then?" he inquired.
+
+"Fish," replied the visitor, promptly. "Solomon. As everybody is
+aware."
+
+"Blyth man, no doubt," suggested Scarterfield.
+
+"Born and bred, master," said Fish. "And lived here always--'cepting
+when I been away, which, to be sure, has been considerable. But
+whether north or south, east or west, always make for the old spot
+when on dry land. That is to say--when in this here country."
+
+"Then you'd know Netherfield Baxter?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+Fish waved his cigar.
+
+"As a baby--as a boy--as a young man," he declared. "Cut many a toy
+boat for him at one stage, taught him to fish at another, went sailing
+with him in a bit of a yawl that he had when he was growed up. Know
+him? Did I know my own mother!"
+
+"Just so," said Scarterfield, understandingly. "To be sure! You know
+Baxter quite well, of course." He paused a moment, and then leant
+across the table round which the three of us were sitting. "And when
+did you see him last?" he asked.
+
+Fish, to my surprise, laughed. It was a queer laugh. There was
+incredulity, uncertainty, a sense of vagueness in it; it suggested
+that he was puzzled.
+
+"Aye, once?" said he. "That's just it, master. And I asks you--and
+this other gent, which I takes him to be a friend o' yours, and
+confidential--I asks you, can a man trust his own eyes and his own
+ears? Can he now, solemn?"
+
+"I've always trusted mine, Fish," answered Scarterfield.
+
+"Same here, master, till awhile ago," replied Fish. "But now I ain't
+so mortal sure o' that matter as I was! 'Cause, according to my eyes,
+and according to my ears, I see Netherfield Baxter, and I hear
+Netherfield Baxter, inside o' three weeks ago!"
+
+He brought down his big hand on the table with a hearty smack as he
+spoke the last word or two; the sound of it was followed by a dead
+silence, in which Scarterfield and I exchanged quick glances. Fish
+picked up his tumbler, took a gulp at its contents, and set it down
+with emphasis.
+
+"Gospel truth!" he exclaimed.
+
+"That you did see him?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Gospel truth, master, that if my eyes and ears is to be trusted I see
+him and I hear him!" declared Fish. "Only," he continued, after a
+pause, during which he stared fixedly, first at me, then at
+Scarterfield. "Only--he said as how he wasn't he! D'ye understand?
+Denied his-self!"
+
+"What you mean is that the man you took for Baxter said you were
+mistaken, and that he wasn't Baxter," suggested Scarterfield. "That
+it?"
+
+"You puts it very plain, master," assented Fish. "That is what did
+happen. But if the man I refers to wasn't Netherfield Baxter, then
+I've no more eyes than this here cigar, and no more ears than that
+glass! Fact!"
+
+"But you've never had reason to doubt either before, I suppose," said
+Scarterfield. "And you're not inclined to doubt them now. Now then,
+let's get to business. You really believe, Fish, that you met
+Netherfield Baxter about three weeks ago? That's about it, isn't it?
+Never mind what the man said--you took him to be Baxter. Now, where
+was this?"
+
+"Hull!" replied Fish. "Three weeks ago come Friday."
+
+"Under what circumstances?" asked Scarterfield. "Tell us about it."
+
+"Ain't such a long story, neither," remarked Fish. "And seeing as how,
+according to Widow Ormthwaite, you're making some inquiries about
+Baxter, I don't mind telling, 'cause I been mighty puzzled ever since
+I see this chap. Well, you see, I landed at Hull from my last
+voyage--been out East'ard and back with a trading vessel what belongs
+to Hull owners. And before coming home here to Blyth, knocked about a
+day or two in that port with an old messmate o' mine that I chanced to
+meet there. Now then one morning--as I say, three weeks ago it is,
+come this Friday--me and my mate, which his name is Jim Shanks, of
+Hartlepool, and can corrob'rate, as they call it, what I says--we
+turns into a certain old-fashioned place there is there in Hull, in a
+bit of an alley off High Street--you'll know Hull, no doubt, you
+gentlemen?"
+
+"Never been there," replied Scarterfield.
+
+"I have," said I. "I know it well--especially the High Street."
+
+"Then you'll know, guv'nor, that all round about that High Street
+there's still a lot o' queer old places as ancient as what it is,"
+continued Fish. "Me and my mate, Shanks, knew one, what we'd oft used
+in times past--the Goose and Crane, as snug a spot as you'll find in
+any shipping-town in this here country. Maybe you'll know it?"
+
+"I've seen it from outside, Fish," I answered. "A fine old front--half
+timber."
+
+"That's it, guv'nor--and as pleasant inside as it's remarkable
+outside," he said. "Well, my mate and me we goes in there for a
+morning glass, and into a room where you'll find some interesting folk
+about that time o' day. There's a sign on the door o' that room,
+gentlemen, what reads 'For Master Mariners Only,' but it's an old
+piece of work, and you don't want to take no heed of it--me and Shanks
+we ain't master mariners, though we may look it in our shore rig-out,
+and we've used that room whenever we've been in Hull. Well, now we
+gets our glasses, and our cigars, and we sits down in a quiet corner
+to enjoy ourselves and observe what company drops in. Some queer old
+birds there is comes in to that place, I do assure you, gentlemen, and
+some strange tales o' seafaring life you can hear. Howsomever, there
+wasn't nothing partic'lar struck me that morning until it was getting
+on to dinner-time, and me an Shanks was thinking o' laying a course
+for our lodgings, where we'd ordered a special bit o' dinner to
+celebrate our happy meeting, like, when in comes the man I'm a talking
+about. And if he wasn't Netherfield Baxter, what I'd known ever since
+he was the heighth o' six-pennorth o' copper, then, says I, a man's
+eyes and a man's ears isn't to be trusted!"
+
+"Fish!" said Scarterfield, who was listening intently. "It'll be best
+if you give us a description of this man. Tell us, as near as you can,
+what he's like--I mean, of course the man you saw at the Goose and
+Crane."
+
+Our visitor seemed to pull his mental faculties together. He took
+another pull at his glass and several at his cigar.
+
+"Well," he said, "t'aint much in my line, that, me not being a
+scholar, but I can give a general idea, d'ye see, master. A tallish,
+good-looking chap, as the women 'ud call handsome, sort of rakish
+fellow, you understand. Dressed very smart. Blue serge suit--good
+stuff, new. Straw hat--black band. Brown boots--polished and shining.
+Quite the swell--as Netherfield always was, even when he'd got through
+his money. The gentleman! Lord bless your souls, I knew him, for all
+that I hadn't seen him for several years, and that he'd grown a
+beard!"
+
+"A beard, eh--" interrupted Scarterfield.
+
+"Beard and moustache," assented Fish.
+
+"What colour?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"What you might call a golden-brown," replied Fish. "Cut--the beard
+was--to a point. Suited him."
+
+Scarterfield drew out his pocket-book and produced a slightly-faded
+photograph--that of a certain good-looking, rather nattish young man,
+taken in company with a fox-terrier. He handed it to Fish.
+
+"Is that Baxter?" he asked.
+
+"Aye!--as he was, years ago," said Fish. "I know that well
+enough--used to be one o' them in the phottygrapher's window down the
+street, outside here. But now, d'ye see, he's grown a beard.
+Otherwise--the same!"
+
+"Well?" said Scarterfield, "What happened? This man came in. Was he
+alone?"
+
+"No," replied Fish. "He'd two other men with him. One was a chap about
+his own age, just as smart as what he was, and dressed similar.
+T'other was an older man, in his shirt sleeves and without a
+hat--seemed to me he'd brought Baxter and his friend across from some
+shop or other to stand 'em a drink. Anyways, he did call for
+drinks--whisky and soda--and the three on 'em stood together talking.
+And as soon as I heard Baxter's voice, I was dead sure about him--he'd
+always a highish voice, talked as gentlemen talks, d'ye see, for, of
+course, he was brought up that way--high eddicated, you understand?"
+
+"What were these three talking about?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Far as I could make out about ship's fittings," answered Fish.
+"Something 'o that sort, anyway, but I didn't take much notice o'
+their talk; I was too much taken up watching Baxter, and growing more
+certain every minute, d'ye see, that it was him. And 'cepting that a
+few o' years does make a bit o' difference, and that he's grown a
+beard, I didn't see no great alteration in him. Yet I see one thing."
+
+"Aye?" asked Scarterfield. "What, now?"
+
+"A scar on his left cheek," replied Fish. "What begun underneath his
+beard, as covered most of it, and went up to his cheek-bone. Just an
+inch or so showing, d'ye understand? 'That's been knife's work!'
+thinks I to myself. 'You've had your cheek laid open with a knife, my
+lad, somewhere and somehow!' Struck me, then, he'd grown a beard to
+hide it."
+
+"Very likely," assented Scarterfield. "Well, and what happened? You
+spoke to this man?"
+
+"I waited and watched," continued Fish. "I'm one as has been trained
+to use his eyes. Now, I see two or three little things about this man
+as I remembered about Baxter. There was a way he had of chucking up
+his chin--there it was! Another of playing with his watch-chain when
+he talked--it was there! And of slapping his leg with his
+walking-stick--that was there, too! 'Jim!' I says to my mate, 'if that
+ain't a man I used to know, I'm a Dutchman!' Which, of course, I
+ain't. And so, when the three of 'em sets down their glasses and turns
+to the door, I jumps up and makes for my man, holding out a hand to
+him, friendly. And then, of course, come all the surprise!"
+
+"Didn't know you, I suppose?" suggested Scarterfield.
+
+"I tell 'ee what happened," answered Fish.
+
+"'Morning, Mr. Baxter!' says I. 'It's a long time since I had the
+pleasure o' seeing you, sir!'--and as I say, shoves my hand out,
+hearty. He turns and gives me a hard, keen look--not taken aback, mind
+you, but searching-like. 'You're mistaken, my friend,' he says, quiet,
+but pleasant. 'You're taking me for somebody else.' 'What!' says I,
+all of a heap. 'Ain't you Mr. Netherfield Baxter, what I used to know
+at Blyth, away up North?' 'That I'm certainly not,' says he, as cool
+as the North Pole. 'Then I ax your pardon, sir,' says I, 'and all I
+can say is that I never see two gentlemen so much alike in all my born
+days, and hoping no offence.' 'None at all!' says he, as pleasant as
+might be. 'They say everybody has a double.' And at that he gives me a
+polite nod, and out he goes with his pals, and I turns back to Shanks.
+'Jim!' says I. 'Don't let me ever trust my eyes and ears no more,
+Jim!' I says. 'I'm a breaking-up, Jim!--that's what it is. Thinking I
+sees things when I don't.' 'Stow all that!' says Jim, what's a
+practical sort o' man. 'You was only mistook' says he. 'I've been in
+that case more than once,' he says. 'Wherever there's a man, there's
+another somewheres that's as like him as two peas is like each other;
+let's go home to dinner,' he says. So we went off to the lodgings, and
+at first I was sure I'd been mistaken. But later, and now--well, I
+ain't. That there man was Netherfield Baxter!"
+
+"You feel sure of it?" suggested Scarterfield.
+
+"Aye, certain, master!" declared Fish. "I've had time to think it
+over, and to reckon it all up, and now I'm sure it was him--only he
+wasn't going to let out that it was. Now, if I'd only chanced on him
+when he was by himself, what?"
+
+"You'd have got just the same answer," said the detective laconically.
+"He didn't want to be known. You saw no more of him in Hull, of
+course--"
+
+"Yes, I did," answered Fish. "I saw him again that night. And--as
+regards one of 'em at any rate, in queerish company."
+
+"What was that?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Well," replied Fish, "me and Jim Shanks, we went home to
+dinner--couple o' roast chickens, and a nice bit o' sirloin to follow.
+And after that we had a nice comfortable sleep for the rest of the
+afternoon, and then, after a wash-up and a drop o' tea, we went out to
+look round the town a bit for an evening's diversion, d'ye see. Not to
+any partic'lar place, but just strolling round, like, as sailor-men
+will, being ashore and stretching their legs. And it so came about
+that lateish in the evening we turned into the smoking-room of the
+Cross Keys, in the Market Place--maybe this here friend o' yours,
+seeing as he's been in Hull, knows that!"
+
+"I know it, Fish," said I.
+
+"Then you'll know that you goes in at an archway, turns in at your
+right, and there you are," he said. "Well, Shanks and me, we goes in,
+casual like, not expecting anything that you wouldn't expect. But we'd
+no sooner sat us down in that smoking-room and taken an observation
+that I sees the very man that I'd seen at the Goose and Crane, him
+that I'd taken for Baxter. There he was, in a corner of the room, and
+the other smart-dressed man with him, their glasses in front of 'em,
+and their cigars in their mouths. And with 'em there was something
+else that I certainly didn't go for to expect to see in that place."
+
+"What?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"What I seen plenty of, time and again, in various parts o' this here
+world, and ain't so mighty fond o' seeing," answered Fish, with a
+scowl. "A chink!"
+
+"A--what?" demanded the detective. "A--chink?"
+
+"He means a Chinaman," I said. "That's it, isn't it, Fish?"
+
+"That's it, guv'nor," assented Fish. "A yellow-skinned, slit-eyed,
+thin-fingered Chinee, with a face like a image and a voice like
+silk--which," he added, scowling more than ever, "is pison that I
+can't abide, nohow, having seen more than enough of."
+
+I looked at Scarterfield. He had been attentive enough all through the
+course of our visitor's story, but I saw that his attention had
+redoubled since the last few words.
+
+"A Chinaman!" he said in a low voice. "With--him!"
+
+"As I say, master, a Chinee, and with that there man, what, when all's
+said and done, I'm certain was and is Netherfield Baxter," reiterated
+Fish. "But mind you, and here's the queer part of it, he wasn't no
+common Chinaman. Not the sort that you'll see by the score down in
+Limehouse way, or in Liverpool, or in Cardiff--not at all. Lord bless
+you, this here chap was smarter dressed than t'other two! Swell-made
+dark clothes, gold-handled umbrella, kid gloves on his blooming hands,
+and a silk top-hat--a reg'lar dude! But--a chink!"
+
+"Well?" said Scarterfield, after a pause, during which he seemed to be
+thinking a good deal. "Anything happen?"
+
+"Nothing happened, master--what should happen?" replied Fish. "Them
+here were in their corner, and Jim Shanks and me, we was in ours. They
+were busied talking amongst themselves--of course, we heard nothing.
+And at last all three went out."
+
+"Did the man you take to be Baxter look at you?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Never showed a sign of it!" declared Fish. "Him and t'other passed us
+on their way to the door, but he took no notice."
+
+"See him again anywhere?" inquired Scarterfield.
+
+"No, I didn't" replied Fish. "I left Hull early next morning, and went
+to see relatives o' mine at South Shields. Only came home a day or two
+since, and happening to pass the time o' day with widow Ormthwaite
+this morning, I told her what I've told you. Then she told me that you
+was inquiring about Baxter, guv'nor--so I comes along here to see you.
+What might you be wanting with my gentleman, now?"
+
+Scarterfield told Fish enough to satisfy and quieten him; and
+presently the man went away, having first told us that he would be at
+home for another month. When he had gone Scarterfield turned to me.
+
+"There!" he said. "What d'you think of that, Mr. Middlebrook?"
+
+"What do you think of it?" I suggested.
+
+"I think that Netherfield Baxter is alive and active and up to
+something," he answered. "And I'd give a good deal to know who that
+Chinaman is who was with him. But there's ways of finding out a lot
+now that I've heard all this, Mr. Middlebrook!--I'm off to Hull. Come
+with me!"
+
+Until that instant such an idea had never entered my head. But I made
+up my mind there and then.
+
+"I will!" said I. "We'll see this through, Scarterfield. Get a
+time-table."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MR. JALLANBY--SHIP BROKER
+
+
+There were reasons, other than the suddenly excited desire to follow
+this business out to whatever end it might come at, which induced me
+to consent to the detective's suggestion that I should go to Hull with
+him. As I had said to Solomon Fish, I knew Hull--well enough. In my
+very youthful days I had spent an annual holiday there, with
+relatives, and I had vivid recollections of the place.
+
+Already, in those days, they had begun to pull Hull to pieces, laying
+out fine new streets and open spaces where there had been
+old-fashioned, narrow alleys and not a little in the slum way. But
+then, as happily now, there was still the old Hull of the ancient High
+Street, and the Market Place, and the Land of Green Ginger, and the
+older docks, wharves, and quays; it had been amongst these survivals
+of antiquity, and in the great church of Holy Trinity and its scarcely
+less notable sister of St. Mary in Lowgate that I had loved to wander
+as a boy--there was a peculiar smell of the sea in Hull, and an
+atmosphere of seafaring life that I have never met with elsewhere,
+neither in Wapping nor in Bristol, in Southhampton nor in Liverpool;
+one felt in Hull that one was already half-way to Bergen or Stockholm
+or Riga--there was something of North Europe about you as soon as you
+crossed the bridge at the top of Whitefriargate and plunged into masts
+and funnels, stacks of fragrant pine, and sheds bursting with foreign
+merchandise. And I had a sudden itching and half-sentimental desire to
+see the old seaport again, and once more catch up its appeal and its
+charm.
+
+"Yes, I'll certainly go with you, Scarterfield!" I repeated. "In for a
+penny, in for a pound, they say. I wonder, though, what we are in for!
+You think, really, we're on the track of Netherfield Baxter?"
+
+"Haven't a doubt of it!" asserted Scarterfield, as he turned over the
+pages of the railway guide. "That man who's just gone was right--that
+was Baxter he saw. With who knows what of mystery and crime and all
+sorts of things behind him!"
+
+"Including the murder of one of the Quicks?" I suggested.
+
+"Including some knowledge of it, anyway," he said. "It's a clue, Mr.
+Middlebrook, and I'm on it. As this man was in Hull, there'll be news
+of him to be picked up there--very likely in plenty."
+
+"Very well," said I. "I'm with you. Now let's be off."
+
+Going southward by way of Newcastle and York, we got to Hull that
+night, late--too late to do more than eat our suppers and go to bed at
+the Station Hotel. And we took things leisurely next morning,
+breakfasting late and strolling through the older part of the town
+before, as noon drew near, we approached the Goose and Crane. We had
+an object in selecting time and place. Fish had told us that the man
+whom he had seen in company with our particular quarry, the supposed
+Baxter, had come into the queer old inn in his shirt-sleeves and
+without his hat--he was therefore probably some neighbouring shop or
+store-keeper, and in the habit of turning into the ancient hostelry
+for a drink about noon. Such a man--that man--Scarterfield hoped to
+encounter. Out of him, if he met him, he could hope to get some news.
+
+Although, as a boy, I had often seen the street front of the Goose and
+Crane, I had never passed its portals. Now, entering it, we found it
+to be even more curious inside than it was out. It was a fine relic of
+Tudor days--a rabbit warren of snug rooms, old furniture, wide chimney
+places, tiled floors; if the folk who lived in it and the men who
+frequented it had only worn the right sorts of costume, we might
+easily have thought ourselves to be back in "Elizabethan times." We
+easily found the particular room of which Solomon Fish had
+spoken--there was the door, half open, with its legend on an upper
+panel in faded gilt letters, "For Master Mariners Only." But, as we
+had inferred, that warning had been set up in the old days, and was no
+longer a strict observance; we went into the room unquestioned by
+guardians or occupants, and calling for refreshments, sat ourselves
+down to watch and wait.
+
+There were several men in this quaint old parlour; all seemed, in one
+degree or another, to be connected with the sea. Men, thick-set,
+sturdy, bronzed, branded in solid suits of good blue cloth, all with
+that look in the eye which stamps the seafarer. Other men whom one
+supposed to have something to do with sea-trade--ship's chandlers,
+perhaps, or shipping-agents. We caught stray whiffs of talk--it was
+all about the life of the port and of the wide North Sea that
+stretches away from the Humber. And in the middle of this desultory
+and apparently aimless business in came a man who, I am sure from my
+first glimpse of him, was the very man we wanted. A shortish,
+stiffly-built, paunchy man, with a beefy face, shrewd eyes, and a
+bristling, iron-gray moustache; a well-dressed man, and sporting a
+fine gold chain and a diamond pin in his cravat. But--in his shirt
+sleeves, and without a hat. Scarterfield leaned nearer to me.
+
+"Our man for a million!" he muttered.
+
+"I think so," said I.
+
+The new-comer, evidently well known from the familiar way in which
+nods and brief salutations were exchanged for him, bustled up to the
+bar, called for a glass of bitter beer and helped himself to a crust
+of bread and a bit of cheese from the provender at his elbow. Leaning
+one elbow on the counter and munching his snack he entered into
+conversation with one or two men near him; here, again, the talk as
+far as we could catch it, was of seafaring matters. But we did not
+catch the name of the man in the shirt-sleeves, and when, after he had
+finished his refreshment, he nodded to the company and bustled out as
+quickly as he had entered, Scarterfield gave me a look, and we left
+the room in his wake, following him.
+
+Our quarry bustled down the alley and turned the corner into the old
+High Street. He was evidently well known there; we saw several
+passers-by exchange greetings with him. Always bustling along, as if
+he were a man whose time was precious, he presently crossed the
+narrow roadway and turned into an office, over the window of which was
+a sign--"Jallanby, Ship Broker." He had only got a foot across his
+threshold, however, when Scarterfield was at his elbow.
+
+"Excuse me, sir," he said politely. "May I have a word with you?"
+
+The man turned, stared, evidently recognized Scarterfield as a
+stranger he had just seen in the Goose and Crane, and turned from him
+to me.
+
+"Yes?" he answered questionably. "What is it?"
+
+Scarterfield pulled out his pocket-book and produced his official
+card.
+
+"You'll see who I am from that," he remarked. "This gentleman's a
+friend of mine--just now giving me some professional help. I take it
+you're Mr. Jallanby?"
+
+The ship-broker started a little as he glanced at the card and
+realized Scarterfield's calling.
+
+"Yes, I'm Mr. Jallanby," he answered. "Come inside, gentlemen." He led
+the way into a dark, rather dismal and dusty little office, and signed
+to a clerk who was writing there to go out. "What is it, Mr.
+Scarterfield?" he asked. "Some information?"
+
+"You've hit it sir," replied Scarterfield. "That's just what we do
+want; we came here to Hull on purpose to find you, believing you can
+give it. From something we heard only yesterday afternoon, Mr.
+Jallanby, a long way from here, we believe that one morning about
+three weeks ago, you were in the Goose and Crane in that very room
+where we saw you just now, in company with two men--smartly dressed
+men, in blue serge suits and straw hats; one of them with a pointed,
+golden-brown beard. Do you remember?"
+
+I was watching the ship-broker's face while Scarterfield spoke, and I
+saw that deep interest, wonder, perhaps suspicion was being aroused in
+him.
+
+"Bless me!" he exclaimed. "You don't mean to say they're--wanted?"
+
+"I mean to say that I want to get some information about them, and
+very particularly," answered Scarterfield. "You do remember that
+morning, then?"
+
+"I remember a good many mornings," said Jallanby, readily enough. "I
+went across there with those two several times while they were in the
+town. They were doing a bit of business with me--we often dropped in
+over yonder for a glass before dinner. But--I'm surprised that--well,
+to put it plainly--that detectives should be inquiring after 'em!--I
+am, indeed."
+
+"Mr. Jallanby," said Scarterfield, "I'll be plain with you. This is,
+so far, merely a matter of suspicion. I'm not sure of the identity of
+one of these men--it's but one I want to trace at present, though I
+should like to know who the other is. But--if my man is the man I
+believe him to be, there's a matter of robbery, and possibly of
+murder. So you see how serious it is! Now, I'll jog your memory a bit.
+Do you remember that one morning, as you and these two men were
+leaving the Goose and Crane, a big seafaring-looking man stepped up to
+the bearded man you were with and claimed acquaintance with him as
+being one Netherfield Baxter?"
+
+Jallanby started. It was plain that he remembered.
+
+"I do!" he exclaimed. "Well enough! I stood by. But--he said he
+wasn't. There was a mistake."
+
+"I believe there was no mistake," said Scarterfield. "I believe that
+man is Netherfield Baxter, and--it's Netherfield Baxter I want. Now,
+Mr. Jallanby, what do you know of those two? In confidence!"
+
+We had all been standing until then, but at this invitation to
+disclosure the ship-broker motioned us to sit down, he himself turning
+the stool which the clerk had just vacated.
+
+"This is a queer business, Mr. Scarterfield," he said. "Robbery?
+Murder? Nasty things, nasty terms to apply to folk that one's done
+business with. And that, of course, was all that I did with those two
+men, and all I know about them. Pleasant, good-mannered, gentlemanly
+chaps I found 'em--why, Lord bless me, I dined with 'em one night at
+their hotel!"
+
+"Which hotel?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Station Hotel," replied Jallanby. "They were there for ten days or
+so, while they did their business with me. I never saw aught wrong
+about 'em either--seemed to be what they represented themselves to be.
+Certainly they'd plenty of money--for what they wanted here in Hull,
+anyway. But of course, that's neither here nor there."
+
+"What names did you know them under?" inquired Scarterfield. "And
+where did they profess to come from?"
+
+"Well, the man with the brownish beard called himself Mr. Norman
+Belford," answered Jallanby. "I gathered he was from London. The other
+man was a Frenchman--some French lord or other, from his name, but I
+forget it. Mr. Belford always called him Vicomte--which I took to be
+French for our Viscount."
+
+Scarterfield turned and looked at me. And I, too, looked at him. We
+were thinking of the same thing--old Cazalette's find on the bush in
+the scrub near the beach at Ravensdene Court. And I could not repress
+an exclamation.
+
+"The handkerchief!"
+
+Scarterfield coughed. A dry, significant cough--it meant a great deal.
+
+"Aye!" he said. "Just so--the handkerchief! Um!" He turned to the
+ship-broker. "Mr. Jallanby," he continued, "what did these two want of
+you? What was their business here in Hull?"
+
+"I can tell you that in a very few words," answered Jallanby. "Simple
+enough and straight enough, on the surface. So far as I was concerned,
+anyhow. They came in here one morning, told me they were staying at
+the Station Hotel, and said that they wanted to buy a small craft of
+some sort that a small crew could run across the North Sea to the
+Norwegian fiords--the sort of thing you can manage with three or four,
+you know. They said they were both amateur yachtsmen, and, of course,
+I very soon found out that they knew what they were talking about--in
+fact, between you and me, I should have said that they were as
+experienced in sea-craft as any man could be!--I soon detected that."
+
+"Aye!" said Scarterfield, with a nod at me. "I dare say you would."
+
+"Well, it so happened that I'd just the very thing they seemed to
+want," continued the ship-broker. "A vessel that had recently been
+handed over to me for disposal, and then lying in the Victoria Dock,
+just at the back here, beyond the old harbour: just the sort of craft
+that they could sail themselves, with say a man, or a boy or two--I
+can tell you exactly what she was, if you like."
+
+"It might be very useful to know that," remarked Scattered, with
+emphasis on the last word. "We may want to identify her."
+
+"Well," said Jallanby, "she was a yawl about eighteen tons register;
+thirty tons yacht measurement; length forty-two feet; beam thirteen;
+draught seven and a half feet; square stern; coppered above the
+water-line; carried main, jib-headed mizen, fore-staysail, and jib,
+and in addition had a sliding gunter gaff-topsail, and----"
+
+"Here!" interrupted Scarterfield with a smile. "That's all too
+technical for me to carry in my head! If we want details, I'll trouble
+you to write 'em down later. But I take it this vessel was all ready
+for going to sea?"
+
+"Ready any day," asserted Jallanby. "Only just wanted tidying up and
+storing. As a matter of fact, she'd been in use, quite recently, but
+she was a bit too solid for her late owner's tastes--the truth was,
+she'd been originally built for a Penzance fishing-lugger--splendid
+sea-going boats, those!"
+
+"Do I understand that this vessel could undertake a longish voyage?"
+asked Scarterfield. "For instance, could they have crossed, say, the
+Atlantic in her?"
+
+"Atlantic? Lord bless you, yes!" replied the ship-broker. "Or
+Pacific, either. Go tens o' thousands o' miles in a craft of that
+soundness, as long as you'd got provisions on board!
+
+"Did they buy her?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"They did--at once," replied Jallanby. "And paid the money for her--in
+cash, there and then."
+
+"Cheque?" inquired Scarterfield, laconically.
+
+"No, sir--good Bank of England notes," answered Jallanby. "Oh, they
+were all right as regards money--in my case, anyway. And you'll find
+the same as regards the tradesmen they dealt with here--cash on the
+spot. They fitted her out with provisions as soon as they'd got
+her--that, of course, took a few days."
+
+"And then went off--to Norway?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"So I understand," assented Jallanby. "That's what they said. They
+were going, first of all, to Stavanger--then to Bergen--then further
+north."
+
+"Just the two of them?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Why, no," replied Jallanby. "They were joined, a day or two before they
+sailed, by a friend of theirs--a Chinaman. Queer combination--Englishman,
+Frenchman, Chinaman. But this Chinaman, he was a swell--what we should
+call a gentleman, you know--Mr. Belford told me, in private, that he
+belonged to the Chinese Ambassador's suite in London."
+
+"Oh!" said Scarterfield. "Just so! A diplomat. And where did he
+stop--here?"
+
+"Oh, he joined them at the hotel," answered Jallanby. "He'd come there
+that night I dined with them. Quiet, very gentlemanly little
+chap--quite the gentleman, you know."
+
+"And--his name?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+But the ship-broker held up a deprecating hand.
+
+"Don't ask me!" he said. "I heard it, but I'm not up to those Chinese
+names. Still, you'd find it in the hotel register, no doubt. But
+really, gentlemen, you surprise me!--I should never have thought--yet,
+you never know who people are, do you? Nice, pleasant, well-behaved
+fellows these were, and----"
+
+"Ah!" said Scarterfield, with deep significance. "It's a queer world,
+Mr. Jallanby. Now then, for the moment, oblige me by keeping all this
+to yourself. But two questions--first, how long since is it that these
+chaps sailed for Bergen; second, what is the name of this smart little
+vessel?"
+
+"They sailed precisely three weeks ago next Monday," answered the
+ship-broker, "and the name of the vessel is the _Blanchflower_."
+
+We left Mr. Jallanby then, promising to see him again, and went away.
+I was wondering what the detective made out of all this, and I waited
+with some curiosity for him to speak. But we had got half way up the
+old High Street before Scarterfield opened his lips. And then his tone
+was a blend of speculation and distrust.
+
+"Now, I wonder where those chaps have gone?" he muttered. "Of course
+they haven't gone to Norway! Of course that Chinese chap wasn't from
+the Chinese Legation in London! The whole thing's a bluff. By this
+time they'll have altered the name of that yawl, and gone--where? In
+search of that buried stuff, to be sure!"
+
+"If the man who called himself Belford is really Baxter, he'll know
+precisely where it is," I said.
+
+"Aye, just so, Mr. Middlebrook," assented Scarterfield. "But--there's
+been time in all these years to shift that stuff from one place to
+another! I haven't the slightest doubt that Belford is Baxter, and
+that he and his associates bought that vessel as the easiest way of
+getting the stuff from wherever it's hid--but where are we to look for
+them and their craft? Have they gone north or south! It would be waste
+of time and money to cable to the Norwegian ports for news of
+them--they're not gone there, that I'll swear."
+
+"Scarterfield," said I, feeling convinced on the matter. "If the man's
+Baxter, and he's after that stuff, he's gone north. The stuff is near
+Blyth! Dead certain!"
+
+"I dare say you're right," he said slowly. "And as I've found out all
+there is to find out here in Hull, I suppose a return to Blyth is the
+most advisable thing. After all, we know what to look out for on that
+coast--a twenty-ton yawl, with an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a
+Chinaman aboard her. Very well."
+
+So that afternoon, after seeing the ship-broker again, and making
+certain arrangements with him in case he heard anything of the
+_Blanchflower_ and her crew of three queerly-assorted individuals, we
+retraced our steps northward. But while Scarterfield turned off at
+Newcastle for Tynemouth and Blyth, I went forward alone, for Alnwick
+and Ravensdene Court.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE PATHLESS WOOD
+
+
+Being very late in the evening when I arrived at Alnwick, I remained
+there for that night, and it was not until noon of the next day that I
+once more reached Ravensdene Court. Lorrimore was there, he had come
+over to lunch, and for the moment I hoped that he had brought some
+news from his Chinese servant. But he had heard nothing of Wing since
+his departure: it would scarcely be Wing's method, he said, to
+communicate with him by letter; when he had anything to tell, he would
+either return or act, of his own initiative, upon his acquired
+information: the way of the Chinaman, he remarked with a knowing look
+at Mr. Raven, was dark, subtle, and not easily understandable to
+Western minds.
+
+"And yourself, Middlebrook?" asked Mr. Raven. "What did the detective
+want, and what have you found out?"
+
+I told them the whole story as we sat at lunch. They were all deeply
+absorbed, but no one so much as Mr. Cazalette, who, true to his
+principle of doing no more than crumbling a dry biscuit and sipping a
+glass or two of sherry at that hour, gave my tale of the doings at
+Blyth and Hull his undivided attention. And when he had heard me out,
+he slipped away in silence, evidently very thoughtful, and
+disappeared into the library.
+
+"So there it all is," I said in conclusion, "and if anybody can make
+head or tail of it and get a definite and dependable theory, I am sure
+that Scarterfield, from a professional standpoint, will be glad to
+hear whatever can be said."
+
+"It seems to me that Scarterfield is on the high road to a very
+respectable theory already," remarked Lorrimore. "So are you! The
+thing--to me--appears to be fairly plain. It starts out with the
+association of Baxter and the dishonest bank-manager. The
+bank-manager, left in charge of this old-fashioned bank at Blyth,
+where any supervision of his doings was no doubt pretty slack, and
+where he was, of course, fully trusted, examines the nature of the
+various matters committed to his care, and finds out the contents of
+those Forestburne chests. He then enters into a conspiracy with Baxter
+for purloining them and some other valuables--those jewels you
+mentioned, Middlebrook. It would not be a difficult thing to get them
+away from the bank premises without anyone knowing. Then the two
+conspirators secrete them in a safe and unlikely place, easily
+accessible, I take it, from the sea. Probably, they meant to remove
+them for good and all, just before the dishonest bank-manager's
+temporary residence in the town came to an end. But his fatal accident
+occurs. Then Master Baxter is placed in a nice fix! He knows that his
+fellow-criminal's sudden death will necessarily lead to some
+examination, more or less thorough, of the effects at the bank. That
+examination, to be sure, was made. But Baxter has gone, cleared out,
+vanished, before the result is known. He may have had an idea--we can
+only guess at it--that suspicion would fall on him. Anyway, he leaves
+the town, and is never seen in or near it again. If this theory is a
+true one, things seem pretty clear up to this point."
+
+"Of course," said I, "it is theory! All supposition, you know."
+
+"Right!" assented Lorrimore. "But let us theorise a bit further--I am,
+you see, merely following out the train of thought which seems to have
+been set up in you and in Scarterfield. Baxter disappears. Nobody
+knows where he's gone. There is a veil drawn over a certain
+period--pretty thickly. But we, who have had occasion to try to pierce
+it, have seen, so we think, through certain tears and rifts in it. We
+know that a certain number of years ago there was a trading ship in
+the Yellow Sea, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, concerning the fate of which
+there is more mystery than is quite in accordance with either safety
+or respectability. She was bound from Hong-Kong to Chemulpo, and she
+never reached Chemulpo. But we also know that on her, when she left
+Hong-Kong there were two men, presumably brothers, whose names were
+Noah Quick and Salter Quick, set down, mind you, not as members of the
+crew, but as passengers. Also there was a Chinese cook, of the name of
+Lo Chuh Fen. And there was another man, who called himself
+Netherfield, and who hailed from Blyth, in Northumberland."
+
+He looked round the table, evidently bent on securing our attention to
+their particular point. We were all, of course, fully acquainted with
+the details he was unfolding, but he was summing things up in quite
+judicial fashion, and there was a certain amount of intellectual
+satisfaction in listening to a succinct résumé. One of us, at any
+rate, was following him with rapt attention--Miss Raven. I fancied I
+saw why--Baxter, or Netherfield, had already presented himself to her
+as a personage of a dark and romantic, if deeply-wicked and even
+blood-stained sort.
+
+"Now," continued Lorrimore, becoming more judicial than ever, "according
+to the official accounts, as shown at Lloyds, the _Elizabeth Robinson_
+never reached Chemulpo, and she is--officially--believed to have been
+lost, with all hands, during a typhoon, in the Yellow Sea. All hands! But
+we know that, whatever happened to the _Elizabeth Robinson_, and to the
+rest of the crew, certain men who were on board her when she left
+Hong-Kong, for Chemulpo, did escape whatever catastrophe occurred. The
+_Elizabeth Robinson_ may be at the bottom of the Yellow Sea, and most of
+her folk with her. But in course of time Noah Quick turns up at Devonport
+in England, in possession, evidently, of plenty of money. He takes a
+licensed house, runs it on highly respectable lines, and comports himself
+as a decent member of society; also he prospers, and has a very good
+balance at his bankers. So there is one man who certainly did not go down
+with the _Elizabeth Robinson_. And now--to keep matters in chronological
+order--we hear of another. A Chinaman, undoubtedly Lo Chuh Fen, turns up
+at Lloyds and endeavours to find out if this _Elizabeth Robinson_ ever did
+reach Chemulpo. There is a strange point here--Lo Chuh Fen certainly
+sailed out of Hong-Kong with the _Elizabeth Robinson_, bound for
+Chemulpo, yet, some years later, he is inquiring in London, if the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_ ever reached her destination. Why? Did the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_ touch at any port after leaving Hong-Kong? Did Lo Chuh Fen leave
+her at any such port? We don't know--and for the moment it is not
+material; what is material is that a second member of the company on board
+the _Elizabeth Robinson_ did not go down with her in the Yellow Sea if, as
+is said, she did go. So there are two survivors--Noah Quick and Lo Chuh
+Fen. And now a third is added in the person of another Quick--Salter, who
+turns up at Devonport as the guest of Noah, and who, like his brother, is
+evidently in possession of a plenitude of this world's goods. He has money
+in the bank, is a gentleman of leisure, and, like Noah, a person of
+reserved speech."
+
+Lorrimore was now fairly into his stride, and becoming absorbed in his
+summing-up. He pushed aside his glass and other table impediments, and
+leaning forward spoke more earnestly, emphasising his words with
+equally emphatic gestures.
+
+"A person of reserved speech!" he continued. "But--on one occasion, at
+any rate, so eager to get hold of information, that he casts his
+habitual reserve aside. On a certain day in March of this year, Salter
+Quick, with a handsome amount of ready money in his pocket, leaves
+Devonport, saying that he is going away for a few days. We next hear
+of him at an hotel in Alnwick, where he is asking for information
+about certain churchyards on this Northumbrian coast wherein he will
+find the graves of people of the name of Netherfield--the name of a
+man, be it remembered, who was with him and his brother Noah Quick,
+on board the _Elizabeth Robinson_. Next morning he meets with Mr.
+Middlebrook on the headlands between Alnmouth and Ravensdene Court and
+taking him for an inhabitant of these parts, he puts the same question
+to him. He accompanies Mr. Middlebrook to an inn on the cliffs; he
+asks the same question there--and there, evidently to his great
+discomfiture, he hears that another man, whose identity did not then
+appear, but who, we now know, was only a casual traveller who was
+merely repeating Salter Quick's own questions of the previous evening
+which he had overheard at Alnwick, had been asking similar questions.
+Why had Salter Quick travelled all the way from Devonport to
+Northumberland to find the graves of some people named Netherfield? We
+don't know--but we do know that on the very night of the day on which
+he had asked his questions of Mr. Middlebrook and of Claigue, the
+landlord, Salter Quick was murdered. And on that same night, at
+Devonport, four hundred miles away, his brother, Noah Quick, met a
+similar fate."
+
+Mr. Cazalette came back into the room. He was carrying a couple of fat
+quarto books under one arm, and a large folio under the other, and he
+looked as if he had many important things to communicate. But Miss
+Raven smilingly motioned him to be seated and silent, and Lorrimore,
+with a glance at him which a judge might have bestowed on some belated
+counsel who came tip-toeing into his court, went on.
+
+"Now," he said, "there were certain similarities in these two murders
+which lead to the supposition that, far apart as they were, they were
+the work of a gang, working with common purpose. There was no robbery
+from the person in either instance, though each victim had money and
+valuables on him to a considerable amount. But each man had been
+searched. Pockets had been turned out--clothing ripped up. In the case
+of Salter Quick, we are familiar with the details of the tobacco-box,
+on the inner lid of which there was a roughly-scratched plan of some
+place, and of the handkerchief bearing a monogram which Mr. Cazalette
+discovered near the scene of the murder. These are details--of great
+importance--the true significance of which does not yet appear. But
+the real, prime detail is the curious, mysterious connection between
+the name Netherfield, which Salter Quick was so anxious to find on
+gravestones in some Northumbrian churchyard or other, and the man of
+that name who was with him on the _Elizabeth Robinson_. And we are at
+once faced with the question--was the man, Netherfield Baxter, who
+left Blyth some years ago, the man Netherfield, described as of Blyth,
+whose name was on the _Elizabeth Robinson's_ list?"
+
+Mr. Raven treated us to one of his characteristic sniffs. He had a
+way, when he was stating what he considered to be a dead certainty, or
+when he was assenting to one, of throwing up his head and sniffing,
+with a somewhat cynical smile as accompaniment. He sniffed now, and
+Lorrimore went on--to a peroration.
+
+"There can be no doubt about it!" he said with emphasis. "A Blyth man,
+a seafarer, named Solomon Fish, chances to be in Hull and, in a tavern
+there which is evidently the resort of seafaring folk, sees a man whom
+he instantly recognizes as Netherfield Baxter, whom he had known as
+child, boy and young man. He accosts him--the man denies it. We need
+pay no attention whatever to that denial: we may be quite sure from
+the testimony of Fish that the man is Baxter. Now then, what is Baxter
+doing? He is evidently in possession of ample funds--he and his
+companions buy a small vessel, a twenty-ton yawl, in which, they said,
+they want to cross the North Sea to the Norwegian fiords. And who are
+his companions? One is a Chinaman. Probably Lo Chuh Fen. The other is
+a Frenchman, who, says Mr. Jallanby, the Hull ship-broker, was
+addressed as Vicomte. He, probably, is an adventurer, and a criminous
+one, like Baxter, and--he is also probably the owner of the
+handkerchief which Mr. Cazalette found, stained with Salter Quick's
+blood!"
+
+Lorrimore paused a moment, looking round to see how this impressed us.
+The last suggestion was new to me, but I saw its reasonableness and
+nodded. Lorrimore nodded back, and continued.
+
+"Now a last word," he said. "I, personally, haven't a doubt that these
+three, one or other of 'em, murdered the Quicks, and that they're now
+going to take up that swag which Baxter and the dishonest bank-manager
+safely planted somewhere. But--I don't believe it's buried or secreted
+in any out-of-the-way place on the coast. I know where I should look
+for it, and where Scarterfield ought to search for it."
+
+"Where, then?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Well," he answered, "the thing is--to consider what those fellows
+were likely to do with the old monastic plate and the jewels and so on
+when they'd got them. They probably knew that the ancient chalices,
+reliquaries, and that sort of thing would fetch big prices, sold
+privately to collectors--especially to American collectors, who, as
+everybody knows, are not at all squeamish or particular about the
+antecedents of property so long as they secure it. I should say that
+Baxter, acting for his partner in crime, stored these things, and has
+waited for a favourable opportunity to resume possession of them. I
+incline to the opinion that he stored them at Hartlepool, or at
+Newcastle, or at South-Shields--at any place whence they could easily
+be transferred by ship. He may, indeed, have stored them at Liverpool,
+for easy transit across the Atlantic. I don't believe in the theory
+that they're planted in some hole-and-corner of the coast."
+
+"In that case, what becomes of Salter Quick's search for the graves of
+the Netherfields?" I suggested.
+
+"Can't say," replied Lorrimore, with a shrug of his shoulders. "But
+Salter Quick may have got hold of the wrong tale, or half a tale, or
+mixed things up. Anyway, that's my opinion--that this stolen property
+is not cached anywhere, but is somewhere within four respectable
+walls, and if I were Scarterfield, I should communicate with stores
+and repositories asking for information about goods left with them
+some time ago and not yet reclaimed."
+
+"Good idea!" agreed Mr. Raven. "Much more likely than the buried
+treasure notion."
+
+"To which, however, I incline," I said stubbornly. "When Salter Quick
+sought for the graves of the Netherfields, he had a purpose."
+
+Mr. Cazalette came nearer the table with his big volumes. It was very
+evident that he had made some discovery and was anxious to tell us of
+it.
+
+"Before you go any further into that matter," said he, laying down his
+burdens, "there are one or two things I should like to draw your
+attention to in connection with what Middlebrook told us before I left
+the room just a while since. Now about that monastic plate,
+Middlebrook, of which you've seen the inventories--you may not be
+aware of it, but there's a reference to that matter in Dryman's
+'History of the Religious Foundations of Northumberland' which I will
+now read to you. Hear you this, now:
+
+     "_Abbey of Forestburne._--It is well known that the altar
+     vessels, plate, and jewels of this house were considerable
+     in number and in value, but were never handed over to the
+     custodians of the King's Treasury House in London. They were
+     duly inventoried by the receivers in these parts, and there
+     are letters extant recording their dispatch to London. But
+     they never reached their destination, and it is commonly
+     believed that like a great deal more of the monastic
+     property of the Northern districts these valuables were
+     appropriated by high-placed persons of the neighbourhood who
+     employed their underlings, marked and disguised, to waylay
+     and despoil the messengers entrusted to carry them
+     Southward. N. B.--These foregoing remarks apply to the plate
+     and jewels which appertained to the adjacent Priory of
+     Mellerton, which were also of great value."
+
+"So," continued Mr. Cazalette, "there's no doubt, in my mind, anyway,
+that the plate of which Middlebrook saw the inventories is just what
+they describe it to be, and that it came, in course of time, into the
+hands of the Lord Forestburne who deposited it in yon bank. And now,"
+he went on, opening the biggest of his volumes, "here's the file of a
+local paper which your respected predecessor, Mr. Raven, had the good
+sense to keep, and I've turned up the account of the inquest that was
+held at Blyth on yon dishonest bank-manager. And there's a bit of
+evidence here that nobody seems to have drawn Scarterfield's attention
+to. 'The deceased gentleman,' it reads, 'was very fond of the sea, and
+frequently made excursions along our beautiful coast in a small yacht
+which he hired from Messrs. Capsticks, the well-known boat-builders of
+the town. It will be remembered that he had a particular liking for
+night-sailing, and would often sail his yacht out of harbour late of
+an evening in order, as he said, to enjoy the wonderful effects of
+moonlight on sea and coast.' That, you'll bear in mind," concluded Mr.
+Cazalette, with a more than usually sardonic grin, "was penned by some
+fatuous reporter before they knew that the deceased gentleman had
+robbed the bank. And no doubt it was on those night excursions that
+he, and this man Baxter that we've heard of, carried away the stolen
+valuables, and safely hid them in some quiet spot on this coast--and
+there you'll see, they'll be found all in good time. And as sure as my
+name is what it is, Dr. Lorrimore, it was that spot that Salter Quick
+was after--only he wasn't exactly certain where it was, and had
+somehow got mixed about the graves of the Netherfields. Man alive! yon
+plate of the old monks is buried under some Netherfield headstone at
+this minute!"
+
+"Don't believe it, sir!" said Lorrimore. "It's much more likely to be
+stored in some handy seaport where it can be easily called for without
+attracting attention. And if Middlebrook'll give me Scarterfield's
+address that's what I'm going to suggest to him."
+
+I suppose Lorrimore wrote to the detective. But during the next few
+days I heard nothing from Scarterfield; indeed nobody heard anything
+new from anywhere. I believe that Scarterfield from Blyth, gave some
+hints to the coastguard people about keeping a look-out for the
+_Blanchflower_, but I am not sure of it. However, two of us at
+Ravensdene Court took a mutual liking for walks along the loneliest
+stretches of the coast--myself and Miss Raven. Before my journey to
+Blyth and Hull, she and I had already taken to going for afternoon
+excursions together; now we lengthened them, going out after lunch and
+remaining away until we had only just time to return home by the
+dinner-hour. I think we had some vague idea that we might possibly
+discover something--perhaps find some trace, we knew not of what. Then
+we were led, unexpectedly, as such things always do happen, to the
+threshold of our great and perilous adventure. Going further afield
+than usual one day, and, about five o'clock of a spring afternoon,
+straying into a solitary ravine that opened up before us on the moors
+that stretched to the very edge of the coast, we came upon an ancient
+wood of dwarf oak, so venerable and time-worn in appearance that it
+looked like a survival of the Druid age. There was not an opening to
+be seen in its thick undergrowth, nor any sign of path or track
+through it, but it was with a mutual consent and understanding that we
+made our way into its intense silence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+HUMFREY DE KNAYTHVILLE
+
+
+In order to arrive at a proper understanding of the peculiar
+circumstances and position in which Miss Raven and myself very shortly
+found ourselves placed, it is necessary to give some information as to
+the geographical situation of the wood into which we plunged, more I
+think, out of a mingled feeling of curiosity and mystery than of
+anything else. We had then walked several miles from Ravensdene Court
+in a northerly direction, but instead of keeping to the direct line of
+the cliffs and headlands we had followed an inland track along the
+moors, which, however, was never at any point of its tortuous way more
+than a mile from the coast. The last mile or two of this had been
+through absolute solitudes--save for a lonely farmstead, or shepherd's
+cottage, seen far off on the rising ground, further inland, we had not
+seen a sign of human habitation. Nor that afternoon did we see any
+sail on the broad stretch of sea at our right, nor even the
+smoke-trail of any passing steamer on the horizon. Yet the place we
+now approached seemed even more solitary. We came to a sort of ravine,
+a deep fissure in the line of the land, on the south side of which lay
+the wood of ancient oak of which I have spoken. Beyond it, on the
+northern side, the further edge of this ravine rose steeply, masses
+of scarred limestone jutting out of its escarpments; it seemed to me
+that at the foot of the wood and in the deepest part of this natural
+declension, there would be a burn, a stream, that ran downwards from
+the moor to the sea. I think we had some idea of getting down to this,
+following its course to its outlet on the beach, and returning
+homeward by way of the sands.
+
+The wood into which we made our way was well-nigh impregnable; it
+seemed to me that for age upon age its undergrowth had run riot,
+untrimmed, unchecked, until at last it had become a matted growth of
+interwoven, strangely twisted boughs and tendrils. It was only by
+turning in first one, then another direction through it that we made
+any progress in the downward direction we desired; sometimes it was a
+matter of forcing one's way between the thickly twisted obstacles. We
+exchanged laughing remarks about our having found the forest primeval;
+before long each was plentifully adorned with scratches and tears. All
+around us the silence was intense; there was no singing of birds nor
+humming of insects in that wood. But more than once we came across
+bones--the whitened skeletons of animals that had sought these shades
+and died there or had been dragged into them and torn to pieces by
+their fellow beasts. Altogether there was an atmosphere of eeriness
+and gloom in that wood, and I began--more for my companion's sake than
+my own--to long for a glimpse of some outlet, a sight of the sunlit
+sea beyond, and for the murmur of the burn which I felt sure, ran
+rippling coast-wards beneath the fringes of this almost impassable
+thicket.
+
+And then at the end of quite half-an-hour's struggling, borne, I must
+say, by Miss Raven, with the truly sporting spirit which was a part of
+her general character, a sudden exclamation from her, as she pushed
+her way through a clump of wilding a little in advance of me, caused
+me to look ahead.
+
+"There's some building just in front of us!" she said. "See--grey
+stones--a ruin!"
+
+I looked in the direction she indicated, and through the interstices
+of the thickly-leaved branches, just then prodigal of their first
+spring foliage, saw, as she said, a grey wall, venerable and
+time-stained, rising in front. I could see the topmost stones, a sort
+of broken parapet, ivy clustering about it, and beneath the green of
+the ivy, a fragment of some ornamentation and the cavernous gloom of a
+window place from which glass and tracery had long since gone.
+
+"That's something to make for, anyway," I said. "Some old tower or
+other. Yet I don't remember anything of the sort, marked on the maps."
+
+We pushed forward, and came out on a little clearing. Immediately in
+front of us stood the masonry of which we had caught glimpses; a low,
+squat, square tower, some forty feet in height, ruinous as to the most
+part, but having the side facing us nearly perfect and still boasting
+a fine old doorway which I set down as of Norman architecture. North
+of this lay a mass of fallen masonry, a long line of grass-grown,
+weed-encumbered stone, which was evidently the ruin of a wall; here
+and there in the clearing were similar smaller masses. Rank weed,
+bramblebush, beds of nettles, encumbered the whole place; it was a
+scene of ruin and desolation. But a mere glance was sufficient to show
+me that we had come by accident on a once sacred spot.
+
+"Why this," said I, as we paused at the edge of the wood, "this is the
+ruin of some ancient church, or perhaps of a religious house! Look at
+the niche there above the arch of the door--there's been an image in
+that--and at the general run of the stone lying about. Certainly this
+is an old church! Why have we never heard of it?"
+
+"Utterly forgotten, I should think," said Miss Raven. "It must be a
+long time since there were people about here to come to it."
+
+"Probably a village down on the coast--now swept away," I remarked.
+"But we must look this place out in the local books. Meanwhile let's
+explore it."
+
+We began to look about the clearing. The tower was almost gone as to
+three sides of it; the fourth was fairly intact. A line of fallen
+masonry lay to the north and was continued a little on the east, where
+it rose into a higher, ivy-covered mass. Within this again was
+another, less obvious line, similar in plan, and also covered with
+unchecked growth: within that the uneven surface of the ground was
+thickly encumbered with rank weeds, beds of thistle, beds of nettle,
+and a plenitude of bramble and gorse; in one place towards the eastern
+mass of overgrown wall, a great clump of gorse had grown to such a
+height and thickness as to form an impenetrable screen. And, peering
+and prying about, suddenly we came, between this screen and the foot
+of the tower on signs of great slabs of stone, over the edges of which
+the coarse grass had grown, and whose surfaces were thickly
+encumbered with moss and lichen.
+
+"Gravestones!" said Miss Raven. "But--I suppose they're quite worn and
+illegible."
+
+I got down on my knees at one of the slabs less encumbered than the
+others and began to tear away the grass and weed. There was a rich,
+thick carpet of moss on it, and a fringe of grey, clinging lichen, but
+by the aid of a stout pocket-knife I forced it away, and laid bare a
+considerable surface of the upper half of the stone. And now that the
+moss, which had formed a sort of protecting cover, was removed, we saw
+lettering, worn and smoothed at its edges in common with the rest of
+the slab, but still to be made out with a little patience.
+
+There may be--probably is--a certain density in me, a slowness of
+intuition and perception, but it is the fact that at this time and for
+some minutes later, I had not the faintest suspicion that we had
+accidentally lighted upon something connected with the mystery of Salter
+Quick. All I thought of, I think, just then was that we had come across
+some old relic of antiquity--the church of some coast hamlet or village
+which had long been left to the ruinous work of time, and my only
+immediate interest was in endeavouring to decipher the half-worn-out
+inscription on the stone by which I was kneeling. While my companion stood
+by me, watching with eager attention, I scraped out the earth and moss and
+lichen from the lettering--fortunately, it had been deeply incised in the
+stone--a hard and durable sort--and much of it remained legible, once the
+rubbish had been cleared from it. Presently I made out at any rate
+several words and figures:
+
+    _Hic jacet dominus ...
+    Humfrey de Knaythville ...
+    quond' vicari huius ...
+    ecclie qui obéit ...
+    anno dei mccccxix .._.
+
+Beneath these lines were two or three others, presumably words of
+scripture, which had evidently become worn away before the moss spread
+its protecting carpet over the others. But we had learnt something.
+
+"There we are!" said I, regarding the result of my labours with proud
+satisfaction. "There it runs--'Here lies the lord, or master, Humphrey
+de Knaythville, sometime vicar of this church, who died in the year of
+our Lord one thousand four hundred and nineteen'--nearly six hundred
+years ago! A good find!"
+
+"Splendid!" exclaimed Miss Raven, already excited to enthusiasm by
+these antiquarian discoveries. "I wonder if there are inscriptions on
+the other tombs?"
+
+"No doubt," I assented, "and perhaps some, or things of interest, on
+this fallen masonry. This place is well worth careful examination, and
+I'm wondering how it is that I haven't come across any reference to it
+in the local books. But to be sure, I haven't read them very fully or
+carefully--Mr. Cazalette may know of it. We shall have something to
+tell him."
+
+We began to look round again. I wandered into the base of the tower;
+Miss Raven began to explore the weed-choked ground towards the east
+end. Suddenly I heard a sharp, startled exclamation from her. Turning,
+I saw her standing by the great clump of overgrown gorse of which I
+have already spoken. She glanced at me; then at something behind the
+gorse.
+
+"What is it?" I asked.
+
+Unconsciously, she lowered her voice, at the same time glancing,
+half-nervously, at the thick undergrowth of the wood.
+
+"Come here!" she said. "Come!"
+
+I went across the weed-grown surface to her side. She pointed behind
+the gorse-bush.
+
+"Look there!" she whispered.
+
+I knew as soon as I looked that we were not alone in that wild,
+solitary-seeming spot; that there were human ears listening, and human
+eyes watching; that we were probably in danger. There behind the
+yellow-starred clump of green was what at first sight appeared to be a
+newly-opened grave, but was in reality a freshly-dug excavation; a
+heap of soil and stone, just flung out, lay by it; on this some hand
+had flung down a mattock; near it rested a pick. And suddenly, as by a
+heaven-sent inspiration, I saw things. We had stumbled on the
+graveyard which Salter Quick had wished to find; de Knaythville and
+Netherfield were identical terms which had got mixed up in his
+uneducated mind; here the missing treasure was buried, and we had
+walked into this utterly deserted spot to interrupt--what, and who?
+
+Before I could say a word, I heard Miss Raven catch her breath; then
+another sharp exclamation came from her lips--stifled, but clear.
+
+"Oh, I say!" she cried. "Who--who are these--these men?"
+
+Her hand moved instinctively towards my arm as she spoke, and as I
+drew it within my grasp I felt that she was trembling a little. And in
+that same instant, turning quickly in the direction she indicated, I
+became aware of the presence of two men who had quietly stepped out
+from the shelter of the high undergrowth on the landward side of the
+clearing and stood silently watching us. They were attired in
+something of the fashion of seamen, in rough trousers and jerseys, but
+I saw at first glance that they were not common men. Indeed, I saw
+more, and realized with a sickening feeling of apprehension that our
+wandering into that place had brought us face to face with danger. One
+of the two, a tallish, slender-built, good-looking man, not at all
+unpleasant to look on if it had not been for a certain sinister and
+cold expression of eye and mouth, I recognized as a stranger whom I
+had noticed at the coroner's inquest on Salter Quick and had then
+taken for some gentleman of the neighbourhood. The other, I felt sure,
+was Netherfield Baxter. There was the golden-brown beard of which Fish
+had told me and Scarterfield; there, too, was the half-hidden scar on
+the left cheek. I had no doubt whatever that Miss Raven and myself
+were in the hands of the two men who had bought the _Blanchflower_
+from Jallanby, the ship-broker of Hull.
+
+The four of us stood steadily gazing at each other for what seemed to
+be a long and--to me--a painful minute. Then the man whom I took to be
+Baxter moved a little nearer to us; his companion, hands in pockets,
+but watchful enough, lounged after him.
+
+"Well, sir?" said Baxter, lifting his cap as he glanced at Miss Raven.
+"Don't think me too abrupt, nor intentionally rude, if I ask you what
+you and this young lady are doing here?"
+
+His voice was that of a man of education and even of refinement, and
+his tone polite enough; there was something of apology in it. But it
+was also sharp, business-like, compelling; I saw at once that this was
+a man whose character was essentially matter-of-fact, and who would
+not allow himself to stick at trifles, and I judged it best to be
+plain in my answer.
+
+"If you really want to know," I replied, "we are here by sheer
+accident. Exploring the wood for the mere fun of the thing, we chanced
+upon these ruins and have been examining them, that's all?"
+
+"You didn't come here with any set purpose?" he asked, looking from
+one to the other. "You weren't seeking this place?"
+
+"Certainly not!" said I. "We hadn't the faintest notion that such a
+place was to be found."
+
+"But here it is, anyway," he said. "And--there you are! In the
+possession of the knowledge of it. And so--you'll excuse me--I must
+ask a question. Who are you? Tourists? Or--do you live hereabouts?"
+
+The other man made a remark under his breath, in some foreign
+language, eyeing me the while. And Baxter spoke again watching me.
+
+"I think you, at any rate, are a resident?" he said. "My friend has
+seen you before in these parts."
+
+"I have seen him," I said unthinkingly. "I saw him amongst the people
+at Salter Quick's inquest."
+
+The faintest shadow of an understanding glance passed between the two
+men, and Baxter's face grew stern.
+
+"Just so!" he remarked. "That makes it all the more necessary to
+repeat my question. Who are you--both?"
+
+"My name is Middlebrook, if you must know," I answered. "And I am not
+a resident of these parts--I am visiting here. As for this lady, she
+is Miss Raven, the niece of Mr. Francis Raven, of Ravensdene Court.
+And really--"
+
+He waved his hand as if to deprecate any remonstrance or threat on my
+part, and bowed as politely to my companion as if I had just given him
+a formal introduction to her.
+
+"No harm shall come to you, Miss Raven," he said, with evidently
+honest assurance. "None whatever!"
+
+"Nor to Mr. Middlebrook, either, I should hope!" exclaimed Miss Raven,
+almost indignantly.
+
+He smiled, showing a set of very white, strong teeth.
+
+"That depends on Mr. Middlebrook," he said. "If Mr. Middlebrook
+behaves like a good and reasonable boy--Mr. Middlebrook," he went on,
+interrupting himself and turning on me with a direct look, "a plain
+question? Are you armed?"
+
+"Armed!" I retorted scornfully. "Do you think I carry a revolver on an
+innocent country stroll?"
+
+"We do!" he answered with another smile. "You see, we don't know with
+whom we may meet. It was a million to one--perhaps more--against our
+meeting anybody this afternoon, yet--we've met you."
+
+"We are sorry to have interrupted you," I said, not without a touch of
+satirical meaning. "We won't interrupt any longer if you will permit
+us to say good-day."
+
+I motioned to Miss Raven to follow me, and made to move. But Baxter
+laughed a little and shook his head.
+
+"I'm not sure that we can allow that, just yet," he said. "It is
+unfortunate--I offer a thousand apologies to Miss Raven, but business
+is business, and--"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that you intend to interfere with our
+movements, just because you chance to find us here?" I demanded. "If
+so--"
+
+"Don't let us quarrel or get excited," he said, with another wave of
+his hand. "I have said that no harm shall come to you--a little
+temporary inconvenience, perhaps, but--however, excuse me for a
+moment."
+
+He stepped back to his companion; together they began to whisper,
+occasionally glancing at us.
+
+"What does he mean?" murmured Miss Raven. "Do they want to keep
+us--here?"
+
+"I don't know what they intend," I said. "But--don't be afraid."
+
+"I'm not afraid," she answered. "Only--I've a pretty good idea of who
+it is that we've come across! And--so have you?"
+
+"Yes," I replied. "Unfortunately, I have. And--we're at their mercy.
+There's nothing for it but to obey, I think."
+
+Baxter suddenly turned back to us. It was clear that his mind was made
+up.
+
+"Miss Raven--Mr. Middlebrook," he said. "I'm sorry, but we can't let
+you go. The fact is, you've had the bad luck to light on a certain
+affair of ours about which we can't take any chances. We have a yacht
+lying outside here--you'll have to go with us on board and to remain
+there for a day or two. I assure you, no harm shall come to either of
+you. And as we want to get on with our work here--will you please to
+come, now?"
+
+We went--silently. There was nothing else to do. In a similar silence
+they led us through the rest of the wood, along the side of the stream
+which I had expected to find there, and to a small boat that lay
+hidden by the mouth of the creek. As they rowed us away in it, and
+rounded a spit of land, we saw the yacht, lying under a bluff of the
+cliffs. Ten minutes' stiff pulling brought us alongside--and for a
+moment, as I glanced up at her rail, I saw the yellow face of a
+Chinaman looking down on us. Then it vanished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE PLUM CAKE
+
+
+In the few moments which elapsed between my catching sight of that
+yellow face peering at us from the rail and our setting foot on the
+deck of what was virtually a temporary prison, I had time to arrive at
+a fairly conclusive estimate of our situation. Without doubt we were
+in the hands of Netherfield Baxter and his gang; without doubt this
+was the craft which they had bought from the Hull ship broker; without
+doubt the reason of its presence on this lonely stretch of the coast
+lay in the proceedings amongst the ruins beneath whose walls we had
+come face to face with our captors. I saw--or believed that I
+saw--through the whole thing. Baxter and his accomplices had bought
+the yawl, ostensibly for a trip to the Norwegian fjords, but in
+reality that they might sail it up the coast, in the capacity of
+private yachtsmen, recover the treasure which had been buried near the
+tombs of the de Knaythevilles, and then--go elsewhere. Miss Raven and
+I had broken in upon their operations, and we were to pay for the
+accident with our liberty. I was not concerned about myself--I fancied
+that I saw a certain amount of honesty in Baxter's assurances--but I
+was anxious about my companion, and about her uncle's anxiety. Miss
+Raven was not the sort of girl to be easily frightened, but the
+situation, after all, was far from pleasant--there we were,
+defenceless, amongst men who were engaged in a dark and desperate
+adventure, whose hands were probably far from clean in the matter of
+murder, and who, if need arose, would doubtless pay small regard to
+our well-being or safety. Yet--there was nothing else for it but to
+accept the situation.
+
+We went on deck. The vessel was at anchor; she lay, a thing of
+idleness, quiet and peaceful enough, in a sheltered cove, wherein, I
+saw at a glance, she was lost to sight from the open sea outside the
+bar at its entrance, and hid from all but the actual coastline of the
+land. And all was quiet on her clean, freshly-scoured decks--she
+looked, seen at close quarters, just what her possessors, of course,
+desired her to be taken for--a gentleman's pleasure yacht, the crew of
+which had nothing to do but keep her smart and bright. No one stepping
+aboard her would have suspected piracy or nefarious doings. And when
+we boarded her, there was nobody visible--the Chinaman whom I had seen
+looking over the side had disappeared, and from stem to stern there
+was not a sign of human life. But as Miss Raven and I stood side by
+side, glancing about us with curiosity, a homely-looking grey cat came
+rubbing its shoulder against the woodwork and from somewhere forward,
+where a wisp of blue smoke escaped from the chimney of the cook's
+galley, we caught a whiff of a familiar sort--somebody, somewhere, was
+toasting bread or tea-cakes.
+
+We stood idle, like prisoners awaiting orders, while our captors
+transferred from the boat to the yawl two biggish, iron-hooped
+chests, the wood of which was stained and discoloured with earth and
+clay. They were heavy chests, and they used tackle to get them aboard,
+setting them down close by where we stood. I looked at them with a
+good deal of interest; then, remembering that Miss Raven was fully
+conversant with all that Scarterfield had discovered at Blyth, I
+touched her elbow, directing her attention to the two bulky objects
+before us.
+
+"Those are the chests that disappeared from the bank at Blyth," I
+whispered. "Now you understand?"
+
+She gave me a quick, comprehending look.
+
+"Then we are in the hands of Netherfield Baxter?" she murmured. "That
+man--there."
+
+"Without a doubt," I answered. "And the thing is--show no fear."
+
+"I'm not a scrap afraid," she answered. "It's exciting! And--he's
+rather interesting, isn't he?"
+
+"Gentlemen of his kidney usually are, I believe," I replied. "All the
+same, I should much prefer his room to his company."
+
+Baxter just then came over to us, rubbing from his fingers the soil
+which had gathered on them from handling the chests. He smiled
+politely, with something of the air of a host who wants to apologise
+for the only accommodation he can offer.
+
+"Now, Miss Raven," he said, with an accent of almost benevolent
+indulgence, "as we shall be obliged to inflict our hospitality upon
+you for a day or two--I hope it won't be for longer, for your
+sake--let me show you what we can give you in the way of quarters to
+yourself. We can't offer you the services of a maid, but there is a
+good cabin, well fitted, in which you'll be comfortable, and you can
+regard it as your own domain while you're with us. Come this way."
+
+He led us down a short gangway, across a sort of small saloon
+evidently used as common-room by himself and his companion, and threw
+open the door of a neat though very small cabin.
+
+"Never been used," he said with another smile. "Fitted up by the
+previous owner of this craft, and all in order, as you see. Consider
+it as your own, Miss Raven, while you're our guest. One of my men
+shall see that you've whatever you need in the way of towels, hot
+water, and the like. If you'll step in and look round, I'll send him
+to you now. As he's a Chinaman, you'll find him as handy as a French
+maid. Give him any orders or instructions you like. And then come on
+deck again, if you please, and you shall have some tea."
+
+He beckoned me to follow him as Miss Raven walked into her quarters,
+and he gave me a reassuring look as we crossed the outer cabin.
+
+"She'll be perfectly safe and secluded in there," he said. "You can
+mount guard here if you like, Mr. Middlebrook--in fact, this is the
+only place I can offer you for quarters for yourself--I dare say you
+can manage to make a night's rest on one of these lounges, with the
+help of some rugs and cushions, and we've plenty of both."
+
+"I'm all right, thank you," said I. "Don't trouble about me. My only
+concern is about Miss Raven."
+
+"I'll take good care that Miss Raven is safe in everything," he
+answered. "As safe as if she were in her uncle's house. So don't
+bother your head on that score--I've given my word."
+
+"I don't doubt it," I said. "But as regards her uncle--I want to speak
+to you about him."
+
+"A moment," he replied. "Excuse me." We were on deck again, and he
+went forward, poked his head into an open hatchway, and gave some
+order to an unseen person. A moment later a Chinaman, the same whose
+face I had seen as we came aboard, shot out of the hatchway, glided
+past me as he crossed the deck with silent tread, and vanished into
+the cabin we had just left. Baxter came back to me, pulling out a
+cigarette case. "Yes?" he said, offering it. "About Mr. Raven?"
+
+"Mr. Raven," said I, "will be in great anxiety about his niece. She is
+the only relative he has, I believe, and he will be extremely anxious
+if she does not return this evening. He is a nervous, highly-strung
+man--"
+
+He interrupted me with a wave of his cigarette.
+
+"I've thought of all that," he said. "Mr. Raven shall not be kept in
+anxiety. As a matter of fact, my friend, whom you met with me up there
+at the ruins, is going ashore again in a few minutes. He will go
+straight to the nearest telegraph office, which is a mile or two
+inland, and there he will send a wire to Mr. Raven--from you. Mr.
+Raven will get it by, say, seven o'clock. The thing is--how will you
+word it?"
+
+We looked at each other. In that exchange of glances, I could see that
+he was a man who was quick at appreciating difficulties and that he
+saw the peculiar niceties of the present one.
+
+"That's a pretty stiff question!" said I.
+
+"Just so!" he agreed. "It is. So take my advice. Instead of having the
+wire sent from the nearest office, do this--my friend, as a matter of
+fact, is going on by rail to Berwick. Let him send a wire from there:
+it will only mean that Mr. Raven will get it an hour or so later. Say
+that you and Miss Raven find you cannot get home tonight, and that she
+is quite safe--word it in any reassuring way you like."
+
+I gave him a keen glance.
+
+"The thing is," said I. "Can we get home tomorrow?"
+
+"Well--possibly tomorrow night--late," he answered. "I will do my
+best. I may be--I hope to be--through with my business tomorrow
+afternoon. Then--"
+
+At that moment the other man appeared on deck, emerging from
+somewhere. He had changed his clothes--he now presented himself in a
+smart tweed suit, Homburg hat, polished shoes, gloves, walking cane.
+Baxter signed to him to wait, turning to me.
+
+"That's the wisest thing to do," he remarked. "Draft your wire."
+
+I wrote out a message which I hoped would allay Mr. Raven's anxieties
+and handed it to him. He read it over, nodded as if in approbation,
+and went across to the other man. For a moment or two they stood
+talking in low tones; then the other man went over the side, dropped
+into the boat which lay there, and pulled himself off shorewards.
+Baxter came back to me.
+
+"He'll send that from Berwick railway station as soon as he gets
+there, at six-thirty," he said. "It should be delivered at Ravensdene
+Court by eight. So there's no need to worry further, you can tell Miss
+Raven. And when all's said and done, Mr. Middlebrook, it wasn't my
+fault that you and she broke in upon very private doings up there in
+the old churchyard--nor, I suppose, yours either. Make the best of
+it!--it's only a temporary detention."
+
+I was watching him closely as he talked, and suddenly I made up my
+mind to speak out. It might be foolish, even dangerous, to do it, but
+I had an intuitive feeling that it would be neither.
+
+"I believe," I said, brusquely enough, "that I am speaking to Mr.
+Netherfield Baxter?"
+
+He returned me a sharp glance which was half-smiling. Certainly there
+was no astonishment in it.
+
+"Aye!" he answered. "I thought, somehow, that you might be thinking
+that! Well, and suppose I admit it, Mr. Middlebrook? What then? And
+what do you--a Londoner, I think you told me--know of Netherfield
+Baxter?"
+
+"You wish to know?" I asked. "Shall I be plain?"
+
+"As a pike-staff, if you like," he replied. "I prefer it."
+
+"Well," said I, "a good many things--recently discovered by accident.
+That you formerly lived at Blyth, and had some association with a
+certain temporary bank-manager there, about whose death--and the
+disappearance of some valuable portable property--there was a good
+deal of concern manifested about the time that you left Blyth. That
+you were never heard of again until recently, when a Blyth man
+recognized you in Hull, where you bought a yawl--this yawl, I
+believe--and said you were going to Norway in her. And that--but am I
+to be still more explicit?"
+
+"Why not?" said he with a laugh. "Forewarned is forearmed. You're
+giving me valuable information."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Baxter," I continued, determined to show him my cards.
+"There's a certain detective, one Scarterfield, a sharp man, who is
+very anxious to make your acquaintance. For if you want the plain
+truth, he believes you, or some of your accomplices, or you and they
+together, to have had a hand in the murders of Noah and Salter Quick.
+And he's on your track."
+
+I was watching him still more closely as I spoke the last sentence or
+two. He remained as calm and cool as ever, and I was somewhat taken
+aback by the collected fashion in which he not only replied to my
+glance, but answered my words.
+
+"Scarterfield--of whose doings I've heard a bit--has got hold of the
+wrong end of the stick there, Mr. Middlebrook," he said quietly. "I
+had no hand in murdering either Noah Quick or his brother Salter. Nor
+had my friend--the man who's just gone off with your telegram. I don't
+know who murdered those men. But I know that there have always been
+men who were ready to murder them if they got the chance, and I wasn't
+the least surprised to hear that they had been murdered. The wonder is
+that they escaped murder as long as they did! But beyond the fact that
+they were murdered, I know nothing--nor does anybody on board this
+craft. You and Miss Raven are amongst--well, you can call us pirates
+if you like, buccaneers, adventurers, anything!--but we're not
+murderers. We know nothing whatever about the murders of Noah and
+Salter Quick--except what we've read in the papers."
+
+I believed him. And I made haste to say so--out of a sheer relief to
+know that Miss Raven was not amongst men whose hands were stained with
+blood.
+
+"Thank you," he said, as coolly as ever. "I'm obliged to you. I've
+been anxious enough to know who did murder those two men. As I say, I
+felt no surprise when I heard of the murders."
+
+"You knew them--the Quicks?" I suggested.
+
+"Did I?" he answered with a cynical laugh. "Didn't I? They were a
+couple of rank bad 'uns! I have never professed sanctity, Mr.
+Middlebrook, but Noah and Salter Quick were of a brand that's far
+beyond me--they were bad men. I'll tell you more of 'em, later--here's
+Miss Raven."
+
+"I may as well tell you," I murmured hastily, "that Miss Raven knows
+as much as I do about all that I've just told you."
+
+"That so?" he said. "Um! And she looks a sensible sort of lass,
+too--well, I'll tell you both what I know--as I say, later. But
+now--some tea!"
+
+While he went forward to give his orders, I contrived to inform Miss
+Raven of the gist of our recent conversation, and to assert my own
+private belief in Baxter's innocence. I saw that she was already
+prejudiced in his favour.
+
+"I'm glad to know that," she said. "But in that case--the mystery's
+all the deeper. What is it, I wonder, that he can tell."
+
+"Wait till he speaks," said I. "We shall learn something."
+
+Baxter came back, presently followed by the little Chinaman whom I had
+seen before, who deftly set up a small table on deck, drew chairs
+round it, and a few minutes later spread out all the necessaries of a
+dainty afternoon tea. And in the centre of them was a plum cake. I saw
+Miss Raven glance at it; I glanced at her; I knew of what she was
+thinking. Her thoughts had flown to the plum cake at Lorrimore's, made
+by Wing, his Chinese servant.
+
+But whatever we thought, we said nothing. The situation was romantic,
+and not without some attraction, even in those curious circumstances.
+Here we were, prisoners, first-class prisoners, if you will, but still
+prisoners, and there was our gaoler; he and ourselves sat round a
+tea-table, munching toast, nibbling cakes and dainties, sipping
+fragrant tea, as if we had been in any lady's drawing-room. I think it
+speaks well for all of us that we realized the situation and made the
+most of it by affecting to ignore the actual reality. We chatted, as
+well-behaved people should under similar conditions, about anything
+but the prime fact of our imprisonment; Baxter, indeed, might have
+been our very polite and attentive host and we his willing guests. As
+for Miss Raven, she accepted the whole thing with hearty good humour
+and poured out the tea as if she had been familiar with our new
+quarters for many a long day; moreover, she adopted a friendly
+attitude towards our captors which did much towards smoothing any
+present difficulties.
+
+"You seem to be very well accommodated in the matter of servants, Mr.
+Baxter," she observed. "That little Chinaman, as you said, is as good
+as a French maid, and you certainly have a good cook--excellent
+pastry-cook, anyway."
+
+Baxter glanced lazily in the direction of the galley.
+
+"Another Chinaman," he answered. He looked significantly at me. "Mr.
+Middlebrook," he continued, "is aware that I bought this yawl from a
+ship-broker in Hull, for a special purpose--"
+
+"Not aware of the special purpose," I interrupted, with a purposely
+sly glance at him.
+
+"The special purpose is a run across the Atlantic, if you want to
+know," he answered carelessly. "Of course, when I'd got her, I wanted
+a small crew. Now, I've had great experience of Chinamen--best
+servants on earth, in my opinion--so I sailed her down to the Thames,
+went up to London Docks, and took in some Chinese chaps that I got in
+Limehouse. Two men and one cook--man cook, of course. He's good--I
+can't promise you a real and proper dinner tonight, but I can promise
+a very satisfactory substitute which we call supper."
+
+"And you're going across the Atlantic with a crew of three?" I asked.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he answered candidly, "there are six of us. The
+three Chinese; myself; my friend who was with me this afternoon, and
+who will join us again tomorrow, and another friend who will return
+with him, and who, like the crew, is a Chinaman. But he's a Chinaman
+of rank and position."
+
+"In other words, the Chinese gentleman who was with you and your
+French friend in Hull?" I suggested.
+
+"Just so--since we're to be frank," he answered. "The same." Then,
+with a laugh, he glanced at Miss Raven. "Mr. Middlebrook," he said,
+"considers me the most candid desperado he ever met!"
+
+"Your candour is certainly interesting," replied Miss Raven.
+"Especially if you really are a desperado. Perhaps--you'll give us
+more of it?"
+
+"I'll tell you a bit--later on," he said. "That Quick business, I
+mean."
+
+Suddenly, setting down his tea-cup, he got up and moved away towards
+the galley, into which he presently disappeared. Miss Raven turned
+sharply on me.
+
+"Did you eat a slice of that plum-cake?" she whispered. "You did?"
+
+"I know what you're thinking," I answered. "It reminds you of the cake
+that Lorrimore's man, Wing, makes."
+
+"Reminds!" she exclaimed. "There's no reminding about it! Do you know
+what I think? That man Wing is aboard this yacht! He made that cake!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BLACK MEMORIES
+
+
+There was so much of real importance, not only to us in our present
+situation, but to the trend of things in general, in Miss Raven's
+confident suggestion that her words immediately plunged me into a
+thoughtful silence. Rising from my chair at the tea-table, I walked
+across to the landward side of the yawl, and stood there, reflecting.
+But it needed little reflection to convince me that what my
+fellow-prisoner had just suggested was well within the bounds of
+possibility. I recalled all that we knew of the recent movements of
+Dr. Lorrimore's Chinese servant. Wing had gone to London, on the
+pretext of finding out something about that other problematical
+Chinese, Lo Chuh Fen. Since his departure, Lorrimore had had no
+tidings of him and his doings--in Lorrimore's opinion, he might be
+still in London, or he might have gone to Liverpool, or to Cardiff, to
+any port where his fellow-countrymen are to be found in England. Now
+it was well within probabilities that Wing, being in Limehouse or
+Poplar, and in touch with Chinese sailor-men, should, with others,
+have taken service with Baxter and his accomplice, and, at that very
+moment there, in that sheltered cove on the Northumbrian coast, be
+within a few yards of Miss Raven and myself, separated from us by a
+certain amount of deck-planking and a few bulkheads. But why? If he
+was there, in that yawl, in what capacity--real capacity--was he
+there? Ostensibly, as cook, no doubt--but that, I felt sure, would be
+a mere blind. Put plainly, if he was there, what game was that bland,
+suave, obsequious, soft-tongued Chinaman playing? Was this his way of
+finding out what all of us wanted to know? If it came to it, if there
+was occasion--such occasion as I dared not contemplate--could Miss
+Raven and myself count on Wing as a friend, or should we find him an
+adherent of the strange and curious gang, which, if the truth was to
+be faced, literally held not only our liberty, but our lives at its
+disposal? For we were in a tight place--of that there was no doubt. Up
+to that moment I was not unfavourably impressed by Netherfield Baxter,
+and, whether against my better judgment or not, I was rather more than
+inclined to believe him innocent of actual share or complicity in the
+murders of Noah and Salter Quick. But I could see that he was a queer
+mortal; odd, even to eccentricity; vain, candid and frank because of
+his very vanity; given, I thought, to talking a good deal about
+himself and his doings; probably a megalomaniac. He might treat us
+well so long as things went well with him, but supposing any situation
+to arise in which our presence, nay, our very existence, became a
+danger to him and his plans--what then? He had a laughing lip and a
+twinkle of sardonic humour in his eye, but I fancied that the lip
+could settle into ruthless resolve if need be and the eye become more
+stony than would be pleasant. And--we were at his mercy; the mercy of
+a man whose accomplice might be of a worse kidney than himself, and
+whose satellites were yellow-skinned slant-eyed Easterns, pirates to a
+man, and willing enough to slit a throat at the faintest sign from a
+master.
+
+As I stood there, leaning against the side, gloomily staring at the
+shore, which was so near, and yet so impossible of access, I reviewed
+a point which was of more importance to me than may be imagined--the
+point of our geographical situation. I have already said that the yawl
+lay at anchor in a sheltered cove. The position of that cove was
+peculiar. It was entered from seawards by an extremely narrow inlet,
+across the mouth of which stretched a bar--I could realize that much
+by watching the breakers rolling over it; it was plain to me, a
+landsman, that even a small vessel could only get in or out of the
+cove at high water. But once across the bar, and within the narrow
+entry, any vessel coming in from the open sea would find itself in a
+natural harbour of great advantages; the cove ran inland for a good
+mile and was quite another mile in width; its waters were deep, rising
+some fifteen to twenty feet over a clear, sandy bottom, and on all
+sides, right down to the bar at its entrance, it was sheltered by high
+cliffs, covered from the tops of their headlands to the thin, pebbly
+stretches of shore at their feet by thick wood, mostly oak and beech.
+That the cove was known to the folk of that neighbourhood it was
+impossible to doubt, but I felt sure that any strange craft passing
+along the sea in front would never suspect its existence, so carefully
+had Nature concealed the entrance on the landward side of the bar. And
+there were no signs within the cove itself that any of the shore folk
+ever used it. There was not a vestige of a human dwelling-place to be
+discovered anywhere along its thickly-wooded banks; no boat lay on its
+white beach; no fishing-net was stretched out there to dry in the sun
+and wind; the entire stretch was desolate. And I knew that an equal
+desolation lay all over the land immediately behind the cove and its
+sheltering woods. That was about the loneliest part of a lonely
+coast--by that time I had become well acquainted with it. For some
+miles, north and south of that exact spot, there were no coast
+villages--there was nothing, save an isolated farmstead, set in deep
+ravines at wide distances. The only link with busier things lay in the
+railway--that, as I also knew, lay about two or two-and-a-half miles
+inland; as far as I could recollect the map which lay in my pocket,
+but which I did not dare to pull out, there was a small wayside
+station on this line, immediately behind the woods through which Miss
+Raven and I had unthinkingly wandered to our fate; from it, doubtless,
+the Frenchman, Baxter's accomplice, had taken train for Berwick, some
+twenty miles northward. Everything considered, Miss Raven and I were
+as securely trapped and as much at our captor's mercy as if we had
+been immured in a twentieth-century Bastille.
+
+I went back, presently, to the tea-table and dropped into my
+deck-chair again. Baxter was still away from us; as far as I could
+see, there was no one about. I gave her a look which was intended to
+suggest caution, but I spoke in a purposely affected tone of
+carelessness.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if you are right in your suggestion," I said. "In
+that case, I think we should have a friend on board in case we need
+one."
+
+"But you don't anticipate any need?" she asked quickly.
+
+"I don't," said I. "So don't think I do."
+
+"What do you suppose is going to happen to us?" She asked, glancing
+over her shoulder at the open door of the galley into which Baxter had
+vanished.
+
+"I think they'll detain us until they're ready to depart, and then
+they'll release us," I answered. "Our host, or jailor, or whatever you
+like to call him, is a queer chap--he'll probably make us give him our
+word of honour that we'll keep close tongues."
+
+"He could have done that without bringing us here," she remarked.
+
+"Ah, but he wanted to make sure!" said I. "He's taking no risks.
+However, I'm sure he means no harm to us. Under other conditions, I
+shouldn't have objected to meeting him. He's--a character."
+
+"Interesting, certainly," she agreed. "Do you think he really is
+a--pirate?"
+
+"I don't think he'll have any objection to making that quite clear to
+us if he is," I replied, cynically. "I should say he'd be rather proud
+of it. But--I think we shall hear a good deal of him before we get our
+freedom."
+
+I was right there. Baxter seemed almost wistfully anxiously to talk
+with us--he behaved like a man who for a long time had small
+opportunity of conversation with the people he would like to converse
+with, and he kept us both talking as the afternoon faded into evening
+and the evening fell towards night. He was a good talker, too, and
+knew much of books and politics and of men, and could make shrewd
+remarks, tinged, it seemed to me, with a little cynicism that was more
+good-humoured than bitter. The time passed rapidly in this fashion;
+supper-time arrived; the meal, as good and substantial as any dinner,
+was served in the little saloon-like cabin by the soft-footed Chinaman
+who, other than Baxter, was the only living soul we had seen since the
+Frenchman went away in the boat; all through it Baxter kept up his
+ready flow of talk while punctiliously observing his duties as host.
+Until then, the topics had been of a general nature, such as one might
+have heard dealt with at any gentleman's table, but when supper was
+over and the Chinaman had left us alone, he turned on us with a queer,
+inquisitive smile.
+
+"You think me a strange fellow," he said. "Don't deny it!--I am, and I
+don't mind who thinks it. Or--who knows it."
+
+I made no reply beyond an acquiescent nod, but Miss Raven--who, all
+through this adventure, showed a coolness and resourcefulness which I
+can never sufficiently praise--looked steadily at him.
+
+"I think you must have seen and known some strange things," she said
+quietly.
+
+"Aye--and done some!" he answered, with a laugh that had more of
+harshness in it than was usual with him. Then he glanced at me. "Mr.
+Middlebrook, there, from what he told me this afternoon, knows a bit
+about me and my affairs," he said. "But not much. Sufficient to whet
+your curiosity, eh, Middlebrook?"
+
+"I confess I should like to know more," I replied. "I agree with Miss
+Raven--you must have seen a good deal of the queer side of life."
+
+There was some fine old claret on the table between us; he pushed the
+bottle over to me, motioning me to refill my glass. For a moment he
+sat, a cigar in the corner of his lips, his hands in the armholes of
+his waistcoat, silently reflecting.
+
+"What's really puzzling you this time," he said suddenly, "is that
+Quick affair--I know because I've not only read the newspapers, but
+I've picked up a good deal of local gossip--never mind how. I've heard
+a lot of your goings-on at Ravensdene Court, and the suspicions, and
+so on. And I knew the Quicks--no man better, at one time, and I'll
+tell you what I know. Not a nice story from any moral point of view,
+but though it's a story of rough men, there's nothing in it at all
+that need offend your ears, Miss Raven--nothing. It's just a story--an
+instance--of some of the things that happen to Ishmaels, outcasts,
+like me."
+
+We made no answer, and he refilled his own glass, took a mouthful of
+its contents, and glancing from one to the other of us, went on.
+
+"You're both aware of my youthful career at Blyth?" he said. "You,
+Middlebrook, are, anyway, from what you told me this afternoon, and I
+gather that you put Miss Raven in possession of the facts. Well, I'll
+start out from there--when I made the acquaintance of that temporary
+bank-manager chap. Mind you, I'd about come to the end of my tether at
+that time as regards money--I'd been pretty well fleeced by one or
+another, largely through carelessness, largely through sheer
+ignorance. I didn't lose all my money on the turf, Middlebrook, I can
+assure you--I was robbed by more than one worthy man of my native
+town--legally, of course, bless 'em! And it was that, I think, turned
+me into the Ishmael I've been ever since--as men had robbed me, I
+thought it a fair thing to get a bit of my own back. Now that
+bank-manager chap was one of those fellows who are born with predatory
+instincts--my impression of him, from what I recollect, is that he was
+a born thief. Anyway, he and I, getting pretty thick with each other,
+found out that we were just then actuated by similar ambitions--I from
+sheer necessity, he, as I tell you, from temperament. And to cut
+matters short, we determined to help ourselves out of certain things
+of value stored in that bank, and to clear out to far-off regions with
+what we got. We discovered that two chests deposited in the bank's
+vaults by old Lord Forestburne contained a quantity of simply
+invaluable monastic spoil, stolen by the good man's ancestors four
+centuries before: we determined to have that and to take it over to
+the United States, where we knew we could realize immense sums on it,
+from collectors, with no questions asked. There were other matters,
+too, which were handy--we carefully removed the lot, brought them
+along the coast to this very cove, and interred them in those ruins
+where we three foregathered this afternoon."
+
+"And whence, I take it, you have just removed them to the deck above
+our heads?" I suggested.
+
+"Right, Middlebrook, quite right--there they are!" he admitted with a
+laugh. "A grand collection, too--chalices, patens, reliquaries, all
+manner of splendid mediaeval craftsmanship--and certain other more
+modern things with them--all destined for the other side of the
+Atlantic--the market's sure and safe and ready--"
+
+"You think you'll get them there?" I asked.
+
+"I shall be more surprised than I ever was in my life if I don't," he
+answered readily, and with that note of dryness which one associates
+with certainty. "I'm a pretty cute hand at making and perfecting and
+carrying out a plan. Yes, sir, they'll be there, in good time--and
+they'd have been there long since if it hadn't been for an accident
+which I couldn't foresee--that bank-manager chap had the ill-luck to
+break his neck. Now that put me in a fix. I knew that the abstraction
+of these things would soon be discovered, and though I'd exercised
+great care in covering up all trace of my own share in the affair,
+there was always a bare possibility of something coming out. So,
+knowing the stuff was safely planted and very unlikely to be
+disturbed, I cleared out, and determined to wait a fitting opportunity
+of regaining possession of it. My notion at that time, I remember, was
+to get hold of some American millionaire collector who would give me
+facilities for taking up the stuff, to be handed over to him. But I
+didn't find one, and for the time being I had to keep quiet.
+Inquiries, of course, were set afoot about the missing property, but
+fortunately I was not suspected. And if I had been, I shouldn't have
+been found, for I know how to disappear as cleverly as any man who
+ever found that convenient."
+
+He threw away the stump of his cigar, deliberately lighted another,
+and leaned across the table towards me in a more confidential manner.
+
+"Now we're coming to the more immediately interesting part of the
+story," he said. "All that I've told you is, as it were, ancient
+history. We'll get to more modern times, affairs of yesterday, so to
+speak. After I cleared out of Blyth--with a certain amount of money in
+my pocket--I knocked about the world a good deal, doing one thing and
+another. I've been in every continent and in more sea-ports than I can
+remember. I've taken a share in all sorts of queer transactions from
+smuggling to slave-trading. I've been rolling in money in January and
+shivering in rags in June. All that was far away, in strange quarters
+of the world, for I never struck this country again until
+comparatively recently. I could tell you enough to fill a dozen fat
+volumes, but we'll cut all that out and get on to a certain time, now
+some years ago, whereat, in Hong-Kong, I and the man you saw with me
+this afternoon, who, if everybody had their own, is a genuine French
+nobleman, came across those two particularly precious villains, the
+brothers Noah and Salter Quick."
+
+"Was that the first time of your meeting with them?" I asked. Now that
+he was evidently bent on telling me his story, I, on my part, was bent
+on getting out of him all that I could. "You'd never met them
+before--anywhere?"
+
+"Never seen nor heard of them before," he answered. "We met in a
+certain house-of-call in Hong-Kong, much frequented by Englishmen and
+Americans; we became friendly with them; we soon found out that they,
+like ourselves, were adventurers, would-be pirates, buccaneers, ready
+for any game; we found out, too, that they had money, and could
+finance any desperate affair that was likely to pay handsomely. My
+friend and I, at that time, were also in funds--we had just had a very
+paying adventure in the Malay Archipelago, a bit of illicit trading,
+and we had got to Hong-Kong on the look-out for another opportunity.
+Once we had got thoroughly in with the Quicks, that was not long in
+coming. The Quicks were as sharp as their name--they knew the sort of
+men they wanted. And before long they took us into their confidence
+and told us what they were after and what they wanted us to do, in
+collaboration with them. They wanted to get hold of a ship, and to use
+it for certain nefarious trading purposes in the China seas--they had
+a plan by which the lot of us could have made a lot of money. Needless
+to say, we were ready enough to go in with them. Already they had a
+scheme of getting a ship such as they particularly needed. There was
+at that time lying at Hong-Kong a sort of tramp steamer, the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_, the skipper of which wanted a crew for a trip to
+Chemulpo, up the Yellow Sea. Salter Quick got himself into the
+confidence and graces of this skipper, and offered to man his ship for
+him, and he packed her as far as he could--with his own brother, Noah,
+myself, my French friend, and a certain Chinese cook of whom he knew
+and who could be trusted--trusted, that is, to fall in whatever we
+wanted."
+
+"Am I right in supposing the name of the Chinese cook to have been Lo
+Chuh Fen?" I asked.
+
+"Quite right--Lo Chuh Fen was the man," answered Baxter. "A very
+handy man for anything, as you'll admit, for you've already seen
+him--he's the man who attended on Miss Raven and who served our
+supper. I came across him again, in Limehouse, recently, and took him
+into my service once more. Very well--now you understand that there
+were five of us all in for the Quick's plan, and the notion was that
+when we'd once got safely out of Hong-Kong, Salter, who had a
+particularly greasy and insinuating tongue, should get round certain
+others of the crew by means of promises helped out by actual cash
+bribes. That done, we were going to put the skipper, his mates, and
+such of the men as wouldn't fall in with us, in a boat with provisions
+and let them find their way wherever they liked, while we went off
+with the steamer. That was the surface plan--my own belief is that if
+it had come to it, the two Quicks would have been quite ready to make
+skipper and men walk the plank, or to have settled them in any other
+way--both Noah and Salter, for all their respectable appearance, were
+born out of their due time--they were admirably qualified to have been
+lieutenants to Paul Jones or any other eighteenth-century pirate! But
+in this particular instance, their schemes went all wrong. Whether it
+was that the skipper of the _Elizabeth Robinson_, who was an American
+and cuter than we fancied, got wind of something, or whether somebody
+spilt to him, I don't know, but the fact is that one fine morning when
+we were in the Yellow Sea he and the rest of them set on the Quicks,
+my friend, myself, and the Chinaman, bundled us into a boat and landed
+us on a miserable island, to fend for ourselves. There we were, the
+five of us--a precious bad lot, to be sure--marooned!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE POSSIBLE REASON
+
+
+At that last word, spoken with an emphasis which showed that it awoke
+no very pleasant memories in the speaker, Miss Raven looked
+questioningly from one to the other of us.
+
+"Marooned?" she said. "What is that, exactly?"
+
+Baxter gave her an indulgent and me a knowing look.
+
+"I daresay Mr. Middlebrook can give you the exact etymological meaning
+of the word better than I can, Miss Raven," he answered. "But I can
+tell you what the thing means in actual practice! It means to put a
+man, or men, ashore, preferably on a desert island, leaving him, or
+them, to fend for himself, or themselves, as best he, or they, can! It
+may mean slow starvation--at best it means living on what you can pick
+up by your own ingenuity, on shell-fish and that sort of thing, even
+on edible sea-weed. Marooned? Yes! that was the only experience I ever
+had of that--it's all very well talking of it now, as we sit here on a
+comfortable little vessel, with a bottle of good wine before us, but
+at the time--ah!"
+
+"You'd a stiff time of it?" I suggested.
+
+"Worse than you'd believe," he answered. "That old Yankee skipper was
+a vindictive chap, with method in him. He'd purposely gone off the
+beaten track to land us on that island, and he played his game so
+cleverly that not even the Quicks--who were as subtle as snakes!--knew
+anything of his intentions until we were all marched over the side at
+the point of ugly-looking revolvers. If it hadn't been for that little
+Chinese whom you've just seen we would have starved, for the island
+was little more than a reef of rock, rising to a sort of peak in its
+centre--worn-out volcano, I imagine--and with nothing eatable on it in
+the way of flesh or fruit. But Chuh was a God-send! He was clever at
+fishing, and he showed us an edible sea-weed out of which he made good
+eating, and he discovered a spring of water--altogether he kept us
+alive. All of which," he suddenly added, with a darkening look, "made
+the conduct of these two Quicks not merely inexcusable, but devilish!"
+
+"What did they do?" I asked.
+
+"I'm coming to it," he said. "All in due order. We were on that island
+several weeks, and from the time we were flung unceremoniously upon
+its miserable shores to the day we left it we never saw a sail nor a
+wisp of smoke from a steamer. And it may be that this, and our
+privations, made us still more birds of a feather than we were.
+Anyway, you, Middlebrook, know how men, thrown together in that way,
+will talk--nay, must talk unless they'd go mad!--talk about themselves
+and their doings and so on. We all talked--we used to tell tales of
+our doubtful pasts as we huddled together under the rocks at nights,
+and some nice, lurid stores there were, I can assure you. The Quicks
+had seen about as much of the doubtful and seamy side of seafaring
+life as men could, and all of us could contribute something. Also,
+the Quicks had money, safely stowed away in banks here and there--they
+used to curse their fate, left there apparently to die, when they
+thought of it. And it was that, I think, that led me to tell, one
+night, about my adventure with the naughty bank-manager at Blyth, and
+of the chests of old monastic treasure which I'd planted up here on
+this Northumbrian coast."
+
+"Ah!" I exclaimed. "So you told Noah and Salter Quick that?"
+
+"I told Noah and Salter Quick that," he replied slowly. "Yes--and I
+can now explain to you what Salter was after when he appeared in these
+parts. I read the newspaper accounts, of the inquest and so on, and I
+saw through everything, and could have thrown a lot of light on
+things, only I wasn't going to. But it was this way--I told the Quicks
+all about the Blyth affair--the truth was, I didn't believe we should
+ever get away from that cursed island--but I told them in a fashion
+which, evidently, afterwards led to considerable puzzlement on their
+part. I told them that I buried the chests of old silver, wherein were
+the other valuables taken from the vaults of the bank, in a churchyard
+on this coast, close to the graves of my ancestors--I described the
+spot and the lie of the ruins pretty accurately. Now where the
+Quicks--Salter, at any rate--got puzzled and mixed was over my use of
+the word ancestors. What I meant--but never said--was that I had
+planted the stuff near the graves of my maternal ancestors, the old De
+Knaythevilles, who were once great folk in these parts, and of whose
+name my own Christan name, Netherfield, is, of course, a corruption.
+But Salter Quick, to be sure, thought the graves would bear the name
+Netherfield, and when he came along this coast, it was that name he
+was hunting for. Do you see?"
+
+"Then Salter Quick was after that treasure?" I said.
+
+"Of course he was!" replied Baxter. "The wonder to me is that he and
+Noah hadn't been after it before. But they were men who had a good
+many irons in the fire--too many and some of them far too hot, as it
+turned out--and I suppose they left this little affair until an
+opportune moment. Without a doubt, not so long after I'd told them the
+story, Salter Quick scratched inside the lid of his tobacco-box a
+rough diagram of the place I'd mentioned, with the latitude and
+longitude approximately indicated--that's the box there's been so much
+fuss about, I read in the papers, and I'll tell you more about it in
+due process. But now about that island and the Quicks, and how they
+and the rest of us got out of it. I told you that the centre of this
+island rose to a high peak, separating one coast from the other--well,
+one day, when we'd been marooned for several weary weeks and there
+didn't seem the least chance of rescue, I, my French friend, and the
+Chinaman crossed the shoulder of that peak and went along the other
+coast, prospecting--more out of sheer desperation than in the hope of
+finding anything. We spent the next night on the other side of the
+island, and it was not until late on the following afternoon that we
+returned to our camp, if you can call that a camp which was nothing
+but a hole in the rocks. And we got back to find Noah and Salter Quick
+gone--and we knew how they had gone when the Chinaman's sharp eyes
+made out a sail vanishing over the horizon. Some Chinese fishing-boat
+had made that island in our absence, and these two skunks had gone
+away in her and left us, their companions, to shift for ourselves.
+That's the sort the Quicks were!--those were the sort of tricks they'd
+play off on so-called friends! Do you wonder, either of you, that both
+Noah and Salter eventually got--what they got?"
+
+We made no answer to that beyond, perhaps, a shake of our heads. Then
+Miss Raven spoke.
+
+"But--you got away, in the end?" she suggested.
+
+"We got away in the end--some time later, when we were about done
+for," assented Baxter, "and in the same way--a Chinese fishing-boat
+that came within hail. It landed us on the Kiang-Su coast, and we had
+a pretty bad time of it before we made our way to Shanghai. From that
+port we worked our passage to Hong-Kong: I had an idea that we might
+strike the Quicks there, or get news of them. But we heard nothing of
+those two villains, at any rate. But we did hear that the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_ had never reached Chemulpo--she'd presumably gone down with
+all hands, and we were supposed, of course, to have gone down with
+her. We did nothing to disabuse anybody of the notion; both I and my
+friend had money in Hong Kong, and we took it up and went off to
+Singapore. As for our Chinaman, Chuh, he said farewell to us and
+vanished as soon as we got back to Hong-Kong, and we never set eyes on
+him again until very recently, when I ran across him in a Chinese
+eating-house in Poplar."
+
+"From that meeting, I suppose, the more recent chapters of your story
+begin?" I suggested. "Or do they begin somewhat earlier?"
+
+"A bit earlier," he said. "My friend and I came back to England a
+little before that--with money in our pockets--we'd been very lucky in
+the East--and with a friend of ours, a Chinese gentleman, mind you, we
+decided to go in for a little profitable work of another sort, and to
+start out by lifting my concealed belongings up here. So we bought
+this craft in Hull--then ran her down to the Thames--then, as I say, I
+came across Lo Chuh Fen and got his services and those of two other
+compatriots of his, then in London, and--here we are! You see how
+candid I am--do you know why?"
+
+"It would be interesting to know, Mr. Baxter," said Miss Raven.
+"Please tell us."
+
+"Well," he said, with a queer deliberation. "Some men in my position
+would have thought nothing about putting bullets through both of you
+when we met this afternoon--you hit on our secret. But I'm not that
+sort--I treat you as what you are, a gentlewoman and a gentleman, and
+no harm whatever shall come to you. Therefore, I feel certain that all
+I've said and am saying to you will be treated as it ought to be--by
+you. I daresay you think I'm an awful scoundrel, but I told you I was
+an Ishmael--and I certainly haven't got the slightest compunction
+about appropriating the stuff in those chests on deck--one of the
+Forestburnes stole it from the monks--why shouldn't I steal it from
+his successor? It's as much mine as his--perhaps more so, for one of
+my ancestors, a certain Geoffrey de Knaytheville, was at one time Lord
+Abbot of the very house that the Forestburnes stole that stuff from!
+I reckon I've a prior claim, Middlebrook?"
+
+"I should imagine," I answered, guardedly, "that it would be very
+difficult for anybody to substantiate a claim to ecclesiastical
+property--of that particular nature--which disappeared in the
+sixteenth century. What is certain, however, is that you've got it.
+Take my advice--hand it over to the authorities!"
+
+He looked at me in blank astonishment for a moment; then laughed as a
+man laughs who is suddenly confronted by a good joke.
+
+"Hah! hah! hah!" he let out at the top of his voice. "Good! you're a
+born humorist, friend Middlebrook!" He pushed the claret nearer. "Fill
+your glass again! Hand it over to the authorities? Why, that would
+merit a full-page cartoon in the next number of _Punch_. Good, good!
+but," he went on, suddenly becoming grave again, "we were talking of
+those scoundrelly Quicks. Of course we--that is, my French friend and
+I--have been, and are, suspected of murdering them?"
+
+"I think that is so," I answered.
+
+"Well, that's a very easy point to settle, if it should ever come to
+it," he replied. "And I'll settle it, for your edification, just now.
+Noah and Salter Quick were done to death, one near Saltash, in
+Cornwall, the other near Alnwick, in Northumberland, several hundreds
+of miles apart, about the same hour of the same evening. Now, my
+friend and I, so far from being anywhere near either Saltash or
+Alnwick on that particular evening and night, spent them together at
+the North Eastern Railway Hotel at York. I went there that afternoon
+from London; he joined me from Berwick. We met at the hotel about six
+o'clock; we dined in the hotel; we played billiards in the hotel; we
+slept in the hotel; we breakfasted in the hotel; the hotel folks will
+remember us well, and our particulars are duly registered in their
+books on the date in question. We had no hand whatever in the murders
+of Noah and Salter Quick, and I give you my word of honour--being under
+the firm impression that though I am a pirate, I am still a
+gentleman--that neither of us have the very slightest notion who had!"
+
+Miss Raven made an involuntary murmur of approval, and I was so much
+convinced of the man's good faith that I stretched out my hand to him.
+
+"Mr. Baxter!" said I, "I'm heartily glad to have that assurance from
+you! And whether I'm a humorist or not, I'll beg you once more to take
+my advice and give up that loot to the authorities--you can make a
+plausible excuse, and throw all the blame on that bank-manager fellow,
+and take my word for it, little will be said--and then you can devote
+your undoubtedly great and able talents to legitimate ventures!"
+
+"That would be as dull as ditch-water, Middlebrook," he retorted with
+a grin. "You're tempting me! But those Quicks--I'll tell you in what
+fashion there is a connection between their murder and ourselves, and
+one that would need some explanation. Bear in mind that I've kept
+myself posted in those murders through the newspapers, and also by
+collecting a certain amount of local gossip. Now--you've a certain
+somewhat fussy and garrulous old gentleman at Ravensdene Court--"
+
+"Mr. Cazalette!" exclaimed Miss Raven.
+
+"Mr. Cazalette is the name," said Baxter. "I have heard much of him,
+through the sources I've just referred to. Now, this Mr. Cazalette,
+going to or coming from a place where he bathed every morning, which
+place happened to be near the spot whereat Salter Quick was murdered,
+found a blood-stained handkerchief?"
+
+"He did," said I. "And a lot of mystery attaches to it."
+
+"That handkerchief belongs to my French friend," said Baxter. "I told
+you that he joined me at York from Berwick. As a matter of fact, for
+some little time just before the Salter Quick affair, he was down on
+this coast, posing as a tourist, but really just ascertaining if
+things were as I'd left them at the ruins in the wood above this cove
+and what would be our best method of getting the chests of stuff away.
+For a week or so, he lodged at an inn somewhere, I think, near
+Ravensdene Court, and he used sometimes to go down to the shore for a
+swim. One morning he cut his foot on the pebbles, and staunched the
+blood with his handkerchief, which he carelessly threw away--and your
+Mr. Cazalette evidently found it. That's the explanation of that
+little matter. And now for the tobacco-box."
+
+"A much more important point," said I.
+
+"Just so," agreed Baxter. "Now, my friend and I first heard of the murder
+while we were at York. In the newspapers that we read, there was an
+account of a conversation which took place in, I believe, Mr. Raven's
+coach-house, or some out-building, whither the dead man's body had been
+carried, between this old Mr. Cazalette and a police-inspector, regarding
+a certain metal tobacco-box found on Salter Quick's body. Now I give you
+my word that that news was the first intimation we had ever had that the
+Quicks were in England! Until then we hadn't the slightest idea that they
+were in England--but we knew what those mysterious scratches in the
+tobacco-box signified--Salter had made a rude plan of the place I had told
+him of, and was in Northumberland to search for it. Then, later, we read
+your evidence at the opening of the inquest, and heard what you had to
+tell about his quest of the Netherfield graves, and--just to satisfy
+ourselves--we determined to get hold of that tobacco-box, for, don't you
+see, as long as it was about, a possible clue, there was a danger of
+somebody discovering our buried chests of silver and valuables. So my
+friend came down again, in his tourist capacity; put up at the same
+quarters, strolled about, fished a bit, botanized a bit, attended the
+adjourned inquest as a casual spectator, and--abstracted the tobacco-box
+under the very noses of the police! It's in that locker now," continued
+Baxter, with a laugh, pointing to a corner of the cabin, "and with it are
+the handkerchief, your old friend Mr. Cazalette's pocket-book----"
+
+"Oh! your friend got that, too, did he?" I exclaimed. "I see!"
+
+"He abstracted that, too, easily enough, one morning when the old
+fellow was bathing," assented Baxter. "Naturally, we weren't going to
+take any chances about our hidden goods being brought to light. We're
+highly indebted to Mr. Cazalette for making so much fuss about the
+tobacco-box, and we're glad there was so much local gossip about it.
+Eh?"
+
+I remained silent awhile, reflecting.
+
+"It's a very fortunate thing for both of you that you could, if
+necessary, prove your presence at York on the night of the murder," I
+remarked at last. "Your doings about the tobacco-box and the other
+things might otherwise wear a very suspicious look. As it is, I'm
+afraid the police would probably say--granted that they knew what
+you've just told us so frankly--that even if you and your French
+friend didn't murder Salter Quick and his brother, you were probably
+accessory to both murders. That's how it strikes me, anyway."
+
+"I think you're right," he said calmly. "Probably they would. But the
+police would be wrong. We were not accessory, either before or since.
+We haven't the ghost of a notion as to the identity of the Quicks'
+murderers. But since we're discussing that, I'll tell you both of
+something that seems to have completely escaped the notice of the
+police, the detectives, and of you yourself, Middlebrook. You remember
+that in both cases the clothing of the murdered men had been literally
+ripped to pieces?"
+
+"Very well," said I. "It had--in Salter's, anyway, to my knowledge."
+
+"And so, they said, it had in Noah's," replied Baxter. "And the
+presumption, of course, was that the murderers were searching for
+something?"
+
+"Of course," I said. "What other presumption could there be?"
+
+Baxter gave us both a keen, knowing look, bent across the table, and
+tapped my arm as if to arrest my closer attention.
+
+"How do you know that the murderers didn't find what they were seeking
+for?" he asked in a low, forceful voice. "Come, now!"
+
+I stared at him; so, too, did Miss Raven. He laughed.
+
+"That, certainly, doesn't seem to have struck anybody," he said. "I'm
+sure, anyway, it hasn't struck you before. Does it now?"
+
+"I'd never thought of it," I admitted.
+
+"Exactly! Nor, according to the papers--and to my private
+information--had anybody," he answered. "Yet--it would have been the
+very first thought that would have occurred to me. I should have said
+to myself, seeing the ripped-up clothing, 'Whoever murdered these men
+was in search of something that one or other of the two had concealed
+on him, and the probability is, he's got it.' Of course!"
+
+"I'm sure nobody--police or detectives--ever did think of that," said
+I. "But--perhaps with your knowledge of the Quicks' antecedents and
+queer doings, you have some knowledge of what they might be likely to
+carry about them?"
+
+He laughed at that, and again leaned nearer to us.
+
+"Aye, well!" he replied. "As I've told you so much, I'll tell you
+something more. I do know of something that the two men had on them
+when they were on that miserable island and that they, of course,
+carried away with them when they escaped. Noah and Salter Quick were
+then in possession of two magnificent rubies--worth no end of money!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE CHINESE GENTLEMAN
+
+
+I could not repress an unconscious, involuntary start on hearing this
+remarkable declaration; it seemed to open, as widely as suddenly, an
+entirely new field of vision; it was as if some hand had abruptly torn
+aside a veil and shown me something that I had never dreamed of. And
+Baxter laughed, significantly.
+
+"That strikes you, Middlebrook?" he said.
+
+"Very forcibly, indeed!" said I. "If what you say is true--I mean, if
+one of those two men had such valuables on him, then there's a reason
+for the murder of both that none of us knew of. But--is it probable
+that the Quicks would still be in possession of jewels that you saw
+some years ago?"
+
+"Not so many years ago, when all's said and done," he answered. "And
+you couldn't dispose of things like those very readily, you know. You
+can take it from me, knowing what I did of them, that neither Noah nor
+Salter Quick would sell anything unless at its full value, or
+something like it. They weren't hard up for money, either of them;
+they could afford to wait, in the matter of a sale of anything, until
+they found somebody who would give their price."
+
+"You say these things--rubies, I think--were worth a lot of money?" I
+asked.
+
+"Heaps of money!" he affirmed. "Do you know anything about rubies? Not
+much?--well, the ruby, I daresay you do know, is the most precious of
+precious stones. The real true ruby, the Oriental one, is found in
+greatest quantity in Burma and Siam, and the best are those that come
+from Mogok, which is a district lying northward of Mandalay. These
+rubies that the Quicks had came from there--they were remarkably fine
+ones. And I know how and where those precious villains got them!"
+
+"Yes?" I said, feeling that another dark story lay behind this
+declaration. "Not honestly, I suppose?"
+
+"Far from it!" he replied, with a grim smile. "Those two rubies formed
+the eyes of some ugly god or other in a heathen temple in the
+Kwang-Tung province of Southern China where the Quicks carried on more
+nefarious practices than that. They gouged them out--according to
+their own story. Then, of course, they cleared off."
+
+"You saw the rubies?" I asked.
+
+"More than once--on that island in the Yellow Sea," he answered. "Noah
+and Salter would have bartered either, or both, for a ship at one
+period. But!" he added, with a sneering laugh, "you may lay your life
+that when they boarded that Chinese fishing-boat on which they made
+their escape they'd pay for their passage as meanly as possible.
+No--my belief is that they still had those rubies on them when they
+turned up in England again, and that, as likely as not, they were
+murdered for them. Take all the circumstances of the murder into
+consideration--in each case the dead man's clothing was ripped to
+pieces, the linings examined, even the padding at chest and shoulder
+torn out and scattered about. What were the murderers seeking for? Not
+for money--as far as I remember, each man had a good deal of money on
+him, and not a penny was touched. What was it, then? My own belief is
+that after Salter Quick joined Noah at Devonport, both brothers were
+steadily watched by men who knew what they had on them, and that when
+Salter came North he was followed, just as Noah was tracked down at
+Saltash. And I should say that whoever murdered them got the
+rubies--they may have been on Noah; they may have been on Salter; one
+may have been in Salter's possession; one in Noah's. But there--in the
+rubies--lies, in my belief, the secret of those murders."
+
+I felt that here, in this lonely cove, we were probably much nearer
+the solution of the mystery that had baffled Scarterfield, ourselves,
+the police, and everybody that we knew. And so, apparently, did Miss
+Raven, who suddenly turned on Baxter with a look that was half an
+appeal.
+
+"Mr. Baxter!" she said, colouring a little at her own temerity. "Why
+don't you follow Mr. Middlebrook's advice--give up the old silver and
+the rest of it to the authorities and help them to track down those
+murderers? Wouldn't that be better than--whatever it is that you're
+doing?"
+
+But Baxter laughed, flung away his cigar, and rose to his feet.
+
+"A deal better--from many standpoints, my dear young lady!" he
+exclaimed. "But too late for Netherfield Baxter. He's an Ishmael!--a
+pirate--a highwayman--and it's too late for him to do anything but
+gang his own gait. No!--I'm not going to help the police--not I! I've
+enough to do to keep out of their way."
+
+"You'll get caught, you know," I said, as good-humouredly as possible.
+"You'll never get this stuff that's upstairs across the Atlantic and
+into New York or Boston or any Yankee port without detection. As you
+are treating us well, your secret's safe enough with us--but think,
+man, of the difficulties of taking your loot across an ocean!--to say
+nothing of Customs officers on the other side."
+
+"I never said we were going to take it across the Atlantic," he
+answered coolly and with another of his cynical laughs. "I said we
+were going to sail this bit of a craft across there--so we are. But
+when we strike New York or New Orleans or Pernambuco or Buenos Ayres,
+Middlebrook, the stuff won't be there--the stuff, my lad, won't leave
+British waters! Deep, deep, is your queer acquaintance, Netherfield
+Baxter, and if he does run risks now and then, he always provides for
+'em."
+
+"Evidently you intend to tranship your precious cargo?" I suggested.
+
+"The door of its market is yawning for it, Middlebrook, and not far
+away," he answered. "If this craft drops in at Aberdeen, or at Thurso,
+or at Moville, and the Customs folks or any other such-like hawks and
+kites come aboard, they'll find nothing but three innocent gentlemen
+and their servants a-yachting it across the free seas. _Verbum
+sapienti_, Middlebrook, as we said in my Latin days--far off, now!
+But--wouldn't Miss Raven like to retire?--it's late. I'll send Chuh
+with hot water--if you want anything, Middlebrook, command him. As for
+me, I shan't see you again tonight--I must keep a watch for my pal
+coming aboard from his little mission ashore."
+
+Then, with curt politeness, he bade us both good night, and went off
+on deck, and we two captives looked at each other.
+
+"Strange man!" murmured Miss Raven. She gave me a direct glance that
+had a lot of meaning in it. "Mr. Middlebrook," she went on in a still
+lower voice, "let me tell you that I'm not afraid. I'm sure that man
+means no personal harm to us. But--is there anything you want to say
+to me before I go?"
+
+"Only this," I answered. "Do you sleep very soundly?"
+
+"Not so soundly that I shouldn't hear if you called me," she replied.
+
+"I'm going to mount guard here," I said. "I, too, believe in what
+Baxter says. But--if I should, for any reason, have occasion to call
+you during the night, do at once precisely what I tell you to do."
+
+"Of course," she said.
+
+The Chinaman who had been in evidence at intervals since our arrival
+came into the little saloon with a can of hot water and disappeared
+into the inner cabin which had been given up to Miss Raven. She softly
+said good-night to me, with a reassurance of her confidence that all
+would be well, and followed him. I heard her talking to this strange
+makeshift for a maid for a moment or two; then the man came out,
+grinning as if well-pleased with himself, and she closed and fastened
+the door on him. The Chinaman turned to me, asking in a soft voice if
+there was anything I pleased to need.
+
+"Nothing but the rugs and pillows that your master spoke of," I
+answered.
+
+He opened a locker on the floor of the place and producing a number of
+cushions and blankets from it made me up a very tolerable couch. Then,
+with a polite bow, he, too, departed, and I was left alone.
+
+Of one thing I was firmly determined--I was not going to allow myself
+to sleep. I firmly believed in Baxter's good intentions--in spite of
+his record, strange and shady by his own admission, there was
+something in him that won confidence; he was unprincipled, without
+doubt, and the sort of man who would be all the worse if resisted,
+being evidently naturally wayward, headstrong, and foolishly
+obstinate, but like all bad men, he had good points, and one of his
+seemed to be a certain pride in showing people like ourselves that he
+could behave himself like a gentleman. That pride--a species of
+vanity, of course--would, I felt sure, make him keep his word to us
+and especially to Miss Raven. But he was only one amongst a crowd. For
+anything I knew, his French friend might be as consummate a villain as
+ever walked, and the Chinese in the galley cut-throats of the best
+quality. And there, behind a mere partition, was a helpless girl--and
+I was unarmed. It was a highly serious and unpleasant situation, at
+the best of it, and the only thing I could do was to keep awake and
+remain on the alert until morning came.
+
+I took off coat and waistcoat, folded a blanket shawl-wise around my
+shoulders, wrapped another round my legs, and made myself fairly
+comfortable in the cushions which the Chinaman had deftly arranged in
+an angle of the cabin. I had directed him to settle my night's
+quarters in a corner close to Miss Raven's door, and immediately
+facing the half-dozen steps which led upwards to the deck. At the head
+of those steps was a door; I had bade him leave it open, so that I
+might have plenty of air; when he had gone I had extinguished the lamp
+which swung from the roof. And now, half-sitting, half-lying amongst
+my cushions and rugs, I faced the patch of sky framed in that open
+doorway and saw that the night was a clear one and that the heavens
+were full of glittering stars.
+
+I had just refilled and lighted my pipe before settling down to my
+vigils, and for a long time I lay there smoking and thinking. My
+thoughts were somewhat confused--confused, at any rate, to the extent
+that they ranged over a variety of subjects--our apprehension that
+afternoon; the queer, almost, if not wholly, eccentric character of
+Netherfield Baxter; his strange story of the events in the Yellow Sea;
+his frank avowal of his share in the theft of the monastic spoils; his
+theory about Noah and Salter Quick, and other matters arising out of
+these things. The whirl of it all in my anxious brain made me more
+than once feel disposed to sleep; I realized that in spite of
+everything, I should sleep unless I kept up a stern determination to
+remain awake. Everything on board that strange craft was as still as
+the skies above her decks; I heard no sound whatever save a very
+gentle lapping of the water against the vessel's timbers, and,
+occasionally, the far-off hooting of owls in the woods that overhung
+the cove; these sounds, of course, were provocative of slumber; I had
+to keep smoking to prevent myself from dropping into a doze. And
+perhaps two hours may have gone in this fashion, and it was, I should
+think, a little after midnight, when I heard, at first far away
+towards the land, then gradually coming nearer, the light, slow
+plashing of oars that gently and leisurely rose and fell.
+
+This, of course, was the Frenchman, coming back from his mission to
+Berwick--he would, I knew, have gone there from the little wayside
+station that lay beyond the woods at the back of the cove and have
+returned by a late train to the same place. Somehow--I could not well
+account for it--the mere fact of his coming back made me nervous and
+uneasy. I was not so certain about his innocence in the matter of
+Salter Quick's murder. On Baxter's own showing the Frenchman had been
+hanging about that coast for some little time, just when Salter Quick
+descended upon it. He, like Baxter, if Baxter's story were true, was
+aware that one or other of the Quicks carried those valuable rubies;
+even if, the York episode being taken for granted, he had not killed
+Salter Quick himself he might be privy to the doings of some
+accomplice who had. Anyway, he was a doubtful quantity, and the mere
+fact that he was back again on that yawl made me more resolved than
+ever to keep awake and preserve a sharp look-out.
+
+I heard the boat come alongside; I heard steps on the deck just
+outside my open door; then, Baxter's voice. Presently, too, I heard
+other voices--one that of the Frenchman, which I recognised from
+having heard him speak in the afternoon; the other a soft, gentle,
+laughing voice--without doubt that of an Eastern. This, of course,
+would be the Chinese gentleman of whom I had heard--the man who had
+been seen in company with Baxter and the Frenchman at Hull. So now the
+three principal actors in this affair were all gathered together,
+separated from me and Miss Raven by a few planks, and close by were
+three Chinese of whose qualities I knew nothing. Safe we might be--but
+we were certainly on the very edge of a hornet's nest.
+
+I heard the three men talking together in low, subdued tones for a few
+minutes; then they went along the deck above me and the sound of their
+steps ceased. But as I lay there in the darkness, two round discs of
+light suddenly appeared on a mirror which hung on the boarding of the
+cabin, immediately facing me, and turning my head sharply, I saw that
+in the bulkhead behind me there were two similar holes, pierced in
+what was probably a door, which would, no doubt, be sunk flush with
+the boarding and was possibly the entrance to some other cabin that
+could be entered from a further part of the deck. Behind that, under a
+newly-lighted lamp, the three men were now certainly gathered.
+
+I was desperately anxious to know what they were doing--anxious, to
+the point of nervousness, to know what they looked like, taken in
+bulk. I could hear them talking in there, still in very low tones, and
+I would have given much to hear even a few words of their
+conversation. And after a time of miserable indecision--for I was
+afraid of doing anything that would lead to suspicion or resentment on
+their part, and I was by no means sure that I might not be under
+observation of one of those silky-footed Chinese from the galley--I
+determined to look through the holes in the door and see whatever was
+to be seen.
+
+I got out of my wrappings and my corner so noiselessly that I don't
+believe anyone actually present in my cabin would have heard even a
+rustle, and tip-toeing in my stockinged feet across to the bulkhead
+which separated me from the three men, put an eye to one of the holes.
+To my great joy, I then found that I could see into the place to which
+Baxter and his companions had retreated. It was a sort of cabin,
+rougher in accommodation than that in which I stood, fitted with bunks
+on three sides and furnished with a table in the center over which
+swung a lamp. The three men stood round this table, examining some
+papers--the lamp-light fell full on all three. Baxter stood there in
+his shirt and trousers; the Frenchman also was half-dressed, as if
+preparing for rest. But the third man was still as he had come
+aboard--a little, yellow-faced, dapper, sleek Chinaman, whose smart,
+velvet-collared overcoat, thrown open, revealed an equally smart dark
+tweed suit beneath it, and an elegant gold watch-chain festooned
+across the waistcoat. He was smoking a cigar, just lighted; that it
+was of a fine brand I could tell by the aroma that floated to me. And
+on the table before the three stood a whisky bottle, a syphon of
+mineral water, and glasses, which had evidently just been filled.
+
+Baxter and the Frenchman stood elbow to elbow; the Frenchman held in
+his hands a number of sheets of paper, foolscap size, to the contents
+of which he was obviously drawing Baxter's attention. Presently they
+turned to a desk which stood in one corner of the place, and Baxter,
+lifting its lid, produced a big ledger-like book, over which they
+bent, evidently comparing certain entries in it with the papers in the
+Frenchman's hand. What book or papers might be, I of course, knew
+nothing, for all this was done in silence. But had I known anything,
+or heard anything, it would have seemed of no significance compared
+with what I just then saw--a thing that suddenly turned me almost sick
+with a nameless fear and set me trembling from toe to finger.
+
+The dapper and smug Chinaman, statuesque on one side of the table,
+immovable save for an occasional puff of his cigar, suddenly shot into
+silent activity as the two men turned their backs on him and bent,
+apparently absorbed, over the desk in the corner. Like a flash (it
+reminded me of the lightning-like movement of a viper) his long, thin
+fingers went into a waistcoat pocket; like a flash emerged, shot to
+the glasses on the table and into two of them dropped something small
+and white--some tabloid or pellet--that sank and dissolved as rapidly
+as it was put in. It was all over, all done, within, literally, the
+fraction of a second; when, a moment or two later, Baxter and the
+Frenchman turned round again, after throwing the ledger-like book and
+the papers into the desk, their companion was placidly smoking his
+cigar and sipping the contents of his glass between the whiffs.
+
+I was by that time desperately careless as to whether I might or might
+not be under observation from the open door and stairway of my own
+cabin. I remained where I was, my eye glued to that ventilation-hole,
+watching. For it seemed to me that the Chinaman was purposely drugging
+his companions, for some insidious purpose of his own--in that case,
+what of the personal safety of Miss Raven and myself? For one moment I
+was half-minded to rush round to the other cabin and tell Baxter of
+what I had just seen--but I reflected that I might possibly bring
+about there and then an affair of bloodshed and perhaps murder in
+which there would be four Chinese against three others, one of
+whom--my miserable self--was not only unarmed, but like enough to be
+useless in a scene of violence. No--the only thing was to wait, and
+wait I did, with a thumping heart and tingling nerves, watching.
+
+Nothing happened. Baxter gulped down his drink at a single draught;
+the Frenchman took his in two leisurely swallows; each flung himself
+on his bunk, pulled his blankets about him, and, as far as I could
+see, seemed to fall asleep instantly. But the Chinaman was more
+deliberate and punctilious. He took his time over his cigar and his
+whisky; he pulled out a suit-case from some nook or other and produced
+from it a truly gorgeous sleeping-suit of gaily-striped silk; it
+occupied him quite twenty minutes to get undressed and into this
+grandeur, and even then he lingered, fiddling about in carefully
+folding and arranging his garment. In the course of this, and in
+moving about the narrow cabin, he took apparently casual glances at
+Baxter and the Frenchman, and I saw from his satisfied, quiet smirk
+that each was sound and fast asleep. And then he thrust his feet into
+a pair of bedroom slippers, as loud in their colouring as his
+pyjamas, and suddenly turning down the lamp with a twist of his
+wicked-looking fingers, he glided out of the door into the darkness
+above. At that I, too, glided swiftly back to my blankets.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+RED DAWN
+
+
+I heard steps, soft as snowflakes, go along the deck above me; for an
+instant they paused by the open door at the head of my stairway; then
+they went on again and all was silent as before. But in that silence,
+above the gentle lapping of the water against the side of the yawl, I
+heard the furious thumping of my own heart--and I did not wonder at
+it, nor was I then, nor am I now ashamed of the fear that made it
+thump. Clearly, whatever else it might mean, if Baxter and the
+Frenchman were, as I surely believed them to be, soundly drugged, Miss
+Raven and I were at the positive mercy of a pack of Chinese
+adventurers who would probably stick at nothing.
+
+But my problem--one sufficient to wrack every fibre of my brain--was,
+what were they after? The Chinese gentleman in the flamboyant pyjamas
+had without doubt, repaired to his compatriots in the galley, forward:
+at that moment they were, of course, holding some unholy conference.
+Were they going to murder Baxter and the Frenchman for the sake of the
+swag now safely on board? It was possible: I had heard many a tale far
+less so. No doubt the supreme spirit was a man of subtlety and craft;
+so, too, most likely was our friend Lo Chuh Fen; the other two would
+not be wanting. And if, of these other two, Wing, as Miss Raven had
+confidently surmised and as I thought it possible, was one, then,
+indeed, there would be brains enough and to spare for the carrying out
+of any adventure. It seemed to me as I lay there, quaking and sweating
+in sheer fright--I, a defenceless, quiet, peace-loving gentleman of
+bookish tastes, who scarcely knew one end of a revolver from the
+other--that what was likely was that the Chinese were going to round
+on their English and French associates, collar the loot for
+themselves, and sail the yawl--Heaven alone knew where! But--in that
+case, what was going to become of me and my helpless companion? It was
+not likely that these Easterns would treat us with the consideration
+which we had received from the queer, eccentric, somewhat
+muddle-headed Netherfield Baxter, who--it struck me with odd
+inconsequence at that inopportune moment--was certainly a combination
+of Dick Turpin, Gil Blas, and Don Quixote.
+
+I suppose it was nearly an hour that passed: it may have been more; it
+may have been less; what I know is that it gave me some idea of what
+an accused man may feel who, waiting in a cell below, wonders what the
+foreman of a jury is going to say when he is called upstairs once more
+to the dock which he has vacated pending that jury's deliberations.
+Once or twice I thought of daring everything, rousing Miss Raven, and
+attempting an escape by means of the boat which no doubt lay at the
+side of the yawl. But reflection suggested that so desperate a deed
+would only mean getting a bullet through me, and perhaps through her
+as well. Then I speculated on my chances of making a sinuous way along
+the deck on my hands and knees, or on my stomach, snake-fashion, with
+the idea of listening at the hatch of the galley--reflection, again,
+warned me that such an adventure would as likely as not end up with a
+few inches of cold steel in my side or through my gullet. So there I
+lay, sweating with fear, rapidly disintegrating as to nerve-power,
+becoming a lump of moral rag-and-bone--and suddenly, unheralded by the
+slightest sound, I saw the figure of a man on my stairway, his outline
+silhouetted against the sky and the stars.
+
+It was not because of any bravery on my part--I am sure of that--but
+through sheer fright that, before I had the least idea of what I was
+doing, I had thrown myself clear of rugs and pillows, sprung to my
+feet, made one frenzied leap across the bit of intervening space and
+clutched my intruder by his arms before his softly-padded feet touched
+the floor of the cabin. My own breath was coming in gasps--but the
+response to my frenzy was quiet and cool as an autumnal afternoon.
+
+"Can you row a boat?"
+
+I shall never forget the mental douche which dashed itself over me in
+that clear, yet scarcely perceptible whisper, accompanied as it was by
+a ghost-like laugh of sheer amusement. I released my grip, staring in
+the starlight at my visitor. Lo Chuh Fen!
+
+"Yes!" I answered, steadying my voice and keeping it down to as low
+tones as his own. "Yes--I can!"
+
+He pointed to the door behind which lay Miss Raven.
+
+"Wake missie--as quietly as possible," he whispered. "Tell her get
+ready--come on deck--make no noise. All ready for you--then you go
+ashore and away, see? Not good for you to be here longer."
+
+"No danger to--her?" I asked him.
+
+"No danger to anybody, you do as I say," he answered. "All ready for
+you--nothing to do but come on deck, forward; get into the boat, be
+off. Now!"
+
+Without another word he glided up the stairway and disappeared. For a
+few seconds I stood irresolute. Was it a trick, a plant? Should we be
+safe on deck--or targets for Chinese bullets, or receptacles for
+Chinese knives? Maybe!--yet--
+
+I suddenly made up my mind. It was but one step to the door of the
+little inner cabin--I scraped on its panels. It opened instantly--a
+crack.
+
+"Yes?" whispered Miss Raven.
+
+I remembered then that if need arose she was to do unquestioningly
+anything I told her to do.
+
+"Dress at once and come out," I said. "Be quick!"
+
+"I've never been undressed," she answered. "I lay down in my clothes."
+
+"Then come, just now," I commanded. "Wait for nothing!"
+
+She was out of the room at once and by my side in the gloom. I laid a
+hand on her arm, giving its plump softness a reassuring pressure.
+
+"Don't be afraid!" I whispered. "Follow me on deck. We're going."
+
+"Going!" she said. "Leaving?"
+
+"Come along!" said I.
+
+I went before her up the stairway and out on the open deck. The night
+was particularly clear; the stars very bright; the patch of water
+between the yawl and the shore lay before us calm and dark; we could
+see the woods above the cove quite plainly, and at the edge of them a
+ribbon of white, the silver-sanded beach. And also, at the forward
+part of the vessel we were leaving I saw, or fancied I saw, shadowy
+forms--the Chinese were going to see us off.
+
+But one form was not shadowy, nor problematical. Chuh was there,
+awaiting us, his arms filled with rugs. Without a word he motioned us
+to follow, preceded us along the side of the yawl to the boat, went
+before us into it, helped us down, settled us, put the oars into my
+hands, climbed out again, and leaned his yellow face down at me.
+
+"You pull straight ahead," he murmured. "Good landing place straight
+before you: dry place on beach, too--morning come soon; you get away
+then through woods."
+
+"The boat?" I asked him.
+
+"You leave boat there--anywhere," he answered. "Boat not wanted
+again--we go, soon as high water over bar. Hope you get young missie
+safe home."
+
+"Bless you!" I said under my breath. Then, remembering that I had some
+money in my pocket--three or four loose sovereigns as luck would have
+it, I thrust a hand therein, pulled them out, forced them into the
+man's claw-like fingers. I heard him chuckle softly--then his head
+disappeared behind the rail of the yawl, and I shoved the boat off,
+and for the next few minutes bent to those oars as I had certainly
+never bent to any previous labour, mental or physical, in my life.
+And Miss Raven, seeing my earnestness, said nothing, but quietly took
+the tiller and steered us in a straight line for the spot which the
+Chinaman had indicated. Neither of us--strange as it may seem--spoke
+one single word until, at the end of half an hour's steady pull, the
+boat's nose ran on to the shingly beach, beneath a fringe of dwarf oak
+that came right down to the edge of the shore. I sprang out, with a
+feeling of thankfulness that it would be hard to describe--and for a
+good reason found my tongue once more.
+
+"Great Scott!" I exclaimed. "I've left my boots in that cabin!"
+
+Despite the strange situation in which we were still placed, Miss
+Raven's sense of humour asserted itself; she laughed.
+
+"Your boots!" she said. "Whatever will you do? These stones!--and the
+long walk home?"
+
+"There are things to be thought of before that," said I. "We're still
+in the middle of the night. But this boat--do you think you can help
+me to drag it up the beach?"
+
+Between us, the boat being a light one, we managed to pull it across
+the pebbles and under the low cliff beneath the overhanging fringe of
+the wood. In the uncertain light--for there was no moon and since our
+setting out from the yawl masses of cloud had come up from the
+south-east to obscure the stars--the wood looked impenetrably black.
+
+"We shall have to wait here until the dawn comes," I remarked. "We
+can't find our way through the wood in this darkness--I can't even
+recollect the path, if there was one, by which they brought us down
+here from the ruins. You had better sit in the boat and make yourself
+comfortable with those rugs. Considerate of them, at any rate, to
+provide us with those!"
+
+She got into the boat again and I wrapped one rug round her knees and
+placed another about her shoulders.
+
+"And you?" she asked.
+
+"I must do a bit of amateur boot-making," I answered. "I'm going to
+cut this third rug into strips and bind them about my feet--can't walk
+over stones and thorns and thistles, to say nothing of the moorland
+track, without some protection."
+
+I got out my pocket-knife and sitting on the side of the boat began my
+task; for a few minutes she watched me, in silence.
+
+"What does all this mean!" she said at last, suddenly. "Why have they
+let us go?"
+
+"No idea," I answered. "But--things have happened since Baxter said
+good-night to us. Listen!" And I went on to tell her of all that had
+taken place on the yawl since the return of the Frenchman and his
+Chinese companion. "What does it look like?" I concluded. "Doesn't it
+seem as if the Chinese intend foul play to those two?"
+
+"Do you mean--that they intend to--to murder them?" she asked in a
+half-frightened whisper. "Surely not that?"
+
+"I don't see that a man who has lived the life that Baxter has can
+expect anything but a violent end," I replied callously. "Yes, I
+suppose that's what I do mean. I think the Chinese mean to get rid of
+the two others and get away with the swag--cleverly enough, no doubt."
+
+"Horrible!" she murmured.
+
+"Inevitable!" said I. "To my mind, the whole atmosphere was one
+of--that sort of thing. We're most uncommonly lucky."
+
+She became silent again, and remained so for some time, while I went
+on at my task, binding the strips of rug about my feet and ankles, and
+fastening them, puttee fashion, around my legs.
+
+"I don't understand it!" she exclaimed, after several minutes had gone
+by. "Surely those men must know that we, once free of them, would be
+sure to give the alarm. We weren't under any promise to them, whatever
+we were to Baxter."
+
+"I don't understand anything," I said. "All I know is the surface of
+the situation. But that gentle villain who saw us off the yawl said
+that they were sailing at high water--only waiting until the tide was
+deep on the bar outside there. And they could get a long way, north or
+south or east, before we could set anybody on to them. Supposing they
+did get rid of Baxter and his Frenchman, what's to prevent them making
+off across the North Sea to, say, some port in the north of Russia?
+They've got stuff on board that would be saleable anywhere--no doubt
+they'll have melted it all into shapeless lumps before many hours are
+out."
+
+Once more she was silent, and when she spoke again it was in a note of
+decision.
+
+"No, I don't think that's it at all," she said emphatically. "They're
+dependent on wind and weather, and the seas aren't so wide, but that
+they'd be caught on our information. I'm sure that isn't it."
+
+"What is it, then?" I asked.
+
+"I've a sort of vague, misty idea," she answered, with a laugh that
+was plainly intended to be deprecatory of her own power. "Supposing
+these Chinese--you say they're awfully keen and astute--supposing
+they've got a plot amongst themselves for handing Baxter and the
+Frenchman over to the police--the authorities--with their plunder? Do
+you see?"
+
+I had just finished the manufacture of my novel foot-wear, and I
+jumped to my padded feet with an exclamation that--this time--did not
+come from unpleasant contact with the sharp stones.
+
+"By George!" I said. "There is an idea in that!--there may be
+something in it!"
+
+"We thought Wing was on board," she continued. "If so, I think I may
+be right in offering such a suggestion. Supposing that Wing came
+across these people when he went to London; took service with them in
+the hope of getting at their secret; supposing he's induced the other
+Chinese to secure Baxter and the Frenchman--that, in short, he's been
+playing the part of detective? Wouldn't that explain why they sent us
+away?"
+
+"Partly--yes, perhaps wholly," I said, struggling with this new idea.
+"But--where and when and how do they intend--if your theory's
+correct--to do the handing over?"
+
+"That's surely easy enough," she replied quickly. "There's nothing to
+do but sail the yawl into say Berwick harbour and call the police
+aboard. A very, very easy matter!"
+
+"I wonder if it is so?" I answered, musingly. "It might be--but if we
+stay here until it's light and the tide's up, we shall see which way
+the yawl goes."
+
+"It's high water between five and six o'clock," she remarked. "Anyway,
+it was between four and five yesterday morning at Ravensdene
+Court--which now seems to be far away, in some other world."
+
+"Hungry?" I asked.
+
+"Not a bit," she answered. "But--it's a long way since yesterday
+afternoon. We've seen things."
+
+"We've certainly seen Mr. Netherfield Baxter," I observed.
+
+"A fascinating man!" she said, with a laugh. "The sort of man--under
+other circumstances--one would like to have to dinner."
+
+"Um!" said I. "A ready and plausible tongue, to be sure. I dare say
+there are women who would fall in love with such a man."
+
+"Lots!" she answered, with ready assent. "As I said just now, he's a
+very fascinating person."
+
+"Ah!" said I, teasingly. "I had a suspicion last night that he was
+exciting your sympathetic interest."
+
+"I'm much more sympathetic about your lack of boots and shoes," she
+retorted. "But as you seem to have rigged up some sort of satisfactory
+substitute, don't you think we might be making our way homewards? Is
+there any need to go through the woods? Why should we not follow the
+coast?"
+
+"I'm doubtful about our ability to get round the south point of this
+cove," I answered. "I was looking at it yesterday afternoon from the
+deck of the yawl, and I saw that just there a sort of wall of rock
+runs right out into the sea. And if the tide's coming in--"
+
+"Then, the woods," she interrupted. "Surely we can make our way
+through them, somehow. And it will begin to get light in another hour
+or so."
+
+"If you like to try it," I answered. "But it's darker in there than
+you think for, and rougher going, too. However--"
+
+Just then, and before she had made up her mind, we were both switched
+off that line of action by something that broke out on another. Across
+the three-quarters of a mile of water which separated us from our
+recent prison came the sound, clear and unmistakable, of a revolver
+shot, followed almost instantly by another. Miss Raven, who had risen
+to her feet, suddenly sat down again. A third shot rang out--a
+fourth--a fifth; we saw the flashes of each; they came, without doubt,
+from the deck of the yawl.
+
+"Firing!" she murmured.
+
+"Fighting!" said I. "That's just--listen to that!"
+
+Half a dozen reports, sharp, insistent, rang out in quick succession;
+then two or three, all mingling together; the echoes followed from
+wood and cliff. Rapidly as the flashes pierced the gloom, the sounds
+died out--a heavy silence followed.
+
+"That's just what?" asked Miss Raven--calmly.
+
+"Well, if not just what I expected, it's at any rate partly what I
+expected," I said. "It had already struck me that if--well, supposing
+whatever it was that the Chinaman dropped into those glasses didn't
+act quite as soporifically as he intended it to, and Baxter and his
+companion woke up and found there was a conspiracy, a mutiny, going
+on, there'd be--eh?"
+
+"Fighting?" she suggested.
+
+"You're not a squeamish girl," I answered. "There'd be bloody murder!
+Their lives--or the others. And I should say that death's stalking
+through that unholy craft just now."
+
+She made no answer and we stood staring at the black bulk lying
+motionless on the grey water; stood for a long time, listening. I, to
+tell the truth, was straining my ears to catch the plash of oars: I
+thought it possible that some of those on board the yawl might take a
+violent desire to get ashore.
+
+But the silence continued. And now we said no more of setting out on
+our homeward journey: curiosity as to what had happened kept us there,
+whispering. The time passed--almost before we realized that night was
+passing, we were suddenly aware of a long line of faint yellow light
+that rose above the far horizon.
+
+"Dawn," I muttered. "Dawn!"
+
+And then, at that moment, we both heard something. Somewhere outside
+the bar, but close to the shore, a steam-propelled vessel was tearing
+along at a break-neck speed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE FOURTH CHINAMAN
+
+
+As we stood there, watching, the long line of yellow light on the
+eastern horizon suddenly changed in colour--first to a roseate flush,
+then to a warm crimson; the scenes around us, sky, sea and land
+brightened as if by magic. And with equal suddenness there shot round
+the edge of the southern extremity of the cove, outlining itself
+against the red sky in the distance the long, low-lying hulk of a
+vessel--a dark, sinister-looking thing which I recognised at once as a
+torpedo-destroyer. It was coming along, about half a mile outside the
+bar, at a rare turn of speed which would, I knew, quickly carry it
+beyond our field of vision. And I was wondering whether from its decks
+the inside of the cove and the yawl lying at anchor there was visible
+when it suddenly slackened in its headlong career, went about,
+seaward, and describing the greater part of a circle, came slowly in
+towards the bar, nosing about there beyond the line of white surf, for
+all the world like a terrier at the lip of some rat-hole.
+
+Up to that moment Miss Raven and I had kept silence, watching this
+unexpected arrival in our solitude; now, turning to look at her, I saw
+that the thought which had come into my mind had also occurred to
+hers.
+
+"Do you think that ship is looking for the yawl?" she asked. "It's a
+gunboat--or something of that sort, isn't it?"
+
+"Torpedo-destroyer--latest class, too," I answered.
+
+"Rakish, wicked-looking things, aren't they? And that's just what I,
+too, was wondering. It's possible, some news of the yawl may have got
+to the ears of the authorities, and this thing may have been sent from
+the nearest base to take a look along the coast. Perhaps they've
+spotted the yawl. But they can't get over that bar, yet."
+
+"The tide's rising fast, though," she remarked, pointing to the shore
+immediately before us. "It'll be up to this boat soon."
+
+I saw that she was right, and that presently the boat would be
+floating. We made it fast, and retreated further up the beach, amongst
+the overhanging trees, and there, from beneath the shelter of a group
+of dwarf oaks, looked seaward again. The destroyer lay supine outside
+the bar, watching. Suddenly, right behind her, far across the grey
+sea, the sun shot up above the horizon--her long dark hull cut across
+his ruddy face. And we were then able to make out shapes that moved
+here and there on her deck. There were live men there!--but on the
+yawl we saw no sign of life.
+
+Yet, even as we looked, life sprang up there again. Once more a shot
+rang out, followed by two others in sharp succession. And as we stared
+in that direction, wondering what this new affray could be, we saw a
+boat shoot out from beneath the bows, with a low, crouching figure in
+it which was evidently making frantic efforts to get away. Somebody on
+board the yawl was just as eager to prevent this escape; three or
+four shots sounded--following one of them, the figure in the boat fell
+forward with a sickening suddenness.
+
+"Got him!" I said involuntarily. "Poor devil!--whoever he is."
+
+"No!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "See!--he's up again."
+
+The figure was struggling to an erect position--even at that distance
+we could make out the effort. But the light of the newly-risen sun was
+so dazzling and confusing that we could not tell if the figure was
+that of an Englishman or a Chinaman--it was, at any rate, the figure
+of a tall man. And whoever he was, he managed to rise to his feet, and
+to lift an arm in the direction of the yawl, from which he was then
+some twenty yards away. Two more shots rang out--one from the yawl,
+another from the boat. It seemed to me that the man in the boat
+swayed--but a moment later he was again busy at his oars. No further
+shot came from the yawl, and the boat drew further and further away
+from it, in the direction of a spit of land some three or four hundred
+yards from where we stood. There were high rocks at the sea end of
+that spit--the boat disappeared behind them.
+
+"There's one villain loose, at any rate," I muttered, not too well
+pleased to think that he was within reach of ourselves. "I wonder
+which. But I'm sure he was winged--he fell in a heap, didn't he, at
+one of those shots? Of course, he'll take to these woods--and we've
+got to get through them."
+
+"Not yet!" said Miss Raven. "Look there!"
+
+She pointed across the cove and beyond the bar, and I saw then that a
+boat had been put off from the destroyer and was being pulled at a
+rapid rate towards the line of surf which, under the deepening tide,
+was now but a thin streak of white. It seemed to me that I could see
+the glint of arms above the flash of the oars--anyway there was a
+boat's crew of blue-jackets there.
+
+"They're going to board her!" I exclaimed. "I wonder what they'll
+find?"
+
+"Dead men!" answered Miss Raven, quietly.
+
+"What else? After all that shooting! I should think that man who's
+just got away was the last."
+
+"There was a man left on board who fired at him--and at whom he fired
+back," I pointed.
+
+"Yes--and who never fired again," she retorted. "They must all--oh!"
+
+She interrupted herself with a sharp exclamation, and turning from
+watching the blue-jackets and their boat I saw that she was staring at
+the yawl. From its forecastle a black column of smoke suddenly shot
+up, followed by a great lick of flame.
+
+"Good heavens!" I exclaimed. "The yawl's on fire!"
+
+I guessed then at what had probably happened. The man who had just
+disappeared with his boat behind the spit of land further along the
+cove had in all likelihood been one of two survivors of the fight
+which had taken place in the early hours of the morning. He had wished
+to get away by himself, had set fire to the yawl, and sneaked away in
+the only boat, exchanging shots with the man left behind and probably
+killing him with the last one. And now--there was smoke and flame
+above what was doubtless a shambles.
+
+But by that time the boat's crew from the destroyer had crossed the
+bar and entered the cove and the vigorously impelled oars were
+flashing fast in the sheltered waters. The boat disappeared behind the
+drifting smoke that poured out of the yawl--presently we saw figures
+hurrying hither and thither about her deck.
+
+"They may be in time to get the fire under," I said. "Better, perhaps,
+if they let the whole thing burn itself out. It would burn up a lot of
+villainy."
+
+"Here are people coming along the beach," remarked Miss Raven,
+suddenly. "Look! They must have seen the smoke rising."
+
+I turned in the direction in which she was looking, and saw, on the
+strip of land and pebble, beneath the woods, a group of figures,
+standing at that moment and staring in the direction of the burning
+ship, which had evidently just rounded the extreme point of the cove
+at its southern confines. There were several figures in the group, and
+two were mounted. Presently these moved forward in our direction, at a
+smart pace; before they had gone far, I recognized the riders.
+
+"A search party!" I exclaimed. "Look--that's Mr. Raven, in front, and
+surely that's Lorrimore, behind him. They're looking for us."
+
+She gazed at the approaching figures for a moment, shielding her eyes
+from the already strong glare of the mounting sun, then ran forward
+along the shingle to meet them; I followed as rapidly as my
+improvised foot-wear would permit. By the time I reached them, Mr.
+Raven and Lorrimore were off their horses, the other members of the
+party had come up, and my companion in tribulation was explaining the
+situation. I let her talk--she was summing it all up in more concise
+fashion than I could have done. Her uncle listened with simple,
+open-mouthed astonishment; Lorrimore, when it came to mention of the
+Chinese element, with an obvious growing concern that seemed to be not
+far away from suspicion. He turned to me as Miss Raven finished.
+
+"How many Chinese do you reckon were on board?" he asked.
+
+"Four--including the last arrival, described as a gentleman," I
+answered.
+
+"And two English?" he inquired.
+
+"One Englishman, and one Frenchman," said I. "My belief is that the
+Chinese have settled the other two--and then possibly settled
+themselves, among them. There's one man somewhere in these woods.
+Whether he's a Chinaman we can't say--we couldn't make out."
+
+He stared at me wonderingly for a moment; then turned and looked at
+the yawl. Evidently the blue-jackets had succeeded in checking the
+fire; the flame had died down, and the smoke now only hung about in
+wreaths; we could see figures running actively about the deck.
+
+"There may be men on there that need medical assistance," said
+Lorrimore. "Where's this boat you mentioned, Middlebrook? I'm going
+off to that vessel. Two of you men pull me across there."
+
+"I'll go with you," said I. "I left my boots in the cabin--I may find
+them--and a good deal else. The boat's just along here."
+
+The search party was a mixed lot--a couple of local policemen, some
+gamekeepers, two or three fishermen, one of Mr. Raven's men-servants.
+Two of the fishermen ran the boat into the water; Lorrimore and I
+sprang in.
+
+"This is the most extraordinary affair I ever heard of," he said as he
+sat down at my side in the stern.
+
+"You didn't see all these Chinamen? Miss Raven says that you actually
+suspected my man Wing to be on board!"
+
+"Lorrimore," said I, "in ten minutes you'll probably see and learn
+things that you'd never have dreamed of. Whether your man Wing is on
+board or not I don't know--but I know that that girl and I have had a
+marvellous escape from a nest of human devils! I can't say for myself,
+but--has my hair whitened?"
+
+"Your hair hasn't whitened," he said. "You were probably safer than
+you knew--safe enough, if Wing was there."
+
+"Well, I don't know," I retorted. "In future, let me avoid the sight
+of yellow cheeks and slit eyes--I've had enough. But tell me--how did
+you and your posse come this way? Didn't Mr. Raven get a wire last
+night?"
+
+"Mr. Raven did get a wire," he replied; "but before he got it, he'd
+become anxious, and had sent out some of his men folk along the moors
+and cliffs in search of you. One of them, very late in the evening,
+came across a man who had been cutting wood somewhere hereabouts and
+had seen you and Miss Raven passing through the woods near the shore
+in company with two strangers. Mr. Raven's man returned close on
+midnight, with this news, and the old gentleman was, of course, thrown
+into a great state of alarm. He roused the whole community round
+Ravensdene Court, got me up, and we set out, as you see. But--the
+whole thing's marvellous! I can't help thinking that Wing may have
+been on board this vessel, and that it was due to him you got away."
+
+"You've heard nothing of him--from London?" I suggested.
+
+"Nothing, from anywhere," he replied. "Which is precisely why I feel
+sure that when he went there he came in contact with these people and
+has been playing some deep game."
+
+"Deep, yes!" said I. "Deep indeed! But what game?"
+
+He made no answer; we were now close to the yawl, and he was staring
+expectantly at the figures on her deck. Suddenly two of these detached
+themselves from the rest, turned, came to the side, looked down on us.
+One was a grimy-faced, alert-looking young naval officer, very much
+alive to his job; the other, not quite so smoke-blackened, but
+eminently business-like, was--Scarterfield.
+
+"Good Heavens!" I muttered. "So--he's here!"
+
+Scarterfield, as we pulled up to the side of the yawl, was evidently
+telling the young officer who we were; he turned from him to us as we
+prepared to clamber aboard and addressed us without ceremony, as if we
+had been parted from him but a few minutes since our last meeting.
+
+"You'd better be prepared for some unpleasant sights, you two!" he
+said. "This is no place to bring an empty stomach to at this hour of
+the morning--and I fancy you've no liking for horrors, Mr.
+Middlebrook."
+
+"I've had plenty of them during this night, Scarterfield," said I. "I
+was a prisoner on board this vessel from yesterday afternoon until
+soon after midnight, and I've sat on yonder beach listening to a good
+many things that have gone on since I got away from her."
+
+He stared at me in astonishment for a moment; so did his companion,
+whose sharp eyes, running me over, settled their glance on my swathed
+feet.
+
+"Yes," I said, staring back at him. "Just so!--I was bundled off in
+such a hurry that I left my boots behind me. They're in the cabin--and
+if they aren't burned up I'll be glad of them."
+
+I was making a move in that direction, for I saw that the fire, now
+well under control, had been confined to the fore-part of the
+yawl--but Scarterfield stopped me. He was clearly as puzzled as
+anxious.
+
+"Middlebrook!" he said earnestly. "I don't understand it, at all. You
+say you were on this vessel--during the night? Then, in God's name,
+who else was on her--whom did you find here--what men?"
+
+"I left six men on her," I answered. "Netherfield Baxter--a
+Frenchman--a Chinese gentleman, so described--three Chinese as well.
+The Frenchman and the Chinese gentleman were those fellows we heard of
+at Hull, Scarterfield, and one, at any rate, of the other three Chinese
+was Lo Chuh Fen, of whom we've also heard."
+
+"And you got into their hands--how?" he asked.
+
+"Kidnapped--Miss Raven and myself--by Baxter and the Frenchman, in
+those woods, yesterday afternoon," I answered. "We came across them by
+accident, at the place where they'd just dug up that monastic
+silver--there it is, man!" I continued, pointing to the chests, which
+still stood where I had last seen them. "You've got it, at last."
+
+He threw an almost careless glance at the chests, shaking his head.
+
+"I want something beyond that," he muttered. "But--you say there were
+six men altogether--six?"
+
+"I've enumerated them." I replied. "Two Europeans--four Chinese."
+
+He turned a quick eye on the naval officer.
+
+"Then one of 'em's escaped--somehow!" he exclaimed. "There's only five
+here--and every man Jack is dead! Where's the other!"
+
+"One did escape," said I. I, too, looked at the lieutenant. "He got
+off in a boat just as you and your men were approaching the bar
+yonder--I thought you'd see him."
+
+"No," he answered, shaking his head. "We didn't see anybody leave. The
+yawl lay between us and him most likely. Where did he land?"
+
+"Behind that spit," I replied, pointing to the place. "He vanished,
+from where I stood, behind those black rocks. That was just as you
+crossed the bar. And he can't have gone far away, for he was certainly
+wounded as he left the yawl--a man fired at him from the bows. He
+fired back."
+
+"We heard those shots," said the lieutenant, "and we found a
+chap--Englishman--in the bows, dying, when we boarded her. He died
+just afterwards. They're all dead--the others were dead then."
+
+"Not a man alive!" I exclaimed.
+
+Scarterfield cast a glance astern--the glance of a man who draws back
+the curtain from a set stage.
+
+"Look for yourselves!" he muttered. "Too late for any of your work,
+doctor. But--that sixth man?"
+
+Lorrimore and I, giving no heed just then to the detective's
+questioning about the escaped man, went towards the after part of the
+deck. Busied with their labours in getting the fire under control, the
+blue-jackets had up to then left the dead men where they found
+them--with one exception. The man whom they had found in the bows had
+been carried aft and laid near the entrance to the little
+deck-house--some hand had thrown a sheet over him. Lorrimore lifted
+it--we looked down. Baxter!
+
+"That's the fellow we found right forward," said the lieutenant. "He's
+several slighter wounds on him, but he'd been shot through the
+chest--heart, perhaps--just before we boarded her. That would be the
+shot fired by the man in the boat, I suppose--a good marksman! Was
+this the skipper?"
+
+"Chief spirit," said I. "He was lively enough last night. But--the
+rest?"
+
+"They're all over the place," he answered. "They must have had a most
+desperate do of it. The vessel's more like a slaughter-house than a
+ship!"
+
+He was right there, and I was thankful that Miss Raven and I for
+whatever reason on the part of the Chinese, had been so
+unceremoniously sent ashore before the fight began. As Lorrimore went
+about, noting its evidences, I endeavoured to form some idea, more or
+less accurate, of the events which had led up to it. It seemed to me
+that either Baxter or the Frenchman, awaking from sleep sooner than
+the Chinese had expected, had discovered that treachery was afoot and
+that wholesale shooting had begun on all sides. Most of the slaughter
+had taken place immediately in front of the hatchway which led to the
+cabin in which I had seen Baxter and his two principal associates;
+some sort of a rough barricade had been hastily set up there; behind
+it the Frenchman lay dead, with a bullet through his brain; before it,
+here and there on the deck, lay three of the Chinese--their leader,
+still in his gaily-coloured sleeping suit, prominent amongst them; Lo
+Chuh Fen a little further away; the third man near the wheel, face
+downwards. He, like Chuh, was a small-made, wiry fellow. And there was
+blood everywhere.
+
+Scarterfield jogged my elbow as I stood staring at these unholy
+sights. He was keener of look than I had ever seen him.
+
+"That fourth Chinaman?" he said. "I must get him, dead or alive. The
+rest's nothing--I want him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE SILK CAP
+
+
+I glanced round; Lorrimore, after an inspection of the dead men, had
+walked aside with the lieutenant and was in close conversation with
+him. I, too, drew the detective away to the side of the yawl.
+
+"Scarterfield," I said in a whisper, "I've grounds for believing that
+the fourth Chinaman is--Lorrimore's servant--Wing."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed. "The man we saw at Ravensdene Court?"
+
+"Just so," said I, "and who went off to London, you remember, to see
+what he could do in the way of discovering the other Chinaman, Lo Chuh
+Fen."
+
+"Yes--I remember that," he answered.
+
+"There is Lo Chuh Fen," I said, pointing to one of the silent figures.
+"And I think that Wing not only discovered him, but came aboard this
+vessel with him, as part of a crew which Baxter and his French friend
+got together at Limehouse or Poplar. As I say, I've grounds for
+thinking it."
+
+Scarterfield looked round, glanced at the shore, shook his head.
+
+"I'm all in the dark--about some things," he said.
+
+"I got on the track of this craft--I'll tell you how, later--and found
+she'd come up this coast, and we got the authorities to send this
+destroyer after her--I came with her, hell for leather, I can tell
+you, from Harwich. But I don't know a lot that I want to know, Baxter,
+now--you're sure that man lying dead there is the Baxter we heard of
+at Blyth and traced to Hull?"
+
+"Certain!" said I. "Listen, and I'll give you a brief account of
+what's happened since yesterday, and of what I've learned since
+then--it will make things clear to you."
+
+Standing there, where the beauty of the fresh morning and the charm of
+sky and sea made a striking contrast to the horror of our immediate
+surroundings, I told him, as concisely as I could, of how Miss Raven
+and myself had fallen into the hands of Netherfield Baxter and the
+Frenchman, of what had happened to me on board, and, at somewhat
+greater length, of Baxter's story of his own career as it related to
+his share in the theft of the monastic treasure from the bank at
+Blyth, his connection with the _Elizabeth Robinson_ and his knowledge
+of the brothers Quick. Nor did I forget Baxter's theory about the
+rubies--and at that Scarterfield obviously pricked his ears.
+
+"Now there's something in that," he said, with a regretful glance at
+the place where Baxter's dead body lay under its sheet. "I wish that
+fellow had been alive, to tell more! For he's right about those
+rubies--quite right. The Quicks had 'em--two of 'em."
+
+"You know that?" I exclaimed.
+
+"I'll tell you," he answered. "After we parted, I was very busy,
+investigating matters still further in Devonport and in London.
+And--through the newspapers, of course--I got in touch with a man who
+told me a lot. He came to headquarters in London, asking for me--wouldn't
+tell any of our people there anything--it was a day or two before I got at
+close quarters with him, for when he called I was away at the time. He
+left an address, in Hatton Garden--a Mr. Isidore Baubenheimer, dealer, as
+you may conclude, in precious stones. Well, I drove off at once to see
+him. He told me a queer tale. He said that he'd only just come back from
+Amsterdam and Paris, or he'd have been in communication with me earlier.
+While he'd been away, he said, he'd read the English newspapers and seen a
+good deal about the two murders at Saltash and Ravensdene Court, and he
+believed that he could throw some light on them, for he felt sure that
+either Noah Quick or Salter Quick was identical with a man with whom he
+had not so long ago talked over the question of the value of certain
+stones which the man possessed. But I'll show you Baubenheimer's own
+words--I got him to make a clear statement of the whole thing and had it
+taken down in black and white, and I have a typed copy of it in my
+pocket-book--glance it over for yourself."
+
+He produced a sheet of paper, folded and endorsed and handed it to
+me--it ran thus:
+
+My place of business in Hatton Garden is a few doors away from the
+Hatton Garden entrance to the old Mitre Tavern, which lies between
+that street and Ely Place. On, as far as I can remember, the seventh
+or eighth of March last, I went into the Mitre about half-past eleven
+o'clock one morning, expecting to meet a friend of mine who was often
+there about that time. He hadn't come in--I sat down with a drink and
+a cigar to wait for him.
+
+In the little room where I sat there were three other men--two of them
+were men that I knew, men who dealt in diamonds in a smallish way. The
+other was a stranger, a thick-set, middle-aged, seafaring sort of man,
+hard-bitten, dressed in a blue-serge suit of nautical cut; I could
+tell from his hands and his general appearance that he'd knocked about
+the world in his time. Just then he was smoking a cigar and had a
+tumbler of rum and water before him, and he was watching, with a good
+deal of interest, the other two, who, close by, were showing each
+other a quantity of loose diamonds which, evidently to the seafaring
+man's amazement, they spread out openly, on their palms.
+
+After a bit they got up and went out, and the stranger glanced at me.
+Now I am, as you see, something of the nautical sort myself, bearded
+and bronzed and all that--I'm continually crossing the North Sea--and
+it may be he thought I was of his own occupation--anyway, he looked at
+me as if wanting to talk.
+
+"I reckon they think nothing of pulling out a fistful o' them things
+hereabouts, mister," he said. "No more to them than sovereigns and
+half-sovereigns and bank-notes is to bank clerks."
+
+"That's about it," said I. "You'll see them shown in the open street
+outside."
+
+"Trade of this part of London, isn't it?" he asked.
+
+"Just so," said I. "I'm in it myself." He gave me a sharp inquiring
+look at that.
+
+"Ah!" he remarked. "Then you'll be a gentleman as knows the vally of a
+thing o' that sort when you sees it?"
+
+"Well I think so," I answered. "I've been in the trade all my life.
+Have you got anything to dispose of? I see you're a seafaring man, and
+I've known sailors who brought something nice home now and then."
+
+"Same here," said he; "but I never known a man as brought anything
+half as good as what I have."
+
+"Ah!" said I. "Then you have something?"
+
+"That's what I come into this here neighbourhood for, this morning,"
+he answered. "I have something, and a friend o' mine, says he to me,
+'Hatton Garden,' he says, 'is the port for you--they eats and drinks
+and wallers in them sort o' things down that way,' he says.
+
+"So I steers for this here; only, I don't know no fish, d'ye see, as I
+could put the question to what I wants to ask."
+
+"Put it to me," said I, drawing out my card-case. "There's my card,
+and you can ask anybody within half a square mile if they don't know
+me for a trustworthy man. What is it you've got?" I went on, never
+dreaming that he'd got anything at all of any great value. "I'll give
+you an idea of its worth in two minutes."
+
+But he glanced round at the door and shook his head.
+
+"Not here, mister!" he said. "I wouldn't let the light o' day shine on
+what I got in a public place like this, not nohow. But," he added, "I
+see you've a office and all that. I ain't undisposed to go there with
+you, if you like--you seem a honest man."
+
+"Come on then," I said. "My office is just round the corner, and
+though I've clerks in it, we'll be private enough there."
+
+"Right you are, mister," he answered, and he drank off his rum and we
+went out and round to my office.
+
+I took him into my private room--I had a young lady clerk in there
+(she'd remember this man well enough) and he looked at her and then at
+me.
+
+"Send the girl away," he muttered. "There's a matter of
+undressing--d'ye see?--in getting at what I want to show you."
+
+I sent her out of the room, and sat down at my desk. He took off his
+overcoat, his coat, and his waistcoat, shoved his hand into some
+secret receptacle that seemed to be hidden in the band of his
+trousers, somewhere behind the small of his back, and after some
+acrobatic contortions and twistings, lugged out a sort of canvas
+parcel, the folds of which he unwrapped leisurely. And suddenly,
+coming close to me, he laid the canvas down on my blotting-pad and I
+found myself staring at some dozen or so of the most magnificent
+pearls I ever set eyes on and a couple of rubies which I knew to be
+priceless. I was never more astonished in my life, but he was as cool
+as a cucumber.
+
+"What d'ye think o' that lot, mister?" he asked. "I reckon you don't
+see a little lot o' that quality every day."
+
+"No, my friend," said I, "nor every year, either, nor every ten years.
+Where on earth did you get them--"
+
+"Away East," said he, "and I've had 'em some time, not being
+particular about selling 'em, but I've settled down in England now,
+and I think I will sell 'em and buy house-property with the money.
+What do you fix their vally at, now, mister--thereabouts, anyway?"
+
+"Good heavens, man!" I said. "They're worth a great deal of money--a
+great deal."
+
+"I'm very well aware o' that, mister," he answered. "Very well aware
+indeed--nobody better. I seen a deal o' things in my time, and I ain't
+no fool."
+
+"You really want to sell them?" I asked.
+
+"If I get the full price," said he. "And that, of course, would be a
+big 'un."
+
+"The thing to do," I said, "would be to find somebody who wants to
+complete a particularly fine set of pearls--some very rich woman who'd
+stick at nothing. The same remark applies to the rubies."
+
+"Maybe you could come across some customer?" he suggested.
+
+"No doubt, in a little time," I answered.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm going up North--I've a bit o' business that way,
+and I reckon I'll be back here in London in a week or so--I'll call in
+then, mister, and if you've found anybody that's likely to deal, I'll
+show 'em the goods with pleasure."
+
+"You'd better leave them with me, and let me show them to some
+possible buyers," I said. But he was already folding up his canvas
+wrapping again.
+
+"Guv'nor," he answered, "I can see as how you're a honest man, and I
+treats you as such, and so will, but I couldn't have them things out
+o' my possession for one minute until I sells 'em. I've a brother,
+mister," he added, "as owns a half-share in 'em--d'ye see?--and I
+holds myself responsible to him. But now that you've seen 'em guv'nor,
+find a buyer or buyers--I'll shove my bows round that door o' yours
+again this day week." And with that he restored his treasures to their
+hiding-place, assumed his garments once more, and remarking that he
+had a train to catch, hastened off, again assuring me that he would
+call in a week, on his return from the North.
+
+It was not until he had been gone several minutes that I remembered
+that I had forgotten to ask his name. I certainly expected him to be
+back at the end of the week--but he didn't come, and just then I had
+to go away. Now I take him to have been the man, Salter Quick, who was
+murdered on the Northumberland coast--no doubt for the sake of those
+jewels. As for their value, I estimated it, from my cursory
+examination of them, to have been certainly not less than eighty
+thousand pounds.
+
+I folded up the statement and restored it to Scarterfield.
+
+"What do you think of that?" he asked.
+
+"Salter Quick, without a doubt," I answered. "It corroborates Baxter's
+story of the rubies. He didn't mention any pearls. And I think now,
+Scarterfield, that Salter Quick's murder lies at the door of--one of
+those Chinamen who in their turn are lying dead before us!"
+
+"Well, and that's what I think," said he. "Though however a Chinaman
+could be about this coast without the local police learning something
+of it at the time they were inquiring into the murder beats me.
+However, there it is!--I feel sure of it. And I was going to tell
+you--I got wind of this yawl down Limehouse way--I found out that
+she'd been in the Thames, and that her owner had enlisted a small crew
+of Chinamen and gone away with them, and I found out further that
+she'd been seen off the Norfolk coast, going north, so then I pitched
+a hot and strong story to the authorities about piracy and all manner
+of things, and they sent this destroyer in search of Baxter, and me on
+her. If we'd only been twelve hours sooner!"
+
+Lorrimore and the lieutenant came up to us.
+
+"My men have the fire completely beaten," said the lieutenant glancing
+at Scarterfield. "If you want to look round----"
+
+We began a thorough examination of the yawl, in the endeavour to
+reconstruct the affair of the early morning. For there were all the
+elements of a strange mystery in that and curiosity about the whole
+thing was as strong in me as in Scarterfield. We knew now many things
+that we had not known twenty-four hours before--one was that the many
+affairs, dark and nefarious, of Netherfield Baxter, had nothing to do
+with the murders of Noah and Salter Quick; another that those murders
+without doubt arose from the brothers' possession of the pearls and
+rubies which Salter had shown to the Hatton Garden diamond merchant.
+All things considered it seemed to me that the explanation of the
+mystery rested in some such theory as this--the Chinaman, Lo Chuh Fen,
+doubtless knew as well as Baxter and his French friend that the
+Quicks were in possession of the rubies stolen from the heathen
+temple in Southern China; no doubt he had become acquainted with that
+fact when the marooned party from the _Elizabeth Robinson_ were on the
+intimate terms of men united by a common fate on the lonely island.
+Drifting eventually to England, Chuh had probably discovered the
+whereabouts of the two brothers, had somehow found that the rubies
+were still in their possession, might possibly have been in personal
+touch with Salter or with Noah, had taken others of his compatriots,
+discovered in the Chinese quarters of the East End into his
+confidence, and engineered a secret conspiracy for securing the
+valuables. He himself had probably tracked Salter to the lonely bit of
+shore near Ravensdene Court; associates of his had no doubt fallen
+upon Noah at Saltash. But how had all this led up to the attack of the
+Chinese on Baxter and the Frenchman?--and who was the man who, leaving
+every other member of the yawl's company dead or dying and who had
+exchanged those last shots with Netherfield Baxter, had escaped to the
+shore and was now, no doubt, endeavouring to make a final bid for
+liberty?
+
+Reckoning up everything we saw, it seemed to me, from my knowledge of
+the preceding incidents, that the drug which the Chinese gentleman, as
+Baxter had been pleased to style him, had not had the effects that he
+desired and anticipated, and that one or other of the two men to whom
+it had been administered had been aroused from sleep before any attack
+could be made on both. I figured things in this way--Baxter, or the
+Frenchman, or both, had awakened and missed the Chinaman. One or both
+had turned out to seek him; had discovered that Miss Raven and I were
+missing; had scented danger to themselves, found the Chinese up to
+some game, and opened fire on them. Evidently the first fighting--as I
+had gathered from the revolver shots--had been sharp and decisive; I
+formed the conclusion that when it was over there were only two men
+left alive, of whom one was Baxter and the other the man whom we had
+seen escaping in the boat. Baxter, I believed, had put up some sort of
+barricade and watched his enemy from it; that he himself was already
+seriously wounded I gathered from two facts--one that his body had
+several superficial wounds on arms and shoulders, and that in the
+cabin behind the hastily-constructed barricade, sheets had been torn
+into strips for bandages which we found on these wounds, where, as far
+as he could, he had roughly twisted them. Then, according to my
+thinking, he had eventually seen the other survivor, who was probably
+in like case with himself as regards superficial wounds, endeavouring
+to make off, and emerging from his shelter had fired on him from the
+side of the yawl, only to be killed himself by return fire. There was
+no mistaking the effect of that last shot--chance shot or
+well-directed aim it had done for Netherfield Baxter, and he had
+crumpled up and died where he dropped.
+
+A significant exclamation from Scarterfield called me to his side--he,
+aided by one of the blue-jackets, was examining the body of Lo Chuh
+Fen.
+
+"Look here!" he murmured as I went up to him. "This chap has been
+searched! After he was dead, I mean. There's a body-belt that he
+wore--it's been violently torn from him, his clothing ripped to get
+at it, and the belt itself hacked to pieces in the endeavour to
+find--something! Whose work has that been!"
+
+"The work of the man who got away in the boat," said I. "Of course!
+He's been after those rubies and pearls, Scarterfield."
+
+"We must be after him," he said. "You say you think he was wounded in
+getting away?"
+
+"He was certainly wounded," I affirmed. "I saw him fall headlong in
+the boat after the first shot; he recovered himself, fired the shot
+which no doubt finished Baxter, and must have been wounded again, for
+the two men again fired simultaneously, and the man in the boat swayed
+at that second shot. But once more he pulled himself together and
+rowed away."
+
+"Well, if he's wounded, he can't get far without attracting notice,"
+declared Scarterfield. "We'll organize a search for him presently. But
+first let's have a look into the quarters that these Chinamen
+occupied."
+
+The smoke of the fire--which seemed to have broken out in the
+forecastle and had been confined to it by the efforts of the sailors
+from the destroyer--had now almost cleared away, and we went forward
+to the galley. The fire had not spread to that, and after the scenes
+of blood and violence astern and in the cabin the place looked
+refreshingly spick and span; there was, indeed, an unusual air of
+neatness and cleanliness about it. The various pots and pans shone
+gaily in the sun's glittering lights; every utensil was in its place;
+evidently the galley's controlling spirit had been a meticulously
+careful person who hated disorder as heartily as dirt. And on a shelf
+near the stove was laid out what I took to be the things which the
+vanished cook, whoever he might be, had destined for breakfast--a
+tempting one of kidneys and bacon, soles, eggs, a curry. I gathered
+from this, and pointed my conclusion out to Scarterfield, that the
+presiding genius of the galley had had no idea of the mutiny into
+which he had been plunged soon after midnight.
+
+"Aye!" said Scarterfield. "Just so--I see your point. And--you think
+that man of Lorrimore's, Wing, was aboard, and if so, he's the man
+who's escaped?"
+
+"I've strong suspicions," said I. "Yet, they were based on a
+plum-cake."
+
+"Well, and I've known of worse clues," he rejoined. "But--I wonder?
+Now, if only we knew----"
+
+Just then Lorrimore came along, poking his head into the galley. He
+suddenly uttered a sharp exclamation and reached an arm to a black
+silk cap which hung from a peg on the boarding above the stove.
+
+"That's Wing's!" he said, in emphatic tones. "I saw him make that cap
+himself!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+CLEAR DECKS
+
+
+The bit of head-gear which Lorrimore had taken down assumed a new
+interest; Scarterfield and I gazed at it as if it might speak to us.
+Nevertheless the detective when he presently spoke showed some
+incredulity.
+
+"That's the sort of cap that any Chinaman wears," he remarked. "It may
+have belonged to any of them."
+
+"No!" answered Lorrimore, with emphatic assurance. "That's my man's. I
+saw him making it--he's as deft with his fingers, at that sort of
+thing, as he is at cooking. And since this cap is his, and as he's not
+amongst the lot there on deck, he's the man that you, Middlebrook, saw
+escaping in the boat. And since he is that man, I know where he'd be
+making."
+
+"Where, then?" demanded Scarterfield.
+
+"To my house!" answered Lorrimore.
+
+Scarterfield showed more doubt.
+
+"I don't think that's likely, doctor," he said. "Presumably, he's got
+those jewels on him, and I should say he'd get away from this with the
+notion of trusting to his own craft to get unobserved on a train and
+lose himself in Newcastle. A Chinaman with valuables on him worth
+eighty thousand pounds? Come!"
+
+"You don't know that he's any valuables of any sort on him," retorted
+Lorrimore. "That's all supposition. I say that if my man Wing was on
+this vessel--as I'm sure he was--he was on it for purposes of his own.
+He might be with this felonious lot, but he wouldn't be of them. I
+know him!--and I'm off to get on his track. Lay you anything you
+like--a thousand to one!--that I find Wing at my house!"
+
+"I'm not taking you, Lorrimore," said I. "I don't mind laying the
+same."
+
+Scarterfield looked curiously at the two of us. Apparently, his belief
+in Chinese virtue was not great.
+
+"Well," he said. "I'm on his track, anyhow, and I propose to get away
+to the beach. There's nothing more we can do here. These naval people
+have got this job in charge, now. Let's leave them to it. Yet," he
+added, as we left the galley, and with a significant glance at me,
+"there is one thing Middlebrook!--wouldn't you like to have a look
+inside those two chests that we've heard so much about?--you and I."
+
+"I certainly should!" I answered.
+
+"Then we will," he said. "I, too, have some curiosity that way. And if
+Master Wing has repaired to the doctor's house he's all right, and if
+he hasn't, he can't get very far away, being a Chinaman, in his native
+garments, and wounded."
+
+The chests which had come aboard the yawl with Miss Raven and myself
+the previous afternoon--it seemed as if ages had gone by since
+then!--still stood where they had been placed at the time; close to
+the gangway leading to the main cabin. Lorrimore, Scarterfield, the
+young naval officer and I gathered round while a couple of handy
+blue-jackets forced them open--no easy business, for whether the
+dishonest bank-manager and Netherfield Baxter had ever opened them or
+not, they were screwed up again in a fashion which showed
+business-like resolves that they should not easily be opened again.
+But at last the lids were off--to reveal inner shells of lead. And
+within these, gleaming dully in the fresh sunlight lay the monastic
+treasures of which Scarterfield and I had read in the hotel at Blyth.
+
+"Queer!" said the detective, as he stood staring meditatively at
+patens and chalices, reliquaries and pyxes. "All these, I reckon, are
+sacred things, consecrated and all that, and yet ever since that
+Reformation time, they've been mixed up with robbery, and now at last
+with wholesale murder! Odd, isn't it? However, there they are!--and
+here," he added, pulling the parchment schedules out of his pocket
+which he had discovered at Baxter's old lodgings in Blyth, and handing
+them to the lieutenant, "here is the list of what there ought to be;
+you'll take all this in charge, of course--I don't know if it comes
+within the law of treasure trove or not, but as the original owners
+are dust and ashes four hundred years ago, I should say it
+does--anyway, the Crown solicitors'll soon settle that point."
+
+We went off from the yawl, the three of us, in the boat which had
+brought Lorrimore and me aboard her. The group on shore saw us making
+for the point whereat the escaping figure had landed in the early
+morning, and followed us thither along the beach. They came up to us
+as we stepped ashore, and while Lorrimore began giving Mr. Raven an
+account of what we had found on the yawl I drew his niece aside.
+
+"You had better know the worst in a word," I said. "We were more than
+fortunate in getting away from the yawl as we did. Don't be
+upset--there isn't a man alive on that thing!"
+
+"Baxter?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I said--not one!" I answered. "Wholesale! Don't think about it--as
+for me, I wish I'd never seen it. But now it's a question of a living
+man--Wing."
+
+"Then it was as I thought?" she asked. "Wing was there?"
+
+"Lorrimore is sure of it--he found a cap of Wing's in the galley,"
+said I. "And as Wing isn't amongst the dead, he's the man who
+escaped."
+
+Scarterfield came up, the local policeman with him who had joined Mr.
+Raven's search-party as it came across country.
+
+"Whereabouts did this man land, Middlebrook?" he asked. "You saw him,
+you and Miss Raven, didn't you?"
+
+"We saw him round these rocks," I replied. "But then they hid him from
+us--we couldn't see exactly. Somewhere on the other side of them,
+anyway."
+
+We spread ourselves out along the shore, crossing the spit of sand,
+now encroached on considerably by the tide, and began to search
+amongst the black rocks that jutted out of it thereabouts. Presently
+we came across the boat, slightly rocking in the lapping water
+alongside a ledge--I took a hasty glance into it and drew Miss Raven
+away. For on the thwarts, and on the seat in the stern, and on one of
+the oars, thrown carelessly aside, there was blood.
+
+A sharp cry from one of the men who had gone a little ahead brought us
+all hurrying to his side. He had found, amongst the rocks, a sort of
+pool at the sides of which there was dry, sand-strewn rock; there were
+marks there as if a man had knelt in the sand, and there was more
+blood, and there were strips of clothing--linen, silk, as if the man
+had torn up some of his garments as temporary bandages.
+
+"He's been here," said Lorrimore in a low voice. "Probably washed his
+wounds here--salt is a styptic. Flesh wounds, most likely, but," he
+added, sinking his voice still lower, "judging from what we've seen of
+the blood he's lost, he must have been weakening by the time he got
+here. Still, he's a man of vast strength and physique, and--he'd push
+on. Look for marks of his footsteps."
+
+We eventually picked up a recently made track in the sand and followed
+it until it came to a point at the end of the overhanging woods, where
+they merged into open moorland running steeply downwards to the beach.
+There, in the short, wiry grass of the close-knitted turf, the marks
+vanished.
+
+"Just as I said," muttered Lorrimore, whom with Miss Raven and myself, was
+striding on a little in advance of the rest. "He's made for my place--as I
+knew he would. I knew enough of this country to know that there's a road
+at the head of these moors that runs parallel with the railway on one side
+and the coast on the other towards Ravensdene--he'd be making for that.
+He'd take up the side of this wood, as the nearest way to strike the
+road."
+
+That he was right in this we were not long in finding out. Twice, as
+our party climbed the steep side of the moorland we came across
+evidences of the fugitive. At two points we found places whereat a man
+had recently sat down on the bank beneath the trees, to rest. And at
+one of them we found more--a blood-soaked bandage.
+
+"No man can go far, losing blood in that way," whispered Lorrimore to
+me as we went onward. "He can't be far off."
+
+And suddenly we came across our quarry. Coming out on the top of the
+moorland, and rounding the corner of the woods, we hit the road of
+which Lorrimore had spoken--a long, white, hedgeless, wall-less ribbon
+of track that ran north and south through treeless country. There, a
+few yards away from us, stood an isolated cottage, some gamekeeper's
+or watcher's place, with a bit of unfenced garden before it. In that
+garden was a strange group, gathered about something that at first we
+did not see--Mr. Cazalette, obviously very busy, the police-inspector
+(a horse and trap, tethered to a post close by, showed how they had
+come) a woman, evidently the mistress of the cottage, a child,
+open-mouthed wide-eyed with astonishment at these strange happenings,
+a dog that moved uneasily around the two-legged folk, whimpering his
+concern. The bystanders moved as we hurried up, and then we caught
+glimpses of towels and water and hastily-improvised bandages and smelt
+brandy, and saw, in the midst of all this Wing, propped up against a
+bank of earth, his eyes closed, and over his yellow face a queer
+grey-white pallor. His left arm and shoulder were bare, save for the
+bandages which Cazalette was applying--there were discarded ones on
+the turf which were soaked with blood.
+
+Lorrimore darted forward with a hasty exclamation, and had Cazalette's
+job out of the old gentleman's hands and into his own before the rest
+of us could speak. He motioned the whole of us away except Cazalette
+and the woman, and the police-inspector turned to Mr. Raven and his
+niece, and to myself and Scarterfield.
+
+"I think we were just about in time," he said, laconically. "I don't
+know what it all means, but I reckon the man was about done for.
+Bleeding to death, I should say."
+
+"You found him?" I asked.
+
+"No," he answered. "Not at first anyway. The woman there says she was
+out here in her garden, feeding her fowls, when she saw him stagger
+round the corner of the wood there, and make for her. He fell across
+the bank where he's lying in a dead faint, and she ran for water. Just
+then we came along in the trap, saw what was happening and jumped out.
+Fortunately, when we set off, Mr. Cazalette insisted on bringing a big
+flask of neat brandy, and some food--he said you never knew what you
+mightn't want--and we gave him a stiff dose, and pulled him round
+sufficiently to be able to tell us where he was wounded. And he's got
+a skinful!--a bullet through the thick part of his left arm, another
+at the point of the same shoulder, and a third just underneath it. Mr.
+Cazalette says they're all flesh wounds--but I don't know: I know the
+man's fainted twice since we got to him. And look here!--just before
+he fainted the last time, he managed to fumble amongst his clothing
+with his right hand and he pulled something out and shoved it into my
+hand with a word or two. 'Give it Lorrimore,' he said, in a very weak
+voice. 'Tell him I found it all out--was going to trap all of
+them--but they were too quick for me last night--all dead now.' Then
+he fainted again. And--look at this!"
+
+He drew out a piece of canvas, twisted up anyhow, and opening it
+before our wondering eyes, revealed a heap of magnificent pearls and a
+couple of wonderful rubies that shone in the sunlight like fire.
+
+"That's what he gave me," said the inspector. "What is it? what's it
+mean?"
+
+"That's what Salter Quick was murdered for," said I. "And it means
+that Lorrimore's man ran down the murderer."
+
+And without waiting for any comment from him, and leaving Scarterfield
+to explain matters, I went across the little garden to see how the
+honest Chinaman was faring.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a strange, yet a plain story that Wing told his master and a
+select few of us a day or two later, when Lorrimore had patched him
+up. To anybody of a hum-drum life--such as mine had always been until
+these events--it was, indeed, a stirring story. The queer thing,
+however--at any rate, queer to me--was that the narrator, as calm and
+suave as ever in his telling of it--did not seem to regard it as
+anything strange at all--he might have been explaining to us some new
+way of making a good cake.
+
+At our request and suggestion, he had journeyed to London and plunged
+into those quarters of the East End wherein his fellow-countrymen are
+to be found. His knowledge of the district of which Limehouse Causeway
+forms a centre soon brought him in touch with Lo Chuh Fen, who, as he
+quickly discovered, had remained in London during the last two or
+three years, assisting in the management of a Chinese eating-house.
+Close by, in a lodging kept by a compatriot, Wing put himself up and
+cultivated Chuh's acquaintance. Ere many days had passed another
+Chinaman came on the scene--this was the man whom Baxter had described
+as a Chinese gentleman. He represented himself to Wing and Chuh as a
+countryman of theirs who had been engaged in highly successful trading
+operations in Europe, and was now, in company with two friends, an
+Englishman and a Frenchman, carrying out another which involved a trip
+in a small, but well-appointed yacht, across the Atlantic: he wanted
+these countrymen of his own to make up a crew. An introduction to
+Baxter and the Frenchman followed, and Wing and Chuh were taken into
+confidence as regards the treasure hidden on the Northumberland coast.
+A share of the proceeds was promised them: they secured a third,
+trustworthy Chinaman in the person of one Ah Wong, an associate of
+Chuh's, and the yawl, duly equipped, left the Thames and went
+northward. By this time, Wing had wormed himself completely into
+Chuh's confidence, and without even discovering whether Chuh was or
+was not the actual murderer of Salter Quick (he believed him to be
+and believed Wong to be the murderer of Noah, at Saltash) he had found
+out that Chuh was in possession of the pearls and rubies which--though
+Wing had no knowledge of that--Salter had exhibited to Baubenheimer.
+And as the yawl neared the scene of the next operations, Wing made his
+own plans. He had found out that its owners, after recovering the
+monastic treasures, were going to call at Leith, where they were to be
+met by the private yacht of some American, whose name Wing never
+heard. Accordingly, he made up his mind to escape from the yawl as
+soon as it got into Leith, to go straight to the police, and there
+give information as to the doings of the men he was with. But here his
+plans were frustrated. He was taken aback by the capture of Miss Raven
+and myself by Baxter and the Frenchman, and though he contrived to
+keep out of our way, he was greatly concerned lest we should see him
+and conclude that he had joined the gang and was privy to its past and
+present doings. But that very night a much more serious development
+materialized. The Chinese gentleman, arriving from London, and being
+met by the Frenchman at Berwick, had a scheme of his own, which, after
+he had attempted the drugging of his two principal associates, he
+unfolded to his fellow-countrymen. This was to get rid of Baxter and
+the Frenchman and seize the yawl and its contents for themselves,
+sailing with it to some port in North Russia. Wing had no option but
+to profess agreement--his only proviso was that Miss Raven and myself
+should be cleared out of the yawl. This proposition was readily
+assented to, and Chuh was charged with the job of sending us ashore.
+But almost immediately afterwards, everything went wrong with the
+conspirator's plans. The drug which had been administered to Baxter
+and the Frenchman failed to act; Baxter, waking suddenly to find the
+Chinamen advancing on the cabin with only too evident murderous
+intent, opened fire on them, and the situation rapidly resolved itself
+into a free fight, in the course of which Wing barricaded himself into
+the galley. Before long he saw that of all the men on board, only
+himself and Baxter remained alive--he saw, too, that Baxter was
+already wounded. Baxter, evidently afraid of Wing, also barricaded
+himself into the cabin; for some hours the two secretly awaited each
+other's onslaught. At last, Wing determined to make a bid for liberty,
+and cautiously worming his way to the cabin he looked in and as he
+thought, saw Baxter lying either dead or dying. He then hastily
+stripped Chuh of the belt in which he knew him to carry the precious
+stones, and taking to the boat which lay at the side of the yawl,
+pushed off, only to find Baxter after him with a revolver. In the
+exchange of shots which followed Wing was hit twice, but a lucky reply
+of his laid Baxter dead. At that he got away, weak and fainting,
+managed to make the shore, to bind up as much of his wounded body as
+he could get at, and set out as well as he was able for his master's
+house. The rest we knew.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So that was all over, and it only remained now for the police to clear
+things up, for Wing to be thoroughly whitewashed in the matter of the
+shooting of Netherfield Baxter, and for everybody in the countryside
+to talk of the affair for nine days--and perhaps a little more. Mr.
+Cazalette talked a great deal: as for Miss Raven and myself, as actors
+in the last act of the drama which ended in such a tragedy, we talked
+little: we had seen too much at close quarters. But on the first
+occasion on which she and I were alone again, I made a confession to
+her.
+
+"I don't want you--of all people--to get any mistaken impression about
+me," I said. "So, I'm going to tell you something. During the whole of
+the time you and I were on that yawl, I was in an absolute panic of
+fear!"
+
+"You were?" she exclaimed. "Really frightened?"
+
+"Quaking with fright!" I declared boldly. "Especially after you'd
+retired. I literally sweated with fear. There! Now it's out!"
+
+She looked at me not at all unkindly.
+
+"Um!" she said at last. "Then, all I have to say is that you concealed
+it admirably--when I was about, at any rate. And"--here she sunk her
+voice to a pleasing whisper--"I'm sure that if you were frightened, it
+was entirely on my account. So--"
+
+In that way we began a courtship which, proving highly satisfactory on
+both sides, is now about to come to an end--or a new beginning--in
+marriage.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+_THE MYSTERY STORIES OF_
+
+_J. S. FLETCHER_
+
+    "_We always feel as though we were really spreading happiness
+    when we can announce a genuinely satisfactory mystery story,
+    such as J. S. Fletcher's new one._"
+
+--N. P. D. in the New York Globe.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER [1918]
+
+    "Unquestionably, the detective story of the season and,
+    therefore, one which no lover of detective fiction should
+    miss."--_The Broadside._
+
+THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM [1920]
+
+    "A crackerjack mystery tale; the story of Linford Pratt, who
+    earnestly desired to get on in life, by hook or by
+    crook--with no objection whatever to crookedness, so long as
+    it could be performed in safety and secrecy."--_Knickerbocker
+    Press._
+
+THE PARADISE MYSTERY [1920]
+
+    "As a weaver of detective tales Mr. Fletcher is entitled to a
+    seat among the elect. His numerous followers will find his
+    latest book fully as absorbing as anything from his pen that
+    has previously appeared."--_New York Times._
+
+DEAD MEN'S MONEY [1920]
+
+    "The story is one that holds the reader with more than the
+    mere interest of sensational events; Mr. Fletcher writes in a
+    notable style."--_Newark Evening News._
+
+THE ORANGE-YELLOW DIAMOND [1921]
+
+    "... A rattling good yarn.... An uncommonly well written
+    tale."--_New York Times._
+
+THE CHESTERMARKE INSTINCT [1921]
+
+    "Mr. Fletcher is a master of plot.... To tell a story as well
+    as this is a literary achievement."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+THE BOROUGH TREASURER [1921]
+
+    "As mystifying a tale as even Mr. Fletcher himself has
+    written."--_New York Times._
+
+THE HERAPATH PROPERTY [1921]
+
+    Numerous complications lead from the murder of Jacob Herapath
+    and the search for his will.
+
+SCARHAVEN KEEP [1922]
+
+    The mystery of the disappearance of Bassett Oliver, famous
+    actor.
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT [1922]
+
+    Two men are struck down by an unseen hand, at the same time
+    in widely separated places--who killed them?
+
+_$2.00 net each at all booksellers or from the Publisher_
+
+ALFRED A. KNOPF, New York.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAVENSDENE COURT***
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ravensdene Court, by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher</title>
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ravensdene Court, by J. S. (Joseph Smith)
+Fletcher</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Ravensdene Court</p>
+<p>Author: J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher</p>
+<p>Release Date: August 15, 2008  [eBook #26324]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAVENSDENE COURT***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Sankar Viswanathan, Suzanne Shell,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" height="742" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img class="img1" src="images/image_01.jpg" width="400" height="626" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>RAVENSDENE<br /> COURT</h1>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>J. S. FLETCHER</h2>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/image_02.jpg" width="200" height="121" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>NEW YORK</h4>
+
+<h3>ALFRED<span class="f1">&middot;</span><span class="f1">A</span><span class="f1">&middot;</span><span class="f1">KNOPF</span></h3>
+
+<h4>MCMXXII</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h5>COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY</h5>
+<h5>ALFRED A. KNOPF, <span class="smcap">Inc.</span></h5>
+
+<h5><i>Published July, 1922</i></h5>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+<table summary="Contents">
+<tr><td class="tocch">I</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">The Inn on the Cliff</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">II</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">Ravensdene Court</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">III</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">The Morning Tide</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">IV</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">The Tobacco Box</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">V</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">The News from Devonport</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">VI</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">Secret Theft</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">VII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Yellowface</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">VIII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Was It a Woman?</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">IX</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">The Enlarged Photograph</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">X</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">The Yellow Sea</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XI</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">The Five Conclusions</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Netherfield Baxter</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XIII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">The Spoils of Sacrilege</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XIV</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">Solomon Fish</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XV</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">Mr. Jallanby&mdash;Ship Broker</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XVI</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">The Pathless Wood</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XVII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">Humfrey de Knaythville</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XVIII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">The Plum Cake</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XIX</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">Black Memories</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XX</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">The Possible Reason</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XXI</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">The Chinese Gentleman</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XXII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="smcap">Red Dawn</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XXIII</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><span class="smcap">The Fourth Chinaman</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XXIV</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><span class="smcap">The Silk Cap</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">XXV</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><span class="smcap">Clear Decks</span></a></td>
+<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+<h2>RAVENSDENE COURT</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h2>THE INN ON THE CLIFF</h2>
+
+
+<p>According to an entry in my book of engagements, I left London for
+Ravensdene Court on March 8th, 1912. Until about a fortnight earlier I
+had never heard of the place, but there was nothing remarkable in my
+ignorance of it, seeing that it stands on a remote part of the
+Northumbrian coast, and at least three hundred miles from my usual
+haunts. But then, towards the end of February, I received the
+following letter which I may as well print in full: it serves as a
+fitting and an explanatory introduction to a series of adventures, so
+extraordinary, mysterious, and fraught with danger, that I am still
+wondering how I, until then a man of peaceful and even dull life, ever
+came safely through them.</p>
+
+<p class="f2">"<span class="smcap">Ravensdene Court, near Alnwick</span></p>
+
+<p class="f3"><span class="smcap">Northumberland</span></p>
+
+<p class="f4">February 24, 1912</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Dear Sir</i>,</p>
+
+<p>"I am told by my friend Mr. Gervase Witherby of Monks
+Welborough, with whom I understand you to be well
+acquainted, that you are one of our leading experts in
+matters relating to old books, documents, and the like, and
+the very man to inspect, value, and generally criticize the
+contents of an ancient library. Accordingly, I should be
+very glad to secure your valuable services. I have recently
+entered into possession of this place, a very old
+manor-house on the Northumbrian coast, wherein the senior
+branch of my family has been settled for some four hundred
+years. There are here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> many thousands of volumes, the
+majority of considerable age; there are also large
+collections of pamphlets, manuscripts, and broadsheets&mdash;my
+immediate predecessor, my uncle, John Christopher Raven, was
+a great collector; but, from what I have seen of his
+collection up to now, I cannot say that he was a great
+exponent of the art of order, or a devotee of system, for an
+entire wing on this house is neither more nor less than a
+museum, into which books, papers, antiques, and similar
+things appear to have been dumped without regard to
+classification or arrangement. I am not a bookman, nor an
+antiquary; my life until recently has been spent in far
+different fashion, as a Financial Commissioner in India. I
+am, however, sincerely anxious that these new possessions of
+mine should be properly cared for, and I should like an
+expert to examine everything that is here, and to advise me
+as to proper arrangement and provision for the future. I
+should accordingly be greatly obliged to you if you could
+make it convenient to come here as my guest, give me the
+benefit of your expert knowledge, and charge me whatever fee
+seems good to you. I cannot promise you anything very lively
+in the way of amusement in your hours of relaxation, for
+this is a lonely place, and my family consists of nothing
+but myself and my niece, a girl of nineteen, just released
+from the schoolroom; but you may find some more congenial
+society in another guest of mine, Mr. Septimus Cazalette,
+the eminent authority on numismatics, who is here for the
+purpose of examining the vast collection of coins and medals
+formed by the kinsman I have just referred to. I can also
+promise you the advantages of a particularly bracing
+climate, and assure you of a warm welcome and every possible
+provision for your comfort. In the hope that you will be
+able to come to me at an early date,</p></div>
+
+<p class="f8">"I am, dear sir,</p>
+
+<p class="f2">"Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p class="f3">"<span class="smcap">Francis Raven.</span></p>
+
+<p>"Leonard Middlebrook, <span class="smcap">Esq.</span>,</p>
+
+<p class="f5">"35M, Old Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, W. C."</p>
+
+<p>Several matters referred to in this letter inclined me towards going
+to Ravensdene Court&mdash;the old family mansion&mdash;the thousands of ancient
+volumes&mdash;the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> prospect of unearthing something of real note&mdash;the
+chance of examining a collector's harvest&mdash;and perhaps more than
+anything, the genuinely courteous and polite tone of my invitation. I
+was not particularly busy at that time, nor had I been out of London
+for more than a few days now and then for several years: a change to
+the far-different North had its attractions. And after a brief
+correspondence with him, I arranged to go down to Mr. Raven early in
+March, and remain under his roof until I had completed the task which
+he desired me to undertake. As I have said already, I left London on
+the 8th of March, journeying to Newcastle by the afternoon express
+from King's Cross. I spent that night at Newcastle and went forward
+next morning to Alnmouth, which according to a map with which I had
+provided myself, was the nearest station to Ravensdene Court. And soon
+after arriving at Alnmouth the first chapter of my adventures opened,
+and came about by sheer luck. It was a particularly fine, bright,
+sharply-bracing morning, and as I was under no particular obligation
+to present myself at Ravensdene Court at any fixed time, I determined
+to walk thither by way of the coast. The distance, according to my
+map, was about nine or ten miles. Accordingly, sending on my luggage
+by a conveyance, with a message to Mr. Raven that I should arrive
+during the afternoon, I made through the village of Lesbury toward the
+sea, and before long came in sight of it ... a glorious stretch of
+blue, smooth that day as an island lake and shining like polished
+steel in the light of the sun. There was not a sail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> in sight, north
+or south or due east, nor a wisp of trailing smoke from any passing
+steamer: I got an impression of silent, unbroken immensity which
+seemed a fitting prelude to the solitudes into which my mission had
+brought me.</p>
+
+<p>I was at that time just thirty years of age, and though I had been
+closely kept to London of late years, my youth had been spent in
+lonely places, and I had an innate love of solitudes and wide spaces.
+I saw at once that I should fall in love with this Northumbrian coast,
+and once on its headlands I took my time, sauntering along at my
+leisure: Mr. Raven, in one of his letters, had mentioned seven as his
+dinner hour: therefore, I had the whole day before me. By noon the sun
+had grown warm, even summer-like; warm enough, at any rate, to warrant
+me in sitting down on a ledge of the cliffs while I smoked a pipe of
+tobacco and stared lazily at the mighty stretch of water across which,
+once upon a time, the vikings had swarmed from Norway. I must have
+become absorbed in my meditations&mdash;certainly it was with a start of
+surprise that I suddenly realized that somebody was near me, and
+looked up to see, standing close by and eyeing me furtively, a man.</p>
+
+<p>It was, perhaps, the utter loneliness of my immediate surroundings
+just then that made me wonder to see any living thing so near. At that
+point there was neither a sail on the sea, nor a human habitation on
+the land; there was not even a sheep cropping the herbage of the
+headlands. I think there were birds calling about the pinnacles of the
+cliffs&mdash;yet it seemed to me that the man broke a complete stillness
+when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> he spoke, as he quietly wished me a good morning.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of his voice startled me; also, it brought me out of a
+reverie and sharpened my wits, and as I replied to him, I took him in
+from head to foot. A thick-set middle-aged man, tidily dressed in a
+blue serge suit of nautical cut, the sort of thing that they sell,
+ready-made, in sea-ports and naval stations. His clothes went with his
+dark skin and grizzled hair and beard, and with the gold rings which
+he wore in his ears. And there was that about him which suggested that
+he was for that time an idler, lounging.</p>
+
+<p>"A fine morning," I remarked, not at all averse to entering into
+conversation, and already somewhat curious about him.</p>
+
+<p>"A fine morning it is, master, and good weather, and likely to keep
+so," he answered, glancing around at sea and sky. Then he looked
+significantly at my knickerbockers and at a small satchel which I
+carried over my shoulders. "The right sort o' weather," he added, "for
+gentlemen walking about the country&mdash;pleasuring."</p>
+
+<p>"You know these parts," I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"No!" he said, with a decisive shake of his head. "I don't, master,
+and that's a fact. I'm from the south, I am&mdash;never been up this way
+before, and, queerly enough, for I've seen most of the world in my
+time, never sailed this here sea as lies before us. But I've a sort of
+connection with this bit of country&mdash;mother's side came from
+hereabouts. And me having nothing particular to do, I came down here
+to take a cast round, like, seeing places as I've heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> of&mdash;heard of,
+you understand, but ain't never seen."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you're stopping in the neighbourhood?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>He raised one of his brown, hairy hands, and jerked a thumb landwards.</p>
+
+<p>"Stopped last night in a little place, inland," he answered. "Name of
+Lesbury&mdash;a riverside spot. But that ain't what I want&mdash;what I want is
+a churchyard, or it might be two, or it might be three, where there's
+gravestones what bears a name. Only I don't know where that
+churchyard&mdash;or, again, there may be more than one&mdash;is, d'ye see?
+Except&mdash;somewhere between Alnmouth one way and Brandnell Bay,
+t'other."</p>
+
+<p>"I have a good map, if it's any use to you," I said. He took the map
+with a word of thanks, and after spreading it out, traced places with
+the end of his thick forefinger.</p>
+
+<p>"Hereabouts we are, at this present, master," he said, "and here and
+there is, to be sure, villages&mdash;mostly inland. And'll have graveyards
+to 'em&mdash;folks must be laid away somewhere. And in one of them
+graveyards there'll be a name, and if I see that name, I'll know where
+I am, and I can ask further, aiming at to find out if any of that name
+is still flourishing hereabouts. But till I get that name, I'm clear
+off my course, so to speak."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the name?" I asked him.</p>
+
+<p>"Name of Netherfield," he answered, slowly. "Netherfield. Mother's
+people&mdash;long since. So I've been told. And seen it&mdash;in old books, what
+I have far away in Devonport. That's the name, right enough, only I
+don't know where to look for it. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> ain't seen it, master, in your
+wanderings round these parts?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've only come into these parts this morning," I replied. "But&mdash;if
+you look closely at that map, you'll observe that there aren't many
+villages along the coast, so your search ought not to be a lengthy
+one. I should question if you'll find more than two or three
+churchyards between here and Brandell Bay&mdash;judging by the map."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well, Netherfield is the name," he repeated. "Netherfield,
+mother's side. In some churchyards hereabouts. And there may be some
+of 'em left&mdash;and again there mayn't be. My name being Quick&mdash;Salter
+Quick. Of Devonport&mdash;when on land."</p>
+
+<p>He folded up and handed back the map, with an old-fashioned bow. I
+rose from the ledge of rock on which I had been resting, and made to
+go forward.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll come across what you're seeking, Mr. Quick," I said.
+"But I should say you won't have much difficulty. There can't be many
+churchyards in this quarter, and not many gravestones in any of them."</p>
+
+<p>"I found nothing in that one behind," he answered, jerking his thumb
+towards Lesbury. "And it's a long time since my mother left these
+parts. But here I am&mdash;for the purpose, d'ye see, master. Time's no
+object&mdash;nor yet expense. A man must take a bit of a holiday some day
+or other. Ain't had one&mdash;me&mdash;for thirty odd year."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>We walked forward, northing our course, along the headlands. And
+rounding a sharp corner, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> suddenly came in sight of a little
+settlement that lay half-way down the cliff. There was a bit of a
+cottage or two, two or three boats drawn up on a strip of yellow sand,
+a crumbling smithie, and above these things, on a shelf of rock, a
+low-roofed, long-fronted inn, by the gable of which rose a mast,
+wherefrom floated a battered flag. At the sight of this I saw a gleam
+come into my companion's eye, and I was quick to understand it's
+meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you feel disposed to a glass of ale?" I asked. "I should say we
+could get one down there."</p>
+
+<p>"Rum," he replied, laconically. "Rum is my drink, master. Used to
+that&mdash;I ain't used to ale. Cold stuff! Give me something that warms a
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"It's poor ale that won't warm a man's belly," I said with a laugh.
+"But every man to his taste. Come on, then."</p>
+
+<p>He followed in silence down the path to the lonely inn; once, looking
+back, I saw that he was turning a sharp eye round and about the new
+stretch of country that had just opened before us. From the inn and
+its surroundings a winding track, a merely rough cartway, wound off
+and upward into the land; in the distance I saw the tower of a church.
+Salter Quick saw it, too, and nodded significantly in its direction.</p>
+
+<p>"That'll be where I'll make next," he observed. "But first&mdash;meat and
+drink. I ate my breakfast before seven this morning, and this walking
+about on dry land makes a man hungry."</p>
+
+<p>"Drink you'll get here, no doubt," said I. "But as to meat&mdash;doubtful."</p>
+
+<p>His reply to that was to point to the sign above the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> inn door, to
+which we were now close. He read its announcement aloud, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"'The Mariner's Joy. By Hildebrand Claigue. Good Entertainment for Man
+and Beast,'" he pronounced. "'Entertainment'&mdash;that means eating&mdash;meat
+for man; hay for cattle. Not that there's much sign of either in these
+parts, I think, master."</p>
+
+<p>We walked into the Mariner's Joy side by side, turning into a
+low-ceilinged, darkish room, neat and clean enough, wherein there was
+a table, chairs, the model of a ship in a glass case on the
+mantelpiece, and a small bar, furnished with bottles and glasses,
+behind which stood a tall, middle-aged man, clean-shaven, spectacled,
+reading a newspaper. He bade us good morning, with no sign of surprise
+at the presence of strangers, and looked expectantly from one to the
+other. I turned to my companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" I said. "You'll drink with me? What is it&mdash;rum?"</p>
+
+<p>"Rum it is, master, thanking you," he replied. "But vittals, too, is
+what I want." He glanced knowingly at the landlord. "You ain't got
+such a thing as a plateful&mdash;a good plateful!&mdash;of cold beef, with a
+pickle&mdash;onion or walnut, 'tain't no matter. And bread&mdash;a loaf of real
+home-baked? And a morsel of cheese?"</p>
+
+<p>The landlord smiled as he reached for the rum bottle.</p>
+
+<p>"I daresay we can fit you up, my lad," he answered. "Got a nice round
+of boiled beef on go&mdash;as it happens. Drop of rum first, eh? And&mdash;yours
+sir?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"A glass of ale if you please," said I. "And as I'm not quite as
+hungry as our friend here, a crust of bread and a piece of cheese."</p>
+
+<p>The landlord satisfied our demands, and then vanished through a door
+at the back of his bar. And when he had expressed his wishes for my
+good health, Salter Quick tasted the rum, smacked his lips over it,
+and looked about him with evident approval.</p>
+
+<p>"Sort of port that a vessel might put into with security and comfort
+for a day or two, this, master," he observed. "I reckon I'll put
+myself up here, while I'm looking round&mdash;this will do me very well.
+And doubtless there'll be them coming in here, night-time, as'll know
+the neighbourhood, and be able to give a man points as to his
+bearings."</p>
+
+<p>"I daresay you'll be very comfortable here," I assented. "It's not
+exactly a desert island."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well, and Salter Quick's been in quarters of that sort in his
+time," he observed, with a glance that suggested infinite meaning. "He
+has, so! But this ain't no desert island, master. I can see they ain't
+short of good grub and sound liquor here!"</p>
+
+<p>He made his usual jerk of the thumb&mdash;this time in the direction of the
+landlord, who just then came back with a well-filled tray. And
+presently, first removing his cap and saying his grace in a devout
+fashion, he sat down and began to eat with an evidently sharp-set
+appetite. Trifling with my bread and cheese, I turned to the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a very lonely spot," I said. "I was surprised to see a
+licensed house here. Where do you get your customers?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you wouldn't see it as you came along,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> replied the landlord. "I
+saw you coming&mdash;you came from Alnmouth way. There's a village just
+behind here&mdash;it 'ud be hidden from you by this headland at back of the
+house&mdash;goodish-sized place. Plenty o' custom from that, o' nights. And
+of course there's folks going along, north and south."</p>
+
+<p>Quick, his weather-stained cheeks bulging with his food, looked up
+sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"A village, says you!" he exclaimed. "Then if a village, a church. And
+if a church, a churchyard. There is a churchyard, ain't there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, there is a church, and there's a churchyard to it," replied the
+landlord. "What o' that?"</p>
+
+<p>Quick nodded at me.</p>
+
+<p>"As I been explaining to this gentleman," he said, "churchyards is
+what I'm looking for. Graves in 'em, you understand. And on them
+graves, a name. Name of Netherfield. Now I asks you, friendly&mdash;ha' you
+ever seen that name in your churchyard? 'Cause if so I'm at anchor.
+For the time being."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I haven't," answered the landlord. "But our churchyard&mdash;Lord
+bless you, there's scores o' them flat stones in it that's covered
+with long grass&mdash;there might be that name on some of 'em, for aught I
+know; I've never looked 'em over, I'm sure. But&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Just then there came into the parlour a man, who from his rough dress,
+appeared to be a cattle-drover or a shepherd. Claigue turned to him
+with a glance that seemed to indicate him as authority.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's one as lives by that churchyard," he observed. "Jim! ha' you
+ever noticed the name of Netherfield on any o' them old gravestones up
+yonder?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> This gentleman's asking after it, and I know you mow that
+churchyard grass time and again."</p>
+
+<p>"Never seen it!" answered the new-comer. "But&mdash;strange things!&mdash;there
+was a man come up to me the other night, this side o' Lesbury, and
+asked that very question&mdash;not o' these parts, he wasn't. But&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped at that. Salter Quick dropped his knife and fork with a
+clatter, and held up his right hand.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h2>RAVENSDENE COURT</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was very evident to Claigue and myself, interested spectators, that
+the new-comer's announcement, sudden and unexpected as it was, had had
+the instantaneous effect of making Quick forget his beef and his rum.
+Indeed, although he was only half-way through its contents, he pushed
+his plate away from him as if food were just then nauseous to him; his
+right hand lifted itself in an arresting, commanding gesture, and he
+turned a startled eye on the speaker, looking him through and through
+as if in angry doubt of what he had just said.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" he snapped out. "What says you? Say it again&mdash;no, I'll
+say it for you&mdash;to make sure that my ears ain't deceiving me! You met
+a man&mdash;hereabouts&mdash;what asked you if you knew where there was graves
+with a certain name on 'em? And that name was&mdash;Netherfield? Did you
+say that?&mdash;I asks you serious?"</p>
+
+<p>The drover, or shepherd, or whatever he was, looked from Quick to me
+and then to Claigue, and smiled, as if he wondered at Quick's
+intensity of manner.</p>
+
+<p>"You've got it all right, mister," he answered. "That's just what I
+did say. A stranger chap, he was&mdash;never seen him in these parts
+before."</p>
+
+<p>Quick took up his glass and drank. There was no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> doubt about his being
+upset, for his big hand trembled.</p>
+
+<p>"Where was this here?" he demanded. "Recent?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two nights ago," replied the man readily. "I was coming home,
+lateish, from Almwick, and met with this here chap a bit this side o'
+Lesbury. We walked a piece of the road together, talking. And he asked
+me what I've told you. Did I know these parts?&mdash;was I a native
+hereabouts?&mdash;did I know any churchyards with the name Netherfield on
+gravestones? And I said I didn't, but that there was such-like places
+in our parts where you couldn't see the gravestones for the grass, and
+these might be what he was asking after. And when we came to them
+cross-roads, where it goes to Denwick one direction and Boulmer the
+other, he left me, and I ain't seen aught of him since. Nor heard."</p>
+
+<p>Quick pushed his empty glass across the table, with a sign to Claigue
+to refill it; at the same time he pointed silently to his informant,
+signifying that he was to be served at his expense. He was evidently
+deep in thought by that time, and for a moment or two he sat staring
+at the window and the blue sea beyond, abstracted and pondering.
+Suddenly he turned again on his informant.</p>
+
+<p>"What like was this here man?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't tell you, mister," replied the other. "It was well after
+dark and I never saw his face. But, for the build of him, a strong-set
+man, like myself, and just about your height. And now I come to think
+of it, spoke in your way&mdash;not as we do in these quarters. A
+stranger&mdash;like yourself. Seafaring man, I took him for."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And you ain't heard of his being about?" asked Quick.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a word, mister," affirmed the informant. "He went Denwick way
+when he left me. That's going inland."</p>
+
+<p>Quick turned to me.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to see that map of yours again, master, if you please,"
+he said. "I ought to ha' provided myself with one before I came here."
+He spread the map out before him, and after taking another gulp of his
+rum, proceeded to trace roads and places with the point of his finger.
+"Denwick?" he muttered. "Aye I see that. And these places where
+there's a little cross?&mdash;that'll mean there's a church there?"</p>
+
+<p>I nodded an affirmative, silently watching him, and wondering what
+this desire on the part of two men to find the graves of the
+Netherfields might mean. And the landlord evidently shared my wonder,
+for presently he plumped his customer with a direct question.</p>
+
+<p>"You seem very anxious to find these Netherfield gravestones," he
+remarked, with good-humoured inquisitiveness. "And so, apparently,
+does another man. Now, I've been in these parts a good many years, and
+I've never heard of 'em; never even heard the name."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor me!" said the other man. "There's none o' that name in these
+parts&mdash;'twixt Alnmouth Bay and Budle Point. I ain't never heard it!"</p>
+
+<p>"And he's a native," declared the landlord. "Born and bred and brought
+up here. Wasn't you, Jim?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Never been away from it," assented Jim, with a short laugh. "Never
+been farther north than Belford, south than Warkworth, west than
+Whittingham. And as for east, I reckon you can't get much further that
+way than where we are now."</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless you take to the water, you can't," said Claigue. "No&mdash;we
+ain't heard of no Netherfields hereabouts."</p>
+
+<p>Quick seemed indifferent to these remarks. He suddenly folded up the
+map, returned it to me with a word of thanks, and plunging a hand in
+his trousers' pocket, produced a fistful of gold coins.</p>
+
+<p>"What's to pay?" he demanded. "Take it out o' that&mdash;all we've had, and
+do you help yourself to a glass and a cigar." He flung a sovereign on
+the table, and rose to his feet. "I must be stepping along," he
+continued, looking at me. "If so be as there's another man seeking
+for&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But at that he checked himself, remaining silent until Claigue counted
+out and handed over his change; silently, too, he pocketed it, and
+turned to the door. Claigue stopped him with an arresting word and
+motion of his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I say!" he said. "No business of mine, to be sure, but&mdash;don't you
+show that money of yours over readily hereabouts&mdash;in places like this,
+I mean. There's folk up and down these roads that 'ud track you for
+miles on the chance of&mdash;eh, Jim?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye&mdash;and farther!" assented Jim. "Keep it close, master."</p>
+
+<p>Quick listened quietly&mdash;just as quietly he slipped a hand to his hip
+pocket, brought it back to the front and showed a revolver.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That and me, together&mdash;eh?" he said significantly. "Bad look-out for
+anybody that came between us and the light."</p>
+
+<p>"They might come between you and the dark," retorted Claigue. "Take
+care of yourself! 'Tisn't a wise thing to flash a handful of gold
+about, my lad."</p>
+
+<p>Quick made no remark. He walked out on to the cobbled pavement in
+front of the inn, and when I had paid Claigue for my modest lunch, and
+had asked how far it was to Ravensdene Court, I followed him. He was
+still in a brown study, and stood staring about him with moody eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" I said, still inquisitive about this apparently mysterious
+man. "What next? Are you going on with your search?"</p>
+
+<p>He scraped the point of a boot on the cobble-stones for awhile, gazing
+downwards almost as if he expected to unearth something; suddenly he
+raised his eyes and gave me a franker look than I had so far had from
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Master," he said, in a low voice, and with a side glance at the open
+door of the inn, "I'll tell you a bit more than I've said
+before&mdash;you're a gentleman, I can see, and such keeps counsel. I've an
+object&mdash;and a particular object!&mdash;in finding them graves. That's why
+I've travelled all this way&mdash;as you might say, from one end of England
+to the other. And now, arriving where they ought to be, I
+find&mdash;another man after what I'm after! Another man!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any idea who he may be?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated&mdash;and then suddenly shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't!" he answered. "No, I haven't, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> that's a fact. For a
+minute or two, in there, I thought that maybe I did know, or, at any
+rate, had a notion; but it's a fact, I haven't. All the same, I'm
+going Denwick way, to see if I can come across whoever it is, or get
+news of him. Is that your road, master?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," I replied. "I'm going some way farther along the headlands.
+Well&mdash;I hope you'll be successful in your search for the family
+gravestones."</p>
+
+<p>He nodded, very seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not going out o' this country till I've found 'em!" he asserted
+determinedly. "It's what I've come three hundred miles for. Good-day,
+master."</p>
+
+<p>He turned off by the track that led over the top of the headlands, and
+as long as I watched him went steadily forward without even looking
+back, or to the right or left of him. And presently I, too, went on my
+way, and rounding another corner of the cliff left the lonely inn
+behind me.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>But as I went along, following the line of the headlands, I wondered a
+good deal about Salter Quick and the conversation at the Mariner's
+Joy. What was it that this hard-bitten, travel-worn man, one who had
+seen, evidently, much of wind and wave, was really after? I gave no
+credence to his story of the family relationship&mdash;it was not at all
+likely that a man would travel all the way from Devonshire to
+Northumberland to find the graves of his mother's ancestors. There was
+something beyond that&mdash;but what? It was very certain that Quick wanted
+to come across the tombs of the dead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> and gone Netherfields, however,
+for whatever purpose&mdash;certain, too, that there was another man who had
+the same wish. That complicated matters, and it deepened the mystery.
+Why did two men&mdash;seafaring men, both of them&mdash;arrive in this
+out-of-the-way spot about the same time, unknown to each other, but
+each apparently bent on the same object? And what would happen if, as
+seemed likely, they met? It was impossible to find an answer to these
+questions; but the mystery was there, all the same.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon remained fine, and, for the time of year, warm, and I
+took advantage of it by dawdling along that glorious stretch of
+sea-coast, taking in to the full its rich stores of romantic scenery
+and suggestion of long-past ages. Sometimes I sat for a long time,
+smoking my pipe on the edge of the headlands, staring at the blue of
+the water, the curl of the waves on the brown sands, conscious most of
+the compelling silence, and only dimly aware of the calling of the
+sea-birds on the cliffs. Altogether, the afternoon was drawing to its
+close when, rounding a bluff that had been in view before me for some
+time, I came in sight of what I felt sure to be Ravensdene Court, a
+grey-walled, stone-roofed Tudor mansion that stood at the head of a
+narrow valley or ravine&mdash;dene they call it in those parts, though a
+dene is really a tract of sand, while these breaks in the land are
+green and thickly treed&mdash;through which a narrow, rock-encumbered
+stream ran murmuring to the sea. Very picturesque in its old-worldness
+it looked in the mellowing light; the very place, I thought, which a
+bookman and an antiquary, such as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> I had heard the late owner to be,
+would delight to store with his collections.</p>
+
+<p>A path that led inland from the edge of the cliffs took me after a few
+minutes' walking to a rustic gate which was set in the boundary wall
+of a small park; within the wall rose a belt of trees, mostly oak and
+beech, their trunks obscured by a thick undergrowth. Passing through
+this, I came out on the park itself, at a point where, on a well-kept
+green, a girl, whom I immediately took to be the niece, recently
+released from the schoolroom, of whom Mr. Raven had spoken in his
+letter, was studying the lie of a golf ball. Behind her, carrying her
+bag of sticks, stood a small boy, chiefly remarkable for his large
+boots and huge tam-o'-shanter bonnet, who, as I appeared on the scene,
+was intently watching his young mistress's putter, wavering
+uncertainly in her slender hands before she ventured on what was
+evidently a critical stroke. But before the stroke was made the girl
+caught sight of me, paused, seemed to remember something, and then,
+swinging her club, came lightly in my direction&mdash;a tallish,
+elastic-limbed girl, not exactly pretty, but full of attraction
+because of her clear eyes, healthy skin, and general atmosphere of
+life and vivacity. Recently released from the schoolroom though she
+might be, she showed neither embarrassment nor shyness on meeting a
+stranger. Her hand went out to me with ready frankness.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Middlebrook?" she said inquiringly. "Yes, of course&mdash;I might have
+known you'd come along the cliffs. Your luggage came this morning, and
+we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> got your message. But you must be tired after all those miles?
+I'll take you up to the house and give you some tea."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not at all tired, thank you," I answered. "I came along very
+leisurely, enjoying the walk. Don't let me take you from your game."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's all right," she said carelessly, throwing her putter to
+the boy. "I've had quite enough; besides, it's getting towards dusk,
+and once the sun sets, it's soon dark in these regions. You've never
+seen Ravensdene Court before?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never," I replied, glancing at the house, which stood some two or three
+hundred yards before us. "It seems to be a very romantically-situated,
+picturesque old place. I suppose you know all its nooks and corners?"</p>
+
+<p>She gave her shoulders&mdash;squarely-set, well-developed ones&mdash;a little
+shrug, and shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't," she answered. "I never saw it before last month. It's
+all that you say&mdash;picturesque and romantic enough. And queer! I
+believe it's haunted."</p>
+
+<p>"That adds to its charm," I remarked with a laugh. "I hope I shall
+have the pleasure of seeing the ghost."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't!" she said. "That is, I hope I shan't. The house is odd
+enough without that! But&mdash;you wouldn't be afraid?"</p>
+
+<p>"Would you?" I asked, looking more closely at her.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," she replied. "You'll understand more when you see the
+place. There's a very odd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> atmosphere about it. I think something must
+have happened there, some time. I'm not a coward, but, really, after
+the daylight's gone&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You're adding to its charms!" I interrupted. "Everything sounds
+delightful!"</p>
+
+<p>She looked at me half-inquiringly, and then smiled a little.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you're pulling my leg," she said. "However&mdash;we'll see. But
+you don't look as if you would be afraid&mdash;and you're not a bit like
+what I thought you'd be, either."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you think I should be?" I asked, amused at her candour.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know&mdash;a queer, snuffy, bald-pated old man, like Mr.
+Cazalette," she replied. "Booky, and papery, and that sort of thing.
+And you're quite&mdash;something else&mdash;and young!"</p>
+
+<p>"The frost of thirty winters have settled on me," I remarked with mock
+seriousness.</p>
+
+<p>"They must have been black frosts, then!" she retorted. "No!&mdash;you're a
+surprise. I'm sure Uncle Francis is expecting a venerable, dry-as-dust
+sort of man."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he won't be disappointed," I said. "But I never told him I was
+dry as dust, or snuffy, or bald&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It's your reputation," she said quickly. "People don't expect to find
+such learning in ordinary young men in tweed suits."</p>
+
+<p>"Am I an ordinary young man, then?" I demanded. "Really&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, you know what I mean!" she said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> hastily. "You can call me
+a very ordinary young woman, if you like."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do nothing of the sort!" said I. "I have a habit of always
+calling things by their right names, and I can see already that you
+are very far from being an ordinary young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"So you begin by paying me compliments?" she retorted with a laugh.
+"Very well&mdash;I've no objection, which shows that I'm human, anyhow. But
+here is my uncle."</p>
+
+<p>I had already seen Mr. Francis Raven advancing to meet us; a tall,
+somewhat stooping man with all the marks of the Anglo-Indian about
+him: a kindly face burnt brown by equatorial suns, old-fashioned,
+grizzled moustache and whiskers; the sort of man that I had seen more
+than once coming off big liners at Tilbury and Southampton, looking as
+if England, seen again after many years of absence, were a strange
+country to their rather weary, wondering eyes. He came up with
+outstretched hands; I saw at once that he was a man of shy, nervous
+temperament.</p>
+
+<p>"Welcome to Ravensdene Court, Mr. Middlebrook!" he exclaimed in quick,
+almost deprecating fashion. "A very dull and out-of-the-way place to
+which to bring one used to London; but we'll do our best&mdash;you've had a
+convoy across the park, I see," he added with a glance at his niece.
+"That's right!"</p>
+
+<p>"As charming a one as her surroundings are delightful, Mr. Raven," I
+said, assuming an intentionally old-fashioned manner. "If I am treated
+with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> the same consideration I have already received, I shall be loth
+to bring my task to an end!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Middlebrook is a bit of a tease, Uncle Francis," said my guide.
+"I've found that out already. He's not the paper-and-parchment person
+you expected."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear me, I didn't expect anything of the sort!" protested Mr.
+Raven. He looked from his niece to me, and laughed, shaking his head.
+"These modern young ladies&mdash;ah!" he exclaimed. "But come&mdash;I'll show
+Mr. Middlebrook his rooms."</p>
+
+<p>He led the way into the house and up the great stair of the hall to a
+couple of apartments which overlooked the park. I had a general sense
+of big spaces, ancient things, mysterious nooks and corners; my own
+rooms, a bed-chamber and a parlour, were delightful. My host was
+almost painfully anxious to assure himself that I had everything in
+them that I was likely to want, and fussed about from one room to the
+other, seeing to details that I should never have thought of.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be able to find your way down?" he said at last, as he made
+for the door. "We dine at seven&mdash;perhaps there'll be time to take a
+little look round before then, after we've dressed. And I must
+introduce Mr. Cazalette&mdash;you don't know him personally?&mdash;oh, a
+remarkable man, a very remarkable man indeed&mdash;yes!"</p>
+
+<p>I did not waste much time over my toilet, nor, apparently did Miss
+Marcia Raven, for I found her, in a smart gown, in the hall when I
+went down at half-past-six. And she and I had taken a look at its
+multifarious objects before Mr. Raven appeared on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> the scene, followed
+by Mr. Cazalette. One glance at this gentleman assured me that our
+host had been quite right when he spoke of him as remarkable&mdash;he was
+not merely remarkable, but so extraordinary in outward appearance that
+I felt it difficult to keep my eyes off him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MORNING TIDE</h2>
+
+
+<p>Miss Raven had already described Mr. Cazalette to me, by inference, as
+a queer, snuffy bald-pated old man, but this summary synopsis of his
+exterior features failed to do justice to a remarkable original. There
+was something supremely odd about him. I thought, at first, that my
+impression of oddity might be derived from his clothes&mdash;he wore a
+strangely-cut dress-coat of blue cloth, with gold buttons, a buff
+waistcoat, and a frilled shirt&mdash;but I soon came to the conclusion that
+he would be queer and uncommon in any garments. About Mr. Cazalette
+there was an atmosphere&mdash;and it was decidedly one of mystery. First
+and last, he looked uncanny.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven introduced us with a sort of old-world formality (I soon
+discovered, as regards him, that he was so far unaware that a vast
+gulf lay between the manners and customs of society as they are
+nowadays and as they were when he left England for India in the
+'seventies: he was essentially mid-Victorian) and in order to keep up
+to it, I saluted Mr. Cazalette with great respect and expressed myself
+as feeling highly honoured by meeting one so famous as my
+fellow-guest. Somewhat to my surprise, Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> Cazalette's tightly-locked
+lips relaxed into what was plainly a humorous smile, and he favoured
+me with a knowing look that was almost a wink.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well," he said, "you're just about as well known in your own
+line, Middlebrook, as I am in mine, and between the pair of us I've no
+doubt we'll be able to reduce chaos into order. But we'll not talk
+shop at this hour of the day&mdash;there's more welcome matters at hand."</p>
+
+<p>He put his snuff box and his gaudy handkerchief out of sight, and
+looked at his host and hostess with another knowing glance, reminding
+me somehow of a wicked old condor which I had sometimes seen at the
+Zoological Gardens, eyeing the keeper who approached with its meal.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette," remarked Miss Raven, with an informing glance at me,
+"never, on principle, touches bite or sup between breakfast and
+dinner&mdash;and he has no great love of breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a disciple of the justly famed and great man, Abernethy,"
+observed Mr. Cazalette. "I'd never have lived to my age nor kept my
+energy at what, thank Heaven, it is, if I hadn't been. D'ye know how
+old I am, Middlebrook?"</p>
+
+<p>"I really don't, Mr. Cazalette," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Well I'm eighty years of age," he answered with a grin. "And I'm
+intending to be a hundred! And on my hundredth birthday, I'll give a
+party, and I'll dance with the sprightliest lassie that's there, and
+if I'm not as lively as she is I'll be sore out of my calculations."</p>
+
+<p>"A truly wonderful young man!" exclaimed Mr. Raven. "I veritably
+believe he feels&mdash;and is&mdash;younger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> than myself&mdash;and I'm twenty years
+his junior."</p>
+
+<p>So I had now discovered certain facts about Mr. Cazalette. He was an
+octogenarian. He was uncannily active. He had an almost imp-like
+desire to live&mdash;and to dance when he ought to have been wrapped in
+blankets and saying his last prayers. And a few minutes later, when we
+were seated round our host's table, I discovered another fact&mdash;Mr.
+Cazalette was one of those men to whom dinner is the event of the day,
+and who regard conversation&mdash;on their own part, at any rate&mdash;as a
+wicked disturbance of sacred rites. As the meal progressed (and Mr.
+Raven's cook proved to be an unusually clever and good one) I was
+astonished at Mr. Cazalette's gastronomic powers and at his love of
+mad dishes: indeed, I never saw a man eat so much, nor with such
+hearty appreciation of his food, nor in such a concentrated silence.
+Nevertheless, that he kept his ears wide open to what was being said
+around him, I soon discovered. I was telling Mr. Raven and his niece
+of my adventure of the afternoon, and suddenly I observed that Mr.
+Cazalette, on the other side of the round table at which we sat, had
+stopped eating, and that, knife and fork still in his queer, claw-like
+hands, he was peering at me under the shaded lamps, his black, burning
+eyes full of a strange, absorbed interest. I paused&mdash;involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on!" said he. "Did you mention the name Netherfield just then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did," said I. "Netherfield."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, continue with your tale," he said. "I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> listening. I'm a
+silent man when I'm busy with my meat and drink, but I've a fine pair
+of ears."</p>
+
+<p>He began to ply knife and fork again, and I went on with my story,
+continuing it until the parting with Salter Quick. When I came to
+that, the footman who stood behind Mr. Cazalette's chair was just
+removing his last plate, and the old man leaned back a little and
+favoured the three of us with a look.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well," he said, "and that's an interesting story, Middlebrook,
+and it tempts me to break my rule and talk a bit. It was some
+churchyard this fellow was seeking?"</p>
+
+<p>"A churchyard&mdash;in this neighbourhood," I replied. "Or&mdash;churchyards."</p>
+
+<p>"Where there were graves with the name Netherfield on their stones or
+slabs or monuments," he continued.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye&mdash;just so. And those men he foregathered with at the inn, they'd
+never heard of anything at that point, nor elsewhere?"</p>
+
+<p>"Neither there nor elsewhere," I assented.</p>
+
+<p>"Then if there is such a place," said he, "it'll be one of those
+disused burial-grounds of which there are examples here in the north,
+and not a few."</p>
+
+<p>"You know of some?" suggested Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"I've seen such places," answered Mr. Cazalette. "Betwixt here&mdash;the
+sea-coast&mdash;and the Cheviots, westward, there's a good many spots that
+Goldsmith might have drawn upon for his deserted village. The folks
+go&mdash;the bit of a church falls into ruins&mdash;its graveyard gets choked
+with weeds&mdash;the stones are covered with moss and lichen&mdash;the monuments
+fall and are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> obscured by the grass&mdash;underneath the grass and the weed
+many an old family name lies hidden. And what'll that man be wanting
+to find any name at all for, I'd like to know!"</p>
+
+<p>"The queer thing to me," observed Mr. Raven, "is that two men should
+be wanting to find it at the same time."</p>
+
+<p>"That looks as if there were some very good reason why it should be
+found, doesn't it?" remarked his niece. "Anyway, it all sounds very
+queer&mdash;you've brought mystery with you, Mr. Middlebrook! Can't you
+suggest anything, Mr. Cazalette? I'm sure you're good at solving
+problems."</p>
+
+<p>But just then Mr. Cazalette's particular servant put a fresh dish in
+front of him&mdash;a curry, the peculiar aroma of which evidently aroused
+his epicurean instinct. Instead of responding to Miss Raven's
+invitation he relapsed into silence, and picked up another fork.</p>
+
+<p>When dinner was over I excused myself from sitting with the two elder
+men over their wine&mdash;Mr. Cazalette, whom by that time I, of course,
+knew for a Scotchman, turned out to have an old-fashioned taste for
+claret&mdash;and joined Miss Raven in the hall, a great, roomy, shadowy
+place which was evidently popular. There was a great fire in its big
+hearth-place with deep and comfortable chairs set about it; in one of
+these I found her sitting, a book in her hand. She dropped it as I
+approached and pointed to a chair at her side.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of that queer old man?" she asked in a low voice as I
+sat down. "Isn't there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> something almost&mdash;what is it?&mdash;uncanny?&mdash;about
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>"You might call him that," I assented. "Yes&mdash;I think uncanny would fit
+him. A very marvellous man, though, at his age."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" she exclaimed, under her breath. "If I could live to see it, it
+wouldn't surprise me if he lived to be four hundred. He's so queer. Do
+you know that he actually goes out early&mdash;very early&mdash;in the morning
+and swims in the open sea?"</p>
+
+<p>"Any weather?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"No matter what the weather is," she replied. "He's been here three
+weeks now, and he has never missed that morning swim. And sometimes
+the mornings have been Arctic&mdash;more than I could stand, anyway, and
+I'm pretty well hardened."</p>
+
+<p>"A decided character!" I said musingly. "And somehow, he seems to fit
+in with his present surroundings. From what I have seen of it, Mr.
+Raven was quite right in telling me that this house was a museum."</p>
+
+<p>I was looking about me as I spoke. The big, high-roofed hall, like
+every room I had so far seen, was filled from floor to ceiling with
+books, pictures, statuary, armour, curiosities of every sort and of
+many ages. The prodigious numbers of the books alone showed me that I
+had no light task in prospect. But Miss Raven shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Museum!" she exclaimed. "I should think so! But you've seen
+nothing&mdash;wait till you see the north wing. Every room in that is
+crammed with things&mdash;I think my great-uncle, who left all this to
+Uncle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> Francis recently, must have done nothing whatever but buy, and
+buy, and buy things, and then, when he got them home, have just dumped
+them down anywhere! There's some order here," she added, looking
+round, "but across there, in the north wing, it's confusion."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you know your great-uncle?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I? No!" she replied. "Oh, dear me, no! I'd never been in the north
+until Uncle Francis came home from India some months ago and fetched
+me from the school where I'd been ever since my father and mother
+died&mdash;that was when I was twelve. No, except my father, I never knew
+any of the Raven family. I believe Uncle Francis and myself are the
+very last."</p>
+
+<p>"You must like living under the old family roof?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>She gave me a somewhat undecided look.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not quite sure," she answered. "Uncle Francis is the very soul of
+kindness&mdash;I think he's the very kindest person, man or woman, I ever
+came across, but&mdash;I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know&mdash;what?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know if I really like this place," she said. "As I said to you
+this afternoon, this is a very odd house altogether, and there's a
+strange atmosphere about it, and I think something must have happened
+here. I&mdash;well, personally, I feel as if I were something so very small
+and insignificant, shut up in immensity."</p>
+
+<p>"That's because it's a little strange, even now," I suggested. "You'll
+get used to it. And I suppose there's society."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Francis is a good deal of a recluse," she answered. "It's
+really a very good thing that I'm fond of outdoor life, and that I
+take an interest in books, too. But I'm very deficient in knowledge in
+book matters&mdash;do teach me something while you're here!&mdash;I'd like to
+know a good deal about all these folios and quartos and so on."</p>
+
+<p>I made haste to reply that I should be only too happy to put my
+knowledge at her disposal, and she responded by saying that she would
+like to help me in classifying and inspecting the various volumes
+which the dead-and-gone great-uncle had collected. We got on very well
+together, and I was a little sorry when my host came in with his other
+guest&mdash;who, a loop-hole being given him, proceeded to give us a
+learned dissertation on the evidences of Roman occupation of the North
+of England as evidenced by recent and former discoveries of coins
+between Trent and Tweed: it was doubtless very interesting, and a
+striking proof of Mr. Cazalette's deep and profound knowledge of his
+special subject, and at another time I should have listened to it
+gladly. But&mdash;somehow I should just then have preferred to chat quietly
+in the corner of the hearth with Miss Raven.</p>
+
+<p>We all retire early&mdash;that, Mr. Raven informed me with a shy laugh, as
+if he were confessing a failing, was the custom of the house. But, he
+added, I should find a fire in my sitting-room, so that if I wanted to
+read or write, I should be comfortable in my retirement. On hearing
+that, I begged him to countermand any such luxuries on my account in
+future; it was my invariable habit, I assured him, to retire to bed at
+ten o'clock, wherever I was&mdash;reading or writing at night,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> I said,
+were practices which I rigidly tabooed. Mr. Cazalette, who stood by,
+grimly listening, nodded approval.</p>
+
+<p>"Wise lad!" he said. "That's another reason why I'm what I am. Don't
+let any mistake be made about it!&mdash;the old saw, much despised and
+laughed at though it is, has more in it than anybody thinks for. Get
+to your pillow early, and leave it early!&mdash;that's the sure thing."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I should like to get up as early as you do, though,"
+remarked Mr. Raven. "You certainly don't give the worms much chance!"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, and I've caught a few in my time," assented the old gentleman,
+complacently. "And I hope to catch a few more yet. You folk who don't
+get up till the morning's half over don't know what you miss."</p>
+
+<p>I slept soundly that night&mdash;a strange bed and unfamiliar surroundings
+affect me not at all. Just as suddenly as I had dropped asleep, I
+woke. My windows face due east&mdash;I was instantly aware that the sun had
+either risen or was just about to rise. Springing out of bed and
+drawing up the blind of one of the three tall, narrow windows of my
+room, I saw him mounting behind a belt of pine and fir which stretched
+along a bluff of land that ran down to the open sea. And I saw, too,
+that it was high tide&mdash;the sea had stolen up the creek which ran right
+to the foot of the park, and the wide expanse of water glittered and
+coruscated in the brilliance of the morning glory.</p>
+
+<p>My watch lay on the dressing-table close by; glancing at it, I saw
+that the time was twenty-five minutes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> to seven. I had been told that
+the family breakfasted at nine, so I had nearly two-and-a-half hours
+of leisure. Of course, I would go out, and enjoy the freshness of the
+morning. I turned to the window again, just to take another view of
+the scenery in front of the house, and to decide in which direction I
+would go. And there, emerging from a wicket-gate that opened out of an
+adjacent plantation, I caught sight of Mr. Cazalette.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that this robust octogenarian had been taking that
+morning swim of which Miss Raven had told me the previous evening. He
+was muffled up in an old pea-jacket; various towels were festooned
+about his shoulders; his bald head shone in the rising sun. I watched
+him curiously as he came along the borders of a thick yew hedge at the
+side of the gardens. Suddenly, at a particular point, he stopped, and
+drawing something out of his towels, thrust it, at the full length of
+his arm, into the closely interwoven mass of twig and foliage at his
+side. Then he moved forward towards the house; a bushy clump of
+rhododendron hid him from my sight. Two or three minutes later I heard
+a door close somewhere near my own; Mr. Cazalette had evidently
+re-entered his own apartment.</p>
+
+<p>I was bathed, shaved, and dressed by a quarter past seven, and finding
+my way out of the house went across the garden towards the wicket-gate
+through which I had seen Mr. Cazalette emerge&mdash;as he had come from the
+sea that way, it was, I concluded, the nearest way to it. My path led
+by the yew-hedge which I have just mentioned, and I suddenly saw the
+place where Mr. Cazalette had stood when he thrust<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> his arm into it;
+thereabouts, the ground was soft, mossy, damp: the marks of his shoes
+were plain. Out of mere curiosity, I stood where he had stood, and
+slightly parting the thick, clinging twigs, peeped into the obscurity
+behind. And there, thrust right in amongst the yew, I saw something
+white, a crumpled, crushed-up lump of linen, perhaps a man's
+full-sized pocket-handkerchief, whereon I could make out, even in that
+obscurity (and nothing in the way of hedges can be thicker or darker
+than one of old, carefully-trimmed yew) brown stains and red stains,
+as if from contact with soil or clay in one case, with blood in the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>I went onward, considerably mystified. But most people, chancing upon
+anything mysterious try to explain it to their own satisfaction. I
+came to the conclusion that Mr. Cazalette, during his morning swim&mdash;no
+doubt in very shallow waters&mdash;had cut hand or foot against some sharp
+pebble or bit of rock, and had used his handkerchief as a bandage
+until the bleeding stopped. Yet&mdash;why thrust it away into the
+yew-hedge, close to the house? Why carry it from the shore at all, if
+he meant to get rid of it? And why not have consigned it to his
+dirty-linen basket and have it washed?</p>
+
+<p>"Decidedly an odd character," I mused. "A man of mystery!"</p>
+
+<p>Then I dismissed him from my thoughts, my mind becoming engrossed by
+the charm of my surroundings. I made my way down to the creek, passed
+through the belt of pine and fir over which I had seen the sun rise,
+and came out on a little, rock-bound cove, desolate and wild. Here one
+was shut out from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> everything but the sea in front: Ravensdene Court
+was no longer visible; here, amongst great masses of fallen cliff and
+limpet-encrusted rock, round which the full strength of the tide was
+washing, one seemed to be completely alone with sky and strand.</p>
+
+<p>But the place was tenanted. I had not taken twenty paces along the
+foot of the overhanging cliff before I pulled myself sharply to a
+halt. There, on the sand before me, his face turned to the sky, his
+arms helplessly stretched, lay Salter Quick. I knew he was dead in my
+first horrified glance. And for the second time that morning, I saw
+blood&mdash;red, vivid, staining the shining particles in the yellow,
+sun-lighted beach.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE TOBACCO BOX</h2>
+
+
+<p>My first feeling of almost stupefied horror at seeing a man whom I had
+met only the day before in the full tide of life and vigour lying
+there in that lonely place, literally weltering in his own blood and
+obviously the victim of a foul murder speedily changed to one of angry
+curiosity. Who had wrought this crime? Crime it undoubtedly was&mdash;the
+man's attitude, the trickle of blood from his slightly parted lips
+across the stubble of his chin, the crimson stain on the sand at his
+side, the whole attitude of his helpless figure, showed me that he had
+been attacked from the rear and probably stricken down by a deadly
+knife thrust through his shoulders. This was murder&mdash;black murder. And
+my thoughts flew to what Claigue, the landlord, had said, warningly,
+the previous afternoon, about the foolishness of showing so much gold.
+Had Salter Quick disregarded that warning, flashed his money about in
+some other public house, been followed to this out of the way spot and
+run through the heart for the sake of his fistful of sovereigns? It
+looked like it. But then that thought fled, and another took its
+place&mdash;the recollection of the blood-stained linen, rag, bandage, or
+handkerchief, which that queer man Mr. Cazalette had pushed into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+hiding in the yew-hedge. Had that&mdash;had Cazalette himself&mdash;anything to
+do with this crime?</p>
+
+<p>The instinctive desire to get an answer to this last question made me
+suddenly stoop down and lay my fingers on the dead man's open palm. I
+was conscious as I did so of the extraordinary, appealing helplessness
+of his hands&mdash;instead of being clenched in a death agony as I should
+have expected they were stretched wide; they looked nerveless, limp,
+effortless. But when my fingers came to the nearest one&mdash;the right
+hand&mdash;I found that it was stiff, rigid, stone-cold. I knew then that
+Salter Quick had been dead for several hours; had probably been lying
+there, murdered, all through the darkness of the night.</p>
+
+<p>There were no signs of any struggle. At this point the sands were
+unusually firm and for the most part, all round and about the body,
+they remained unbroken. Yet there were footprints, very faint indeed,
+yet traceable, and I saw at once that they did not extend beyond this
+spot. There were two distinct marks; one there of boots with nails in
+the heels; these were certainly made by the dead man; the other
+indicated a smaller, very light-soled boot, perhaps a slipper. A yard
+or so behind the body these marks were mingled; that had evidently
+been done when the murderer stole close up to his victim, preparatory
+to dealing the fatal thrust.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully, slowly, I traced these footsteps. They were plainly
+traceable, faint though they were, to the edge of the low cliff, there
+a gentle slope of some twelve or fifteen feet in height; I traced them
+up its incline. But from the very edge of the cliff the land was
+covered by a thick wire-like turf; you could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> have run a heavy gun
+over it without leaving any impression. Yet it was clear that two men
+had come across it to that point, had then descended the cliff to the
+sand, walked a few yards along the beach, and then&mdash;one had murdered
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>Standing there, staring around me, I was suddenly startled by the
+explosion of a gun, close at hand. And then, from a coppice, some
+thirty yards away, a man emerged, whom I took, from his general
+appearance, to be a gamekeeper. Unconscious of my presence he walked
+forward in my direction, picked up a bird which his shot had brought
+down, and was thrusting it into a bag that hung at his hip, when I
+called to him. He looked round sharply, caught sight of me, and came
+slowly in my direction, wondering, I could see, who I was. I made
+towards him. He was a middle-aged, big-framed man, dark of skin and
+hair, sharp-eyed.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you Mr. Raven's gamekeeper?" I asked, as I got within speaking
+distance. "Just so&mdash;I am staying with Mr. Raven. And I've just made a
+terrible discovery. There is a man lying behind the cliff
+there&mdash;dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Dead, sir?" he exclaimed. "What&mdash;washed up by the tide, likely."</p>
+
+<p>"No," I said. "He's been murdered. Stabbed to death!"</p>
+
+<p>He let out a short, sibilant breath, looking at me with rapidly
+dilating eyes: they ran me all over, as if he wondered whether I were
+romancing.</p>
+
+<p>"Come this way," I continued, leading him to the edge of the cliff.
+"And mind how you walk on the sand&mdash;there are footmarks there, and I
+don't want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> them interfered with till the police have examined them.
+There!" I continued, as we reached the edge of the turf and came in
+view of the beach. "You see?"</p>
+
+<p>He gave another exclamation of surprise: then carefully followed me to
+the dead man's side where he stood staring wonderingly at the stains
+on the sand.</p>
+
+<p>"He must have been dead for some hours," I whispered. "He's
+stone-cold&mdash;and rigid. Now, this is murder! You live about here, no
+doubt? Did you see or hear anything of this man in the neighbourhood
+last night&mdash;or in the afternoon or evening?"</p>
+
+<p>"I, sir?" he exclaimed. "No, sir&mdash;nothing!"</p>
+
+<p>"I met him yesterday afternoon on the headlands between this and
+Alnmouth," I remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"I was with him for a while at the Mariner's Joy. He pulled out a big
+handful of gold there, to pay for his lunch. The landlord warned him
+against showing so much money. Now, before we do more, I'd like to
+know if he's been murdered for the sake of robbery. You're doubtless
+quicker of hand than I am&mdash;just slip your hand into that right-hand
+pocket of his trousers, and see if you feel money there."</p>
+
+<p>He took my meaning on the instant, and bending down, did what I
+suggested. A smothered exclamation came from him.</p>
+
+<p>"Money?" he said. "His pocket's full o' money!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bring it out," I commanded.</p>
+
+<p>He withdrew his hand; opened it; the palm was full of gold. The light
+of the morning sun flashed on those coins as if in mockery. We both
+looked at them&mdash;and then at each other with a sudden mutual
+intelligence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then it wasn't robbery!" I exclaimed. "So&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He thrust back the gold, and pulling at a thick chain of steel which
+lay across Quick's waistcoat, drew out a fine watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Gold again, sir!" he said. "And a good 'un, that's never been bought
+for less than thirty pound. No, it's not been robbery."</p>
+
+<p>"No," I agreed, "and that makes it all the more mysterious. What's
+your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tarver, sir, at your service," he answered, as he rose from the dead
+man's side. "Been on this estate a many years, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Tarver," I said, "the only thing to be done is that I must go
+back to the house and tell Mr. Raven what's happened, and send for the
+police. Do you stay here&mdash;and if anybody comes along, be very careful
+to keep them off those footmarks."</p>
+
+<p>"Not likely that there'll be anybody, sir," he remarked. "As lonely a
+bit of coast, this, as there is, hereabouts. What beats me," he added,
+"is&mdash;what was he&mdash;and the man as did it&mdash;doing, here? There's naught
+to come here for. And&mdash;it must ha' happened in the night, judging by
+the looks of him."</p>
+
+<p>"The whole thing's a profound mystery," I answered. "We shall hear a
+lot more of it."</p>
+
+<p>I left him standing by the dead man and went hurriedly away towards
+Ravensdene Court. Glancing at my watch as I passed through the belt of
+pine, I saw that it was already getting on to nine o'clock and
+breakfast time. But this news of mine would have to be told: this was
+no time for waiting or for ceremony. I must get Mr. Raven aside, at
+once, and we must send for the nearest police officer, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Just then, fifty yards in front of me, I saw Mr. Cazalette vanishing
+round the corner of the long yew-hedge, at the end nearest to the
+house. So&mdash;he had evidently been back to the place whereat he had
+hidden the stained linen, whatever it was? Coming up to that place a
+moment later, and making sure that I was not observed, I looked in
+amongst the twigs and foliage. The thing was gone.</p>
+
+<p>This deepened the growing mystery more than ever. I began, against my
+will, to piece things together. Mr. Cazalette, returning from the
+beach, hides a blood-stained rag&mdash;I, going to the beach, find a
+murdered man&mdash;coming back, I ascertain that Mr. Cazalette has already
+removed what he had previously hidden. What connection was there&mdash;if
+any at all&mdash;between Mr. Cazalette's actions and my discovery? To say
+the least of it, the whole thing was queer, strange, and even
+suspicious.</p>
+
+<p>Then I caught sight of Mr. Cazalette again. He was on the terrace, in
+front of the house, with Mr. Raven&mdash;they were strolling up and down,
+before the open window of the morning room, chatting. And I was
+thankful that Miss Raven was not with them, and that I saw no sign of
+her near presence.</p>
+
+<p>I determined to tell my gruesome news straight out&mdash;Mr. Raven, I felt
+sure, was not the man to be startled by tidings of sudden death, and I
+wanted, of set purpose, to see how his companion would take the
+announcement. So, as I walked up the steps of the terrace, I loudly
+called my host's name. He turned, saw from my expression that
+something of moment had happened, and hurried toward me, Cazalette
+trotting in his rear. I gave a warning look in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> in the direction of
+the house and its open windows.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to alarm Miss Raven," I said in a low voice, which I
+purposely kept as matter-of-fact as possible. "Something has happened.
+You know the man I was telling you of last night&mdash;Salter Quick? I
+found his dead body, half-an-hour ago, on your beach. He has been
+murdered&mdash;stabbed to the heart. Your gamekeeper, Tarver, is with him.
+Had you not better send for the police?"</p>
+
+<p>I carefully watched both men as I broke the news. Its effect upon them
+was different in both cases. Mr. Raven started a little; exclaimed a
+little: he was more wonder-struck than horrified. But Mr. Cazalette's
+mask-like countenance remained immobile; only, a gleam of sudden,
+almost pleased interest showed itself in his black, shrewd eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye?" he exclaimed. "So you found your man dead and murdered,
+Middlebrook? Well, now, that's the very end that I was thinking the
+fellow would come to! Not that I fancied it would be so soon, nor so
+close at hand. On one's own doorstep so to speak. Interesting! Very
+interesting!"</p>
+
+<p>I was too much taken aback by his callousness to make any observation
+on these sentiments; instead, I looked at Mr. Raven. He was evidently
+too much surprised just then to pay any attention to his elder guest:
+he motioned me to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>"Come with me to the telephone," he said. "Dear, dear, what a very sad
+thing. Of course, the poor fellow has been murdered for his money? You
+said he'd a lot of gold on him."</p>
+
+<p>"It's not been for robbery," I answered. "His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> money and his watch are
+untouched. There's more in it than that."</p>
+
+<p>He stared at me as if failing to comprehend.</p>
+
+<p>"Some mystery?" he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"A very deep and lurid one, I think," said I. "Get the police out as
+quickly as possible, and bid them bring a doctor."</p>
+
+<p>"They'll bring their own police-surgeon," he remarked, "but we have a
+medical man closer at hand. I'll ring him up, too. Yet&mdash;what can they
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing&mdash;for him," I replied. "But they may be able to tell us at
+what hour the thing took place. And that's important."</p>
+
+<p>When we left the telephone we went to the morning-room, to get a
+mouthful of food before going down to the beach. Miss Raven was
+there&mdash;so was Cazalette. I saw at once that he had told her the news.
+She was sitting behind her tea and coffee things, staring at him: he,
+on his part, a cup of tea in one hand, a dry biscuit in the other, was
+marching up and down the room sipping and munching, and holding forth,
+in didactic fashion, on crime and detection. Miss Raven gave me a
+glance as I slipped into a place at her side.</p>
+
+<p>"You found this poor man?" she whispered. "How dreadful for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"For him, too&mdash;and far more so," I said. "I didn't want you to know
+until&mdash;later. Mr. Cazalette oughtn't to have told you."</p>
+
+<p>She arched her eyebrows in the direction of the odd, still orating
+figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" she murmured. "He's no reverence for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> anything&mdash;life or death. I
+believe he's positively enjoying this: he's been talking like that
+ever since he came in and told me of it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven and I made a very hurried breakfast and prepared to join
+Tarver. The news of the murder had spread through the household; we
+found two or three of the men-servants ready to accompany us. And Mr.
+Cazalette was ready, too, and, I thought, more eager than any of the
+rest. Indeed, when we set out from the house he led the way, across
+the gardens and pleasure-grounds, along the yew-hedge (at which he
+never so much as gave a glance) and through the belt of pine wood. At
+its further extremity he glanced at Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"From what Middlebrook says, this man must be lying in Kernwick Cove,"
+he said. "Now, there's a footpath across the headlands and the field
+above from Long Houghton village to that spot. Quick must have
+followed it last night. But how came he to meet his murderer&mdash;or did
+his murderer follow him? And what was Quick doing down here? Was he
+directed here&mdash;or led here?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven seemed to think these questions impossible of immediate
+answer: his one anxiety at that moment appeared to be to set the
+machinery of justice in motion. He was manifestly relieved when, as we
+came to the open country behind the pines and firs, where a narrow
+lane ran down to the sea, we heard the rattle of a light dog-cart and
+turned to see the inspector of police and a couple of his men, who had
+evidently hurried off at once on receiving the telephone message. With
+them, seated by the inspector on the front seat of the trap, was a
+professional<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>-looking man who proved to be the police-surgeon.</p>
+
+<p>We all trooped down to the beach, where Tarver was keeping his
+unpleasant vigil. He had been taking a look round the immediate scene
+of the murder, he said, during my absence, thinking that he might find
+something in the way of a clue. But he had found nothing: there were
+no signs of any struggle anywhere near. It seemed clear that two men
+had crossed the land, descended the low cliffs, and that one had
+fallen on the other as soon as the sands were reached&mdash;the footmarks
+indicated as much. I pointed them out to the police, who examined them
+carefully, and agreed with me that one set was undoubtedly made by the
+boots of the dead man while the other was caused by the pressure of
+some light-footed, lightly-shoed person. And there being nothing else
+to be seen or done at that place, Salter Quick was lifted on to an
+improvised stretcher which the servants had brought down from the
+Court and carried by the way we had come to an outhouse in the
+gardens, where the police-surgeon proceeded to make a more careful
+examination of his body. He was presently joined in this by the
+medical man of whom Mr. Raven had spoken&mdash;a Dr. Lorrimore, who came
+hurrying up in his motor-car, and at once took a hand in his
+fellow-practitioner's investigations. But there was little to
+investigate&mdash;just as I had thought from the first. Quick had been
+murdered by a knife-thrust from behind&mdash;dealt with evident knowledge
+of the right place to strike, said the two doctors, for his heart had
+been transfixed, and death must have been instantaneous.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven shrank away from these gruesome details, but Mr. Cazalette
+showed the keenest interest in them, and would not be kept from the
+doctor's elbows. He was pertinacious in questioning them.</p>
+
+<p>"And what sort of a weapon was it, d'ye suppose that the assassin
+used?" he asked. "That'll be an important thing to know, I'm
+thinking."</p>
+
+<p>"It might have been a seaman's knife," said the police-surgeon. "One
+of those with a long, sharp blade."</p>
+
+<p>"Or," said Dr. Lorrimore, "a stiletto&mdash;such as foreigners carry."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye," remarked Mr. Cazalette, "or with an operating knife&mdash;such as
+you medicos use. Any one of those fearsome things would serve, no
+doubt. But we'll be doing more good, Middlebrook, just to know what
+the police are finding in the man's pockets."</p>
+
+<p>The police-inspector had got all Quick's belongings in a little heap.
+They were considerable. Over thirty pounds in gold and silver. Twenty
+pounds in notes in an old pocket-book. His watch&mdash;certainly a valuable
+one. A pipe, a silver match-box, a tobacco-box of some metal, quaintly
+chased and ornamented. Various other small matters&mdash;but, with one
+exception, no papers or letters. The one exception was a slightly
+torn, dirty envelope addressed in an ill-formed handwriting to Mr.
+Salter Quick, care of Mr. Noah Quick, The Admiral Parker, Haulaway
+Street, Devonport. There was no letter inside it, nor was there
+another scrap of writing anywhere about the dead man's pockets.</p>
+
+<p>The police allowed Mr. Cazalette to inspect these things according to
+his fancy. It was very clear to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> me by that time that the old
+gentleman had some taste for detective work, and I watched him with
+curiosity while he carefully examined Quick's money, his watch (of
+which he took particular notice, even going so far as to jot down its
+number and the name of its maker on his shirt cuff), and the rest of
+his belongings. But nothing seemed to excite his interest very deeply
+until he began to finger the tobacco-box; then, indeed, his eyes
+suddenly coruscated, and he turned to me almost excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Middlebrook!" he whispered, edging me away from the others. "Do you
+look here, my lad! D'ye see the inside of the lid of this box? There's
+been something&mdash;a design, a plan, something of that sort,
+anyway&mdash;scratched into it with the point of a nail, or a knife. Look
+at the lines&mdash;and see, there's marks and there's figures! Now I'd like
+to know what all that signifies? What are you going to do with all
+these things?" he asked, turning suddenly on the inspector. "Take them
+away?"</p>
+
+<p>"They'll all be carefully sealed up and locked up till the inquest,
+sir," replied the inspector. "No doubt the dead man's relatives will
+claim them."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette laid down the tobacco-box, left the place, and hurried
+away in the direction of the house. Within a few minutes he came
+hurrying back, carrying a camera. He went up to the inspector with an
+almost wheedling air.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye'll just indulge an old man's fancy?" he said, placatingly.
+"There's some queer marking inside the lid of that bit of a box that
+the poor man kept his tobacco in. I'd like to take a photograph of
+them. Man! you don't know that an examination of them mightn't be
+useful."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h2>THE NEWS FROM DEVONPORT</h2>
+
+
+<p>The police-inspector, a somewhat silent, stolid sort of man, looked
+down from his superior height on Mr. Cazalette's eager face with a
+half-bored, half-tolerant expression; he had already seen a good deal
+of the old gentleman's fussiness.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it about the box?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Certain marks on it&mdash;inside the lid&mdash;that I'd like to photograph,"
+answered Mr. Cazalette. "They're small and faint, but if I get a good
+negative of them I can enlarge it. And I say again, you don't know
+what one mightn't find out&mdash;any little detail is of value in a case of
+this sort."</p>
+
+<p>The inspector picked up the metal tobacco-box from where it lay amidst
+Quick's belongings and looked inside the lid. It was very plain that
+he saw nothing there but some&mdash;to him meaningless scratches and he put
+the thing into Mr. Cazalette's hands with an air of indifference.</p>
+
+<p>"I see no objection," he said. "Let's have it back when you've done
+with it. We shall have to exhibit these personal properties before the
+coroner."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette carried his camera and the tobacco-box outside the shed
+in which the dead man's body lay and began to be busy. A gardener's
+potting-table<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> stood against the wall; on this, backed by a black
+cloth which he had brought from the house, he set up the box and
+prepared to photograph it. It was evident that he attached great
+importance to what he was doing.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall take two or three negatives of this, Middlebrook," he
+observed, consequentially. "I'm an expert in photography, and I've got
+an enlarging apparatus in my room. Before the day's out, I shall show
+you something."</p>
+
+<p>Personally, I had seen no more in the inner lid of the tobacco-box
+than the inspector seemed to have seen&mdash;a few lines and scratches,
+probably caused by thumb or finger-nail&mdash;and I left Mr. Cazalette to
+his self-imposed labours and rejoined the doctors and the police who
+were discussing the next thing to be done. That Quick had been
+murdered there was no doubt; there would have to be an inquest, of
+course, and for that purpose his body would have to be removed to the
+nearest inn, a house on the cross-roads just beyond Ravensdene Court;
+search would have to be set up at once for suspicious characters, and
+Noah Quick, of Devonport, would have to be communicated with.</p>
+
+<p>All this the police took in hand, and I saw that Mr. Raven was
+heartily relieved when he heard that the dead man would be removed
+from his premises and that the inquest would not be held there. Ever
+since I had first broken the news to him, he had been upset and
+nervous: I could see that he was one of those men who dislike fuss and
+publicity. He looked at me with a sort of commiseration when the
+police questioned me closely about my knowledge of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> Salter Quick's
+movements on the previous day, and especially about his visit to the
+Mariner's Joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet," said I, finishing my account of that episode, "it is very
+evident that the man was not murdered for the sake of robbery, seeing
+that his money and his watch were found on him untouched."</p>
+
+<p>The inspector shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so sure," he remarked. "There's one thing that's certain&mdash;the
+man's clothes had been searched. Look here!"</p>
+
+<p>He turned to Quick's garments, which had been removed, preparatory to
+laying out the body in decent array for interment, and picked up the
+waistcoat. Within the right side, made in the lining, there was a
+pocket, secured by a stout button. That pocket had been turned inside
+out; so, too, had a pocket in the left hip of the trousers,
+corresponding to that on the right in which Quick had carried the
+revolver that he had shown to us at the inn. The waistcoat was a
+thick, quilted affair&mdash;its lining, here and there, had been ripped
+open by a knife. And the lining of the man's hat had been torn out,
+too, and thrust roughly into place again: clearly, whoever killed him
+had searched for something.</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't money they were after," observed the inspector, "but there
+was an object. He'd that on him that his murderer was anxious to get.
+And the fact that the murderer left all this gold untouched is the
+worst feature of the affair&mdash;from our point of view."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, now?" inquired Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"Because, sir, it shows that the murderer, whoever he was, had plenty
+of money on him," replied the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> inspector grimly. "And as he had, he'd
+have little difficulty in getting away. Probably he got an early
+morning train, north or south, and is hundreds of miles off by this
+time. But we must do our best&mdash;and we'll get to work now."</p>
+
+<p>Leaving everything to the police&mdash;obviously with relief and
+thankfulness&mdash;Mr. Raven retired from the scene, inviting the two
+medical men and the inspector into the house with him, to take, as he
+phrased, a little needful refreshment; he sent out a servant to
+minister to the constables in the same fashion. Leaving him and his
+guests in the morning-room and refusing Mr. Cazalette's invitation to
+join him in his photographic enterprise, I turned into the big hall
+and there found Miss Raven. I was glad to find her alone; the mere
+sight of her, in her morning freshness, was welcome after the gruesome
+business in which I had just been engaged. I think she saw something
+of my thoughts in my face, for she turned to me sympathetically.</p>
+
+<p>"What a very unfortunate thing that this should have happened at the
+very beginning of your visit!" she exclaimed. "Didn't it give you an
+awful shock, to find that poor fellow?&mdash;so unexpectedly!"</p>
+
+<p>"It was certainly not a pleasant experience," I answered. "But&mdash;I was
+not quite as surprised as you might think."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Because&mdash;I can't explain it, quite&mdash;I felt, yesterday, that the man
+was running risks by showing his money as foolishly as he did," I
+replied. "And, of course, when I found him, I thought he'd been
+murdered for his money."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And yet he wasn't!" she said. "For you say it was all found on him.
+What an extraordinary mystery! Is there no clue? I suppose he must
+really have been killed by that man who was spoken of at the inn? You
+think they met?"</p>
+
+<p>"To tell you the truth," I answered, "at present I don't know what to
+think&mdash;except that this is merely a chapter in some mystery&mdash;an
+extraordinary one, as you remark. We shall hear more. And, in the
+meantime&mdash;a much pleasanter thing&mdash;won't you show me round the house?
+Mr. Raven is busy with the police-inspector and the doctors, and&mdash;I'm
+anxious to know what the extent of my labours may be."</p>
+
+<p>She at once acquiesced in this proposition, and we began to inspect
+the accumulations of the dead-and-gone master of Ravensdene Court. As
+his successor had remarked in his first letter to me, Mr. John
+Christopher Raven, though obviously a great collector, had certainly
+not been a great exponent of system and order&mdash;except in the library
+itself, where all his most precious treasures were stored in tall,
+locked book-presses, his gatherings were lumped together anyhow and
+anywhere, all over the big house&mdash;the north wing was indeed a
+lumber-house&mdash;he appeared to have bought books, pamphlets, and
+manuscripts by the cart-load, and it was very plain to me, as an
+expert, that the greater part of his possessions of these sorts had
+never even been examined. Before Miss Raven and I had spent an hour in
+going from one room to another I had arrived at two definite
+conclusions&mdash;one, that the dead man's collection of books and papers
+was about the most heterogeneous I had ever set eyes on, containing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+much of great value and much of none whatever; the other, that it
+would take me a long time to make a really careful and proper
+examination of it, and longer still to arrange it in proper order.
+Clearly, I should have to engage Mr. Raven in a strictly business
+talk, and find out what his ideas were in regard to putting his big
+library on a proper footing. Mr. Raven at last joined us, in one of
+the much-encumbered rooms. With him was the doctor, Lorrimore, whom he
+had mentioned to me as living near Ravensdene Court. He introduced him
+to his niece, with, I thought, some signs of pleasure; then to me,
+remarking that we had already seen each other in different
+surroundings&mdash;now we could foregather in pleasanter ones.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Lorrimore," he continued, glancing from me to Miss Raven and then
+to the doctor with a smile that was evidently designed to put us all
+on a friendly footing, "Dr. Lorrimore and I have been having quite a
+good talk. It turns out that he has spent a long time in India. So we
+have a lot in common."</p>
+
+<p>"How very nice for you, Uncle Francis!" said Miss Raven. "I know
+you've been bored to death with having no one you could talk to about
+curries and brandy-pawnees and things&mdash;now Dr. Lorrimore will come and
+chat with you. Were you long in India, Dr. Lorrimore?"</p>
+
+<p>"Twelve years," answered the doctor. "I came home just a year ago."</p>
+
+<p>"To bury yourself in these wilds!" remarked Miss Raven. "Doesn't it
+seem quite out of the world here&mdash;after that?"</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Lorrimore glanced at Mr. Raven and showed a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> set of very white
+teeth in a meaning smile. He was a tall, good-looking man, dark of eye
+and hair; moustached and bearded; apparently under forty years of
+age&mdash;yet, at each temple, there was the faintest trace of silvery
+grey. A rather notable man, too, I thought, and one who was evidently
+scrupulous about his appearance&mdash;yet his faultlessly cut frock suit of
+raven black, his glossy linen, and smart boots looked more fitted to a
+Harley Street consulting-room than to the Northumbrian cottages and
+farmsteads amongst which his lot must necessarily be cast. He
+transferred his somewhat gleaming, rather mechanical smile to Miss
+Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary," he said in a quiet almost bantering tone, "this
+seems&mdash;quite gay. I was in a part of India where one had to travel
+long distances to see a white patient&mdash;and one doesn't count the rest.
+And&mdash;I bought this practice, knowing it to be one that would not make
+great demands on my time, so that I could devote myself a good deal to
+certain scientific pursuits in which I am deeply interested. No!&mdash;I
+don't feel out of the world, Miss Raven, I assure you."</p>
+
+<p>"He has promised to put in some of his spare time with me, when he
+wants company," said Mr. Raven. "We shall have much in common."</p>
+
+<p>"Dark secrets of a dark country!" remarked Dr. Lorrimore, with a sly
+glance at Miss Raven. "Over our cheroots!"</p>
+
+<p>Then, excusing himself from Mr. Raven's pressing invitation to stay to
+lunch, he took himself off, and my host, his niece, and myself
+continued our investigations. These lasted until the lunch hour&mdash;they
+afforded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> us abundant scope for conversation, too, and kept us from
+any reference to the grim tragedy of the early morning.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette made no appearance at lunch. I heard a footman inform
+Miss Raven, in answer to her inquiry, that he had just taken Mr.
+Cazalette's beef-tea to his room and that he required nothing else.
+And I did not see him again until late that afternoon, when, as the
+rest of us were gathered about the tea-table in the hall, before a
+cheery fire, he suddenly appeared, a smile of grim satisfaction on his
+queer old face. He took his usual cup of tea and dry biscuit and sat
+down in silence. But by that time I was getting inquisitive.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Mr. Cazalette," I said, "have you brought your photographic
+investigations to any successful conclusion?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mr. Cazalette," chimed in Miss Raven, whom I had told of the old
+man's odd fancy about the scratches on the lid of the tobacco-box.
+"We're dying to know if you've found out anything. Have you&mdash;and what
+is it?"</p>
+
+<p>He gave us a knowing glance over the rim of his tea-cup.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" he said. "Young folks are full of curiosity. But I'm not going
+to say what I've discovered, nor how far my investigations have gone.
+Ye must just die a bit more, Miss Raven, and maybe when ye're on the
+point of demise I'll resuscitate ye with the startling news of my
+great achievements."</p>
+
+<p>I knew by that time that when Mr. Cazalette relapsed into his native
+Scotch he was most serious, and that his bantering tone was assumed as
+a cloak. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> was clear that we were not going to get anything out of
+him just then. But Mr. Raven tried another tack, fishing for
+information.</p>
+
+<p>"You really think those marks were made of a purpose, Cazalette?" he
+suggested. "You think they were intentional?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll not say anything at present," answered Mr. Cazalette. "The
+experiment is in course of process. But I'll say this, as a student of
+this sort of thing&mdash;yon murderer was far from the ordinary."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raven shuddered a little.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope the man who did it is not hanging about!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette shook his head with a knowing gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye need have no fear of that, lassie!" he remarked. "The man that did
+it had put a good many miles between himself and his victim long
+before Middlebrook there made his remarkable discovery."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, how do you know that, Mr. Cazalette?" I asked, feeling a bit
+restive under the old fellow's cock-sureness. "Isn't that guess-work?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!" said he. "It's deduction&mdash;and common-sense. Mine's a nature
+that's full of both those highly admirable qualities, Middlebrook."</p>
+
+<p>He went away then, as silently as he had come. And when, a few minutes
+later, I, too, went off to some preliminary work that I had begun in
+the library, I began to think over the first events of the morning,
+and to wonder if I ought not to ask Mr. Cazalette for some explanation
+of the incident of the yew-hedge. He had certainly secreted a piece of
+blood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>-stained, mud-discoloured linen in that hedge for an hour or so.
+Why? Had it anything to do with the crime? Had he picked it up on the
+beach when he went for his dip? Why was he so secretive about it? And
+why, if it was something of moment, had he not carried it straight to
+his own room in the house, instead of hiding it in the hedge while he
+evidently went back to the house and made his toilet? The circumstance
+was extraordinary, to say the least of it.</p>
+
+<p>But on reflection I determined to hold my tongue and abide my time.
+For anything I knew, Mr. Cazalette might have cut one of his feet on
+the sharp stones on the beach, used his handkerchief to staunch the
+wound, thrown it away into the hedge, and then, with a touch of native
+parsimony, have returned to recover the discarded article. Again, he
+might be in possession of some clue, to which his tobacco-box
+investigations were ancillary&mdash;altogether, it was best to leave him
+alone. He was clearly deeply interested in the murder of Salter Quick,
+and I had gathered from his behaviour and remarks that this sort of
+thing&mdash;investigation of crime&mdash;had a curious fascination for him. Let
+him, then, go his way; something, perhaps, might come of it. One thing
+was very sure, and the old man had grasped it readily&mdash;this crime was
+no ordinary one.</p>
+
+<p>As the twilight approached, making my work in the library impossible,
+and having no wish to go on with it by artificial light, I went out
+for a walk. The fascination which is invariably exercised on any of us
+by such affairs led me, half-unconsciously, to the scene of the
+murder. The tide, which had been up in the morning, was now out,
+though just beginning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> to turn again, and the beach, with its masses
+of bare rock and wide-spreading deposits of sea-weed, looked bleak and
+desolate in the uncertain grey light. But it was not without life&mdash;two
+men were standing near the place where I had come upon Salter Quick's
+dead body. Going nearer to them, I recognized one as Claigue, the
+landlord of the Mariner's Joy. He recognized me at the same time, and
+touched his cap with a look that was alike knowing and confidential.</p>
+
+<p>"So it came about as I'd warned him, sir!" he said, without preface.
+"I told him how it would be. You heard me! A man carrying gold about
+him like that!&mdash;and showing it to all and sundry. Why, he was asking
+for trouble!"</p>
+
+<p>"The gold was found on him," I answered. "And his watch and other
+things. He wasn't murdered for his property."</p>
+
+<p>Claigue uttered a sharp exclamation. He was evidently taken aback.</p>
+
+<p>"You hadn't heard that, then?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he replied. "I hadn't heard that, sir. Bless me! his money and
+valuables found on him. No! we've heard naught except that he was
+found murdered, here, early this morning. Of course, I concluded that
+it had been for the sake of his money&mdash;that he'd been pulling it out
+in some public-house or other, and had been followed. Dear me! that
+puts a different complexion on things. Now, what's the meaning of it,
+in your opinion, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have none," I answered. "The whole thing's a mystery&mdash;so far. But,
+as you live hereabouts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> perhaps you can suggest something. The
+doctors are of the opinion that he was murdered&mdash;here&mdash;yesterday
+evening: that his body had been lying here, just above high-water
+mark, since, probably, eight or nine o'clock last night. Now, what
+could he be doing down at this lonely spot? He went inland when he
+left your house."</p>
+
+<p>The man who was with Claigue offered an explanation. There was, he
+said, a coast village or two further along the headlands; it would be
+a short cut to them to follow the beach.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said I, "but that would argue that he knew the lie of the land.
+And, according to his own account, he was a complete stranger."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" broke in Claigue. "But he wasn't alone, sir, when he came here!
+He'd fallen in with somebody, somewhere, that brought him down
+here&mdash;and left him, dead. And&mdash;who was it?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no answering that question, and presently we parted, Claigue
+and his companion going back towards his inn, and I to Ravensdene
+Court. The dusk had fallen by that time, and the house was lighted
+when I came back. Entering by the big hall, I saw Mr. Raven, Mr.
+Cazalette, and the police-inspector standing in close conversation by
+the hearth. Mr. Raven beckoned me to approach.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's some most extraordinary news from Devonport&mdash;where Quick came
+from," he said. "The inspector wired to the police there this morning,
+telling them to communicate with his brother, whose name, you know,
+was found on him. He's had a wire from them this afternoon&mdash;read it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He turned to the inspector, who placed a telegram in my hand. It ran
+thus:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Noah Quick was found murdered at lonely spot on riverside
+near Saltash at an early hour this morning. So far no clue
+whatever to murderer."</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h2>SECRET THEFT</h2>
+
+
+<p>I handed the telegram back to the police-inspector with a glance that
+took in the faces of all three men. It was evident that they were
+thinking the same thought that had flashed into my own mind. The
+inspector put it into words.</p>
+
+<p>"This," he said in a low voice, tapping the bit of flimsy paper with
+his finger, "this throws a light on the affair of this morning. No
+ordinary crime, that, gentlemen! When two brothers are murdered on the
+same night, at places hundreds of miles apart, it signifies something
+out of the common. Somebody has had an interest in getting rid of both
+men!"</p>
+
+<p>"Wasn't this Noah Quick mentioned in some paper you found on Salter
+Quick?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"An envelope," replied the inspector. "We have it, of course.
+Landlord&mdash;so I took it to mean&mdash;of the Admiral Parker, Haulaway
+Street, Devonport. I wired to the police authorities there, telling
+them of Salter Quick's death and asking them to communicate at once
+with Noah. Their answer is&mdash;this!"</p>
+
+<p>"It'll be at Devonport that the secret lies," observed Mr. Cazalette
+suddenly. "Aye&mdash;that's where you'll be seeking for news!"</p>
+
+<p>"We've got none here&mdash;about our affair," remarked the inspector. "I
+set all my available staff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> to work as soon as I got back to
+headquarters this forenoon, and up to the time I set off to show you
+this, Mr. Raven, we'd learned nothing. It's a queer thing, but we
+haven't come across anybody who saw this man after he left you, Mr.
+Middlebrook, yesterday afternoon. You say he turned inland, towards
+Denwick, when he left you after coming out of Claigue's place&mdash;well,
+my men have inquired in every village and at every farmstead and
+wayside cottage within an area of ten or twelve miles, and we haven't
+heard a word of him. Where did he go? Whom did he come across?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say that's obvious," said I. "He came across the man of whom
+he heard at the Mariner's Joy&mdash;the man who, like himself, was asking
+for information about an old churchyard in which people called
+Netherfield are buried."</p>
+
+<p>"We've heard all about that from the man who told him&mdash;Jim Gelthwaite,
+the drover," replied the inspector. "He's told us of his meeting with
+such a man, a night or two ago. But we can't get any information on
+that point, either. Nobody else seems to have seen that man, any more
+than they've seen Salter Quick!"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose there are places along this coast where a man might hide?"
+I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Caves, now?" put in Mr. Cazalette.</p>
+
+<p>"There may be," admitted the inspector. "Of course I shall have the
+coast searched."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, but ye'll not find anything&mdash;now!" affirmed Mr. Cazalette. "Yon
+man, that Jim the drover told of, he might be hiding here or there in
+a cave, or some out o' the way place, of which there's plenty in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+part, till he did the deed, but when it was once done, he'd be away!
+The railway's not that far, and there's early morning trains going
+north and south."</p>
+
+<p>"We've been at the railway folk, at all the near stations," remarked
+the inspector. "They could tell nothing. It seems to me," he
+continued, turning to Mr. Raven, and nodding sidewise at Mr.
+Cazalette, "that this gentleman hits the nail on the head when he says
+it's to Devonport that we'll be turning for explanations&mdash;I'm coming
+to the conclusion that the whole affair has been engineered from that
+quarter."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" said Mr. Cazalette, laconically confident. "Ye'll learn more
+about Salter when ye hear more about Noah. And it's a very bonny
+mystery and with an uncommonly deep bottom to it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I've wired to Devonport for full particulars about the affair there,"
+said the inspector. "No doubt I shall have them by the time our
+inquest opens tomorrow."</p>
+
+<p>I forget whether these particulars had reached him, when, next
+morning, Mr. Raven, Mr. Cazalette, the gamekeeper Tarver, and myself
+walked across the park to the wayside inn to which Salter Quick's body
+had been removed, and where the coroner was to hold his inquiry. I
+remember, however, that nothing was done that morning beyond a merely
+formal opening of the proceedings, and that a telegram was received
+from the police at Devonport in which it was stated that they were
+unable to find out if the two brothers had any near relations&mdash;no one
+there knew of any. Altogether, I think, nothing was revealed that day
+beyond what we knew already, and so far as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> I remember matters, no
+light was thrown on either murder for some time. But I was so much
+interested in the mystery surrounding them that I carefully collected
+all the newspaper accounts concerning the murder at Saltash and that
+at Ravensdene Court, and pasted the clippings into a book, and from
+these I can now give something like a detailed account of all that was
+known of Salter and Noah Quick previous to the tragedies of that
+spring.</p>
+
+<p>Somewhere about the end of the year 1910, Noah Quick, hailing,
+evidently, from nowhere in particular, but, equally evidently, being
+in possession of plenty of cash, became licensee of a small tavern
+called the Admiral Parker, in a back street in Devonport. It was a
+fully-licensed house, and much frequented by seamen. Noah Quick was a
+thick-set, sturdy, middle-aged man, reserved, taciturn, very strict in
+his attention to business; a steady, sober man, keen on money matters.
+He was a bachelor, keeping an elderly woman as housekeeper, a couple
+of stout women servants, a barmaid, and a potman. His house was
+particularly well-conducted; it was mentioned at the inquest on him
+that the police had never once had any complaint in reference to it,
+and that Noah, who had to deal with a rather rough class of customers,
+was peculiarly adept in keeping order&mdash;one witness, indeed, said that
+having had opportunities of watching him, he had formed the opinion
+that Noah, before going into the public-house business, had held some
+position of authority and was accustomed to obedience. Everything
+seemed to be going very well with him and the Admiral Parker,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> when,
+in February, 1912, his brother, Salter Quick, made his appearance in
+Devonport.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody knew anything about Salter Quick, except that he was believed
+to have come to Devonport from Wapping or Rotherhithe, or somewhere
+about those Thames-side quarters. He was very like his brother in
+appearance, and in character, except that he was more sociable, and
+more talkative. He took up his residence at the Admiral Parker, and he
+and Noah evidently got on together very well: they were even
+affectionate in manner toward each other. They were often seen in
+Devonport and in Plymouth in company, but those who knew them best at
+this time noted that they never paid visits to, nor received visits
+from, any one coming within the category of friends or relations. And
+one man, giving evidence at the inquest on Noah Quick, said that he
+had some recollection that Salter, in a moment of confidence, had once
+told him that he and Noah were orphans, and hadn't a blood-relation in
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>According to all that was brought out, matters went quite smoothly and
+pleasantly at the Admiral Parker until the 5th of March, 1912&mdash;three
+days, it will be observed, before I myself left London for Ravensdene
+Court. On that date, Salter Quick, who had a banking account at a
+Plymouth bank (to which he had been introduced by Noah, who also
+banked there), cashed a check for sixty pounds. That was in the
+morning&mdash;in the early afternoon, he went away, remarking to the
+barmaid at his brother's inn that he was first going to London and
+then north. Noah accompanied him to the railway station. As far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> as
+any one knew, Salter was not burdened by any luggage, even by a
+handbag.</p>
+
+<p>After he had gone, things went on just as usual at the Admiral Parker.
+Neither the housekeeper, nor the barmaid, nor the potman, could
+remember that the place was visited by any suspicious characters, nor
+that its landlord showed any signs of having any trouble or any
+extraordinary business matters. Everything was as it should be, when,
+on the evening of the 9th of March (the very day on which I met Salter
+Quick on the Northumbrian coast), Noah told his housekeeper and
+barmaid that he had to go over to Saltash, to see a man on business,
+and should be back about closing-time. He went away about seven
+o'clock, but he was not back at closing-time. The potman sat up for
+him until midnight: he was not back then. And none of his people at
+the Admiral Parker heard any more of him until just after breakfast
+next morning, when the police came and told them that their employer's
+body had been found at a lonely spot on the bank of the river a little
+above Saltash, and that he had certainly been murdered.</p>
+
+<p>There were some points of similarity between the murders of Salter
+Quick and Noah Quick. The movements and doings of each man were
+traceable up to a certain point, after which nothing whatever could be
+discovered respecting them. As regards Noah Quick he had crossed the
+river between Keyham and Saltash by the ferry-boat, landing just
+beneath the great bridge which links Devon with Cornwall. It was then
+nearly dark, but he was seen and spoken to by several men who knew him
+well. He was seen, too, to go up the steep street towards the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> head of
+the queer old village: there he went into one of the inns, had a glass
+of whisky at the bar, exchanged a word or two with some men sitting in
+the parlour, and after awhile, glancing at his watch, went out&mdash;and
+was never seen again alive. His dead body was found next morning at a
+lonely spot on an adjacent creek, by a fisherman&mdash;like Salter, he had
+been stabbed, and in similar fashion. And as in Salter's case, robbery
+of money and valuables had not been the murderer's object. Noah Quick,
+when found, had money on him, gold, silver; he was also wearing a gold
+watch and chain and a diamond ring; all these things were untouched,
+as if the murderer had felt contemptuous of them. But here again was a
+point of similarity in the two crimes&mdash;Noah Quick's pocket's had been
+turned out; the lining of his waistcoat had been slashed and slit; his
+thick reefer jacket had been torn off him and subjected to a similar
+search&mdash;its lining was cut to pieces, and it and his overcoat were
+found flung carelessly over the body. Close by lay his hard felt
+hat&mdash;the lining had been torn out.</p>
+
+<p>This, according to the evidence given at the inquests and to the facts
+collected by the police at the places concerned, was all that came
+out. There was not the slightest clue in either case. No one could say
+what became of Salter Quick after he left me outside the Mariner's
+Joy; no one knew where Noah Quick went when he walked out of the
+Saltash inn into the darkness. At each inquest a verdict of wilful
+murder against some person or persons unknown was returned, and the
+respective coroners uttered some platitudes about coincidence and
+mystery and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> all the rest of it. But from all that had transpired it
+seemed to me that there were certain things to be deduced, and I find
+that I tabulated them at the time, writing them down at the end of the
+newspaper clippings, as follows:</p>
+
+<p>1. Salter and Noah Quick were in possession of some secret.</p>
+
+<p>2. They were murdered by men who wished to get possession of it for
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>3. The actual murderers were probably two members of a gang.</p>
+
+<p>4. Gang&mdash;if a gang&mdash;and murderers were at large, and, if they had
+secured possession of the secret would be sure to make use of it.</p>
+
+<p>Out of this arose the question&mdash;what was the secret? Something, I had
+no doubt whatever, that related to money. But what, and how? I
+exercised my speculative faculties a good deal at the time over this
+matter, and I could not avoid wondering about Mr. Cazalette and the
+yew-hedge affair. He never mentioned it; I was afraid and nervous
+about telling him what I had seen. Nor for some time did he mention
+his tobacco-box labours&mdash;indeed, I don't remember that he mentioned
+them directly at all. But, about the time that the inquests on the two
+murdered men came to an end, I observed that Mr. Cazalette, most of
+whose time was devoted to his numismatic work, was spending his
+leisure in turning over whatever books he could come across at
+Ravensdene Court which related to local history and topography; he was
+also studying old maps, charts and the like. Also, he got from London
+the latest Ordnance Map. I saw him studying that with deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> attention.
+Yet he said nothing until one day, coming across me in the library,
+alone, he suddenly plumped me with a question.</p>
+
+<p>"Middlebrook!" said he, "the name which that poor man mentioned to you
+as you talked with him on the cliff was&mdash;Netherfield?"</p>
+
+<p>"Netherfield," said I. "That was it&mdash;Netherfield."</p>
+
+<p>"He said there were Netherfields buried hereabouts?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so&mdash;in some churchyard or other," I answered. "What of it, Mr.
+Cazalette?"</p>
+
+<p>He helped himself to a pinch of snuff, as if to assist his thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said he presently, "and it's a queer thing that at the time of
+the inquest nobody ever thought of inquiring if there is such a
+churchyard and such graves."</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you suggest it?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather find it out for myself," said he, with a knowing look.
+"And if you want to know, I've been trying to do so. But I've looked
+through every local history there is&mdash;and I think the late John
+Christopher Raven collected every scrap of printed stuff relating to
+this corner of the country that's ever left a press&mdash;and I can't find
+any reference to such a name."</p>
+
+<p>"Parish registers?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, I thought of that," he said. "Some of 'em have been printed, and
+I've consulted those that have, without result. And, Middlebrook, I'm
+more than ever convinced that yon dead man knew what he was talking
+about, and that there's dead and gone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> Netherfields lying somewhere in
+this quarter, and that the secret of his murder is, somehow, to be
+found in their ancient tombs! Aye!"</p>
+
+<p>He took another big pinch of snuff, and looked at me as if to find out
+whether or no I agreed with him. Then I let out a question.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette, have you found out anything from your photographic
+work on that tobacco-box lid?" I asked. "You thought you might."</p>
+
+<p>Much to my astonishment, he turned and shuffled away.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not through with that matter, yet," he answered.
+"It's&mdash;progressing."</p>
+
+<p>I told Miss Raven of this little conversation. She and I were often
+together in the library; we often discussed the mystery of the
+murders.</p>
+
+<p>"What was there, really, on the lid of the tobacco-box?" she asked.
+"Anything that could actually arouse curiosity?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think Mr. Cazalette exaggerated their importance," I replied, "but
+there were certainly some marks, scratches, which seemed to have been
+made by design."</p>
+
+<p>"And what," she asked again, "did Mr. Cazalette think they might
+mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven knows!" I answered. "Some deep and dark clue to Quick's
+murder, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had seen the tobacco-box," she remarked. "Interesting,
+anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"That's easy enough," said I. "The police have it&mdash;and all the rest of
+Quick's belongings. If we walked over to the police-station, the
+inspector would willingly show it to you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I saw that this proposition attracted her&mdash;she was not beyond feeling
+something of the fascination which is exercised upon some people by
+the inspection of the relics of strange crimes.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us go, then," she said. "This afternoon?"</p>
+
+<p>I had a mind, myself, to have another look at that tobacco-box; Mr.
+Cazalette's hints about it, and his mysterious secrecy regarding his
+photographic experiments, made me inquisitive. So after lunch that day
+Miss Raven and I walked across country to the police-station, where we
+were shown into the presence of the inspector, who, in the midst of
+his politeness, frankly showed his wonder at our pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>"We have come with an object," said I, giving him an informing glance.
+"Miss Raven, like most ladies, is not devoid of curiosity. She wishes
+to see that metal tobacco-box which was found on Salter Quick."</p>
+
+<p>The inspector laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he exclaimed. "The thing that the old gentleman&mdash;what's his
+name? Mr. Cazalette?&mdash;was so keen about photographing. Why, I don't
+know&mdash;I saw nothing but two or three surface scratches inside the lid.
+Has he discovered anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"That," I answered, "is only known to Mr. Cazalette himself. He
+preserves a strict silence on that point. He is very mysterious about
+the matter. It is his secrecy, and his mystery, that makes Miss Raven
+inquisitive."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," remarked the inspector, indulgently, "it's a curiosity that
+can very easily be satisfied. I've got all Quick's belongings
+here&mdash;just as they were put together after being exhibited before the
+coroner." He unlocked a cupboard and pointed to two bundles&mdash;one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> a
+large one, was done up in linen; the other, a small one, in a wrapping
+of canvas. "That," he continued, pointing to the linen-covered
+package, "contains his clothing; this, his effects: his money, watch
+and chain, and so on. It's sealed, as you see, but we can put fresh
+seals on after breaking these."</p>
+
+<p>"Very kind of you to take so much trouble," said Miss Raven. "All to
+satisfy a mere whim."</p>
+
+<p>The inspector assured her that it was no trouble, and broke the seals
+of the small, carefully-wrapped package. There, neatly done up, were
+the dead man's effects, even down to his pipe and pouch. His money was
+there, notes, gold, silver, copper; there was a stump of lead-pencil
+and a bit of string; every single thing found upon him had been kept.
+But the tobacco-box was not there.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't see it!" exclaimed the inspector. "How's this?"</p>
+
+<p>He turned the things over again, and yet again&mdash;there was no
+tobacco-box. And at that, evidently vexed and perplexed, he rang a
+bell and asked for a particular constable, who presently entered. The
+inspector indicated the various properties.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you put these things together when the inquest was over?" he
+demanded. "They were all lying on the table at the inquest&mdash;we showed
+them there. I told you to put them up and bring them here and seal
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"I did, sir," answered the man. "I put together everything that was on
+the table, at once. The package was never out of my hands till I got
+it here, and sealed it. Sergeant Brown and myself counted the money,
+sir."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The money is all right," observed the inspector. "But there's a metal
+box&mdash;a tobacco-box&mdash;missing. Do you remember it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Can't say that I do, sir," replied the constable. "I packed up
+everything that was there."</p>
+
+<p>The inspector nodded a dismissal; when we were alone again, he turned
+to Miss Raven and me with a queer expression.</p>
+
+<p>"That box has been abstracted at the inquest!" he said, "Now then!&mdash;by
+whom?&mdash;and why?"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h2>YELLOWFACE</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was very evident that the inspector was considerably puzzled, not
+to say upset, by the disappearance of the tobacco-box, and I fancied
+that I saw the real reason of his discomfiture. He had poohpoohed Mr.
+Cazalette's almost senile eagerness about the thing, treating his
+request as of no importance; now he suddenly discovered that somebody
+had conceived a remarkable interest in the tobacco-box and had
+cleverly annexed it&mdash;under his very eyes&mdash;and he was angry with
+himself for his lack of care and perception. I was not indisposed to
+banter him a little.</p>
+
+<p>"The second of your questions might be easily answered," I said. "The
+thing has been appropriated because somebody believes, as Mr.
+Cazalette evidently does, or did, that there may be a clue in those
+scratches, or marks, on the inside of the lid. But as to who it was
+that believed this, and managed to secrete the box&mdash;that's a far
+different matter!"</p>
+
+<p>He was thinking, and presently he nodded his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I can call to mind everybody who sat round that table, where these
+things were laid out," he remarked, confidently. "There were two or
+three officials, like myself. There was our surgeon and Dr. Lorrimore.
+Two or three of the country gentlemen&mdash;all magistrates; all well known
+to me. And at the foot of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> table there were a couple of reporters:
+I know them, too, well enough. Now, who, out of that lot, would be
+likely to steal&mdash;for that's what it comes to&mdash;this tobacco-box? A
+thing that had scarcely been mentioned&mdash;if at all&mdash;during the
+proceedings!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know," I remarked. "But you're forgetting one thing,
+inspector. That's&mdash;curiosity!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at me blankly&mdash;clearly, he did not understand. Neither, I
+saw, did Miss Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"There are some people," I continued, "who have an itching&mdash;perhaps a
+morbid&mdash;desire to collect and possess relics, mementoes of crime and
+criminals. I know a man who has a cabinet filled with such
+things&mdash;very proud of the fact that he owns a flute which once
+belonged to Charles Pease; a purse that was found on Frank Muller; a
+reputed riding-whip of Dick Turpin's and the like. How do you know
+that one or other of the various men who sat round the table you're
+talking of hasn't some such mania and appropriated the tobacco-box as
+a memento of the Ravensdene Court mania?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," he replied. "But I don't think it likely: I know the
+lot of them, more or less, and I think they've all too much sense."</p>
+
+<p>"All the same, the thing's gone," I remarked. "And you'll excuse me
+for saying it&mdash;you're a bit concerned by its disappearance."</p>
+
+<p>"I am!" he said, frankly. "And I'll tell you why. It's just because no
+particular attention was drawn to it at the inquest. So far as I remember
+it was barely mentioned&mdash;if it was, it was only as one item, an
+insignificant one, amongst more important things; the money, the watch and
+chain, and so on.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> But&mdash;somebody&mdash;somebody there!&mdash;considered it of so
+much importance as to appropriate it. Therefore, it is&mdash;just what I
+thought it wasn't&mdash;a matter of moment. I ought to have taken more care
+about it, from the time Mr. Cazalette first drew my attention to those
+marks inside the lid."</p>
+
+<p>"You're sure that it was on the table at the inquest?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure of that," he replied with conviction, "for I distinctly
+remember laying out the various objects myself. When the inquest was
+over, I told the man you've just seen to put them all together and to
+seal the package when he brought it back here. No&mdash;that tobacco-box
+was picked up&mdash;stolen&mdash;off that table."</p>
+
+<p>"Then there's more in the matter than lies on the surface," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"Evidently," said he. He looked dubiously from Miss Raven to myself.
+"I suppose the old gentleman&mdash;Mr. Cazalette&mdash;is to be&mdash;trusted? I
+mean&mdash;you don't think that he's found out anything with his
+photography, and is keeping it dark?"</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Raven and myself," I replied, "know nothing whatever of Mr.
+Cazalette except that he is a famous authority on coins and medals, a
+very remarkable person for his age, and Mr. Raven's guest. As to his
+keeping the result of his investigations dark, I should say that no
+one could do that sort of thing better!"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, so I guessed," muttered the inspector. "I wish he'd tell us,
+though, if he has discovered anything. But I suppose he'll take his
+time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely," said I. "Men like Mr. Cazalette do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> Time is regarded by
+men of his peculiar temperament in somewhat different fashion to the
+way in which we younger folk regard it&mdash;having come a long way along
+the road of life, they refuse to be hurried. Well&mdash;I suppose you'll
+make some inquiries about that box? By the way, if it's not a
+professional secret, have you heard any more of the affair at
+Saltash?"</p>
+
+<p>"They haven't found out another thing," he answered, with a shake of
+the head. "That's as big a mystery as this!</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think, from your standpoint, of the two affairs?" I
+asked, more for the delectation of Miss Raven than for my own
+satisfaction&mdash;I knew she was curious about the double mystery. "Have
+you formed any conclusion?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've thought a great deal about it," he replied. "It seems to me that
+the two brothers, Salter and Noah Quick, were men who had what's
+commonly called a past, and that there was some strange secret in
+it&mdash;probably one of money. I think that in their last days they were
+tracked, shadowed, whatever you like to call it, by some old
+associates of theirs, who murdered them in the expectation of getting
+hold of something&mdash;papers, or what not. And what I would like to know
+is&mdash;why did Salter Quick come down here, to this particular bit of the
+North Country?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said&mdash;to look for the graves of his ancestors on the mother's
+side, the Netherfields," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well!" remarked the inspector, almost triumphantly. "I know he
+did&mdash;but I've had the most careful inquires made. There isn't such a
+name in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> any churchyard of these parts. There isn't such a name in any
+parish register between Alnmouth Bay and Fenham Flats&mdash;and that's a
+pretty good stretch of country! I set to work on those investigations
+as soon as you told me about your first meeting with Salter Quick, and
+every beneficed clergyman and parish clerk in the district&mdash;and
+further afield&mdash;has been at work. The name of Netherfield is
+absolutely unknown&mdash;in the past or present."</p>
+
+<p>"And yet," suddenly broke in Miss Raven, "it was not Salter Quick
+alone who was seeking the graves of the Netherfields! There was
+another man."</p>
+
+<p>The inspector gave her an appreciative look.</p>
+
+<p>"The most mysterious feature of the whole case!" he exclaimed. "You're
+right, Miss Raven! There was another man&mdash;asking for the same
+information. Who was he! Where is he? If only I could clap a hand on
+him&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You think you'd be clapping a hand on Salter Quick's murderer?" I
+said sharply.</p>
+
+<p>To my surprise he gave me an equally sharp look and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not at all sure of that, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered quietly.
+"Not at all sure! But I think I could get some information out of him
+that I should be very glad to secure."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raven and I rose to leave; the inspector accompanied us to the
+door of the police-station. And as we were thanking him for his polite
+attentions, a man came along the street, and paused close by us,
+looking inquiringly at the building from which we had just emerged and
+at our companion's smart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> semi-uniform. Finally, as we were about to
+turn away, he touched his cap.</p>
+
+<p>"Begging your pardon," he said; "is this here the police office?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a suggestion in the man's tone which made me think that he
+had come there with a particular object, and I looked at him more
+attentively. He was a shortish, thick-set man, hound-faced, frank of
+eye and lip; no beauty, for he had a shock of sandy-red hair and three
+or four days' stubble on his cheeks and chin; yet his apparent
+frankness and a certain steadiness of gaze set him up as an honest
+fellow. His clothing was rough; there were bits of straw, hay, wood
+about it, as if he were well acquainted with farming life; in his
+right hand he carried a stout ash-plant stick.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, my friend," answered the inspector. "It is! What are
+you wanting?"</p>
+
+<p>The man looked up the steps at his informant with a glance in which
+there was a decided sense of humour. Something in the situation seemed
+to amuse him.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll not know me," he replied. "My name's Beeman&mdash;James Beeman. I
+come fro' near York. I'm t' chap 'at were mentioned by one o' t'
+witnesses at t' inquest on that strange man 'at were murdered
+hereabouts. I should ha' called to see you about t' matter before now,
+but I've nobbut just come back into this part o' t' country; I been
+away up i' t' Cheviot Hills there."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh?" said the inspector. "And&mdash;what mention was made of you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>James Beeman showed a fine set of teeth in a grin that seemed to
+stretch completely across his homely face.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm t' chap 'at were spoken of as asking about t' graves o' t'
+Netherfield family," he answered. "You know&mdash;on t' roadside one night,
+off a fellow 'at I chanced to meet wi' outside Lesbury. That's who I
+am!"</p>
+
+<p>The inspector turned to Miss Raven and myself with a look which meant
+more than he could express in words.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk about coincidence!" he whispered. "This is the very man we'd
+just mentioned. Come back to my office and hear what he's got to tell.
+Follow me," he continued, beckoning the caller. "I'm much obliged to
+you for coming. Now," he continued, when all four of us were within
+his room. "What can you tell me about that? What do you know about the
+grave of the Netherfields?"</p>
+
+<p>Beeman laughed, shaking his round head. Now that his old hat was
+removed, the fiery hue of his poll was almost alarming in its
+crudeness of hue.</p>
+
+<p>"Nowt," he said. "Nowt at all! I'll tell you all about it&mdash;that's what
+I've comed here for, hearing as you were wondering who I was and what
+had come o' me. I come up here&mdash;yes, it were on t' sixth o' March&mdash;to
+see about some sheep stock for our maister, Mr. Dimbleby, and I put up
+for t' first night at a temp'rance i' Alnwick yonder. But of course,
+temp'rances is all right for sleeping and braikfasting, but nowt for
+owt else, so when I'd tea'd there, I went down t' street for a
+comfortable public, where I could smoke my pipe and have a glass or
+two.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> And while I was there, a man come in 'at, from his description
+i' t' papers, 'ud be this here fellow that were murdered. I didn't
+talk none to him, but, after a bit, I heard him talking to t'
+landlord. And, after a deal o' talk about fishing hereabouts, I heard
+him asking t' landlord, as seemed to be a gr't fisherman and knew all
+t' countryside, if he knew any places, churchyards, where there were
+Netherfields buried? He talked so much about 'em, 'at 't name got
+right fixed on my mind. T' next day I had business outside Alnwick, at
+one or two farms, and that night I made further north, to put up at
+Embleton. Now then, as I were walking that way, after dark I chanced
+in wi' a man near Lesbury, and walked wi' him a piece, and I asked
+him, finding he were a native, if he knew owt o' t' Netherfield
+graves. And that 'ud be t' man 'at tell'd you 'at he'd met such a
+person. All right!&mdash;I'm t' person.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then you merely asked the question out of curiosity?" suggested the
+inspector.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye&mdash;just 'cause I'd heard t' strange man inquire," assented Beeman.
+"I just wondered if it were some family o' what they call
+consequence."</p>
+
+<p>"You never saw the man again whom you speak of as having seen at
+Alnwick?" the inspector asked. "And had no direct conversation with
+him yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never saw t' fellow again, nor had a word with him," replied Beeman.
+"He had his glass or two o' rum, and went away. But I reckon he was t'
+man who was murdered."</p>
+
+<p>"And where have you been, yourself, since the time you tell us about?"
+asked the inspector.</p>
+
+<p>"Right away across country," answered Beeman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> readily. "I went across
+to Chillingham and Wooler, then forrard to some farms i' t' Cheviots,
+and back by Alnham and Whittingham to Alnwick. And then I heard all
+about this affair, and so I thought good to come and tell you what bit
+I knew."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Beeman," said the inspector. "You've
+cleared up something, at any rate. Are you going to stay longer in the
+neighbourhood?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be here&mdash;leastways, at Alnwick yonder, at t' Temp'rance&mdash;for
+two or three days yet, while I've collected some sheep together 'at
+I've bowt for our maister, on one farm and another," replied Beeman.
+"Then I shall be away. But if you ever want me, at t' 'Sizes, or wot
+o' that sort, my directions is James Beeman, foreman to Mr. Thomas
+Dimbleby, Cross-houses Manor, York."</p>
+
+<p>When this candid and direct person had gone, the inspector looked at
+Miss Raven and me with glances that indicated a good deal.</p>
+
+<p>"That settles one point and seems to establish another," he remarked
+significantly. "Salter Quick was not murdered by somebody who had come
+into these parts on the same errand as himself. He was murdered by
+somebody who was&mdash;here already!"</p>
+
+<p>"And who met him?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"And who met him," assented the inspector. "And now I'm more anxious
+than ever to know if there is anything in that tobacco-box theory of
+Mr. Cazalette's. Couldn't you young people cajole Mr. Cazalette into
+telling you a little? Surely he would oblige you, Miss Raven?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are moments when Mr. Cazalette is approachable,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> replied Miss
+Raven. "There are others at which I should as soon think of asking a
+question of the Sphinx."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait!" said I. "Mr. Cazalette, I firmly believe, knows something. And
+now&mdash;you know more than you did. One mystery has gone by the board."</p>
+
+<p>"It leaves the main one all the blacker," answered the inspector.
+"Who, of all the folk in these parts, is one to suspect? Yet&mdash;it would
+seem that Salter Quick found somebody here to whom his presence was so
+decidedly unwelcome that there was nothing for it but&mdash;swift and
+certain death! Why? Well&mdash;death ensures silence."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raven and I took our leave for the second time. We walked some
+distance from the police-station before exchanging a word: I do not
+know what she was thinking of; as for myself, I was speculating on the
+change in my opinion brought about by the rough-and-ready statement of
+the brusque Yorkshireman. For until then I had firmly believed that
+the man who had accosted our friend of the Mariner's Joy, Jim
+Gelthwaite, the drover, was the man who had murdered Salter Quick. My
+notion was that this man, whoever he was, had foregathered somewhere
+with Quick, that they were known to each other, and had a common
+object, and that he had knifed Quick for purposes of his own. And now
+that idea was exploded, and so far as I could see, the search for the
+real assassin was yet to begin.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Miss Raven spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it's scarcely possible that the murderer was present at
+that inquest?" she asked, half-timidly, as if afraid of my ridiculing
+her suggestion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Quite possible," said I. "The place was packed to the doors with all
+sorts of people. But why?"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought perhaps that he might have contrived to abstract that
+tobacco-box, knowing that as long as it was in the hands of the police
+there might be some clue to his identity," she suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Good notion!" I replied. "But there's just one thing against it. If
+the murderer had known that, if he felt that, he'd have secured the
+box when he searched Quick's clothing, as he undoubtedly did."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" she admitted. "I ought to have thought of that. But there
+are such a lot of things to think of in connection with this
+case&mdash;threads interwoven with each other."</p>
+
+<p>"You've been thinking much about it?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>She made no reply for a moment, and I waited, wondering.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it's a very comfortable thing to know that one's had a
+particularly brutal murder at one's very door and that, for all one
+knows, the murderer may still be close at hand," she said at last.
+"There's such a disagreeable feeling of uneasiness about this affair.
+I know that Uncle Francis is most awfully upset by it."</p>
+
+<p>I looked at her in some surprise. I had not seen any marked signs of
+concern in Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"I hadn't observed that," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not," she answered. "But I know him better. He's an unusually
+nervous man. Do you know that since this happened he's taken to going
+round the house every night, examining doors and windows?&mdash;And&mdash;he's
+begun to carry a revolver."</p>
+
+<p>The last statement made me think. Why should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> Mr. Raven expect&mdash;or, if
+not expect, be afraid of, any attack on himself? But before I could
+make any comment on my companion's information, my attention to the
+subject was diverted. All that afternoon the weather had been
+threatening to break&mdash;there was thunder about. And now, with startling
+suddenness, a flash of lightning was followed by a sharp crack, and
+that on the instant by a heavy downpour of rain. I glanced at Miss
+Raven's light dress&mdash;early spring though it was, the weather had been
+warm for more than a week, and she had come out in things that would
+be soaked through in a moment. But just then we were close to an old
+red-brick house, which stood but a yard or two back from the road, and
+was divided from it by nothing but a strip of garden. It had a deep
+doorway, and without ceremony, I pushed open the little gate in front,
+and drew Miss Raven within its shelter. We had not stood there many
+seconds, our back to the door (which I never heard opened), when a
+soft mellifluous voice sounded close to my startled ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you not step inside and shelter from the storm?"</p>
+
+<p>Twisting round sharply, I found myself staring at the slit-like eyes
+and old parchment-hued face of a smiling Chinaman.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h2>WAS IT A WOMAN?</h2>
+
+
+<p>Had Miss Raven and I suddenly been caught up out of that little coast
+village and transported to the far East on a magic carpet, to be set
+down in the twinkling of an eye on some Oriental threshold, we could
+scarcely have been more surprised than we were at the sight of that
+bland, smiling countenance. For the moment I was at a loss to think
+who and what the man could be; he was in the dress of his own country,
+a neat, close-fitting, high-buttoned blue jacket; there was a little
+cap on his head, and a pigtail dependent from behind it&mdash;I was not
+sufficiently acquainted with Chinese costumes to gather any idea of
+his rank or position from these things&mdash;for aught I knew to the
+contrary, he might be a mandarin who, for some extraordinary reason,
+had found his way to this out-of-the-world spot. And my answer to his
+courteous invitation doubtless sounded confused and awkward.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, thank you," I said, "pray don't let us put you to any trouble. If
+we may just stand under your porch a moment&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He stood a little aside, waving us politely into the hall behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Lorrimore would be very angry with me if I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> allowed a lady and
+gentleman to stand in his door and did not invite them into his
+house," he said, in the same even, mellifluous tones. "Please to
+enter."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, is this Dr. Lorrimore's?" I said. "Thank you&mdash;we'll come in. Is
+Dr. Lorrimore at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Presently," he answered. "He is in the village."</p>
+
+<p>He closed the door as we entered, passed us with a bow, preceded us
+along the hall, and threw open the door of a room which looked out on
+a trim garden at the rear of the house. Still smiling and bland he
+invited us to be seated, and then, with another bow, left the room,
+apparently walking on velvet. Miss Raven and I glanced at each other.</p>
+
+<p>"So Dr. Lorrimore has a Chinese man servant?" she said.
+"How&mdash;picturesque!"</p>
+
+<p>"Um!" I muttered.</p>
+
+<p>She gave me a questioning, half-amused glance, and dropped her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you like&mdash;Easterns?" she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"I like 'em in the East," I replied. "In Northumberland they
+don't&mdash;shall we say they don't fit in with the landscape."</p>
+
+<p>"I think he fits in&mdash;here," she retorted, looking round. "This is a
+bit Oriental."</p>
+
+<p>She was right in that. The room into which we had been ushered was
+certainly suggestive of what one had heard of India. There were fine
+Indian rugs on the floor; ivories and brasses in the cabinets; the
+curtains were of fabric that could only have come out of some Eastern
+bazaar; there was a faint, curious scent of sandal-wood and of dried
+rose-leaves. And on the mantelpiece, where, in English households, a
+marble clock generally stands, reposed a peculiarly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> ugly Hindu god,
+cross-legged, hideous of form, whose baleful eyes seemed to follow all
+our movements.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I admitted, reflectively. "I think he fits in&mdash;here. Dr.
+Lorrimore said he had been in India for some years, didn't he? He
+appears to have brought some of it home with him."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose this is his drawing-room," said Miss Raven. "Now, if only
+it looked out on palm-trees, and&mdash;and all other things that one
+associates with India."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," said I. "What it does look out on, however, is a typical
+English garden on which, at present, about a ton of rain is
+descending. And we are nearly three miles from Ravensdene Court!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but it won't keep on like that, for long," she said. "And I suppose,
+if it does, that we can get some sort of a conveyance&mdash;perhaps, Dr.
+Lorrimore has a brougham that he'd lend us."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that's very likely," said I. "The country practitioner,
+I think, is more dependent on a bicycle than on a brougham. But here
+is Dr. Lorrimore."</p>
+
+<p>I had just caught sight of him as he entered his garden by a door set
+in its ivy-covered wall. He ran hastily up the path to the
+house&mdash;within a minute or two, divested of his mackintosh, he opened
+the door of our room.</p>
+
+<p>"So glad you were near enough to turn in here for shelter!" he
+exclaimed, shaking hands with us warmly. "I see that neither of you
+expected rain&mdash;now, I did, and I went out prepared."</p>
+
+<p>"We made for the first door we saw," said Miss Raven. "But we'd no
+idea it was yours, Dr. Lorrimore.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> And do tell me!&mdash;the Chinese," she
+continued, in a whisper. "Is he your man-servant?"</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore laughed, rubbing his hands together. That day he was not in
+the solemn, raven-hued finery in which he had visited Ravensdene
+Court; instead he wore a suit of grey tweed, in which, I thought, he
+looked rather younger and less impressive than in black. But he was
+certainly no ordinary man, and as he stood there smiling at Miss
+Raven's eager face, I felt conscious that he was the sort of somewhat
+mysterious, rather elusive figure in which women would naturally be
+interested.</p>
+
+<p>"Man-servant!" he said, with another laugh. "He's all the servant I've
+got. Wing&mdash;he's too or three other monosyllabic patronymics, but Wing
+suffices&mdash;is an invaluable person. He's a model cook, valet,
+launderer, general factotum&mdash;there's nothing that he can't or won't
+do, from making the most perfect curries&mdash;I must have Mr. Raven to try
+them against the achievements of his man!&mdash;to taking care about the
+halfpennies, when he goes his round of the tradesmen. Oh, he's a
+treasure&mdash;I assure you, Miss Raven, you could go the round of this
+house, at any moment, without finding a thing out of place or a speck
+of dust in any corner. A model!"</p>
+
+<p>"You brought him from India, I suppose?" said I.</p>
+
+<p>"I brought him from India, yes," he answered. "He'd been with me for
+some time before I left. So, of course, we're thoroughly used to each
+other."</p>
+
+<p>"And does he really like living&mdash;here?" asked Miss Raven. "In such
+absolutely different surroundings?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, I think he's a pretty good old hand at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> making the best of the
+moment," laughed Lorrimore. "He's a philosopher. Deep&mdash;inscrutable&mdash;in
+short, he's Chinese. He has his own notions of happiness. At present he's
+supremely happy in getting you some tea&mdash;you mightn't think it, but that
+saffron-faced Eastern can make an English plum-cake that would put the
+swellest London pastry-cook to shame! You must try it!"</p>
+
+<p>The Chinaman presently summoned us to tea, which he had laid out in
+another room&mdash;obviously Lorrimore's dining-room. There was nothing
+Oriental in that; rather, it was eminently Victorian, an affair of
+heavy furniture, steel engravings, and an array, on the sideboard, of
+what, I suppose, was old family plate. Wing ushered us and his master
+in with due ceremony and left us; when the door had closed on him,
+Lorrimore gave us an arch glance.</p>
+
+<p>"You see how readily and skilfully that chap adapts himself to the
+needs of the moment," he said. "Now, you mightn't think it, but this
+is the very first time I have ever been honoured with visitors to
+afternoon tea. Observe how Wing immediately falls in with English
+taste and custom! Without a word from me, out comes the silver
+tea-pot, the best china, the finest linen! He produces his choicest
+plum-cake; the bread-and-butter is cut with wafer-like thinness; and
+the tea&mdash;ah, well, no Englishwoman, Miss Raven, can make tea as a
+Chinese man-servant can!"</p>
+
+<p>"It's quite plain that you've got a treasure in your house, Dr.
+Lorrimore," said Miss Raven. "But then, the Chinese are very clever,
+aren't they?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Very remarkable people, indeed," assented our host. "Shrewd,
+observant, penetrative. I have often wondered if this man of mine
+would find any great difficulty in seeing through a brick wall!"</p>
+
+<p>"He would be a useful person, perhaps, in solving the present
+mystery," said I. "The police seem to have got no further."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, the Quick business?" remarked Lorrimore. "Um!&mdash;well, as regards
+that, it seems to me that whatever light is thrown on it will have to
+be thrown from the other angle&mdash;from Devonport. From all that I heard
+and gathered, it's very evident that what is really wanted is a strict
+examination into the immediate happenings at Noah Quick's inn, and
+also into the antecedents of Noah and Salter. But is there anything
+fresh?"</p>
+
+<p>I told him, briefly, all that had happened that afternoon&mdash;of the
+information given by James Beeman and of the disappearance of the
+tobacco-box.</p>
+
+<p>"That's odd!" he remarked. "Let's see&mdash;it was the old gentleman I saw
+at Ravensdene Court who had some fancy about that box, wasn't it?&mdash;Mr.
+Cazalette. What was his idea, now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette," I replied, "saw, or fancied he saw, certain marks or
+scratches within the lid of the box which he took to have some
+meaning: they were, he believed, made with design&mdash;with some purpose.
+He thought that by photographing them, and then enlarging his
+photograph, he would bring out those marks more clearly, and possibly
+find out what they were really meant for."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes?" said Lorrimore. "Well&mdash;what has he discovered?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Up to now nobody knows," said Miss Raven. "Mr. Cazalette won't tell
+us anything."</p>
+
+<p>"That looks as if he had discovered something," observed Lorrimore.
+"But&mdash;old gentlemen are a little queer, and a little vain. Perhaps
+he's suddenly going to let loose a tremendous theory and wants to
+perfect it before he speaks. Oh, well!" he added, almost
+indifferently, "I've known a good many murder mysteries in my
+time&mdash;out in India&mdash;and I always found that the really good way of
+getting at the bottom of them was to go right back!&mdash;as far back as
+possible. If I were the police in charge of these cases, I should put
+one question down before me and do nothing until I'd exhausted every
+effort to solve it."</p>
+
+<p>"And that would be&mdash;what?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"This," said he. "What were the antecedents of Noah and Salter Quick?"</p>
+
+<p>"You think they had a past?" suggested Miss Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody has a past," answered Lorrimore. "It may be this; it may be
+that. But nearly all the problems of the present have their origin and
+solution in the past. Find out what and where those two middle-aged
+men had been, in their time!&mdash;and then there'll be a chance to work
+forward."</p>
+
+<p>The rain cleared off soon after we had finished tea, and presently
+Miss Raven and I took our leave. Lorrimore informed us that Mr. Raven
+had asked him to dinner on the following evening; he would accordingly
+see us again very soon.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be quite an event for me!" he said, gaily, as he opened his
+garden gate. "I live like an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> anchorite in this place. A little&mdash;a
+very little practice&mdash;the folk are scandalously healthy!&mdash;and a great
+deal of scientific investigation&mdash;that's my lot."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have a treasure of a servant," observed Miss Raven. "Please
+tell him that his plum-cake was perfection."</p>
+
+<p>The Chinaman was just then standing at the open door, in waiting on
+his master. Miss Raven threw him a laughing nod to which he responded
+with a deep bow&mdash;we left them with that curious picture in our minds:
+Lorrimore, essentially English in spite of his long residence in the
+East; the Chinaman, bland, suave, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"A curious pair and a strange combination!" I remarked as we walked
+away. "That house, at any rate, has a plenitude of brain-power in it.
+What amazes me is that a clever chap like Master Wing should be
+content to bury his talents in a foreign place, out of the world&mdash;to
+make curries and plum-cake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he has a faithful devotion to his master," said Miss Raven.
+"Anyway, it's very romantic, and picturesque, and that sort of thing,
+to find a real live Chinaman in an English village&mdash;I wonder if the
+poor man gets teased about his queer clothes and his pigtail?"</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't Lorrimore say he was a philosopher?" said I. "Therefore he'll
+be indifferent to criticism. I dare say he doesn't go about much."</p>
+
+<p>That the Chinaman was not quite a recluse, however, I discovered a day
+or two later, when, going along the headlands for a solitary stroll
+after a stiff day's work in the library, I turned into the Mariner's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+Joy for a glass of Claigue's undeniably good ale. Wing was just coming
+out of the house as I entered it. He was as neat, as bland, and as
+smiling as when I saw him before; he was still in his blue jacket, his
+little cap. But he was now armed with a very large umbrella, and on
+one arm he carried a basket, filled with small parcels; evidently he
+had been on a shopping expedition. He greeted me with a deep obeisance
+and respectful smile and went on his way&mdash;I entered the inn and found
+its landlord alone in his bar-parlour.</p>
+
+<p>"You get some queer customers in here, Mr. Claigue," I observed as he
+attended to my modest wants. "Yet it's not often, I should think, that
+a real live Chinaman walks in on you."</p>
+
+<p>"He's been in two or three times, that one," replied Claigue.
+"Chinaman he is, no doubt, sir, but it strikes me he must know as much
+of this country as he knows of his own, for he speaks our tongue like
+a native&mdash;a bit soft and mincing-like, but never at a loss for a word.
+Dr. Lorrimore's servant, I understand."</p>
+
+<p>"He has been in Dr. Lorrimore's service for some years," I answered.
+"No doubt he's had abundant opportunities of picking up the language.
+Still&mdash;it's an odd sight to see a Chinaman, pigtail and all, in these
+parts, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I've had all sorts in here, time and again," replied Claigue
+reflectively. "Sailor men, mostly. But," he added, with a meaning
+look, "of all the lot, that poor chap as got knifed the other week was
+the most mysterious! What do you make of it, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what to make of it," said I. "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> don't think anybody
+knows what to make of it. The police don't, anyhow!"</p>
+
+<p>"The police!" he exclaimed, with a note of derision. "Yah! they're
+worse than a parcel of old women! Have they ever tried? Just a bit of
+surface inquiry&mdash;and the thing slips past. Of course, the man was a
+stranger. Nobody cares; that's about it. My notion is that the police
+don't care the value of that match whether the thing's ever cleared up
+or not. Nine days' wonder, you know, Mr. Middlebrook. Still&mdash;there's a
+deal of talk about."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you hear a good deal in this parlour of yours?" I
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Nights&mdash;yes," he said. "A murder's always a good subject of
+conversation. At first, those who come in here of an evening&mdash;regular
+set there, in from the village at the back of the cliffs&mdash;they could
+talk of naught else, starting first this and that theory. It's died
+down a good deal, to be sure&mdash;there's been naught new to start it
+afresh, on another tack&mdash;but there is some talk, even now."</p>
+
+<p>"And what's the general opinion?" I inquired. "I suppose there is
+one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well, I couldn't say that there's a general opinion," he
+answered. "There's a many opinions. And some queer notions, too!"</p>
+
+<p>"Such as what?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said he, with a laugh, as if he thought the suggestion
+ridiculous, "there's one that comes nearer being what you might call
+general than any of the others. There's a party of the older men that
+come here who're dead certain that Quick was murdered by a woman!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"A woman!" I exclaimed. "Whatever makes them think that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Those footmarks," answered Claigue. "You'll remember, Mr.
+Middlebrook, that there were two sets of prints in the sand
+thereabouts. One was certainly Quick's&mdash;they fitted his boots. The
+other was very light&mdash;delicate, you might call 'em&mdash;made, without
+doubt, by some light-footed person. Well, some of the folk hereabouts
+went along to Kernwick Cove the day of the murder, and looked at those
+prints. They say the lighter ones were made by a woman."</p>
+
+<p>I let my recollections go back to the morning on which I had found
+Quick lying dead on the patch of yellow sand.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," I said, reflectively, "those marks are gone, now."</p>
+
+<p>"Gone? Aye!" exclaimed Claigue. "Long since. There's been a good many
+tides washed over that spot since this, Mr. Middlebrook. But they
+haven't washed out the fact that a man's life was let out there! And
+whether it was man or woman that stuck that knife into the poor
+fellow's shoulders, it'll come out, some day."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so sure of that," said I. "There's a goodly percentage of
+unsolved mysteries of that kind."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I believe in the old saying," he declared. "Murder will out!
+What I don't like is the notion that the murderer may be walking about
+this quarter, free, unsuspected. Why, I may ha' served him with a
+glass of beer! What's to prevent it? Murderers don't carry a label on
+their foreheads!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What do you think the police ought to do&mdash;or ought to have done?" I
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I think they should ha' started working backward," he replied, with
+decision. "I read all I could lay hands on in the newspapers, and I
+came to the conclusion that there was a secret behind those two men.
+Come! two brothers murdered on the same night&mdash;hundreds of miles
+apart! That's no common crime, Mr Middlebrook. Who were these two
+men&mdash;Noah and Salter Quick? What was their past history? That's what
+the police ought to ha' busied themselves with. If they lost or
+couldn't pick up the scent here, they should ha' tried far back. Go
+backward they should&mdash;if they want to go forward."</p>
+
+<p>That was the second time I had heard that advice, and I returned to
+Ravensdene Court reflecting on it. Certainly it was sensible. Who,
+after all, were Noah and Salter Quick&mdash;what was their life-story. I
+was wondering how that could be brought to light, when, having dressed
+for dinner, and I was going downstairs, Mr. Cazalette's door opened
+and he quietly drew me inside his room.</p>
+
+<p>"Middlebrook!" he whispered&mdash;though he had carefully shut the
+door&mdash;"you're a sensible lad, and I'll acquaint you with a matter.
+This very morning, as I was taking my bit of a dip, my pocket-book was
+stolen out of the jacket that I'd left on the shore. Stolen,
+Middlebrook!"</p>
+
+<p>"Was there anything of great value in it?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, there was!" answered Mr. Cazalette. "There was that in it which,
+in my opinion, might be some sort of a clue to the real truth about
+yon man's murder!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE ENLARGED PHOTOGRAPH</h2>
+
+
+<p>I was dimly conscious, in a vague, uncertain fashion, that Mr.
+Cazalette was going to tell me secrets; that I was about to hear
+something which would explain his own somewhat mysterious doings on
+the morning of the murder; a half-excited, anticipating curiosity rose
+in me. I think he saw it, for he signed to me to sit down in an easy
+chair close by his bed; he himself, a queer, odd figure in his quaint,
+old-fashioned clothes, perched himself on the edge of the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit you down, Middlebrook," he said. "We've some time yet before
+dinner, and I'm wanting to talk to you&mdash;in private, you'll bear in
+mind. There's things I know that I'm not willing&mdash;as yet&mdash;to tell to
+everybody. But I'll tell them to you, Middlebrook&mdash;for you're a
+sensible young fellow, and we'll take a bit of counsel together.
+Aye&mdash;there was that in my pocket-book that might be&mdash;I'll not say
+positively that it was, but that it might be&mdash;a clue to the identity
+of the man that murdered yon Salter Quick, and I'm sorry now that I've
+lost it and didn't take more care of it. But man! who'd ha' thought
+that I'd have my pocket-book stolen from under my very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> nose! And
+that's a convincing proof that there's uncommonly sharp and clever
+criminals around us in these parts, Middlebrook."</p>
+
+<p>"You lost your pocket-book while you were bathing, Mr. Cazalette?" I
+asked, wishful to know all his details.</p>
+
+<p>He turned on his bed, pointing to a venerable Norfork jacket which
+hung on a peg in a recess by the washstand. I knew it well enough: I
+had often seen him in it first thing of a morning.</p>
+
+<p>"It's my custom," said he, "to array myself in that old coatie when I
+go for my bit dip, you see&mdash;it's thick and it's warm, and I've had it
+twenty years or more&mdash;good tweed it is, and homespun. And whenever
+I've gone out here of a morning, I've put my pocket-book in the inside
+pocket, and laid the coat itself and the rest o' my scanty attire on
+the bank there down at Kernwick Cove while I went in the water. And I
+did that very same thing this morning&mdash;and when I came to my clothes
+again, the pocket-book was gone!"</p>
+
+<p>"You saw nobody about?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody," said he. "But Lord, man, I know how easy it was to do the
+thing! You'll bear in mind that on the right hand side of that cove
+the plantation comes right down to the edge of the bit of cliff&mdash;well,
+a man lurking amongst the shrubs and undergrowth 'ud have nothing to
+do but reach his arm to the bank, draw my coatie to his nefarious
+self, and abstract my property. And by the time I was on dry land
+again, and wanting my garments, he'd be a quarter of a mile away!"</p>
+
+<p>"And&mdash;the clue?" I asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He edged a little nearer to me, and dropped his voice still lower.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm telling you," he said. "Now you'll let your mind go back to the
+morning whereon you found yon man Quick lying dead and murdered on the
+sand? And you'll remember that before ever you were down at the place,
+I'd been there before you. You'll wonder how it comes about that I
+didn't find what you found, but then, there's a many big rocks and
+boulders standing well up on that beach, and its very evident that the
+corpse was obscured from my view by one or other and maybe more of
+'em. Anyway, I didn't find Salter Quick&mdash;but I did find something that
+maybe&mdash;mind, I'm saying maybe, Middlebrook&mdash;had to do with his
+murder."</p>
+
+<p>"What, Mr. Cazalette?" I asked, though I knew well enough what it was.
+I wanted him to say, and have done with it; his circumlocution was
+getting wearisome. But he was one of those old men who won't allow
+their cattle to be hurried, and he went on in his long-winded way.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be aware," he continued, "that there's a deal of gorse and
+bramble growing right down to the very edge of the coast thereabouts,
+Middlebrook. Scrub&mdash;that sort o' thing. The stuff that if it catches
+anything loose, anything protruding from say, the pocket of a garment,
+'ll lay hold and stick to it. Aye, well, on one of those bushes, gorse
+or bramble I cannot rightly say which, just within the entrance to the
+plantation, I saw, fluttering in the morning breeze that came sharp
+and refreshing off the face of the water, a handkerchief. And there
+was two sorts o' stains on it&mdash;caused in the one case by mud&mdash;the
+soft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> mud of the adjacent beach&mdash;and in the other by blood. A smear of
+blood&mdash;as if somebody had wiped blood off his fingers, you'll
+understand. But it was not that, not the blood, made me give my
+particular attention to the thing, which I'd picked off with my thumb
+and finger. It was that I saw at once that this was no common man's
+property, for there was a crest woven into one corner, and a monogram
+of initials underneath it, and the stuff itself was a sort that I'm
+unfamiliar with&mdash;it wasn't linen, though it looked like it, and it
+wasn't silk, for I'm well acquainted with that fabric&mdash;maybe it was a
+mixture of the two, but it had not been woven or made in any British
+factory: the thing, Middlebrook, was of foreign origin."</p>
+
+<p>"What were the markings you speak of?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I tell you there was a crest; anyhow it was a coronet, or that
+make of a thing," he answered. "Woven in one corner&mdash;I mean worked in
+by hand. And the letters beneath it were a V and a de&mdash;small, that
+last&mdash;and a C. Man! that handkerchief was the property of some man of
+quality! And the stains being wet&mdash;the mud-stains, at any rate, though
+the smear of blood was dry&mdash;I gathered that it had been but recently
+deposited, by accident, where I found it. I reckoned it up this way,
+d'ye see, Middlebrook&mdash;the man who'd left it there had used it on the
+beach&mdash;maybe he'd cut his toe, bathing, or something o' that sort, or
+likely a cut finger, gathering a shell or a fossil&mdash;and had thrust it
+carelessly into a side-pocket, for a thorn to catch hold of as he
+passed. But there it was, and there I found it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And what did you do with it, Mr. Cazalette?" I inquired with seeming
+innocence.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm telling you," he replied. "I had no knowledge, you're aware, of
+what lay behind me on the sands: I just thought it a queer thing that
+a man of quality's handkerchief should be there. And I slipped it
+among my towels, to bring along wi' me to the house here. But I'm
+whiles given to absent-mindedness, and not liking that I should put
+the blood-stained thing down on my dressing-table there and cause the
+maids to wonder, I thrust it into a hedge as I was passing along, till
+I could go back and examine it at my leisure. And when I'd got myself
+dressed, I went back and took it, and put it in a stout envelope into
+my pocket&mdash;and then you came along, Middlebrook, with your story of
+the murder, and I saw then that before saying a word to anybody, I'd
+keep my own counsel and examine that thing more carefully. And man
+alive! I've no doubt whatever that the man who left the handkerchief
+behind him was the man who knifed Salter Quick."</p>
+
+<p>"I gather, from all you've said, that the handkerchief was in the
+pocket-book you had stolen this morning?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right in that," said he. "Oh, it was! Wrapped up in a bit of
+oiled paper, and in an envelope, sealed down and attested in my
+handwriting, Middlebrook&mdash;date and particulars of my discovery of it,
+all in order. Aye, and there was more. Letters and papers of my own,
+to be sure, and a trifle money&mdash;bank-notes. But there was yet another
+thing that, in view of all we know, may be a serious thing to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> have
+fall into the hands of ill-doers. A print, Middlebrook, of the
+enlarged photograph I got of the inside of the lid of yon dead man's
+tobacco-box!"</p>
+
+<p>He regarded me with intense seriousness as he made this announcement,
+and not knowing exactly what to say, I remained silent.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" he continued. "And it's my distinct and solemn belief that it's
+that the thief was after! Ye see, Middlebrook, it's been spoken
+of&mdash;not widely noised abroad, as you might say, but still spoken of,
+and things spread, that I was keenly interested in those marks,
+scratches, whatever they were, on the inside of that lid, and got the
+police to let me make a photograph, and it's my impression that
+there's somebody about who's been keenly anxious to know what results
+I obtained."</p>
+
+<p>"You really think so?" said I. "Why&mdash;who could there be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, man, and who could there be, wi' a crest and monogram on his
+kerchief, that 'ud murder yon man the secret way he has?" he retorted,
+answering my incredulous look with one of triumph. "Tell me that, my
+laddie! I'm telling you, Middlebrook, that this was no common murder
+any more than the murder of the man's own brother down yonder at
+Saltash, which is a Cornish riverside place, and a good four or five
+hundred miles away, was a common, ordinary crime! Man! we're living in
+the very midst of a mystery&mdash;and that there's bloody-minded, aye, and
+bloody-handed men, maybe within our gates, but surely close by us, is
+as certain to me as that I'm looking at you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I thought you believed that Salter Quick's murderer was miles away
+before ever Salter Quick was cold?" I observed.</p>
+
+<p>"I did&mdash;and I've changed my mind," he answered. "I'm not thinking it
+any more, and all the less since I was robbed of my venerable
+pocket-book, with those two exhibits o' the crime in its wame. The
+murderer is about! and though he mayn't have thought to get his
+handkerchief, he may have hoped that he'd secure some result o' my
+labours in the photographic line."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette!" said I, "what were the results of your labours? I
+don't suppose that the print which was in your pocket-book was the
+only one you possess?"</p>
+
+<p>"You're right there," he replied. "It wasn't. If the thief thought he
+was securing something unique, he was mistaken. But&mdash;I didn't want
+him, or anybody, to get hold of even one print, for as sure as we're
+living men, Middlebrook, what was on the inside of that lid was&mdash;a key
+to something!"</p>
+
+<p>"You forget that the tobacco-box itself has been stolen from the
+police's keeping," I reminded him.</p>
+
+<p>"And I don't forget anything of the sort," he retorted. "And the fact
+you've mentioned makes me all the more assured, my man, that what I
+say is correct! There's him, or there's them&mdash;in all likelihood it's
+the plural&mdash;that's uncommonly anxious, feverishly anxious, to get hold
+of that key that I suspicion. What were Salter Quick's pockets turned
+out for? What were the man's clothes slashed and hacked for? Why did
+whoever slew Noah Quick at Saltash treat the man in similar fashion?
+It wasn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> money the two men were murdered for!&mdash;no, it was for
+information, a secret! Or, as I put it before, the key to something."</p>
+
+<p>"And you believe, really and truly, that this key is in the marks or
+scratches or whatever they are on the lid of the tobacco-box?" I
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, I do!" he exclaimed. "And what's more, Middlebrook, I believe
+I'm a doited old fool! If I'd contrived to get a good, careful,
+penetrating look at that box, without saying anything to the police, I
+should ha' shown some common-sense. But like the blithering old idiot
+that I am, I spoke my thoughts aloud before a company, and I made a
+present of an idea to these miscreants. Until I said what I did, the
+murderous gang that knifed yon two men hadn't a notion that Salter
+Quick carried a key in his tobacco-box! Now&mdash;they know."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean to suggest that any of the murderers were present when
+you asked permission to photograph the box!" I exclaimed.
+"Impossible!"</p>
+
+<p>"There's very few impossibilities in this world, Middlebrook," he
+answered. "I'm not saying that any of the gang were present in Raven's
+outhouse yonder, where they carried the poor fellow's body, but there
+were a dozen or more men heard what I said to the police-inspector,
+like the old fool I was, and saw me taking my photograph. And men
+talk&mdash;no matter of what degree they are."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette," said I, "I'd just like to see your results."</p>
+
+<p>He got off his bed at that, and going over to a chest of drawers,
+unlocked one, and took out a writing-case, from which he presently
+extracted a sheet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> of cardboard, whereon he had mounted a photograph,
+beneath which, on the cardboard, were some lines of explanatory
+writing in its fine, angular style of caligraphy. This he placed in my
+hand without a word, watching me silently as I looked at it.</p>
+
+<p>I could make nothing of the thing. It looked to me like a series&mdash;a
+very small one&mdash;of meaningless scratches, evidently made with the
+point of a knife, or even by a strong pin on the surface of the metal.
+Certainly, the marks were there, and, equally certainly, they looked
+to have been made with some intent&mdash;but what did they mean?</p>
+
+<p>"What d'ye make of it, lad?" he inquired after awhile. "Anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, Mr. Cazalette!" I replied. "Nothing whatever."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well, and to be candid, neither do I," he confessed. "And yet,
+I'm certain there's something in it. Take another look&mdash;and consider
+it carefully."</p>
+
+<p>I looked again&mdash;this is what there was to look at: mere lines, and at
+the foot of the photograph, Mr. Cazalette's explanatory notes and
+suggestions: I sat studying this for a few moments. "I make nothing of
+it. It seems to be a plan. But of what?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a plan, Middlebrook," he answered. "A plan of some place. But
+there I'm done! What place? Somebody that's in the secret, to a
+certain point, might know&mdash;but who else could? I've speculated a deal
+on the meaning and significance of those lines and marks, but without
+success. Yet&mdash;they're the key to something."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably to some place that Salter Quick knew of," I suggested.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Aye, and that somebody else wants to know of!" he exclaimed. "But
+what place, and where?"</p>
+
+<p>"He was asking after a churchyard," said I, suddenly remembering
+Quick's questions to me and his evident eagerness to acquire
+knowledge. "This may be a rude drawing of a corner of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, and he wanted the graves of the Netherfields," remarked Mr.
+Cazalette, dryly. "And I've made myself assured of the fact that there
+isn't a Netherfield buried anywhere about this region! No, it's my
+belief that this is a key to some spot in foreign parts, and that
+there's those who are anxious to get hold of it that they'll not
+stop&mdash;and haven't stopped&mdash;at murder. And now&mdash;they've got it!"</p>
+
+<p>"They've got&mdash;or somebody's got&mdash;your pocket-book," I answered. "But
+really, you know, Mr. Cazalette, this, and the handkerchief, mayn't
+have been the thief's object. You see, it must be pretty well known
+that you go down there to bathe every morning, and are in the habit of
+leaving your clothes about&mdash;and, well there may be those who're not
+particularly honest even in these Arcadian solitudes."</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;I'm not with you, Middlebrook!" he said. "Somewhere around us
+there's what I say&mdash;crafty and bloody murderers! But ye'll keep all
+this to yourself for awhile, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Just then the dinner-bell rang, and he put the photographic print
+away, and we went downstairs together. That was the evening on which
+Dr. Lorrimore was to dine with us&mdash;we found him in the hall, talking
+to Mr. Raven and his niece. Joining them, we found that their subject
+of conversation was the same that had just engaged Mr. Cazalette and
+myself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>&mdash;the tobacco-box. It turned out that the police-inspector had
+been round to Lorrimore's house, inquiring if Lorrimore, who, with the
+police-surgeon, had occupied a seat at the table whereon the Quick
+relics were laid out at the inquest, had noticed that now missing and
+consequently all-important object.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I saw it!" remarked Lorrimore, narrating this. "I told him
+I not only saw it, but handled it&mdash;so, too, did several other
+people&mdash;Mr. Cazalette there had drawn attention to the thing when we
+were examining the dead man, and there was some curiosity about it."
+(Here Mr. Cazalette, standing close by me, nudged my elbow, to remind
+me of what he had just said upstairs.) "And I told the inspector
+something else, or, rather, put him in mind of something he'd
+evidently forgotten," continued Lorrimore. "That inquest, or, to be
+precise, the adjourned inquest, was attended by a good many strangers,
+who had evidently been attracted by mere curiosity. There were a lot
+of people there who certainly did not belong to this neighbourhood.
+And when the proceedings were over, they came crowding round that
+table, morbidly inquisitive about the dead man's belongings. What
+easier, as I said to the inspector, than for some one of them&mdash;perhaps
+a curio-hunter&mdash;to quietly pick up that box and make off with it?
+There are people who'd give a good deal to lay hold of a souvenir of
+that sort."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven muttered something about no accounting for tastes, and we
+went in to dinner, and began to talk of less gruesome things.
+Lorrimore was a brilliant and accomplished conversationalist, and the
+time passed pleasantly until, as we men were lingering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> a little over
+our wine, and Miss Raven was softly playing the piano in the adjoining
+drawing-room, the butler came in and whispered to his master. Raven
+turned an astonished face to the rest of us.</p>
+
+<p>"There's the police-inspector here now," he said, "and with him a
+detective&mdash;from Devonport. They are anxious to see me&mdash;and you,
+Middlebrook. The detective has something to tell."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h2>THE YELLOW SEA</h2>
+
+
+<p>I am not sure which, or how many, of us sitting at that table had ever
+come into personal contact with a detective&mdash;I myself had never met
+one in my life!&mdash;but I am sure that Mr. Raven's announcement that
+there was a real live one close at hand immediately excited much
+curiosity. Miss Raven, in the adjoining room, the door of which was
+open, caught her uncle's last words, and came in, expectantly&mdash;I think
+she, like most of us, wondered what sort of being we were about to
+see. And possibly there was a shade of disappointment on her face when
+the police-inspector walked in followed, not by the secret, subtle,
+sleuth-hound-like person she had perhaps expected, but by a little,
+rotund, rather merry-faced man who looked more like a prosperous
+cheesemonger or successful draper than an emissary of justice: he was
+just the sort of person you would naturally expect to see with an
+apron round his comfortable waist-line or a pencil stuck in his ear
+and who was given to rubbing his fat, white hands&mdash;he rubbed them now
+and smiled, wholesale, as his companion led him forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Raven," said the inspector with an
+apologetic bow, "but we are anxious to have a little talk with you and
+Mr. Middlebrook.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> This is Mr. Scarterfield&mdash;from the police at
+Devonport. Mr. Scarterfield has been in charge of the investigations
+about the affair&mdash;Noah Quick, you know&mdash;down there, and he has come
+here to make some further inquiries."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven murmured some commonplace about being glad to see his
+visitors, and, with his usual hospitality, offered them refreshment.
+We made room for them at the table at which we were sitting, and some
+of us, I think, were impatient to hear what Mr. Scarterfield had to
+tell. But the detective was evidently one of those men who readily
+adapt themselves to whatever company they are thrown into, and he
+betrayed no eagerness to get to business until he had lighted one of
+Mr. Raven's cigars and pledged Mr. Raven in a whisky and soda. Then,
+equipped and at his ease, he turned a friendly, all-embracing smile on
+the rest of us.</p>
+
+<p>"Which," he asked, looking from one to the other, "which of these
+gentlemen is Mr. Middlebrook?"</p>
+
+<p>The general turning of several pairs of eyes in my direction gave him
+the information he wanted&mdash;we exchanged nods.</p>
+
+<p>"It was you who found Salter Quick?" he suggested. "And who met him,
+the previous day, on the cliffs hereabouts, and went with him into the
+Mariner's Joy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite correct," said I. "All that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have read up everything that appeared in print in connection with
+the Salter Quick affair," he remarked. "It has, of course, a bearing
+on the Noah Quick business. Whatever is of interest in the one is of
+interest in the other."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You think the two affairs one really&mdash;eh?" inquired Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"One!" declared Scarterfield. "The object of the man who murdered Noah
+was the same object as that of the man who murdered Salter. The two
+murderers are, without doubt, members of a gang. But what gang, and
+what object&mdash;ah! that's just what I don't know yet!"</p>
+
+<p>What we were all curious about, of course, was&mdash;what did he know that
+we did not already know? And I think he saw in what direction our
+thoughts were turning, for he presently leaned forward on the table
+and looked around the expectant faces as if to command our attention.</p>
+
+<p>"I had better tell you how far my investigations have gone," he said
+quietly. "Then we shall know precisely where we are, and from what
+point we can, perhaps, make a new departure, now that I have come
+here. I was put in charge of this case&mdash;at least of the Saltash
+murder&mdash;from the first. There's no need for me to go into the details
+of that now, because I take it that you have all read them, or quite
+sufficient of them. Now, when the news about Salter Quick came
+through, it seemed to me that the first thing to do was to find out a
+very pertinent thing&mdash;who were the brothers Quick? What were their
+antecedents? What was in their past, the immediate or distant past,
+likely to lead up to these crimes? A pretty stiff proposition, as you
+may readily guess! For, you must remember, each was a man of mystery.
+No one in our quarter knew anything more of Noah Quick than that he
+had come to Devonport some little time previous, taken over the
+license of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> Admiral Parker, conducted his house very well, and had
+the reputation of being a quiet, close, reserved sort of man who was
+making money. As to Salter, nobody knew anything except that he had
+been visiting Noah for some time. Family ties, the two men evidently
+have none!&mdash;not a soul has come forward to claim relationship.
+And&mdash;there has been wide publicity."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think Quick was the real name?" asked Mr. Cazalette, who from
+the first had been listening with rapt attention. "Mayn't it have been
+an assumed name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir," replied Scarterfield, "I thought of that. But you must
+remember that full descriptions of the two brothers appeared in the
+press, and that portraits of both were printed alongside. Nobody came
+forward, recognizing them. And there has been a powerful, a most
+powerful, inducement for their relations to appear, never mind whether
+they were Quick, or Brown, or Smith, or Robinson,&mdash;the most powerful
+inducement we could think of!"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" said Mr. Cazalette. "And that was&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Money!" answered the detective. "Money! If these men left any
+relations&mdash;sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces&mdash;it's in the interest of
+these relations to come into the light, for there's money awaiting
+them. That's well known&mdash;I had it noised abroad in the papers, and let
+it be freely talked of in town. But, as I say, nobody's come along. I
+firmly believe, now, that these two hadn't a blood relation in the
+world&mdash;a queer thing, but it seems to be so."</p>
+
+<p>"And&mdash;this money?" I asked. "Is it much?"</p>
+
+<p>"That was one of the first things I went for,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> answered Scarterfield.
+"Naturally, when a man comes to the end which Noah Quick met with,
+inquiries are made of his solicitors and his bankers. Noah had both in
+our parts. The solicitors knew nothing about him except that he had
+employed them now and then in trifling matters, and that of late he
+had made a will in which, in brief fashion, he left everything of
+which he died possessed to his brother Salter, whose address he gave
+as being the same as his own; about the same time they had made a will
+for Salter, in which he bequeathed everything he had to Noah. But as
+to the antecedents of Noah and Salter&mdash;nothing! Then I approached the
+bankers. There I got more information. When Noah Quick first went to
+Devonport he deposited a considerable sum of money with one of the
+leading banks at Plymouth, and at the time of his death he had several
+thousand pounds lying there to his credit: his bankers also had charge
+of valuable securities of his. On Salter Quick's coming to the Admiral
+Parker, Noah introduced him to this bank: Salter deposited there a sum
+of about two thousand pounds, and of that he had only withdrawn about
+a hundred. So he, too, at the time of his death, had a large balance;
+also, he left with the bankers, for safe keeping, some valuable scrip
+and securities, chiefly of Indian railways. Altogether, those bankers
+hold a lot of money that belongs to the two brothers, and there are
+certain indications that they made their money&mdash;previous to coming to
+Devonport&mdash;in the far East. But the bankers know no more of their
+antecedents than the solicitors do. In both instances&mdash;banking matters
+and legal matters&mdash;the two men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> seem to have confined their words to
+strict business, and no more; the only man I have come across who can
+give me the faintest idea of anything respecting their past is a
+regular frequenter of the Admiral Parker who says that he once
+gathered from Salter Quick that he and Noah were natives of
+Rotherhithe, or somewhere in that part, and that they were orphans and
+the last of their lot."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, you have been to Rotherhithe&mdash;making inquiries?" suggested
+Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"I have, sir," replied Scarterfield. "And I searched various parish
+registers there, and found nothing that helped me. If the two brothers
+did live at Rotherhithe, they must have been taken there as children
+and born elsewhere&mdash;they weren't born in Rotherhithe parish. Nor could
+I come across anybody at all who knew anything of them in seafaring
+circles thereabouts. I came to the conclusion that whoever those two
+men were, and whatever they had been, most of their lives had been
+spent away from this country."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably in the far East, as you previously suggested," muttered Mr.
+Cazalette.</p>
+
+<p>"Likely!" agreed Scarterfield. "Their money would seem to have been
+made there, judging by, at any rate, some of their securities. Well,
+there's more ways than one of finding things out, and after I'd
+knocked round a good deal of Thames' side, and been in some queer
+places, I turned my attention to Lloyds. Now, connected with Lloyds,
+are various publications having to do with shipping matters&mdash;the
+'Weekly Shipping Index,' the 'Confidential Index,' for instance;
+moreover, with time and patience,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> you can find out a great deal at
+Lloyds not only about ships, but about men in them. And to cut a long
+story short, gentlemen, last week I did at last get a clue about Noah
+and Salter Quick which I now mean to follow up for all it's worth."</p>
+
+<p>Here the detective, suddenly assuming a more business-like air than he
+had previously shown, paused, to produce from his breast-pocket a
+small bundle of papers, which he laid before him on the table. I
+suppose we all gazed at them as if they suggested deep and dark
+mystery&mdash;but for the time being Scarterfield let them lie idle where
+he had placed them.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have to tell the story in a sort of sequence," he continued.
+"This is what I have pieced together from the information I collected
+at Lloyds. In October, 1907, now nearly five years ago, a certain
+steam ship, the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, left Hong-Kong, in Southern
+China, for Chemulpo, one of the principal ports in Korea. She was
+spoken in the Yellow Sea several days later. After that she was never
+heard of again, and according to the information available at Lloyds
+she probably went down in a typhoon in the Yellow Sea and was totally
+lost, with all hands on board. No great matter, perhaps!&mdash;from all
+that I could gather she was nothing but a tramp steamer that did, so
+to speak, odd jobs anywhere between India and China; she had gone to
+Hong-Kong from Singapore: her owners were small folk in Singapore, and
+I imagine that she had seen a good deal of active service. All the
+same, she's of considerable interest to me, for I have managed to
+secure a list of the names of the men who were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> on her when she left
+Hong-Kong for Chemulpo&mdash;and amongst those names are those of the two
+men we're concerned about: Noah and Salter Quick."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield slipped off the india-rubber band which confined his
+papers, and selecting one, slowly unfolded it. Mr. Raven spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I understood that this ship, the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, was lost with
+all hands?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"So she is set down at Lloyds," replied Scarterfield. "Never heard of
+again&mdash;after being spoken in the Yellow Sea about three days from
+Chemulpo."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet&mdash;Noah and Salter Quick were on her&mdash;and were living five years
+later?" suggested Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so, sir!" agreed Scarterfield, dryly. "Therefore, if Noah and
+Salter Quick were on her, and as they were alive until recently,
+either the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> did not go down in a typhoon, or from
+any other reason, or&mdash;the brothers Quick escaped. But here is a list
+of the men who were aboard when she sailed from Hong-Kong. She was, I
+have already told you, a low-down tramp steamer, evidently picking up
+a precarious living between one far Eastern port and another&mdash;a small
+vessel. Her list includes a master, or captain, and a crew of
+eighteen&mdash;I needn't trouble you with their names, except in two
+instances, which I'll refer to presently. But here are the names of
+Noah Quick, Salter Quick&mdash;set down as passengers. Passengers!&mdash;not
+members of the crew. Nothing in the list of the crew strikes me but
+the two names I spoke of, and that I'll now refer to. The first name
+will have an interest for Mr. Middlebrook. It's Netherfield."</p>
+
+<p>"Netherfield!" I exclaimed. "The name&mdash;&mdash;"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That Salter Quick asked you particular questions about when he met
+you on the headlands, Mr. Middlebrook," answered Scarterfield, with a
+knowing look, "and that he was very anxious to get some news of
+William Netherfield, deck-hand, of Blyth, Northumberland&mdash;that's the
+name on the list of those who were aboard the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>
+when she went out of Hong-Kong&mdash;and disappeared forever!"</p>
+
+<p>"Of Blyth?" remarked Mr. Cazalette. "Um!&mdash;Blyth lies some miles to the
+southward."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm aware of it, sir," said Scarterfield, "and I propose to visit the
+place when I have made certain inquiries about this region. But I hope
+you appreciate the extraordinary coincidence, gentlemen? In October,
+1907, Salter Quick is on a tramp steamer in the Yellow Sea in company,
+more or less intimate, with a sailor-man from Blyth, in
+Northumberland, whose name is Netherfield: in March, 1912, he is on
+the sea-coast near Alnmouth, asking anxiously if anybody knows of a
+churchyard or churchyards in these parts where people of the name of
+Netherfield are buried? Why? What had the man Netherfield who was with
+Salter Quick in Chinese waters in 1907 got to do with Salter Quick's
+presence here five years later?"</p>
+
+<p>Nobody attempted to answer these questions, and presently I put one
+for myself.</p>
+
+<p>"You spoke of two names on the list as striking you with some
+significance," I said. "Netherfield is one. What is the other?"</p>
+
+<p>"That of a Chinaman," he replied promptly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> referring to his
+documents. "Set down as cook&mdash;I'm told most of those coasting steamers
+in that part of the world carry Chinamen as cooks. Chuh Fen&mdash;that's
+the name. And why it's significant to me, when all the rest aren't, is
+this&mdash;during the course of my inquiries at Lloyds, I learnt that about
+three years ago a certain Chinaman, calling himself Chuh Fen, dropped
+in at Lloyds and was very anxious to know if the steamer <i>Elizabeth
+Robinson</i>, which sailed from Hong-Kong for Chemulpo in October, 1907,
+ever arrived at its destination? He was given the same information
+that was afforded me, and on getting it went away, silent. Now
+then&mdash;was this man, this Chinaman, the Chuh Fen who turned up in
+London, the same Chuh Fen who was on the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>? If so,
+how did he escape a shipwreck which evidently happened? And why&mdash;if
+there was no shipwreck, and something else took place of which we have
+no knowledge&mdash;did he want to know, after two years' lapse of time, if
+the ship did really get to Chemulpo?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a slight pause then, suddenly broken by Dr. Lorrimore, who
+then spoke for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know what all this is suggesting to me?" he exclaimed, nodding
+at Scarterfield. "Something happened on that ship! It may be that
+there was no shipwreck, as you said just now&mdash;something may have taken
+place of which we have no knowledge. But one fact comes out
+clearly&mdash;whether the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> ever reached any port or
+not, it's very evident&mdash;nay, certain!&mdash;that Noah and Salter Quick did.
+And&mdash;considering the inquiry he made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> at Lloyds&mdash;so did the Chinaman,
+Chuh Fen. Now&mdash;what could those three have told about the <i>Elizabeth
+Robinson</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>No one made any remark on that, until Scarterfield remarked softly:</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had chanced to be at Lloyds when Chuh Fen called there!
+But&mdash;that's three years ago, and Chuh Fen may be&mdash;where?"</p>
+
+<p>Something impelled Miss Raven and myself to glance at Dr. Lorrimore.
+He nodded&mdash;he knew what we were thinking of. And he turned to
+Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"I happen," he said, "to have a Chinaman in my employ at present&mdash;one
+Wing, a very clever man. He has been with me for some years&mdash;I brought
+him from India, when I came home recently. An astute chap, like&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He paused suddenly; the detective had turned a suddenly interested
+glance on him.</p>
+
+<p>"You live hereabouts, sir?" he asked. "I&mdash;I don't think I've caught
+your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Lorrimore&mdash;our neighbour," said Mr. Raven hurriedly. "Close by."</p>
+
+<p>I think Lorrimore saw what had suddenly come into Scarterfield's mind.
+He laughed, a little cynically.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get the idea, or suspicion, formed or half-fledged, that my man
+Wing had anything to do with the murder of Salter Quick!" he said. "I
+can vouch for him and his movements&mdash;I know where he was on the night
+of the murder. What I was thinking of was this&mdash;Wing is a man of
+infinite resource and of superior brains. He might be of use to you in
+tracing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> this Chuh Fen, if Chuh Fen is in England. When Wing and I
+were in London&mdash;we were there for some time after I returned from
+India, previous to my coming down here&mdash;Wing paid a good many visits
+to his fellow Chinamen in the East End, Limehouse way; he also had a
+holiday in Liverpool and another at Swansea and Cardiff, where, I am
+told, there are Chinese settlements. And I happen to know that he
+carries on an extensive correspondence with his compatriots. If you
+think he could give you any information, Mr. Scarterfield&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to have a talk with him, certainly," responded the
+detective, with some eagerness. "I know a bit about these chaps&mdash;some
+of them can see through a brick wall!"</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore turned to Mr. Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"If your coachman could run across with the dog-cart, or anything
+handy," he said, "and would tell Wing that I want him, here, he'd be
+with me at once. And he may be able to suggest something&mdash;I know that
+before he came to me&mdash;I picked him up in Bombay&mdash;he had knocked about
+the ports of Southern China a great deal."</p>
+
+<p>"Come with me and give my coachman instructions," said Mr. Raven.
+"He'll run over to your place in ten minutes; and while we are
+discussing this affair we may as well have as much light as we can get
+on it."</p>
+
+<p>He and Lorrimore left the room together; when they returned, the
+conversation reverted to a discussion of possible ways and means of
+finding out more about the antecedents of the Quicks. Half an hour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+passed in this&mdash;fruitlessly; then the door was quietly opened and
+behind the somewhat pompous figure of the butler I saw the bland,
+obsequious smile of the Chinaman.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FIVE CONCLUSIONS</h2>
+
+
+<p>We who sat round that table during the next hour or so must have made a
+strange group. Mr. Raven, always a little nervous and flustered in manner;
+his niece, fresh and eager, in her pretty dinner dress, a curious contrast
+to the antiquated garb and parchment face of old Cazalette, who sat by
+her, watchful and doubting; the officialdom-suggesting figure of the
+police-inspector, erect and rigid in his close-fitting uniform; the
+detective, rubicund and confident, though of what one scarcely knew;
+Lorrimore and myself, keen listeners and watchers, and last, but not by
+any means the least notable, the bland, suave Chinaman in his neat native
+dress, sitting modestly in the background, inscrutable as an image carved
+out of ivory. I do not know what the rest thought, but it lay in my own
+mind that if there was one man in that room who might be trusted to find
+his way out of the maze in which we were wandering, that man was Dr.
+Lorrimore's servant.</p>
+
+<p>It was Lorrimore who, at the detective's request, explained to Wing
+why we had sent for him. The Chinaman nodded a grave assent when
+reminded of the Salter Quick affair&mdash;evidently he knew all about it.
+And&mdash;if one really could detect anything at all in so carefully-veiled
+a countenance&mdash;I thought I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> detected an increased watchfulness in his
+eyes when Scarterfield began to ask him questions arising out of what
+Lorrimore had said.</p>
+
+<p>"There is evidence," began the detective, "that this man Salter Quick,
+and his brother Noah Quick, were mixed up in some affair that had
+connection with a trading steamer, the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, believed
+to have been lost in the Yellow Sea, between Hong-Kong and Chemulpo,
+in October 1907. On board that steamer was a certain Chinaman, who,
+two years later, turned up in London. Now, Dr. Lorrimore tells me that
+when you and he were in London, some little time ago, you spent a good
+deal of time amongst your own people in the East End, and that you
+also visited some of them in Liverpool, Cardiff, and Swansea. So I
+want to ask you&mdash;did you ever hear, in any of these quarters, of a man
+named Chuh Fen? Here&mdash;in London&mdash;two years after the <i>Elizabeth
+Robinson</i> affair&mdash;that's three years back from now."</p>
+
+<p>The Chinaman moved his head very slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he answered. "Not in London&mdash;nor in England. But I knew a man
+named Chuh Fen ten, eleven, years ago, before I went to Bombay and
+entered my present service."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you know him?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Two&mdash;perhaps three places," said Wing. "Singapore, Penang, perhaps
+Rangoon, too. I remember him."</p>
+
+<p>"What was he?"</p>
+
+<p>"A cook&mdash;very good cook."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you be surprised to hear of his being in England three years
+ago?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. Many Chinamen come here. I myself&mdash;why not others? If
+Chuh Fen came here, three years ago, perhaps he came as cook on some
+ship trading from China or Burma. Then&mdash;go back again."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if he did!" muttered the detective. "Still," he continued,
+turning to Wing, "a lot of your people when they come here, stop,
+don't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Many stop in this country," said Wing.</p>
+
+<p>"Laundry business, eating-houses, groceries, and so on?" suggested
+Scarterfield. "And chiefly in the places I've mentioned, eh?&mdash;the East
+End of London, Liverpool, and the two big Welsh towns? Now, I want to
+ask you a question. This man I'm talking of, Chuh Fen, was certainly
+in London three years ago. Are there places and people in London where
+one could get to hear of him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Where I could get to hear of him&mdash;yes," answered Wing.</p>
+
+<p>"You say&mdash;where you could get to hear of him," remarked Scarterfield.
+"Does that mean that you would get information which I shouldn't get?"</p>
+
+<p>The very faintest ghost of a smile showed itself in the wrinkles about
+the Chinaman's eyes. He inclined his head a little, politely, and
+Lorrimore stepped into the arena.</p>
+
+<p>"What Wing means is that being a Chinaman himself, naturally he could
+get news of a fellow-Chinaman from fellow-Chinamen where you, an
+Englishman, wouldn't get any at all!" he said with a laugh. "I dare
+say that if you, Mr. Scarterfield, went down Limehouse way seeking
+particulars about Chuh Fen, you'd be met with blank faces and stopped
+ears."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That's just what I'm suggesting, doctor," answered the detective,
+good-humouredly. "I'll put the thing in a nutshell&mdash;my profound belief
+is that if we want to get at the bottom of these two murders we've got
+to go back a long way, to the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> time, and that Chuh
+Fen is the only person I've heard of, up to now, who can throw a light
+on that episode. And it seems to me, to be plain about it, that Mr.
+Wing there could be extremely useful."</p>
+
+<p>"How?" asked Lorrimore. "He's at your service, I'm sure."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, by finding out if this Chuh Fen, when he was here, three years
+since, made any revelations to his Chinese brethren in Limehouse or
+elsewhere," replied Scarterfield. "He may have known something about
+the brothers Quick and concerning that <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> affair
+that would help immensely. Any little thing!&mdash;a mere scrap of
+information&mdash;just a bit of chance gossip&mdash;a hint&mdash;you don't know how
+valuable these things are. The mere germ of a clue&mdash;you know!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know," said Lorrimore. He turned to his servant and addressed him
+in some strange tongue in which Wing at once responded: for some
+minutes they talked together, volubly: then Lorrimore looked round at
+Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Wing says that if Chuh Fen was in London three years ago he can
+engage to find out how long he was here, whence he came and why, and
+where he went," he said. "I gather that there's a sort of freemasonry
+amongst these men&mdash;naturally, they seek each other out in strange
+lands, and there are places in London<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> and the other parts to which a
+Chinaman resorts if he happens to land in England. This he can do for
+you&mdash;he's no doubt of it."</p>
+
+<p>"There's another thing," said Scarterfield. "If Chuh Fen is still in
+England&mdash;as he may be&mdash;can he find him?"</p>
+
+<p>Wing's smooth countenance, on hearing this, showed some sign of
+animation. Instead of replying to the detective, he again addressed
+his master in the foreign tongue. Lorrimore nodded and turned to
+Scarterfield with a slightly cynical smile.</p>
+
+<p>"He says that if Chuh Fen is anywhere in England he can lay hands on
+him, quickly," said Lorrimore. "But&mdash;he adds that it might not be at
+all convenient to Chuh Fen to come into the full light of day: Chuh
+Fen may have reasons of his own for desiring strict privacy."</p>
+
+<p>"I take you!" said Scarterfield, with a wink. "All right, doctor! If
+Mr. Wing can unearth Mr. Chuh Fen and that mysterious gentleman can
+give me a tip, I'll respect his privacy! So now&mdash;do we get at
+something? Do I understand that your man will help us by trying to
+find out some particulars of Chuh Fen, or laying hands on Chuh Fen
+himself? All expenses defrayed, you know," he went on, turning to
+Wing, "and a handsome remuneration if it leads to results. And&mdash;follow
+your own plans! I know you Chinamen are smart and deep at this sort of
+thing!"</p>
+
+<p>"Leave it to him," said Lorrimore. "To him and to me. If there's news
+to be had of this man Chuh Fen, he'll get it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then that is something done!" exclaimed Scarterfield,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> rubbing his
+hands. "Good!&mdash;I like to see even a bit of progress. But now, while
+I'm here, and while we're at business&mdash;and I hope this young lady
+doesn't find it dull business!&mdash;there's another matter. The inspector
+tells me there have been alarums and excursions about a certain
+tobacco-box which was found on Salter Quick, that Mr. Cazalette&mdash;you,
+sir, I think&mdash;had had various experiments in connection with it, and
+that the thing has been stolen. Now, I want to know all about
+that!&mdash;who can tell me most?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette was sitting between Miss Raven and myself; I leaned
+close to him and whispered, feeling that now was the time to bring
+every known fact to light.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell all&mdash;all&mdash;you told me just before dinner!" I urged upon him.
+"Table the whole pack of cards: let us get at something&mdash;now!"</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated, looking half-suspiciously from one to the other of those
+opposite.</p>
+
+<p>"D'ye think I'd be well advised, Middlebrook?" he whispered. "Is it
+wise policy to show all the cards you're holding?"</p>
+
+<p>"In this case, yes!" I said. "Tell everything!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said. "Maybe. But&mdash;it's on your advice, you'll remember,
+and I'm not sure this is the time, nor just the company. However&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>So, for the second time that day, Mr. Cazalette told the story of the
+tobacco-box and of his pocket-book, and produced his photograph. It
+came as a surprise to all there but myself, and I saw that Mr. Raven
+in particular was much perturbed by the story of the theft that
+morning. I knew what he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> thinking&mdash;the criminal or criminals were
+much too close at hand. He cut in now and then with a question&mdash;but
+the detective listened in grim, absorbed silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, you know, this is really about the most serious and important
+thing I've heard, so far," he said, when Mr. Cazalette had finished.
+"Just let's sum it up. Salter Quick is murdered in a strange and
+lonely place. Not for his goods, for all his money and his
+valuables&mdash;not inconsiderable&mdash;are found on him. But the murderer was
+in search of something that he believed to be on Salter Quick, for he
+thoroughly searched his clothing, slashed its linings, turned his
+pockets out&mdash;and probably, no, we may safely say certainly, failed in
+his search. He did not get what he was after&mdash;any more than his
+fellow-murderer who slew Noah Quick, some hundreds of miles away from
+here, about the very same time, got what he was after. But now comes
+in Mr. Cazalette. Mr. Cazalette, inadvertently, never thinking what he
+was doing, draws public attention to certain marks and scratches,
+evidently made on purpose, in Salter Quick's tobacco-box. Do you see
+my point, gentlemen? The murderer hears of this and says to himself,
+'That box is the thing I want!' So&mdash;he appropriates it, at the
+inquest! But even then, so faint and almost illegible are the marks
+within the lid, he doesn't find exactly what he wants. But he knows
+that Mr. Cazalette was going to submit his photograph to an enlarging
+process, which would make the marks clearer; he also knows Mr.
+Cazalette's habits (a highly significant fact!) so he sets himself to
+steal Mr. Cazalette's pocket-book, theorizing that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> Mr. Cazalette
+probably has a copy of the enlarged photograph within it. And, this
+morning, while Mr. Cazalette is bathing, he gets it! Gentlemen!&mdash;what
+does this show? One thing as a certainty&mdash;the murderer is close at
+hand!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a dead silence&mdash;broken at last by a querulous murmur from
+Mr. Cazalette himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye may be as sure o' that, my man, as that Arthur's Seat o'erlooks
+Edinbro'!" he said. "I wish I was as sure o' his identity!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we know something that's gradually bringing us toward
+establishing that," remarked Scarterfield. "Let me see that photograph
+again, if you please."</p>
+
+<p>The rest of us watched Scarterfield as he studied the thing over which
+Mr. Cazalette and I had exercised our brains in the half-hour before
+dinner. He seemed to get no more information from a long perusal of it
+than we had got, and he finally threw it away from him across the
+table, with a muttered exclamation which confessed discomfiture. Miss
+Raven picked up the photograph.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" mumbled Mr. Cazalette. "Let the lassie look at it! Maybe a
+woman's brains is more use than a man's whiles."</p>
+
+<p>"Often!" said the detective. "And if Miss Raven can make anything of
+that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>I saw that Miss Raven was already wishful to speak, and I hastened to
+encourage her by throwing a word to Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd be infinitely obliged to her, I'm sure," I put in. "It would be
+a help?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No slight one!" said he. "There's something in that diagram.
+But&mdash;what?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raven, timid, and a little shy of concentrated attention, laid
+the photograph again on the table.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't&mdash;don't you think there may be some explanation of this in what
+Salter Quick said to Mr. Middlebrook when they met on the cliffs?" she
+asked. "He told Mr. Middlebrook that he wanted to find a churchyard
+where there were graves of people named Netherfield, but he didn't
+know exactly where it was, though it was somewhere in this locality.
+Now supposing this is a rough outline of that churchyard? These outer
+lines may be the wall&mdash;then these little marks may show the situation
+of the Netherfield graves. And that cross in the corner&mdash;perhaps there
+is something buried, hidden, there, which Salter Quick wanted to
+find?"</p>
+
+<p>The detective uttered a sharp exclamation and snatched up the
+photograph again.</p>
+
+<p>"Good! Good!" he said. "Upon my word, I shouldn't wonder! To be sure,
+that may be it. What's against it?"</p>
+
+<p>"This," remarked Mr. Cazalette solemnly. "That there isn't anybody of
+the name of Netherfield buried between Alnmouth and Budle Bay! That's
+a fact."</p>
+
+<p>"Established," added the police-inspector, "by as an exhaustive
+inquiry as anybody could make. It is a fact&mdash;as Mr. Cazalette says."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," observed Scarterfield, "but Salter Quick may have been wrong
+in his locality. You can be sure of this&mdash;whatever secret he held was
+got from somebody else. He may have been twenty, thirty,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> even fifty
+miles out. But we know something&mdash;the Netherfield who was with him on
+the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> hailed from Blyth, in this county. I'm going
+to Blyth myself&mdash;tomorrow; I'll find out if there are Netherfields
+buried about there. Personally, I believe Miss Raven's hit the nail on
+the head&mdash;this is a rough chart of a spot Salter Quick wanted to
+find&mdash;where, no doubt, something is hidden. What? Who knows?
+But&mdash;judging from the fact that two men have been murdered for the
+secret of it&mdash;something of great value. Buried treasure, no doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"That's precisely what I've been thinking from the very first,"
+murmured Mr. Cazalette. "And ye'll have to go back&mdash;to go back, my
+man!"</p>
+
+<p>"It's certainly the only way of going forward," agreed Scarterfield
+with a laugh. "But now, before we part, gentlemen, let us see where
+we've got to. I, for myself, have drawn five distinct conclusions
+about this affair:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>First</i>&mdash;That the Quicks, Noah and Salter, were in possession of a
+secret, which was probably connected with their shipmate of the
+<i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, Netherfield, who hailed from Blyth;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Second</i>&mdash;That certain men knew the Quicks to be in possession of
+that secret and murdered both to get hold of it;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Third</i>&mdash;That they failed to get it from either Noah or Salter;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Fourth</i>&mdash;That Mr. Cazalette's zeal about the tobacco-box, publicly
+expressed, put the criminals on a new scent, and that they, in
+pursuance of it, stole both the tobacco-box and Mr. Cazalette's
+pocket-book;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Fifth</i>&mdash;That the criminals are&mdash;or were very recently, in fact, this
+very morning&mdash;in the vicinity of this place.</p>
+
+<p>"So," he continued, looking round, "the thing's narrowing. Let Mr.
+Wing there help by getting some news of Chuh Fen, if possible; as for
+me, I'm going to follow up the Netherfield line. I think we shall
+track these fellows yet&mdash;you never know how unexpectedly a clue may
+turn up."</p>
+
+<p>"You've not said anything about the handkerchief that I found,"
+observed Mr. Cazalette. "There's a clue, surely!"</p>
+
+<p>"Difficult to follow up, sir," replied Scarterfield. "There is such a
+thing as little articles of that sort being lost at the laundry, put
+into the wrong basket, and so on. Now if we could trace the owner of
+the handkerchief and find where he gets his washing done, and a great
+deal more&mdash;you see? But we'll not lose sight of it, Mr.
+Cazalette&mdash;only, there are more important clues than that to go on in
+the meantime. The great thing is&mdash;what was this precious secret that
+the Quicks shared, and that certainly had to do with some place here
+in Northumberland? Let's get at that&mdash;if we can."</p>
+
+<p>The two police officials went away with Dr. Lorrimore and his servant,
+all in deep converse, and the four of us who were left behind
+endeavoured to settle our minds for the repose of the night. But I saw
+that Mr. Raven had been upset by the recent talk: he had got it firmly
+fixed in his consciousness that the murderer of Salter Quick was, as
+it were, in our very midst.</p>
+
+<p>"How do I know that the guilty man mayn't be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> one of my own servants?"
+he muttered, as he, Mr. Cazalette and I took up our candles. "There
+are six men in the house&mdash;all strangers to me&mdash;and several employed
+outside. The idea's deucedly unpleasant!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ye may put it clear away from you, Raven," said Mr. Cazalette. "The
+murderer may be within bow-shot, but he's none o' yours. Ye'll look
+deeper, far, far deeper than that&mdash;this is no ordinary affair, and no
+ordinary men at the bottom of it." Then, when he and I had left our
+host, and were going along one of the upstairs passages towards our
+own rooms, he added: "No ordinary man, Middlebrook! but you see how
+ordinary folk are suspicioned! Raven'll be doubting the <i>bona fides</i>
+of his own footmen and his own garden lads next. No&mdash;no! it'll be
+deeper down than that, my lad!"</p>
+
+<p>"The mystery is deep," I agreed.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye&mdash;and I'm wondering if it was well to let yon Chinese fellow into
+all of it," he muttered significantly. "I'm no great believer in
+Orientals, Middlebrook."</p>
+
+<p>"Lorrimore answers for him," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"And who answers for Lorrimore?" he demanded. "What do you or I know
+of Lorrimore? I'm thinking yon Lorrimore was far too glib of his
+tongue&mdash;and maybe I was too ready myself and talked beyond reason to
+strangers. I don't know Lorrimore&mdash;nor his Chinaman."</p>
+
+<p>From which I gathered that Mr. Cazalette himself was not superior to
+suspicions.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h2>NETHERFIELD BAXTER</h2>
+
+
+<p>However Mr. Raven's nerves may have been wrung by the mysterious
+events which found place around his recently acquired possessions,
+nothing untoward or disturbing occurred at Ravensdene Court itself at
+that time. Indeed, had it not been for what we heard from outside, and
+for such doings as the visit of the inspector and Scarterfield, the
+daily life under Mr. Raven's roof would have been regular and decorous
+almost to the point of monotony. We were all engaged in our respective
+avocations&mdash;Mr. Cazalette with his coins and medals; I with my books
+and papers; Mr. Raven with his steward, his gardeners, and his various
+potterings about the estate; Miss Raven with her flowers and her golf.
+Certainly there was relaxation&mdash;and in taking it, we sorted out each
+other. Mr. Raven and Mr. Cazalette made common cause of an afternoon;
+they were of that period of life&mdash;despite the gulf of twenty years
+between them&mdash;when lounging in comfortable chairs under old cedar
+trees on a sunlit lawn is preferable to active exercise; Miss Raven
+and I being younger, found our diversion in golf and in occasional
+explorations of the surrounding country. She had a touch of the
+nomadic instinct in her; so had I; the neighbourhood was new to both;
+we began to find great pleasure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> in setting out on some excursion as
+soon as lunch was over and prolonging our wanderings until the falling
+shadows warned us that it was time to make for home. What these
+pilgrimages led to&mdash;in more ways than one&mdash;will eventually appear.</p>
+
+<p>We heard nothing of Scarterfield, the detective, nor of Wing, pressed
+into his service, for some days after the consultation in Mr. Raven's
+dining-room. Then, as we were breakfasting one morning, the post-bag
+was brought in, and Mr. Raven, opening it, presently handed me a
+letter in an unfamiliar handwriting, the envelope of which bore the
+post-mark Blyth. I guessed, of course, that it was from Scarterfield,
+and immediately began to wonder what on earth made him write to me.
+But there it was&mdash;he had written, and here is what he wrote:</p>
+
+<p class="f6">"<span class="smcap">North Sea Hotel</span>,</p>
+
+<p class="f6">"<span class="smcap">Blyth, Northumberland</span></p>
+
+<p class="f6">"April 23, 1912</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Dear Sir:</i></p>
+
+<p>"You will remember that when we were discussing matters the
+other night round Mr. Raven's table I mentioned that I
+intended visiting this town in order to make some inquiries
+about the man Netherfield who was with the brothers Quick on
+the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>. I have been here two days, and I
+have made some very curious discoveries. And I am now
+writing to ask you if you could so far oblige and help me in
+my investigations as to join me here for a day or two, at
+once? The fact is, I want your assistance&mdash;I understand that
+you are an expert in deciphering documents and the like, and
+I have come across certain things here in connection with
+this case which are beyond me. I can assure you that if you
+could make it convenient to spare me even a few hours of
+your valuable time you would put me under great obligations
+to you.</p></div>
+
+<p class="f2">"Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p class="f3">"<span class="smcap">Thomas Scarterfield</span>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I read this letter twice over before handing it to Mr. Raven. Its
+perusal seemed to excite him.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless me!" he exclaimed. "How very extraordinary! What strange
+mysteries we seem to be living amongst? You'll go, of course,
+Middlebrook?"</p>
+
+<p>"You think I should?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, certainly, certainly!" he said with emphasis. "If any of us can
+do anything to solve this strange problem, I think we should. Of
+course, one hasn't the faintest idea what it is that the man wants.
+But from what I observed of him the other evening, I should say that
+Scarterfield is a clever fellow&mdash;a very clever fellow who should be
+helped."</p>
+
+<p>"Scarterfield," I remarked, glancing at Miss Raven and at Mr.
+Cazalette, who were manifesting curiosity, "has made some discoveries
+at Blyth&mdash;about the Netherfield man&mdash;and he wants me to go over there
+and help him&mdash;to elucidate something, I think, but what it is, I don't
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of course, you must go!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "How exciting! Mr.
+Cazalette! aren't you jealous already?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I'm curious," answered Mr. Cazalette, to whom I had passed
+the letter. "I see the man wants something deciphered&mdash;aye, that'll be
+in your line, Middlebrook. Didn't I tell all of you, all along, that
+there'd be more in this business than met the eye? Well, I'll be
+inquisitive to know what new developments have arisen! It's a strange
+fact, but it is a fact, that in affairs of this sort there's often
+evidence, circumstantial, strong, lying ready to be picked up. Next
+door, as it were&mdash;and as it is evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> in this case, for Blyth's a
+town that's not so far away."</p>
+
+<p>Far away or near away, it took me some hours to get to Blyth, for I
+had to drive to Alnwick, and later to change at Morpeth, and again at
+Newsham. But there I was at last, in the middle of the afternoon, and
+there, on the platform to meet me was the detective, as rubicund and
+cheerful as ever, and full of gratitude for my speedy response to his
+request.</p>
+
+<p>"I got your telegram, Mr. Middlebrook," he remarked as we walked away
+from the station, "and I've booked you the most comfortable room I
+could get in the hotel, which is a nice quiet house where we'll be
+able to talk in privacy, for barring you and myself there's nobody
+stopping in it, except a few commercial travellers, and to be sure,
+they've their own quarters. You'll have had your lunch?"</p>
+
+<p>"While I waited at Morpeth," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye," he said, "I figured on that. So we'll just get into a corner of
+the smoking-room and have a quiet glass over a cigar, and I'll tell
+you what I've made out here&mdash;and a very strange and queer tale it is,
+and one that's worth hearing, whether it really has to do with our
+affair or no!"</p>
+
+<p>"You're not sure that it has?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm as sure as may be that it probably has!" he replied. "But still,
+there's a gulf between extreme probability and absolute certainty
+that's a bit wider than the unthinking reckon for. However, here we
+are&mdash;and we'll just get comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield's ideas of comfort, I found, were to dispose himself in
+the easiest of chairs in the quietest of corners with whisky and soda
+on one hand and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> box of cigars on the other&mdash;this sort of thing he
+evidently regarded as a proper relaxation from his severe mental
+labours. I had no objection to it myself after four hours slow
+travelling&mdash;yet I confess I felt keenly impatient until he had mixed
+our drinks, lighted his cigar and settled down at my elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said confidentially, "I'll set it all out in order&mdash;what
+I've done and found out since I came here two days ago. There's no
+need, Mr. Middlebrook, to go into detail about how I set to work to
+get information: we've our own ways and methods of getting hold of
+stuff when we strike a strange town. But you know what I came here
+for. There's been talk, all through this case, of the name
+Netherfield&mdash;from the questions that Salter Quick put to you when you
+met him on the cliffs, and from what was said at the Mariner's Joy.
+Very good&mdash;now I fell across that name, too, in my investigations in
+London, as being the name of a man who was on the <i>Elizabeth
+Robinson</i>, of uncertain memory, lost or disappeared in the year 1907,
+with the two Quicks. He was set down, that Netherfield, as being of
+Blyth, Northumberland. Clearly, then, Blyth was a place to get in
+touch with&mdash;and here in Blyth we are!"</p>
+
+<p>"A clear bit of preface, Scarterfield," said I approvingly. "Go ahead!
+I'm bearing in mind that you've been here forty-eight hours."</p>
+
+<p>"I've made good use of my time!" he chuckled, with a knowing grin.
+"Although I say it myself, Mr. Middlebrook, I'm a bit of a hustler.
+Well, self-praise, they say, is no recommendation, though to be sure
+I'm no believer in that old proverb, for, after all, who knows a man
+better than himself? So we'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> get to the story. I came here, of
+course, to see if I could learn anything of a man of this place who
+answered to what I had already learnt about Netherfield of the
+<i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>. I went to the likely people for news, and I very
+soon found out something. Nobody knew anything of any man, old or
+young, named William Netherfield, belonging, present or past, to this
+town. But a good many people&mdash;most, if not all people&mdash;do know of a
+man who used to be in much evidence here some years ago; a man of the
+name of Netherfield Baxter."</p>
+
+<p>"Netherfield Baxter," I repeated. "Not a name to be readily
+forgotten&mdash;once known."</p>
+
+<p>"He's not forgotten," said Scarterfield, grimly, "and he was well
+enough known, here, once upon a time, and not so long since, either.
+And now, who was Netherfield Baxter? Well, he was the only child of an
+old tradesman of this town, whose wife died when Netherfield was a
+mere boy, and who died himself when his son was only seventeen years
+of age. Old Baxter was a remarkably foolish man. He left all he had to
+this lad&mdash;some twelve thousand pounds&mdash;in such a fashion that he came
+into absolute, uncontrolled possession of it on attaining his
+twenty-first birthday. Now then you can imagine what happened! My
+young gentleman, nobody to say him nay, no father, mother, sister,
+brother, to restrain him or give him a word in season&mdash;or a hearty
+kicking, which would have been more to the purpose!&mdash;went the pace,
+pretty considerably. Horses, cards, champagne&mdash;you know! The twelve
+thousand began to melt like wax in a fire. He carried on longer than
+was expected, for now and then he had luck on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> race-course; won a
+good deal once, I heard, on the big race at Newcastle&mdash;what they call
+the Pitman's Darby. But it went&mdash;all of it went!&mdash;and by the beginning
+of the year 1904&mdash;bear the date in mind, Mr. Middlebrook&mdash;Netherfield
+Baxter was just about on his last legs&mdash;he was, in fact, living from
+hand to mouth. He was then&mdash;I've been particular about collecting
+facts and statistics&mdash;just twenty-nine years of age, so, one way or
+another, he'd made his little fortune last him eight years; he still
+had good clothes&mdash;a very taking, good-looking fellow he was, they
+say&mdash;and he'd a decent lodging. But in spring 1904 he was living on
+the proceeds of chance betting, and was sometimes very low down, and
+in May of that year he disappeared, in startlingly sudden fashion,
+without saying a word to anybody, and since then nobody has ever seen
+a vestige or ever heard a word of him."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield paused, looking at me as if to ask what I thought of it.
+I thought a good deal of it.</p>
+
+<p>"A very interesting bit of life-drama, Scarterfield," said I. "And
+there have been far stranger things than it would be if this
+Netherfield Baxter of Blyth turned out to be the William Netherfield
+of the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>. You haven't hit on anything in the shape
+of a bridge, a connecting link between the two?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet, anyway," he answered. "And I don't think it's at all likely
+that I shall, here, for, as I said just now, nobody in this place has
+ever heard of Netherfield Baxter since he walked out of his lodging
+one evening and clean vanished. To be sure, there's been nobody at all
+anxious to hear of him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> For one thing, he left no near and dear
+relations or friends&mdash;for another, he left no debts behind him. The
+last fact, of course," added Scarterfield, with a wink, "was due to
+another, very pertinent fact&mdash;nobody, to be sure, in his latter
+stages, would give him credit!"</p>
+
+<p>"You've more to tell," I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, much more!" he acquiesced. "We're about half-way through the
+surface matters. Now then&mdash;you're bearing in mind that Netherfield
+Baxter disappeared, very suddenly, in May 1904. Perhaps the town
+didn't make much to do over his disappearance for a good reason&mdash;it
+was just then in the very midst of what we generally call a nine days'
+wonder. For some months the Old Alliance Bank here had been in charge
+of a temporary manager, in consequence of the regular manager's
+long-continued illness. This temporary manager was a chap named
+Lester&mdash;John Martindale Lester&mdash;who had come here from a branch of the
+same bank at Hexham, across country. Now, this Lester was a young man
+who was greatly given to going about on a motor-cycle&mdash;not so many of
+those things about, then, as we see now; he was always tearing about
+the country, they say, on half-holidays, and Saturdays and Sundays.
+And one evening, careering round a sharp corner, somewhere just
+outside the town, in the dark, he ran full tilt into a cart that
+carried no tail-light, and&mdash;broke his neck! They picked him up dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" said I.</p>
+
+<p>"You're wondering if that's anything to do with Netherfield Baxter's
+disappearance?" said Scarterfield. "Well&mdash;it's an odd thing, but out
+of all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> folk that I've made inquiry of in the town, I haven't come
+across one yet who voluntarily suggested that it had! But&mdash;I do! And
+you'll presently see why I think so. Now, this man, John Martindale
+Lester, was accidentally killed about the beginning of the first week
+in May 1904. Three or four days later, Netherfield Baxter cleared out.
+I've been careful, in my conversations with the townfolk&mdash;officials,
+mostly&mdash;not to appear to connect Lester's death with Baxter's
+departure. But that there was a connection, I'm dead certain. Baxter
+hooked it, Mr. Middlebrook, because he knew that Lester's sudden death
+would lead to an examination of things at the Old Alliance Bank!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said I. "I begin to see things!"</p>
+
+<p>"So do I&mdash;through smoked glass, though, as yet," assented
+Scarterfield. "But&mdash;it's getting clearer. Now, things at the bank were
+examined&mdash;and some nice revelations came forth! To begin with, there
+was a cash deficiency&mdash;not a heavy one, but quite heavy enough. In
+addition to that, certain jewels were missing, which had been
+deposited with the bankers for security by a lady in this
+neighbourhood&mdash;they were worth some thousands of pounds. And, to add
+to this, two chests of plate were gone which had been placed with the
+bank some years before by the executors of the will of the late Lord
+Forestburne, to be kept there till the coming of age of his heir, a
+minor when his father died. Altogether, Mr. John Martindale Lester and
+his accomplices, or accomplice, had helped themselves very freely to
+things until then safe in the vaults and strong room."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you found out if Netherfield Baxter and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> temporary
+bank-manager were acquainted?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;that's a matter I've very carefully refrained from inquiring
+into," answered Scarterfield. "So far, no one has mentioned their
+acquaintanceship or association to me, and I haven't suggested it, for
+I don't want to raise suspicions&mdash;I want to keep things to myself, so
+that I can play my own game. No&mdash;I've never heard the two men spoken
+of in connection with each other."</p>
+
+<p>"What is thought in the town about Lester and the valuables?" I
+inquired. "They must have some theory?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of course, they have," he replied. "The theory is that Lester had
+accomplices in London, that he shipped these valuables off there, and
+that when his accomplices heard of his sudden death they&mdash;why, they
+just held their tongues. But&mdash;my notion is that the only accomplice
+Lester had was our friend Netherfield Baxter."</p>
+
+<p>"You've some ground?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;or I shouldn't think so," said Scarterfield. "I'm now coming to
+the reason of my sending for you, Mr. Middlebrook. I told you that
+this fellow Baxter had a decent lodging in the town. Well, I made it
+my business to go there yesterday morning, and finding that the
+landlady was a sensible woman and likely to keep a quiet tongue I just
+told her a bit of my business and asked her some questions. Then I
+found out that Baxter left various matters behind him, which she still
+had&mdash;clothes, books (he was evidently a chap for reading, and of
+superior education, which probably accounts for what I'm going to tell
+you), papers, and the like. I got her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> to let me have a sight of them.
+And amongst the papers I found two, which seem to me to have been
+written hundreds of years ago and to be lists with names and figures
+in them. My impression is that Lester found them in those chests of
+plate, couldn't make them out, and gave them to Netherfield Baxter, as
+being a better educated man&mdash;Baxter, I found out, did well at school
+and could read and write two or three languages. Well, now, I
+persuaded the landlady to lend me these documents for a day or two,
+and I've got them in my room upstairs, safely locked up&mdash;I'll fetch
+them down presently and you shall see if you can decipher them&mdash;very
+old they are, and the writing crabbed and queer&mdash;but Lord bless you,
+the ink's as black as jet!"</p>
+
+<p>"Scarterfield!" said I. "It strikes me you've possibly hit on a
+discovery. Supposing this stolen stuff is safely hidden somewhere
+about? Supposing Netherfield Baxter knew where, and that he's the
+William Netherfield of the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>? Supposing that he let
+the Quicks into the secret? Supposing&mdash;but, bless me! there are a
+hundred things one can suppose! Anyhow, I believe we're getting at
+something."</p>
+
+<p>"I've been supposing a lot of what you've just suggested ever since
+yesterday morning," he answered quietly. "Didn't I say we should have
+to hark back? Well, I'll fetch down these documents."</p>
+
+<p>He went away, and while he was absent I stood at the window of the
+smoking-room, looking out on the life of the little town and
+wondering. There, across the street, immediately in front of the hotel
+was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> bank of which Scarterfield had been telling me&mdash;an
+old-fashioned, grey-walled, red-roofed place, the outer door of which
+was just then being closed for the day by a white-whiskered old porter
+in a sober-hued uniform. Was it possible&mdash;could it really be&mdash;that the
+story which had recently ended in a double murder had begun in that
+quiet-looking house, through the criminality of an untrustworthy
+employee? But did I say ended?&mdash;nay, for all I knew the murderers of
+the Quicks were only an episode, a chapter in the story&mdash;the end
+was&mdash;where?</p>
+
+<p>Then Scarterfield came back and from a big envelope drew forth and
+placed in my hands two folded pieces of old, time-yellowed parchment.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SPOILS OF SACRILEGE</h2>
+
+
+<p>Until that moment I had not thought much about the reason of my
+presence at Blyth&mdash;I had, at any rate, thought no more than that
+Scarterfield had merely come across some writing which he found it
+hard to decipher. But one glance at the documents which he placed in
+my hands showed me that he had accidentally come across a really
+important find; within another moment I was deeply engrossed, and he
+saw that I was. He sat silently watching me; once or twice, looking up
+at him, I saw him nod as if to imply that he had felt sure of the
+importance of the things he had given me. And presently, laying the
+documents on the table between us, I smiled at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Scarterfield!" I said. "Are you at all up in the history of your own
+country?"</p>
+
+<p>"Couldn't say that I am, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered with a shake of
+his head. "Not beyond what a lad learns at school&mdash;and I dare say I've
+forgotten a lot of that. My job, you see, has always been with the
+hard facts of the actual present&mdash;not with what took place in the
+past."</p>
+
+<p>"But you're up to certain notable episodes?" I suggested. "You know,
+for instance, that when the religious houses were suppressed&mdash;abbeys,
+priories,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> convents, hospitals&mdash;in the reign of Henry the Eighth, a
+great deal of their plate and jewels were confiscated to the use of
+the King?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I've heard that!" he admitted. "Nice haul the old chap got, too,
+I'm given to understand."</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't get all," said I. "A great deal of the monastic plate
+disappeared&mdash;clean vanished. It used to be said that a lot of it was
+hidden away or buried by its owners, but it's much more likely that it
+was stolen by the covetous and greedy folk of the neighbourhood&mdash;the
+big men, of course. Anyway, while a great deal was certainly sent by
+the commissioners to the king's treasury in London, a lot
+more&mdash;especially in out-of-the-way places and districts&mdash;just
+disappeared and was never heard of again. Up here in the North of
+England that was very often the case. And all this is merely a preface
+to what I'm going to tell you. Have you the least idea of what these
+documents are?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," he replied. "Unless they're lists of something&mdash;I did make out
+that they might be, by the way the words and figures are arranged.
+Like&mdash;inventories."</p>
+
+<p>"They are inventories!" I exclaimed. "Both. Written in crabbed
+caligraphy, too, but easy enough to read if you're acquainted with
+sixteenth century penmanship, spelling and abbreviations. Look at the
+first one. It is here described as an inventory of all the jewels,
+plate, et cetera, appertaining and belonging unto the Abbey of
+Forestburne, and it was made in the year 1536&mdash;this abbey, therefore,
+was one of the smaller houses that came under the &pound;200 limit and was
+accordingly suppressed in the year just mentioned.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> Now look at the
+second. It also is an inventory&mdash;of the jewels and plate of the Priory
+of Mellerton, made in the same year, and similarly suppressed. But
+though both these houses were of the smaller sort, it is quite
+evident, from a cursory glance at these inventories that they were
+pretty rich in jewels and plate. By the term jewels is meant plate
+wherein jewels were set; as to the plate it was, of course, the
+sacramental vessels and appurtenances. And judging by these entries
+the whole mass of plate must have been considerable!"</p>
+
+<p>"Worth a good deal, eh?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"A great deal!&mdash;and if it's in existence now, much more than a great
+deal," I replied. "But I'll read you some of the items set down
+here&mdash;I'll read a few haphazard. They are set down, you see, with
+their weight in ounces specified, and you'll observe what a number of
+items there are in each inventory. We'll look at just a few. A
+chalice, twenty-eight ounces. Another chalice, thirty-six ounces. A
+mazer, forty-seven ounces. One pair candlesticks, fifty-two ounces.
+Two cruets, thirty-one ounces. One censer, twenty-eight ounces. One
+cross, fifty-eight ounces. Another cross, forty-eight ounces. Three
+dozen spoons, forty-eight ounces. One salt, with covering,
+twenty-eight ounces. A great cross, seventy-two ounces. A paten,
+sixteen ounces. Another paten, twenty ounces. Three tablets of proper
+gold work, eighty-five ounces in all. And so on and so on!&mdash;a very
+nice collection, Scarterfield, considering that these are only a few
+items at random, out of some seventy or eighty altogether. But we can
+easily reckon up the total weight&mdash;indeed, it's already reckoned up at
+the foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> of each inventory. At Forestburne, you see, there was a sum
+total of two thousand two hundred and thirty-eight ounces of plate; at
+Mellerton, one thousand eight hundred and seventy ounces&mdash;so these two
+inventories represent a mass of about four thousand ounces. Worth
+having, Scarterfield!&mdash;in either the sixteenth or the twentieth
+century."</p>
+
+<p>"And, in the main, it would be&mdash;what?" asked Scarterfield. "Gold,
+silver?"</p>
+
+<p>"Some of it gold, some silver, a good deal of it silver-gilt," I
+replied. "I can tell all that by reading the inventories more
+attentively. But I've told you what a mere, cursory glance shows."</p>
+
+<p>"Four thousand ounces of plate&mdash;some of it jewelled!" he soliloquised.
+"Whew! And what do you make of it, Mr. Middlebrook? I mean&mdash;of all
+that I've told you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Putting everything together that you've told me," I answered, with
+some confidence, "I make this of it. This plate, originally church
+property, came&mdash;we won't ask how&mdash;into the hands of the late Lord
+Forestburne, and may have been in possession of his family, hidden
+away, perhaps, for four centuries. But at any rate, it was in his
+possession, and he deposited it with his bankers across the way. He
+may, indeed, not have known what was in it&mdash;again, he may have known.
+Now I take it that the dishonest temporary manager you told me of
+examined those chests, decided to appropriate their valuable contents,
+and enlisted the services of Netherfield Baxter in his nefarious
+labours. I think that these inventories were found in the chests&mdash;one,
+probably, in each&mdash;and that Baxter kept them out of sheer
+curiosity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>&mdash;you say he was a fellow of some education. As for the
+plate, I think he and his associate hid it somewhere&mdash;and, if you want
+my honest opinion, it was for it that Salter Quick was looking."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield clapped his hand on the table.</p>
+
+<p>"That's it!" he exclaimed. "Hanged if I don't think that myself! It's
+my opinion that this Netherfield Baxter, when he hooked it out of
+here, got into far regions and strange company, came into touch with
+those Quicks and told 'em the secret of this stolen plate&mdash;he was, I'm
+sure, the Netherfield of that ship the Quicks were on. Yes, sir!&mdash;I
+think we may safely bet on it that Salter Quick, as you say, was
+looking for this plate!"</p>
+
+<p>"And&mdash;so was somebody else," said I. "And it was that somebody else
+who murdered Salter Quick."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" he assented. "Now&mdash;who? That's the question. And what's the
+next thing to do, Mr. Middlebrook?"</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me that the next thing to do is to find out all you can
+about this plate," I replied. "If I were you, I should take two people
+into your confidence&mdash;the head man, director, chairman, or whatever he
+is, at the bank&mdash;and the present Lord Forestburne."</p>
+
+<p>"I will!" he agreed. "I'll see 'em both, first thing tomorrow morning.
+Do you go with me, Mr. Middlebrook? You'll explain these old papers
+better than I should."</p>
+
+<p>So Scarterfield and I spent that evening together in the little hotel,
+and after dinner I explained the inventories more particularly. I came
+to the conclusion that if the four thousand ounces of plate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> specified
+in them were in the chests which the dishonest temporary bank-manager
+had stolen, he had got a very fine haul: the value, of course, of the
+plate, was not so much intrinsic as extrinsic: there were collectors,
+English and American, who would cheerfully give vast sums for
+pre-Reformation sacramental vessels. Transactions of this kind, I
+fancied, must have been in the minds of the thieves. There were
+features of the whole affair which puzzled me&mdash;not the least important
+was my wonder that this plate, undeniably church property, should have
+remained so long in the Forestburne family without being brought into
+the light of day. I hoped that our inquiries next morning would bring
+some information on that point.</p>
+
+<p>But we got no information&mdash;at least, none of any consequence. All that
+was known by the authorities at the bank was that the late Lord
+Forestburne had deposited two chests of plate with them years before,
+with instructions that they were to remain in the bank's custody until
+his son succeeded him&mdash;even then they were not to be opened unless the
+son had already come of age. The bank people had no knowledge of the
+precise contents of the chests&mdash;all they knew was that they contained
+plate. As for the present Lord Forestburne, a very young man, he knew
+nothing, except that his father's mysterious deposit had been burgled
+by a dishonest custodian. He expressed no opinion about anything,
+therefore. But the chief authority at the bank, a crusty and
+self-sufficient old gentleman, who seemed to consider Scarterfield and
+myself as busybodies, poohpoohed the notion that the inventories which
+we showed him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> had anything to do with the rifled Forestburne chests,
+and scorned the notion that the family had ever been in possession of
+goods obtained by sacrilege.</p>
+
+<p>"Preposterous!" said he, with a sniff of contempt. "What the chests
+contained was, of course, superfluous family plate. As for these
+documents, that fellow Baxter, in spite of his loose manner of living,
+was, I remember, a bit inclined to scholarship, and went in for old
+books and things&mdash;a strange mixture altogether. He probably picked up
+these parchments in some book-seller's shop in Durham or Newcastle. I
+don't believe they've anything to do with Lord Forestburne's stolen
+property, and I advise you both not to waste time in running after
+mare's nests."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield and I got ourselves out of this starchy person's presence
+and confided to each other our private opinions of him and his
+intelligence. For to us the theory which we had set up was
+unassailable: we tried to reduce it to strict and formal precision as
+we ate our lunch in a quiet corner of the hotel coffee-room, previous
+to parting.</p>
+
+<p>"More than one of us, Scarterfield, who have taken part in this
+discussion, have said that if we are going to get at the truth of
+things we shall have to go back," I observed. "Well, what you have
+found out here takes us back some way. Let us suppose&mdash;we can't do
+anything without a certain amount of supposition&mdash;let us, I say, for
+the sake of argument, suppose that the man Netherfield of Blyth, who
+was with Noah and Salter Quick on the ship <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, bound
+from Hong-Kong to Chemulpo is the same person as Netherfield Baxter,
+who certainly lived in this town a few years ago. Very well&mdash;now then,
+what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> do we know of Baxter? We know this&mdash;that a dishonest
+bank-manager stole certain valuables from the bank, died suddenly just
+afterwards, and that Baxter disappeared just as suddenly. The
+supposition is that Baxter was concerned in that theft. We'll suppose
+more&mdash;that Baxter knew where the stolen goods were; had, in fact,
+helped to secrete them. Well, the next we hear of him is&mdash;supposing
+him to be Netherfield&mdash;on this ship, which, according to the reports
+you got at Lloyds, was lost with all hands in the Yellow Sea. But&mdash;a
+big but!&mdash;we know now that whatever happened to the rest of those on
+board her, three men at any rate saved their lives&mdash;Noah Quick, Salter
+Quick and the Chinese cook, whose exact name we've forgotten, but one
+of whose patronymics was Chuh. Chuh turns up at Lloyds, in London, and
+asks a question about the ship. Noah Quick materialises at Devonport,
+and runs a public-house. Salter joins him there. And presently Salter
+is up on the Northumbrian coast, professing great anxiety to find a
+churchyard, or churchyards wherein are graves with the name
+Netherfield on them&mdash;he makes the excuse that that is the family name
+of his mother's people. Now we know what happened to Salter Quick, and
+we also know what happened to Noah Quick. But now I'm wondering if
+something else had happened before that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, Mr. Middlebrook?" said Scarterfield. "And what, now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm wondering," I answered, leaning nearer to him across the little
+table at which we sat, "if Noah and Salter, severally, or conjointly,
+had murdered this Netherfield Baxter before they themselves were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+murdered? They&mdash;or somebody who was in with them, who afterwards
+murdered them? Do you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid I don't," he said. "No&mdash;I don't quite see things."</p>
+
+<p>"Look you here, Scarterfield," said I. "Supposing a gang of men&mdash;men
+of no conscience, desperate, adventurous men&mdash;gets together, as men
+were together on that ship, the doings and fate of which seem to be
+pretty mysterious. They're all out for what they can get. One of them
+is in possession of a valuable secret, and he imparts it to the
+others, or to some of them&mdash;a chosen lot. There have been known such
+cases&mdash;where a secret is shared by say five or six men&mdash;in which
+murder after murder occurs until the secret is only held by one or
+two. A half-share in a thing is worth more than one-sixth,
+Scarterfield&mdash;and a secret of one is far more valuable than a secret
+shared with three. Do you understand now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I see!" he answered slowly. "You mean that Salter and Noah may have
+got rid of Netherfield Baxter and that somebody has got rid of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely!" said I. "You put it very clearly."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "if that's so, there are&mdash;as has been plain all
+along&mdash;two men concerned in putting the Quicks out of the way. For
+Noah was finished off on the same night that saw Salter finished&mdash;and
+there was four hundred miles distance between the scenes of their
+respective murders. The man who killed Noah was not the man who killed
+Salter, to be sure."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" I agreed. "We've always known<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> there were two. There may
+be more&mdash;a gang of them, and remarkably clever fellows. But I'm
+getting sure that the desire to recover some hidden treasure,
+valuables, something of that sort, was at the bottom of it, and now
+I'm all the surer because of what we've found out about this monastic
+spoil. But there are things that puzzle me."</p>
+
+<p>"Such as what?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that eagerness of Salter Quick's to find a churchyard with the
+name Netherfield on the stones," I replied. "And his coming to that
+part of the Northumbrian coast expecting to find it. Because, so far
+as the experts know, there is no such name on any stone, nor in any
+parish register, in all that district. Who, then, told him of the
+name? You see, if my theory is correct, and Baxter told him and Noah,
+he'd tell them the exact locality."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but would he?" said Scarterfield. "He mightn't. He might only
+give them a general notion. Still&mdash;Netherfield it was that Salter
+asked for."</p>
+
+<p>"That's certain," said I. "And&mdash;I'm puzzled why. But I'm puzzled still
+more about another thing. If the men who murdered Noah and Salter
+Quick were in possession of the secret as well, why did they rip their
+clothes to pieces, searching for&mdash;something? Why, later, did somebody
+steal that tobacco-box from under the very noses of the police?"</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield shook his head: the shake meant a great deal.</p>
+
+<p>"That fairly settles me!" he remarked. "Why, the murderer must have
+been actually present at the inquest."</p>
+
+<p>But at that I shook my head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear me, no!" said I. "Not at all! But&mdash;some agent of his was
+certainly there. My own impression is that Mr. Cazalette's eagerness
+about that box gave the whole show away. Shall I tell you how I figure
+things out? Well, I think there were men&mdash;we don't know who!&mdash;that
+either knew, with absolute certainty, or were pretty sure that Noah
+Quick, and Salter Quick were in possession of a secret and that one or
+the other&mdash;and perhaps both&mdash;carried it on him, in the shape of
+papers. Each was killed for that secret. The murderers found nothing,
+in either case. But Mr. Cazalette's remarks, made before a lot of men,
+drew attention to the tobacco-box, and the murderer determined to get
+it. And&mdash;what was easier than to abstract it, at the inquest, where it
+was exhibited in company with several other things of Salter's?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say if it was easy or not, Mr. Middlebrook," observed
+Scarterfield. "Were you there&mdash;present?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was there," said I. "So were most people of the neighbourhood&mdash;as
+many as could get into the room, anyway. A biggish room&mdash;there'd be a
+couple of hundred people in it. And many of them were strangers. When
+the proceedings were over, men were crowding about the table on which
+Quick's things had been laid out, for exhibition to the coroner and
+the jury&mdash;what easier than for someone to pick up that box? The place
+was so crowded that such an action would pass unnoticed."</p>
+
+<p>"Very evident it did!" observed Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"But I've heard of such things being taken out of sheer
+curiosity&mdash;morbid desire to get hold of something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> that had to do with
+a murder. However, if this particular thing was abstracted by the
+murderer, or by somebody acting on his behalf it looks as if he, or
+they, were on the spot. And then&mdash;that affair of Mr. Cazalette's
+pocket-book!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Scarterfield," said I. "There's another way of regarding both
+these thefts. Supposing tobacco-box and pocket-book were stolen, not
+as means of revealing a secret, but so that no one else&mdash;Cazalette or
+anybody&mdash;should get at it! Eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's something in that," he admitted thoughtfully. "You mean that
+the murderers had already got rid of the Quicks so that there should
+be two less in the secret, and these things stolen lest outsiders
+should get any inkling of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely!" I answered. "Closeness and secrecy&mdash;that's been at the
+back of everything so far. I tell you&mdash;you're dealing with unusually
+crafty brains!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could get the faintest idea of whose brains they were!" he
+sighed. "A direct clue, now&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Before he could say any more one of the hotel servants came into the
+coffee-room and made for our table.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a man in the hall asking for Mr. Scarterfield," he announced.
+"Looks like a seafaring man, sir. He says Mrs. Ormthwaite told him
+he'd find you here."</p>
+
+<p>"Woman with whom Baxter used to lodge," muttered Scarterfield, in an
+aside to me. "Come along, Mr. Middlebrook&mdash;you never know what you
+mayn't hear."</p>
+
+<p>We went out into the hall. There, twisting his cap in his hands, stood
+a big, brown-bearded man.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h2>SOLOMON FISH</h2>
+
+
+<p>It needed but one glance at Scarterfield's visitor to assure me that
+he was a person who had used the sea. There was the suggestion of salt
+water and strong winds all over him, from his grizzled hair and beard
+to his big, brawny hands and square set build; he looked the sort of
+man who all his life had been looking out across wide stretches of
+ocean and battling with the forces of Nature in her roughest moods.
+Just then there was questioning in his keen blue eyes&mdash;he was
+obviously wondering, with all the native suspicion of a simple soul,
+what Scarterfield might be after.</p>
+
+<p>"You're asking for me?" said the detective.</p>
+
+<p>The man glanced from one to the other of us; then jerked a big thumb
+in the direction of some region beyond the open door behind his burly
+figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Ormthwaite," he said, bending a little towards Scarterfield.
+"She said as how there was a gentleman stopping in this here house as
+was making inquiries, d'ye see, about Netherfield Baxter, as used to
+live hereabouts. So I come along."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield contrived to jog my elbow. Without a word, he turned
+towards the door of the smoking room, motioning his visitor to follow.
+We all went into the corner wherein, on the previous afternoon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+Scarterfield had told me of his investigations and discoveries at
+Blyth. Evidently I was now to hear more. But Scarterfield asked for no
+further information until he had provided our companion with
+refreshment in the shape of a glass of rum and a cigar, and his first
+question was of a personal sort.</p>
+
+<p>"What's your name, then?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Fish," replied the visitor, promptly. "Solomon. As everybody is
+aware."</p>
+
+<p>"Blyth man, no doubt," suggested Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Born and bred, master," said Fish. "And lived here always&mdash;'cepting
+when I been away, which, to be sure, has been considerable. But
+whether north or south, east or west, always make for the old spot
+when on dry land. That is to say&mdash;when in this here country."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you'd know Netherfield Baxter?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>Fish waved his cigar.</p>
+
+<p>"As a baby&mdash;as a boy&mdash;as a young man," he declared. "Cut many a toy
+boat for him at one stage, taught him to fish at another, went sailing
+with him in a bit of a yawl that he had when he was growed up. Know
+him? Did I know my own mother!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," said Scarterfield, understandingly. "To be sure! You know
+Baxter quite well, of course." He paused a moment, and then leant
+across the table round which the three of us were sitting. "And when
+did you see him last?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Fish, to my surprise, laughed. It was a queer laugh. There was
+incredulity, uncertainty, a sense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> of vagueness in it; it suggested
+that he was puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, once?" said he. "That's just it, master. And I asks you&mdash;and
+this other gent, which I takes him to be a friend o' yours, and
+confidential&mdash;I asks you, can a man trust his own eyes and his own
+ears? Can he now, solemn?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've always trusted mine, Fish," answered Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Same here, master, till awhile ago," replied Fish. "But now I ain't
+so mortal sure o' that matter as I was! 'Cause, according to my eyes,
+and according to my ears, I see Netherfield Baxter, and I hear
+Netherfield Baxter, inside o' three weeks ago!"</p>
+
+<p>He brought down his big hand on the table with a hearty smack as he
+spoke the last word or two; the sound of it was followed by a dead
+silence, in which Scarterfield and I exchanged quick glances. Fish
+picked up his tumbler, took a gulp at its contents, and set it down
+with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>"Gospel truth!" he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"That you did see him?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Gospel truth, master, that if my eyes and ears is to be trusted I see
+him and I hear him!" declared Fish. "Only," he continued, after a
+pause, during which he stared fixedly, first at me, then at
+Scarterfield. "Only&mdash;he said as how he wasn't he! D'ye understand?
+Denied his-self!"</p>
+
+<p>"What you mean is that the man you took for Baxter said you were
+mistaken, and that he wasn't Baxter," suggested Scarterfield. "That
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You puts it very plain, master," assented Fish. "That is what did
+happen. But if the man I refers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> to wasn't Netherfield Baxter, then
+I've no more eyes than this here cigar, and no more ears than that
+glass! Fact!"</p>
+
+<p>"But you've never had reason to doubt either before, I suppose," said
+Scarterfield. "And you're not inclined to doubt them now. Now then,
+let's get to business. You really believe, Fish, that you met
+Netherfield Baxter about three weeks ago? That's about it, isn't it?
+Never mind what the man said&mdash;you took him to be Baxter. Now, where
+was this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hull!" replied Fish. "Three weeks ago come Friday."</p>
+
+<p>"Under what circumstances?" asked Scarterfield. "Tell us about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Ain't such a long story, neither," remarked Fish. "And seeing as how,
+according to Widow Ormthwaite, you're making some inquiries about
+Baxter, I don't mind telling, 'cause I been mighty puzzled ever since
+I see this chap. Well, you see, I landed at Hull from my last
+voyage&mdash;been out East'ard and back with a trading vessel what belongs
+to Hull owners. And before coming home here to Blyth, knocked about a
+day or two in that port with an old messmate o' mine that I chanced to
+meet there. Now then one morning&mdash;as I say, three weeks ago it is,
+come this Friday&mdash;me and my mate, which his name is Jim Shanks, of
+Hartlepool, and can corrob'rate, as they call it, what I says&mdash;we
+turns into a certain old-fashioned place there is there in Hull, in a
+bit of an alley off High Street&mdash;you'll know Hull, no doubt, you
+gentlemen?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never been there," replied Scarterfield.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I have," said I. "I know it well&mdash;especially the High Street."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you'll know, guv'nor, that all round about that High Street
+there's still a lot o' queer old places as ancient as what it is,"
+continued Fish. "Me and my mate, Shanks, knew one, what we'd oft used
+in times past&mdash;the Goose and Crane, as snug a spot as you'll find in
+any shipping-town in this here country. Maybe you'll know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've seen it from outside, Fish," I answered. "A fine old front&mdash;half
+timber."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, guv'nor&mdash;and as pleasant inside as it's remarkable
+outside," he said. "Well, my mate and me we goes in there for a
+morning glass, and into a room where you'll find some interesting folk
+about that time o' day. There's a sign on the door o' that room,
+gentlemen, what reads 'For Master Mariners Only,' but it's an old
+piece of work, and you don't want to take no heed of it&mdash;me and Shanks
+we ain't master mariners, though we may look it in our shore rig-out,
+and we've used that room whenever we've been in Hull. Well, now we
+gets our glasses, and our cigars, and we sits down in a quiet corner
+to enjoy ourselves and observe what company drops in. Some queer old
+birds there is comes in to that place, I do assure you, gentlemen, and
+some strange tales o' seafaring life you can hear. Howsomever, there
+wasn't nothing partic'lar struck me that morning until it was getting
+on to dinner-time, and me an Shanks was thinking o' laying a course
+for our lodgings, where we'd ordered a special bit o' dinner to
+celebrate our happy meeting, like, when in comes the man I'm a talking
+about. And if he wasn't Netherfield<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> Baxter, what I'd known ever since
+he was the heighth o' six-pennorth o' copper, then, says I, a man's
+eyes and a man's ears isn't to be trusted!"</p>
+
+<p>"Fish!" said Scarterfield, who was listening intently. "It'll be best
+if you give us a description of this man. Tell us, as near as you can,
+what he's like&mdash;I mean, of course the man you saw at the Goose and
+Crane."</p>
+
+<p>Our visitor seemed to pull his mental faculties together. He took
+another pull at his glass and several at his cigar.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "t'aint much in my line, that, me not being a
+scholar, but I can give a general idea, d'ye see, master. A tallish,
+good-looking chap, as the women 'ud call handsome, sort of rakish
+fellow, you understand. Dressed very smart. Blue serge suit&mdash;good
+stuff, new. Straw hat&mdash;black band. Brown boots&mdash;polished and shining.
+Quite the swell&mdash;as Netherfield always was, even when he'd got through
+his money. The gentleman! Lord bless your souls, I knew him, for all
+that I hadn't seen him for several years, and that he'd grown a
+beard!"</p>
+
+<p>"A beard, eh&mdash;" interrupted Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Beard and moustache," assented Fish.</p>
+
+<p>"What colour?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"What you might call a golden-brown," replied Fish. "Cut&mdash;the beard
+was&mdash;to a point. Suited him."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield drew out his pocket-book and produced a slightly-faded
+photograph&mdash;that of a certain good-looking, rather nattish young man,
+taken in company with a fox-terrier. He handed it to Fish.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that Baxter?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Aye!&mdash;as he was, years ago," said Fish. "I know that well
+enough&mdash;used to be one o' them in the phottygrapher's window down the
+street, outside here. But now, d'ye see, he's grown a beard.
+Otherwise&mdash;the same!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" said Scarterfield, "What happened? This man came in. Was he
+alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Fish. "He'd two other men with him. One was a chap about
+his own age, just as smart as what he was, and dressed similar.
+T'other was an older man, in his shirt sleeves and without a
+hat&mdash;seemed to me he'd brought Baxter and his friend across from some
+shop or other to stand 'em a drink. Anyways, he did call for
+drinks&mdash;whisky and soda&mdash;and the three on 'em stood together talking.
+And as soon as I heard Baxter's voice, I was dead sure about him&mdash;he'd
+always a highish voice, talked as gentlemen talks, d'ye see, for, of
+course, he was brought up that way&mdash;high eddicated, you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"What were these three talking about?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Far as I could make out about ship's fittings," answered Fish.
+"Something 'o that sort, anyway, but I didn't take much notice o'
+their talk; I was too much taken up watching Baxter, and growing more
+certain every minute, d'ye see, that it was him. And 'cepting that a
+few o' years does make a bit o' difference, and that he's grown a
+beard, I didn't see no great alteration in him. Yet I see one thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye?" asked Scarterfield. "What, now?"</p>
+
+<p>"A scar on his left cheek," replied Fish. "What begun underneath his
+beard, as covered most of it, and went up to his cheek-bone. Just an
+inch or so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> showing, d'ye understand? 'That's been knife's work!'
+thinks I to myself. 'You've had your cheek laid open with a knife, my
+lad, somewhere and somehow!' Struck me, then, he'd grown a beard to
+hide it."</p>
+
+<p>"Very likely," assented Scarterfield. "Well, and what happened? You
+spoke to this man?"</p>
+
+<p>"I waited and watched," continued Fish. "I'm one as has been trained
+to use his eyes. Now, I see two or three little things about this man
+as I remembered about Baxter. There was a way he had of chucking up
+his chin&mdash;there it was! Another of playing with his watch-chain when
+he talked&mdash;it was there! And of slapping his leg with his
+walking-stick&mdash;that was there, too! 'Jim!' I says to my mate, 'if that
+ain't a man I used to know, I'm a Dutchman!' Which, of course, I
+ain't. And so, when the three of 'em sets down their glasses and turns
+to the door, I jumps up and makes for my man, holding out a hand to
+him, friendly. And then, of course, come all the surprise!"</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't know you, I suppose?" suggested Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell 'ee what happened," answered Fish.</p>
+
+<p>"'Morning, Mr. Baxter!' says I. 'It's a long time since I had the
+pleasure o' seeing you, sir!'&mdash;and as I say, shoves my hand out,
+hearty. He turns and gives me a hard, keen look&mdash;not taken aback, mind
+you, but searching-like. 'You're mistaken, my friend,' he says, quiet,
+but pleasant. 'You're taking me for somebody else.' 'What!' says I,
+all of a heap. 'Ain't you Mr. Netherfield Baxter, what I used to know
+at Blyth, away up North?' 'That I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> certainly not,' says he, as cool
+as the North Pole. 'Then I ax your pardon, sir,' says I, 'and all I
+can say is that I never see two gentlemen so much alike in all my born
+days, and hoping no offence.' 'None at all!' says he, as pleasant as
+might be. 'They say everybody has a double.' And at that he gives me a
+polite nod, and out he goes with his pals, and I turns back to Shanks.
+'Jim!' says I. 'Don't let me ever trust my eyes and ears no more,
+Jim!' I says. 'I'm a breaking-up, Jim!&mdash;that's what it is. Thinking I
+sees things when I don't.' 'Stow all that!' says Jim, what's a
+practical sort o' man. 'You was only mistook' says he. 'I've been in
+that case more than once,' he says. 'Wherever there's a man, there's
+another somewheres that's as like him as two peas is like each other;
+let's go home to dinner,' he says. So we went off to the lodgings, and
+at first I was sure I'd been mistaken. But later, and now&mdash;well, I
+ain't. That there man was Netherfield Baxter!"</p>
+
+<p>"You feel sure of it?" suggested Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, certain, master!" declared Fish. "I've had time to think it
+over, and to reckon it all up, and now I'm sure it was him&mdash;only he
+wasn't going to let out that it was. Now, if I'd only chanced on him
+when he was by himself, what?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd have got just the same answer," said the detective laconically.
+"He didn't want to be known. You saw no more of him in Hull, of
+course&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I did," answered Fish. "I saw him again that night. And&mdash;as
+regards one of 'em at any rate, in queerish company."</p>
+
+<p>"What was that?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," replied Fish, "me and Jim Shanks, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> went home to
+dinner&mdash;couple o' roast chickens, and a nice bit o' sirloin to follow.
+And after that we had a nice comfortable sleep for the rest of the
+afternoon, and then, after a wash-up and a drop o' tea, we went out to
+look round the town a bit for an evening's diversion, d'ye see. Not to
+any partic'lar place, but just strolling round, like, as sailor-men
+will, being ashore and stretching their legs. And it so came about
+that lateish in the evening we turned into the smoking-room of the
+Cross Keys, in the Market Place&mdash;maybe this here friend o' yours,
+seeing as he's been in Hull, knows that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, Fish," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you'll know that you goes in at an archway, turns in at your
+right, and there you are," he said. "Well, Shanks and me, we goes in,
+casual like, not expecting anything that you wouldn't expect. But we'd
+no sooner sat us down in that smoking-room and taken an observation
+that I sees the very man that I'd seen at the Goose and Crane, him
+that I'd taken for Baxter. There he was, in a corner of the room, and
+the other smart-dressed man with him, their glasses in front of 'em,
+and their cigars in their mouths. And with 'em there was something
+else that I certainly didn't go for to expect to see in that place."</p>
+
+<p>"What?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"What I seen plenty of, time and again, in various parts o' this here
+world, and ain't so mighty fond o' seeing," answered Fish, with a
+scowl. "A chink!"</p>
+
+<p>"A&mdash;what?" demanded the detective. "A&mdash;chink?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"He means a Chinaman," I said. "That's it, isn't it, Fish?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, guv'nor," assented Fish. "A yellow-skinned, slit-eyed,
+thin-fingered Chinee, with a face like a image and a voice like
+silk&mdash;which," he added, scowling more than ever, "is pison that I
+can't abide, nohow, having seen more than enough of."</p>
+
+<p>I looked at Scarterfield. He had been attentive enough all through the
+course of our visitor's story, but I saw that his attention had
+redoubled since the last few words.</p>
+
+<p>"A Chinaman!" he said in a low voice. "With&mdash;him!"</p>
+
+<p>"As I say, master, a Chinee, and with that there man, what, when all's
+said and done, I'm certain was and is Netherfield Baxter," reiterated
+Fish. "But mind you, and here's the queer part of it, he wasn't no
+common Chinaman. Not the sort that you'll see by the score down in
+Limehouse way, or in Liverpool, or in Cardiff&mdash;not at all. Lord bless
+you, this here chap was smarter dressed than t'other two! Swell-made
+dark clothes, gold-handled umbrella, kid gloves on his blooming hands,
+and a silk top-hat&mdash;a reg'lar dude! But&mdash;a chink!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" said Scarterfield, after a pause, during which he seemed to be
+thinking a good deal. "Anything happen?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing happened, master&mdash;what should happen?" replied Fish. "Them
+here were in their corner, and Jim Shanks and me, we was in ours. They
+were busied talking amongst themselves&mdash;of course, we heard nothing.
+And at last all three went out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Did the man you take to be Baxter look at you?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Never showed a sign of it!" declared Fish. "Him and t'other passed us
+on their way to the door, but he took no notice."</p>
+
+<p>"See him again anywhere?" inquired Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't" replied Fish. "I left Hull early next morning, and went
+to see relatives o' mine at South Shields. Only came home a day or two
+since, and happening to pass the time o' day with widow Ormthwaite
+this morning, I told her what I've told you. Then she told me that you
+was inquiring about Baxter, guv'nor&mdash;so I comes along here to see you.
+What might you be wanting with my gentleman, now?"</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield told Fish enough to satisfy and quieten him; and
+presently the man went away, having first told us that he would be at
+home for another month. When he had gone Scarterfield turned to me.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" he said. "What d'you think of that, Mr. Middlebrook?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of it?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"I think that Netherfield Baxter is alive and active and up to
+something," he answered. "And I'd give a good deal to know who that
+Chinaman is who was with him. But there's ways of finding out a lot
+now that I've heard all this, Mr. Middlebrook!&mdash;I'm off to Hull. Come
+with me!"</p>
+
+<p>Until that instant such an idea had never entered my head. But I made
+up my mind there and then.</p>
+
+<p>"I will!" said I. "We'll see this through, Scarterfield. Get a
+time-table."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h2>MR. JALLANBY&mdash;SHIP BROKER</h2>
+
+
+<p>There were reasons, other than the suddenly excited desire to follow
+this business out to whatever end it might come at, which induced me
+to consent to the detective's suggestion that I should go to Hull with
+him. As I had said to Solomon Fish, I knew Hull&mdash;well enough. In my
+very youthful days I had spent an annual holiday there, with
+relatives, and I had vivid recollections of the place.</p>
+
+<p>Already, in those days, they had begun to pull Hull to pieces, laying
+out fine new streets and open spaces where there had been
+old-fashioned, narrow alleys and not a little in the slum way. But
+then, as happily now, there was still the old Hull of the ancient High
+Street, and the Market Place, and the Land of Green Ginger, and the
+older docks, wharves, and quays; it had been amongst these survivals
+of antiquity, and in the great church of Holy Trinity and its scarcely
+less notable sister of St. Mary in Lowgate that I had loved to wander
+as a boy&mdash;there was a peculiar smell of the sea in Hull, and an
+atmosphere of seafaring life that I have never met with elsewhere,
+neither in Wapping nor in Bristol, in Southhampton nor in Liverpool;
+one felt in Hull that one was already half-way to Bergen or Stockholm
+or Riga&mdash;there was something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> of North Europe about you as soon as you
+crossed the bridge at the top of Whitefriargate and plunged into masts
+and funnels, stacks of fragrant pine, and sheds bursting with foreign
+merchandise. And I had a sudden itching and half-sentimental desire to
+see the old seaport again, and once more catch up its appeal and its
+charm.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I'll certainly go with you, Scarterfield!" I repeated. "In for a
+penny, in for a pound, they say. I wonder, though, what we are in for!
+You think, really, we're on the track of Netherfield Baxter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't a doubt of it!" asserted Scarterfield, as he turned over the
+pages of the railway guide. "That man who's just gone was right&mdash;that
+was Baxter he saw. With who knows what of mystery and crime and all
+sorts of things behind him!"</p>
+
+<p>"Including the murder of one of the Quicks?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Including some knowledge of it, anyway," he said. "It's a clue, Mr.
+Middlebrook, and I'm on it. As this man was in Hull, there'll be news
+of him to be picked up there&mdash;very likely in plenty."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," said I. "I'm with you. Now let's be off."</p>
+
+<p>Going southward by way of Newcastle and York, we got to Hull that
+night, late&mdash;too late to do more than eat our suppers and go to bed at
+the Station Hotel. And we took things leisurely next morning,
+breakfasting late and strolling through the older part of the town
+before, as noon drew near, we approached the Goose and Crane. We had
+an object in selecting time and place. Fish had told us that the man
+whom he had seen in company with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> our particular quarry, the supposed
+Baxter, had come into the queer old inn in his shirt-sleeves and
+without his hat&mdash;he was therefore probably some neighbouring shop or
+store-keeper, and in the habit of turning into the ancient hostelry
+for a drink about noon. Such a man&mdash;that man&mdash;Scarterfield hoped to
+encounter. Out of him, if he met him, he could hope to get some news.</p>
+
+<p>Although, as a boy, I had often seen the street front of the Goose and
+Crane, I had never passed its portals. Now, entering it, we found it
+to be even more curious inside than it was out. It was a fine relic of
+Tudor days&mdash;a rabbit warren of snug rooms, old furniture, wide chimney
+places, tiled floors; if the folk who lived in it and the men who
+frequented it had only worn the right sorts of costume, we might
+easily have thought ourselves to be back in "Elizabethan times." We
+easily found the particular room of which Solomon Fish had
+spoken&mdash;there was the door, half open, with its legend on an upper
+panel in faded gilt letters, "For Master Mariners Only." But, as we
+had inferred, that warning had been set up in the old days, and was no
+longer a strict observance; we went into the room unquestioned by
+guardians or occupants, and calling for refreshments, sat ourselves
+down to watch and wait.</p>
+
+<p>There were several men in this quaint old parlour; all seemed, in one
+degree or another, to be connected with the sea. Men, thick-set,
+sturdy, bronzed, branded in solid suits of good blue cloth, all with
+that look in the eye which stamps the seafarer. Other men whom one
+supposed to have something to do with sea-trade&mdash;ship's chandlers,
+perhaps, or shipping-agents. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> caught stray whiffs of talk&mdash;it was
+all about the life of the port and of the wide North Sea that
+stretches away from the Humber. And in the middle of this desultory
+and apparently aimless business in came a man who, I am sure from my
+first glimpse of him, was the very man we wanted. A shortish,
+stiffly-built, paunchy man, with a beefy face, shrewd eyes, and a
+bristling, iron-gray moustache; a well-dressed man, and sporting a
+fine gold chain and a diamond pin in his cravat. But&mdash;in his shirt
+sleeves, and without a hat. Scarterfield leaned nearer to me.</p>
+
+<p>"Our man for a million!" he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>"I think so," said I.</p>
+
+<p>The new-comer, evidently well known from the familiar way in which
+nods and brief salutations were exchanged for him, bustled up to the
+bar, called for a glass of bitter beer and helped himself to a crust
+of bread and a bit of cheese from the provender at his elbow. Leaning
+one elbow on the counter and munching his snack he entered into
+conversation with one or two men near him; here, again, the talk as
+far as we could catch it, was of seafaring matters. But we did not
+catch the name of the man in the shirt-sleeves, and when, after he had
+finished his refreshment, he nodded to the company and bustled out as
+quickly as he had entered, Scarterfield gave me a look, and we left
+the room in his wake, following him.</p>
+
+<p>Our quarry bustled down the alley and turned the corner into the old
+High Street. He was evidently well known there; we saw several
+passers-by exchange greetings with him. Always bustling along, as if
+he were a man whose time was precious, he presently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> crossed the
+narrow roadway and turned into an office, over the window of which was
+a sign&mdash;"Jallanby, Ship Broker." He had only got a foot across his
+threshold, however, when Scarterfield was at his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me, sir," he said politely. "May I have a word with you?"</p>
+
+<p>The man turned, stared, evidently recognized Scarterfield as a
+stranger he had just seen in the Goose and Crane, and turned from him
+to me.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes?" he answered questionably. "What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield pulled out his pocket-book and produced his official
+card.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll see who I am from that," he remarked. "This gentleman's a
+friend of mine&mdash;just now giving me some professional help. I take it
+you're Mr. Jallanby?"</p>
+
+<p>The ship-broker started a little as he glanced at the card and
+realized Scarterfield's calling.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I'm Mr. Jallanby," he answered. "Come inside, gentlemen." He led
+the way into a dark, rather dismal and dusty little office, and signed
+to a clerk who was writing there to go out. "What is it, Mr.
+Scarterfield?" he asked. "Some information?"</p>
+
+<p>"You've hit it sir," replied Scarterfield. "That's just what we do
+want; we came here to Hull on purpose to find you, believing you can
+give it. From something we heard only yesterday afternoon, Mr.
+Jallanby, a long way from here, we believe that one morning about
+three weeks ago, you were in the Goose and Crane in that very room
+where we saw you just now, in company with two men&mdash;smartly dressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+men, in blue serge suits and straw hats; one of them with a pointed,
+golden-brown beard. Do you remember?"</p>
+
+<p>I was watching the ship-broker's face while Scarterfield spoke, and I
+saw that deep interest, wonder, perhaps suspicion was being aroused in
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless me!" he exclaimed. "You don't mean to say they're&mdash;wanted?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to say that I want to get some information about them, and
+very particularly," answered Scarterfield. "You do remember that
+morning, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I remember a good many mornings," said Jallanby, readily enough. "I
+went across there with those two several times while they were in the
+town. They were doing a bit of business with me&mdash;we often dropped in
+over yonder for a glass before dinner. But&mdash;I'm surprised that&mdash;well,
+to put it plainly&mdash;that detectives should be inquiring after 'em!&mdash;I
+am, indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Jallanby," said Scarterfield, "I'll be plain with you. This is,
+so far, merely a matter of suspicion. I'm not sure of the identity of
+one of these men&mdash;it's but one I want to trace at present, though I
+should like to know who the other is. But&mdash;if my man is the man I
+believe him to be, there's a matter of robbery, and possibly of
+murder. So you see how serious it is! Now, I'll jog your memory a bit.
+Do you remember that one morning, as you and these two men were
+leaving the Goose and Crane, a big seafaring-looking man stepped up to
+the bearded man you were with and claimed acquaintance with him as
+being one Netherfield Baxter?"</p>
+
+<p>Jallanby started. It was plain that he remembered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I do!" he exclaimed. "Well enough! I stood by. But&mdash;he said he
+wasn't. There was a mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe there was no mistake," said Scarterfield. "I believe that
+man is Netherfield Baxter, and&mdash;it's Netherfield Baxter I want. Now,
+Mr. Jallanby, what do you know of those two? In confidence!"</p>
+
+<p>We had all been standing until then, but at this invitation to
+disclosure the ship-broker motioned us to sit down, he himself turning
+the stool which the clerk had just vacated.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a queer business, Mr. Scarterfield," he said. "Robbery?
+Murder? Nasty things, nasty terms to apply to folk that one's done
+business with. And that, of course, was all that I did with those two
+men, and all I know about them. Pleasant, good-mannered, gentlemanly
+chaps I found 'em&mdash;why, Lord bless me, I dined with 'em one night at
+their hotel!"</p>
+
+<p>"Which hotel?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Station Hotel," replied Jallanby. "They were there for ten days or
+so, while they did their business with me. I never saw aught wrong
+about 'em either&mdash;seemed to be what they represented themselves to be.
+Certainly they'd plenty of money&mdash;for what they wanted here in Hull,
+anyway. But of course, that's neither here nor there."</p>
+
+<p>"What names did you know them under?" inquired Scarterfield. "And
+where did they profess to come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the man with the brownish beard called himself Mr. Norman
+Belford," answered Jallanby. "I gathered he was from London. The other
+man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> was a Frenchman&mdash;some French lord or other, from his name, but I
+forget it. Mr. Belford always called him Vicomte&mdash;which I took to be
+French for our Viscount."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield turned and looked at me. And I, too, looked at him. We
+were thinking of the same thing&mdash;old Cazalette's find on the bush in
+the scrub near the beach at Ravensdene Court. And I could not repress
+an exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>"The handkerchief!"</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield coughed. A dry, significant cough&mdash;it meant a great deal.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" he said. "Just so&mdash;the handkerchief! Um!" He turned to the
+ship-broker. "Mr. Jallanby," he continued, "what did these two want of
+you? What was their business here in Hull?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell you that in a very few words," answered Jallanby. "Simple
+enough and straight enough, on the surface. So far as I was concerned,
+anyhow. They came in here one morning, told me they were staying at
+the Station Hotel, and said that they wanted to buy a small craft of
+some sort that a small crew could run across the North Sea to the
+Norwegian fiords&mdash;the sort of thing you can manage with three or four,
+you know. They said they were both amateur yachtsmen, and, of course,
+I very soon found out that they knew what they were talking about&mdash;in
+fact, between you and me, I should have said that they were as
+experienced in sea-craft as any man could be!&mdash;I soon detected that."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" said Scarterfield, with a nod at me. "I dare say you would."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it so happened that I'd just the very thing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> they seemed to
+want," continued the ship-broker. "A vessel that had recently been
+handed over to me for disposal, and then lying in the Victoria Dock,
+just at the back here, beyond the old harbour: just the sort of craft
+that they could sail themselves, with say a man, or a boy or two&mdash;I
+can tell you exactly what she was, if you like."</p>
+
+<p>"It might be very useful to know that," remarked Scattered, with
+emphasis on the last word. "We may want to identify her."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Jallanby, "she was a yawl about eighteen tons register;
+thirty tons yacht measurement; length forty-two feet; beam thirteen;
+draught seven and a half feet; square stern; coppered above the
+water-line; carried main, jib-headed mizen, fore-staysail, and jib,
+and in addition had a sliding gunter gaff-topsail, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" interrupted Scarterfield with a smile. "That's all too
+technical for me to carry in my head! If we want details, I'll trouble
+you to write 'em down later. But I take it this vessel was all ready
+for going to sea?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ready any day," asserted Jallanby. "Only just wanted tidying up and
+storing. As a matter of fact, she'd been in use, quite recently, but
+she was a bit too solid for her late owner's tastes&mdash;the truth was,
+she'd been originally built for a Penzance fishing-lugger&mdash;splendid
+sea-going boats, those!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I understand that this vessel could undertake a longish voyage?"
+asked Scarterfield. "For instance, could they have crossed, say, the
+Atlantic in her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Atlantic? Lord bless you, yes!" replied the ship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>-broker. "Or
+Pacific, either. Go tens o' thousands o' miles in a craft of that
+soundness, as long as you'd got provisions on board!</p>
+
+<p>"Did they buy her?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"They did&mdash;at once," replied Jallanby. "And paid the money for her&mdash;in
+cash, there and then."</p>
+
+<p>"Cheque?" inquired Scarterfield, laconically.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir&mdash;good Bank of England notes," answered Jallanby. "Oh, they
+were all right as regards money&mdash;in my case, anyway. And you'll find
+the same as regards the tradesmen they dealt with here&mdash;cash on the
+spot. They fitted her out with provisions as soon as they'd got
+her&mdash;that, of course, took a few days."</p>
+
+<p>"And then went off&mdash;to Norway?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"So I understand," assented Jallanby. "That's what they said. They
+were going, first of all, to Stavanger&mdash;then to Bergen&mdash;then further
+north."</p>
+
+<p>"Just the two of them?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no," replied Jallanby. "They were joined, a day or two before they
+sailed, by a friend of theirs&mdash;a Chinaman. Queer combination&mdash;Englishman,
+Frenchman, Chinaman. But this Chinaman, he was a swell&mdash;what we should
+call a gentleman, you know&mdash;Mr. Belford told me, in private, that he
+belonged to the Chinese Ambassador's suite in London."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" said Scarterfield. "Just so! A diplomat. And where did he
+stop&mdash;here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he joined them at the hotel," answered Jallanby. "He'd come there
+that night I dined with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> them. Quiet, very gentlemanly little
+chap&mdash;quite the gentleman, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"And&mdash;his name?" asked Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>But the ship-broker held up a deprecating hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't ask me!" he said. "I heard it, but I'm not up to those Chinese
+names. Still, you'd find it in the hotel register, no doubt. But
+really, gentlemen, you surprise me!&mdash;I should never have thought&mdash;yet,
+you never know who people are, do you? Nice, pleasant, well-behaved
+fellows these were, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said Scarterfield, with deep significance. "It's a queer world,
+Mr. Jallanby. Now then, for the moment, oblige me by keeping all this
+to yourself. But two questions&mdash;first, how long since is it that these
+chaps sailed for Bergen; second, what is the name of this smart little
+vessel?"</p>
+
+<p>"They sailed precisely three weeks ago next Monday," answered the
+ship-broker, "and the name of the vessel is the <i>Blanchflower</i>."</p>
+
+<p>We left Mr. Jallanby then, promising to see him again, and went away.
+I was wondering what the detective made out of all this, and I waited
+with some curiosity for him to speak. But we had got half way up the
+old High Street before Scarterfield opened his lips. And then his tone
+was a blend of speculation and distrust.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I wonder where those chaps have gone?" he muttered. "Of course
+they haven't gone to Norway! Of course that Chinese chap wasn't from
+the Chinese Legation in London! The whole thing's a bluff. By this
+time they'll have altered the name<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> of that yawl, and gone&mdash;where? In
+search of that buried stuff, to be sure!"</p>
+
+<p>"If the man who called himself Belford is really Baxter, he'll know
+precisely where it is," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, just so, Mr. Middlebrook," assented Scarterfield. "But&mdash;there's
+been time in all these years to shift that stuff from one place to
+another! I haven't the slightest doubt that Belford is Baxter, and
+that he and his associates bought that vessel as the easiest way of
+getting the stuff from wherever it's hid&mdash;but where are we to look for
+them and their craft? Have they gone north or south! It would be waste
+of time and money to cable to the Norwegian ports for news of
+them&mdash;they're not gone there, that I'll swear."</p>
+
+<p>"Scarterfield," said I, feeling convinced on the matter. "If the man's
+Baxter, and he's after that stuff, he's gone north. The stuff is near
+Blyth! Dead certain!"</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say you're right," he said slowly. "And as I've found out all
+there is to find out here in Hull, I suppose a return to Blyth is the
+most advisable thing. After all, we know what to look out for on that
+coast&mdash;a twenty-ton yawl, with an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a
+Chinaman aboard her. Very well."</p>
+
+<p>So that afternoon, after seeing the ship-broker again, and making
+certain arrangements with him in case he heard anything of the
+<i>Blanchflower</i> and her crew of three queerly-assorted individuals, we
+retraced our steps northward. But while Scarterfield turned off at
+Newcastle for Tynemouth and Blyth, I went forward alone, for Alnwick
+and Ravensdene Court.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PATHLESS WOOD</h2>
+
+
+<p>Being very late in the evening when I arrived at Alnwick, I remained
+there for that night, and it was not until noon of the next day that I
+once more reached Ravensdene Court. Lorrimore was there, he had come
+over to lunch, and for the moment I hoped that he had brought some
+news from his Chinese servant. But he had heard nothing of Wing since
+his departure: it would scarcely be Wing's method, he said, to
+communicate with him by letter; when he had anything to tell, he would
+either return or act, of his own initiative, upon his acquired
+information: the way of the Chinaman, he remarked with a knowing look
+at Mr. Raven, was dark, subtle, and not easily understandable to
+Western minds.</p>
+
+<p>"And yourself, Middlebrook?" asked Mr. Raven. "What did the detective
+want, and what have you found out?"</p>
+
+<p>I told them the whole story as we sat at lunch. They were all deeply
+absorbed, but no one so much as Mr. Cazalette, who, true to his
+principle of doing no more than crumbling a dry biscuit and sipping a
+glass or two of sherry at that hour, gave my tale of the doings at
+Blyth and Hull his undivided attention. And when he had heard me out,
+he slipped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> away in silence, evidently very thoughtful, and
+disappeared into the library.</p>
+
+<p>"So there it all is," I said in conclusion, "and if anybody can make
+head or tail of it and get a definite and dependable theory, I am sure
+that Scarterfield, from a professional standpoint, will be glad to
+hear whatever can be said."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me that Scarterfield is on the high road to a very
+respectable theory already," remarked Lorrimore. "So are you! The
+thing&mdash;to me&mdash;appears to be fairly plain. It starts out with the
+association of Baxter and the dishonest bank-manager. The
+bank-manager, left in charge of this old-fashioned bank at Blyth,
+where any supervision of his doings was no doubt pretty slack, and
+where he was, of course, fully trusted, examines the nature of the
+various matters committed to his care, and finds out the contents of
+those Forestburne chests. He then enters into a conspiracy with Baxter
+for purloining them and some other valuables&mdash;those jewels you
+mentioned, Middlebrook. It would not be a difficult thing to get them
+away from the bank premises without anyone knowing. Then the two
+conspirators secrete them in a safe and unlikely place, easily
+accessible, I take it, from the sea. Probably, they meant to remove
+them for good and all, just before the dishonest bank-manager's
+temporary residence in the town came to an end. But his fatal accident
+occurs. Then Master Baxter is placed in a nice fix! He knows that his
+fellow-criminal's sudden death will necessarily lead to some
+examination, more or less thorough, of the effects at the bank. That
+examination, to be sure, was made. But Baxter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> has gone, cleared out,
+vanished, before the result is known. He may have had an idea&mdash;we can
+only guess at it&mdash;that suspicion would fall on him. Anyway, he leaves
+the town, and is never seen in or near it again. If this theory is a
+true one, things seem pretty clear up to this point."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," said I, "it is theory! All supposition, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Right!" assented Lorrimore. "But let us theorise a bit further&mdash;I am,
+you see, merely following out the train of thought which seems to have
+been set up in you and in Scarterfield. Baxter disappears. Nobody
+knows where he's gone. There is a veil drawn over a certain
+period&mdash;pretty thickly. But we, who have had occasion to try to pierce
+it, have seen, so we think, through certain tears and rifts in it. We
+know that a certain number of years ago there was a trading ship in
+the Yellow Sea, the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, concerning the fate of which
+there is more mystery than is quite in accordance with either safety
+or respectability. She was bound from Hong-Kong to Chemulpo, and she
+never reached Chemulpo. But we also know that on her, when she left
+Hong-Kong there were two men, presumably brothers, whose names were
+Noah Quick and Salter Quick, set down, mind you, not as members of the
+crew, but as passengers. Also there was a Chinese cook, of the name of
+Lo Chuh Fen. And there was another man, who called himself
+Netherfield, and who hailed from Blyth, in Northumberland."</p>
+
+<p>He looked round the table, evidently bent on securing our attention to
+their particular point. We were all, of course, fully acquainted with
+the details he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> unfolding, but he was summing things up in quite
+judicial fashion, and there was a certain amount of intellectual
+satisfaction in listening to a succinct r&eacute;sum&eacute;. One of us, at any
+rate, was following him with rapt attention&mdash;Miss Raven. I fancied I
+saw why&mdash;Baxter, or Netherfield, had already presented himself to her
+as a personage of a dark and romantic, if deeply-wicked and even
+blood-stained sort.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," continued Lorrimore, becoming more judicial than ever, "according
+to the official accounts, as shown at Lloyds, the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>
+never reached Chemulpo, and she is&mdash;officially&mdash;believed to have been
+lost, with all hands, during a typhoon, in the Yellow Sea. All hands! But
+we know that, whatever happened to the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, and to the
+rest of the crew, certain men who were on board her when she left
+Hong-Kong, for Chemulpo, did escape whatever catastrophe occurred. The
+<i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> may be at the bottom of the Yellow Sea, and most of
+her folk with her. But in course of time Noah Quick turns up at Devonport
+in England, in possession, evidently, of plenty of money. He takes a
+licensed house, runs it on highly respectable lines, and comports himself
+as a decent member of society; also he prospers, and has a very good
+balance at his bankers. So there is one man who certainly did not go down
+with the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>. And now&mdash;to keep matters in chronological
+order&mdash;we hear of another. A Chinaman, undoubtedly Lo Chuh Fen, turns up
+at Lloyds and endeavours to find out if this <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> ever did
+reach Chemulpo. There is a strange point here&mdash;Lo Chuh Fen certainly
+sailed out of Hong-Kong with the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, bound<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> for
+Chemulpo, yet, some years later, he is inquiring in London, if the
+<i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> ever reached her destination. Why? Did the <i>Elizabeth
+Robinson</i> touch at any port after leaving Hong-Kong? Did Lo Chuh Fen leave
+her at any such port? We don't know&mdash;and for the moment it is not
+material; what is material is that a second member of the company on board
+the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> did not go down with her in the Yellow Sea if, as
+is said, she did go. So there are two survivors&mdash;Noah Quick and Lo Chuh
+Fen. And now a third is added in the person of another Quick&mdash;Salter, who
+turns up at Devonport as the guest of Noah, and who, like his brother, is
+evidently in possession of a plenitude of this world's goods. He has money
+in the bank, is a gentleman of leisure, and, like Noah, a person of
+reserved speech."</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore was now fairly into his stride, and becoming absorbed in his
+summing-up. He pushed aside his glass and other table impediments, and
+leaning forward spoke more earnestly, emphasising his words with
+equally emphatic gestures.</p>
+
+<p>"A person of reserved speech!" he continued. "But&mdash;on one occasion, at
+any rate, so eager to get hold of information, that he casts his
+habitual reserve aside. On a certain day in March of this year, Salter
+Quick, with a handsome amount of ready money in his pocket, leaves
+Devonport, saying that he is going away for a few days. We next hear
+of him at an hotel in Alnwick, where he is asking for information
+about certain churchyards on this Northumbrian coast wherein he will
+find the graves of people of the name of Netherfield&mdash;the name of a
+man, be it remembered, who was with him and his brother Noah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> Quick,
+on board the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>. Next morning he meets with Mr.
+Middlebrook on the headlands between Alnmouth and Ravensdene Court and
+taking him for an inhabitant of these parts, he puts the same question
+to him. He accompanies Mr. Middlebrook to an inn on the cliffs; he
+asks the same question there&mdash;and there, evidently to his great
+discomfiture, he hears that another man, whose identity did not then
+appear, but who, we now know, was only a casual traveller who was
+merely repeating Salter Quick's own questions of the previous evening
+which he had overheard at Alnwick, had been asking similar questions.
+Why had Salter Quick travelled all the way from Devonport to
+Northumberland to find the graves of some people named Netherfield? We
+don't know&mdash;but we do know that on the very night of the day on which
+he had asked his questions of Mr. Middlebrook and of Claigue, the
+landlord, Salter Quick was murdered. And on that same night, at
+Devonport, four hundred miles away, his brother, Noah Quick, met a
+similar fate."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette came back into the room. He was carrying a couple of fat
+quarto books under one arm, and a large folio under the other, and he
+looked as if he had many important things to communicate. But Miss
+Raven smilingly motioned him to be seated and silent, and Lorrimore,
+with a glance at him which a judge might have bestowed on some belated
+counsel who came tip-toeing into his court, went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "there were certain similarities in these two murders
+which lead to the supposition that, far apart as they were, they were
+the work of a gang, working with common purpose. There was no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> robbery
+from the person in either instance, though each victim had money and
+valuables on him to a considerable amount. But each man had been
+searched. Pockets had been turned out&mdash;clothing ripped up. In the case
+of Salter Quick, we are familiar with the details of the tobacco-box,
+on the inner lid of which there was a roughly-scratched plan of some
+place, and of the handkerchief bearing a monogram which Mr. Cazalette
+discovered near the scene of the murder. These are details&mdash;of great
+importance&mdash;the true significance of which does not yet appear. But
+the real, prime detail is the curious, mysterious connection between
+the name Netherfield, which Salter Quick was so anxious to find on
+gravestones in some Northumbrian churchyard or other, and the man of
+that name who was with him on the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>. And we are at
+once faced with the question&mdash;was the man, Netherfield Baxter, who
+left Blyth some years ago, the man Netherfield, described as of Blyth,
+whose name was on the <i>Elizabeth Robinson's</i> list?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Raven treated us to one of his characteristic sniffs. He had a
+way, when he was stating what he considered to be a dead certainty, or
+when he was assenting to one, of throwing up his head and sniffing,
+with a somewhat cynical smile as accompaniment. He sniffed now, and
+Lorrimore went on&mdash;to a peroration.</p>
+
+<p>"There can be no doubt about it!" he said with emphasis. "A Blyth man,
+a seafarer, named Solomon Fish, chances to be in Hull and, in a tavern
+there which is evidently the resort of seafaring folk, sees a man whom
+he instantly recognizes as Netherfield<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> Baxter, whom he had known as
+child, boy and young man. He accosts him&mdash;the man denies it. We need
+pay no attention whatever to that denial: we may be quite sure from
+the testimony of Fish that the man is Baxter. Now then, what is Baxter
+doing? He is evidently in possession of ample funds&mdash;he and his
+companions buy a small vessel, a twenty-ton yawl, in which, they said,
+they want to cross the North Sea to the Norwegian fiords. And who are
+his companions? One is a Chinaman. Probably Lo Chuh Fen. The other is
+a Frenchman, who, says Mr. Jallanby, the Hull ship-broker, was
+addressed as Vicomte. He, probably, is an adventurer, and a criminous
+one, like Baxter, and&mdash;he is also probably the owner of the
+handkerchief which Mr. Cazalette found, stained with Salter Quick's
+blood!"</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore paused a moment, looking round to see how this impressed us.
+The last suggestion was new to me, but I saw its reasonableness and
+nodded. Lorrimore nodded back, and continued.</p>
+
+<p>"Now a last word," he said. "I, personally, haven't a doubt that these
+three, one or other of 'em, murdered the Quicks, and that they're now
+going to take up that swag which Baxter and the dishonest bank-manager
+safely planted somewhere. But&mdash;I don't believe it's buried or secreted
+in any out-of-the-way place on the coast. I know where I should look
+for it, and where Scarterfield ought to search for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Where, then?" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he answered, "the thing is&mdash;to consider<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> what those fellows
+were likely to do with the old monastic plate and the jewels and so on
+when they'd got them. They probably knew that the ancient chalices,
+reliquaries, and that sort of thing would fetch big prices, sold
+privately to collectors&mdash;especially to American collectors, who, as
+everybody knows, are not at all squeamish or particular about the
+antecedents of property so long as they secure it. I should say that
+Baxter, acting for his partner in crime, stored these things, and has
+waited for a favourable opportunity to resume possession of them. I
+incline to the opinion that he stored them at Hartlepool, or at
+Newcastle, or at South-Shields&mdash;at any place whence they could easily
+be transferred by ship. He may, indeed, have stored them at Liverpool,
+for easy transit across the Atlantic. I don't believe in the theory
+that they're planted in some hole-and-corner of the coast."</p>
+
+<p>"In that case, what becomes of Salter Quick's search for the graves of
+the Netherfields?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't say," replied Lorrimore, with a shrug of his shoulders. "But
+Salter Quick may have got hold of the wrong tale, or half a tale, or
+mixed things up. Anyway, that's my opinion&mdash;that this stolen property
+is not cached anywhere, but is somewhere within four respectable
+walls, and if I were Scarterfield, I should communicate with stores
+and repositories asking for information about goods left with them
+some time ago and not yet reclaimed."</p>
+
+<p>"Good idea!" agreed Mr. Raven. "Much more likely than the buried
+treasure notion."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"To which, however, I incline," I said stubbornly. "When Salter Quick
+sought for the graves of the Netherfields, he had a purpose."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cazalette came nearer the table with his big volumes. It was very
+evident that he had made some discovery and was anxious to tell us of
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Before you go any further into that matter," said he, laying down his
+burdens, "there are one or two things I should like to draw your
+attention to in connection with what Middlebrook told us before I left
+the room just a while since. Now about that monastic plate,
+Middlebrook, of which you've seen the inventories&mdash;you may not be
+aware of it, but there's a reference to that matter in Dryman's
+'History of the Religious Foundations of Northumberland' which I will
+now read to you. Hear you this, now:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Abbey of Forestburne.</i>&mdash;It is well known that the altar
+vessels, plate, and jewels of this house were considerable
+in number and in value, but were never handed over to the
+custodians of the King's Treasury House in London. They were
+duly inventoried by the receivers in these parts, and there
+are letters extant recording their dispatch to London. But
+they never reached their destination, and it is commonly
+believed that like a great deal more of the monastic
+property of the Northern districts these valuables were
+appropriated by high-placed persons of the neighbourhood who
+employed their underlings, marked and disguised, to waylay
+and despoil the messengers entrusted to carry them
+Southward. N. B.&mdash;These foregoing remarks apply to the plate
+and jewels which appertained to the adjacent Priory of
+Mellerton, which were also of great value."</p></div>
+
+<p>"So," continued Mr. Cazalette, "there's no doubt, in my mind, anyway,
+that the plate of which Middlebrook<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> saw the inventories is just what
+they describe it to be, and that it came, in course of time, into the
+hands of the Lord Forestburne who deposited it in yon bank. And now,"
+he went on, opening the biggest of his volumes, "here's the file of a
+local paper which your respected predecessor, Mr. Raven, had the good
+sense to keep, and I've turned up the account of the inquest that was
+held at Blyth on yon dishonest bank-manager. And there's a bit of
+evidence here that nobody seems to have drawn Scarterfield's attention
+to. 'The deceased gentleman,' it reads, 'was very fond of the sea, and
+frequently made excursions along our beautiful coast in a small yacht
+which he hired from Messrs. Capsticks, the well-known boat-builders of
+the town. It will be remembered that he had a particular liking for
+night-sailing, and would often sail his yacht out of harbour late of
+an evening in order, as he said, to enjoy the wonderful effects of
+moonlight on sea and coast.' That, you'll bear in mind," concluded Mr.
+Cazalette, with a more than usually sardonic grin, "was penned by some
+fatuous reporter before they knew that the deceased gentleman had
+robbed the bank. And no doubt it was on those night excursions that
+he, and this man Baxter that we've heard of, carried away the stolen
+valuables, and safely hid them in some quiet spot on this coast&mdash;and
+there you'll see, they'll be found all in good time. And as sure as my
+name is what it is, Dr. Lorrimore, it was that spot that Salter Quick
+was after&mdash;only he wasn't exactly certain where it was, and had
+somehow got mixed about the graves of the Netherfields. Man alive! yon
+plate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> of the old monks is buried under some Netherfield headstone at
+this minute!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't believe it, sir!" said Lorrimore. "It's much more likely to be
+stored in some handy seaport where it can be easily called for without
+attracting attention. And if Middlebrook'll give me Scarterfield's
+address that's what I'm going to suggest to him."</p>
+
+<p>I suppose Lorrimore wrote to the detective. But during the next few
+days I heard nothing from Scarterfield; indeed nobody heard anything
+new from anywhere. I believe that Scarterfield from Blyth, gave some
+hints to the coastguard people about keeping a look-out for the
+<i>Blanchflower</i>, but I am not sure of it. However, two of us at
+Ravensdene Court took a mutual liking for walks along the loneliest
+stretches of the coast&mdash;myself and Miss Raven. Before my journey to
+Blyth and Hull, she and I had already taken to going for afternoon
+excursions together; now we lengthened them, going out after lunch and
+remaining away until we had only just time to return home by the
+dinner-hour. I think we had some vague idea that we might possibly
+discover something&mdash;perhaps find some trace, we knew not of what. Then
+we were led, unexpectedly, as such things always do happen, to the
+threshold of our great and perilous adventure. Going further afield
+than usual one day, and, about five o'clock of a spring afternoon,
+straying into a solitary ravine that opened up before us on the moors
+that stretched to the very edge of the coast, we came upon an ancient
+wood of dwarf oak, so venerable and time-worn in appearance that it
+looked like a survival of the Druid age.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> There was not an opening to
+be seen in its thick undergrowth, nor any sign of path or track
+through it, but it was with a mutual consent and understanding that we
+made our way into its intense silence.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+
+<h2>HUMFREY DE KNAYTHVILLE</h2>
+
+
+<p>In order to arrive at a proper understanding of the peculiar
+circumstances and position in which Miss Raven and myself very shortly
+found ourselves placed, it is necessary to give some information as to
+the geographical situation of the wood into which we plunged, more I
+think, out of a mingled feeling of curiosity and mystery than of
+anything else. We had then walked several miles from Ravensdene Court
+in a northerly direction, but instead of keeping to the direct line of
+the cliffs and headlands we had followed an inland track along the
+moors, which, however, was never at any point of its tortuous way more
+than a mile from the coast. The last mile or two of this had been
+through absolute solitudes&mdash;save for a lonely farmstead, or shepherd's
+cottage, seen far off on the rising ground, further inland, we had not
+seen a sign of human habitation. Nor that afternoon did we see any
+sail on the broad stretch of sea at our right, nor even the
+smoke-trail of any passing steamer on the horizon. Yet the place we
+now approached seemed even more solitary. We came to a sort of ravine,
+a deep fissure in the line of the land, on the south side of which lay
+the wood of ancient oak of which I have spoken. Beyond it, on the
+northern side, the further edge of this ravine rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> steeply, masses
+of scarred limestone jutting out of its escarpments; it seemed to me
+that at the foot of the wood and in the deepest part of this natural
+declension, there would be a burn, a stream, that ran downwards from
+the moor to the sea. I think we had some idea of getting down to this,
+following its course to its outlet on the beach, and returning
+homeward by way of the sands.</p>
+
+<p>The wood into which we made our way was well-nigh impregnable; it
+seemed to me that for age upon age its undergrowth had run riot,
+untrimmed, unchecked, until at last it had become a matted growth of
+interwoven, strangely twisted boughs and tendrils. It was only by
+turning in first one, then another direction through it that we made
+any progress in the downward direction we desired; sometimes it was a
+matter of forcing one's way between the thickly twisted obstacles. We
+exchanged laughing remarks about our having found the forest primeval;
+before long each was plentifully adorned with scratches and tears. All
+around us the silence was intense; there was no singing of birds nor
+humming of insects in that wood. But more than once we came across
+bones&mdash;the whitened skeletons of animals that had sought these shades
+and died there or had been dragged into them and torn to pieces by
+their fellow beasts. Altogether there was an atmosphere of eeriness
+and gloom in that wood, and I began&mdash;more for my companion's sake than
+my own&mdash;to long for a glimpse of some outlet, a sight of the sunlit
+sea beyond, and for the murmur of the burn which I felt sure, ran
+rippling coast-wards beneath the fringes of this almost impassable
+thicket.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And then at the end of quite half-an-hour's struggling, borne, I must
+say, by Miss Raven, with the truly sporting spirit which was a part of
+her general character, a sudden exclamation from her, as she pushed
+her way through a clump of wilding a little in advance of me, caused
+me to look ahead.</p>
+
+<p>"There's some building just in front of us!" she said. "See&mdash;grey
+stones&mdash;a ruin!"</p>
+
+<p>I looked in the direction she indicated, and through the interstices
+of the thickly-leaved branches, just then prodigal of their first
+spring foliage, saw, as she said, a grey wall, venerable and
+time-stained, rising in front. I could see the topmost stones, a sort
+of broken parapet, ivy clustering about it, and beneath the green of
+the ivy, a fragment of some ornamentation and the cavernous gloom of a
+window place from which glass and tracery had long since gone.</p>
+
+<p>"That's something to make for, anyway," I said. "Some old tower or
+other. Yet I don't remember anything of the sort, marked on the maps."</p>
+
+<p>We pushed forward, and came out on a little clearing. Immediately in
+front of us stood the masonry of which we had caught glimpses; a low,
+squat, square tower, some forty feet in height, ruinous as to the most
+part, but having the side facing us nearly perfect and still boasting
+a fine old doorway which I set down as of Norman architecture. North
+of this lay a mass of fallen masonry, a long line of grass-grown,
+weed-encumbered stone, which was evidently the ruin of a wall; here
+and there in the clearing were similar smaller masses. Rank weed,
+bramblebush, beds of nettles, encumbered the whole place;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> it was a
+scene of ruin and desolation. But a mere glance was sufficient to show
+me that we had come by accident on a once sacred spot.</p>
+
+<p>"Why this," said I, as we paused at the edge of the wood, "this is the
+ruin of some ancient church, or perhaps of a religious house! Look at
+the niche there above the arch of the door&mdash;there's been an image in
+that&mdash;and at the general run of the stone lying about. Certainly this
+is an old church! Why have we never heard of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Utterly forgotten, I should think," said Miss Raven. "It must be a
+long time since there were people about here to come to it."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably a village down on the coast&mdash;now swept away," I remarked.
+"But we must look this place out in the local books. Meanwhile let's
+explore it."</p>
+
+<p>We began to look about the clearing. The tower was almost gone as to
+three sides of it; the fourth was fairly intact. A line of fallen
+masonry lay to the north and was continued a little on the east, where
+it rose into a higher, ivy-covered mass. Within this again was
+another, less obvious line, similar in plan, and also covered with
+unchecked growth: within that the uneven surface of the ground was
+thickly encumbered with rank weeds, beds of thistle, beds of nettle,
+and a plenitude of bramble and gorse; in one place towards the eastern
+mass of overgrown wall, a great clump of gorse had grown to such a
+height and thickness as to form an impenetrable screen. And, peering
+and prying about, suddenly we came, between this screen and the foot
+of the tower on signs of great slabs of stone, over the edges of which
+the coarse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> grass had grown, and whose surfaces were thickly
+encumbered with moss and lichen.</p>
+
+<p>"Gravestones!" said Miss Raven. "But&mdash;I suppose they're quite worn and
+illegible."</p>
+
+<p>I got down on my knees at one of the slabs less encumbered than the
+others and began to tear away the grass and weed. There was a rich,
+thick carpet of moss on it, and a fringe of grey, clinging lichen, but
+by the aid of a stout pocket-knife I forced it away, and laid bare a
+considerable surface of the upper half of the stone. And now that the
+moss, which had formed a sort of protecting cover, was removed, we saw
+lettering, worn and smoothed at its edges in common with the rest of
+the slab, but still to be made out with a little patience.</p>
+
+<p>There may be&mdash;probably is&mdash;a certain density in me, a slowness of
+intuition and perception, but it is the fact that at this time and for
+some minutes later, I had not the faintest suspicion that we had
+accidentally lighted upon something connected with the mystery of Salter
+Quick. All I thought of, I think, just then was that we had come across
+some old relic of antiquity&mdash;the church of some coast hamlet or village
+which had long been left to the ruinous work of time, and my only
+immediate interest was in endeavouring to decipher the half-worn-out
+inscription on the stone by which I was kneeling. While my companion stood
+by me, watching with eager attention, I scraped out the earth and moss and
+lichen from the lettering&mdash;fortunately, it had been deeply incised in the
+stone&mdash;a hard and durable sort&mdash;and much of it remained legible, once the
+rubbish had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> been cleared from it. Presently I made out at any rate
+several words and figures:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hic jacet dominus ...</span>
+<span class="i0">Humfrey de Knaythville ...</span>
+<span class="i0">quond' vicari huius ...</span>
+<span class="i0">ecclie qui ob&eacute;it ...</span>
+<span class="i0">anno dei mccccxix ...</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Beneath these lines were two or three others, presumably words of
+scripture, which had evidently become worn away before the moss spread
+its protecting carpet over the others. But we had learnt something.</p>
+
+<p>"There we are!" said I, regarding the result of my labours with proud
+satisfaction. "There it runs&mdash;'Here lies the lord, or master, Humphrey
+de Knaythville, sometime vicar of this church, who died in the year of
+our Lord one thousand four hundred and nineteen'&mdash;nearly six hundred
+years ago! A good find!"</p>
+
+<p>"Splendid!" exclaimed Miss Raven, already excited to enthusiasm by
+these antiquarian discoveries. "I wonder if there are inscriptions on
+the other tombs?"</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt," I assented, "and perhaps some, or things of interest, on
+this fallen masonry. This place is well worth careful examination, and
+I'm wondering how it is that I haven't come across any reference to it
+in the local books. But to be sure, I haven't read them very fully or
+carefully&mdash;Mr. Cazalette may know of it. We shall have something to
+tell him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>We began to look round again. I wandered into the base of the tower;
+Miss Raven began to explore the weed-choked ground towards the east
+end. Suddenly I heard a sharp, startled exclamation from her. Turning,
+I saw her standing by the great clump of overgrown gorse of which I
+have already spoken. She glanced at me; then at something behind the
+gorse.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>Unconsciously, she lowered her voice, at the same time glancing,
+half-nervously, at the thick undergrowth of the wood.</p>
+
+<p>"Come here!" she said. "Come!"</p>
+
+<p>I went across the weed-grown surface to her side. She pointed behind
+the gorse-bush.</p>
+
+<p>"Look there!" she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>I knew as soon as I looked that we were not alone in that wild,
+solitary-seeming spot; that there were human ears listening, and human
+eyes watching; that we were probably in danger. There behind the
+yellow-starred clump of green was what at first sight appeared to be a
+newly-opened grave, but was in reality a freshly-dug excavation; a
+heap of soil and stone, just flung out, lay by it; on this some hand
+had flung down a mattock; near it rested a pick. And suddenly, as by a
+heaven-sent inspiration, I saw things. We had stumbled on the
+graveyard which Salter Quick had wished to find; de Knaythville and
+Netherfield were identical terms which had got mixed up in his
+uneducated mind; here the missing treasure was buried, and we had
+walked into this utterly deserted spot to interrupt&mdash;what, and who?</p>
+
+<p>Before I could say a word, I heard Miss Raven<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> catch her breath; then
+another sharp exclamation came from her lips&mdash;stifled, but clear.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I say!" she cried. "Who&mdash;who are these&mdash;these men?"</p>
+
+<p>Her hand moved instinctively towards my arm as she spoke, and as I
+drew it within my grasp I felt that she was trembling a little. And in
+that same instant, turning quickly in the direction she indicated, I
+became aware of the presence of two men who had quietly stepped out
+from the shelter of the high undergrowth on the landward side of the
+clearing and stood silently watching us. They were attired in
+something of the fashion of seamen, in rough trousers and jerseys, but
+I saw at first glance that they were not common men. Indeed, I saw
+more, and realized with a sickening feeling of apprehension that our
+wandering into that place had brought us face to face with danger. One
+of the two, a tallish, slender-built, good-looking man, not at all
+unpleasant to look on if it had not been for a certain sinister and
+cold expression of eye and mouth, I recognized as a stranger whom I
+had noticed at the coroner's inquest on Salter Quick and had then
+taken for some gentleman of the neighbourhood. The other, I felt sure,
+was Netherfield Baxter. There was the golden-brown beard of which Fish
+had told me and Scarterfield; there, too, was the half-hidden scar on
+the left cheek. I had no doubt whatever that Miss Raven and myself
+were in the hands of the two men who had bought the <i>Blanchflower</i>
+from Jallanby, the ship-broker of Hull.</p>
+
+<p>The four of us stood steadily gazing at each other for what seemed to
+be a long and&mdash;to me&mdash;a painful minute. Then the man whom I took to be
+Baxter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> moved a little nearer to us; his companion, hands in pockets,
+but watchful enough, lounged after him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir?" said Baxter, lifting his cap as he glanced at Miss Raven.
+"Don't think me too abrupt, nor intentionally rude, if I ask you what
+you and this young lady are doing here?"</p>
+
+<p>His voice was that of a man of education and even of refinement, and
+his tone polite enough; there was something of apology in it. But it
+was also sharp, business-like, compelling; I saw at once that this was
+a man whose character was essentially matter-of-fact, and who would
+not allow himself to stick at trifles, and I judged it best to be
+plain in my answer.</p>
+
+<p>"If you really want to know," I replied, "we are here by sheer
+accident. Exploring the wood for the mere fun of the thing, we chanced
+upon these ruins and have been examining them, that's all?"</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't come here with any set purpose?" he asked, looking from
+one to the other. "You weren't seeking this place?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not!" said I. "We hadn't the faintest notion that such a
+place was to be found."</p>
+
+<p>"But here it is, anyway," he said. "And&mdash;there you are! In the
+possession of the knowledge of it. And so&mdash;you'll excuse me&mdash;I must
+ask a question. Who are you? Tourists? Or&mdash;do you live hereabouts?"</p>
+
+<p>The other man made a remark under his breath, in some foreign
+language, eyeing me the while. And Baxter spoke again watching me.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you, at any rate, are a resident?" he said. "My friend has
+seen you before in these parts."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I have seen him," I said unthinkingly. "I saw him amongst the people
+at Salter Quick's inquest."</p>
+
+<p>The faintest shadow of an understanding glance passed between the two
+men, and Baxter's face grew stern.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so!" he remarked. "That makes it all the more necessary to
+repeat my question. Who are you&mdash;both?"</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Middlebrook, if you must know," I answered. "And I am not
+a resident of these parts&mdash;I am visiting here. As for this lady, she
+is Miss Raven, the niece of Mr. Francis Raven, of Ravensdene Court.
+And really&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He waved his hand as if to deprecate any remonstrance or threat on my
+part, and bowed as politely to my companion as if I had just given him
+a formal introduction to her.</p>
+
+<p>"No harm shall come to you, Miss Raven," he said, with evidently
+honest assurance. "None whatever!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nor to Mr. Middlebrook, either, I should hope!" exclaimed Miss Raven,
+almost indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled, showing a set of very white, strong teeth.</p>
+
+<p>"That depends on Mr. Middlebrook," he said. "If Mr. Middlebrook
+behaves like a good and reasonable boy&mdash;Mr. Middlebrook," he went on,
+interrupting himself and turning on me with a direct look, "a plain
+question? Are you armed?"</p>
+
+<p>"Armed!" I retorted scornfully. "Do you think I carry a revolver on an
+innocent country stroll?"</p>
+
+<p>"We do!" he answered with another smile. "You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> see, we don't know with
+whom we may meet. It was a million to one&mdash;perhaps more&mdash;against our
+meeting anybody this afternoon, yet&mdash;we've met you."</p>
+
+<p>"We are sorry to have interrupted you," I said, not without a touch of
+satirical meaning. "We won't interrupt any longer if you will permit
+us to say good-day."</p>
+
+<p>I motioned to Miss Raven to follow me, and made to move. But Baxter
+laughed a little and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not sure that we can allow that, just yet," he said. "It is
+unfortunate&mdash;I offer a thousand apologies to Miss Raven, but business
+is business, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to tell me that you intend to interfere with our
+movements, just because you chance to find us here?" I demanded. "If
+so&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let us quarrel or get excited," he said, with another wave of
+his hand. "I have said that no harm shall come to you&mdash;a little
+temporary inconvenience, perhaps, but&mdash;however, excuse me for a
+moment."</p>
+
+<p>He stepped back to his companion; together they began to whisper,
+occasionally glancing at us.</p>
+
+<p>"What does he mean?" murmured Miss Raven. "Do they want to keep
+us&mdash;here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what they intend," I said. "But&mdash;don't be afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not afraid," she answered. "Only&mdash;I've a pretty good idea of who
+it is that we've come across! And&mdash;so have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I replied. "Unfortunately, I have. And&mdash;we're at their mercy.
+There's nothing for it but to obey, I think."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Baxter suddenly turned back to us. It was clear that his mind was made
+up.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Raven&mdash;Mr. Middlebrook," he said. "I'm sorry, but we can't let
+you go. The fact is, you've had the bad luck to light on a certain
+affair of ours about which we can't take any chances. We have a yacht
+lying outside here&mdash;you'll have to go with us on board and to remain
+there for a day or two. I assure you, no harm shall come to either of
+you. And as we want to get on with our work here&mdash;will you please to
+come, now?"</p>
+
+<p>We went&mdash;silently. There was nothing else to do. In a similar silence
+they led us through the rest of the wood, along the side of the stream
+which I had expected to find there, and to a small boat that lay
+hidden by the mouth of the creek. As they rowed us away in it, and
+rounded a spit of land, we saw the yacht, lying under a bluff of the
+cliffs. Ten minutes' stiff pulling brought us alongside&mdash;and for a
+moment, as I glanced up at her rail, I saw the yellow face of a
+Chinaman looking down on us. Then it vanished.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PLUM CAKE</h2>
+
+
+<p>In the few moments which elapsed between my catching sight of that
+yellow face peering at us from the rail and our setting foot on the
+deck of what was virtually a temporary prison, I had time to arrive at
+a fairly conclusive estimate of our situation. Without doubt we were
+in the hands of Netherfield Baxter and his gang; without doubt this
+was the craft which they had bought from the Hull ship broker; without
+doubt the reason of its presence on this lonely stretch of the coast
+lay in the proceedings amongst the ruins beneath whose walls we had
+come face to face with our captors. I saw&mdash;or believed that I
+saw&mdash;through the whole thing. Baxter and his accomplices had bought
+the yawl, ostensibly for a trip to the Norwegian fjords, but in
+reality that they might sail it up the coast, in the capacity of
+private yachtsmen, recover the treasure which had been buried near the
+tombs of the de Knaythevilles, and then&mdash;go elsewhere. Miss Raven and
+I had broken in upon their operations, and we were to pay for the
+accident with our liberty. I was not concerned about myself&mdash;I fancied
+that I saw a certain amount of honesty in Baxter's assurances&mdash;but I
+was anxious about my companion, and about her uncle's anxiety. Miss
+Raven was not the sort of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> girl to be easily frightened, but the
+situation, after all, was far from pleasant&mdash;there we were,
+defenceless, amongst men who were engaged in a dark and desperate
+adventure, whose hands were probably far from clean in the matter of
+murder, and who, if need arose, would doubtless pay small regard to
+our well-being or safety. Yet&mdash;there was nothing else for it but to
+accept the situation.</p>
+
+<p>We went on deck. The vessel was at anchor; she lay, a thing of
+idleness, quiet and peaceful enough, in a sheltered cove, wherein, I
+saw at a glance, she was lost to sight from the open sea outside the
+bar at its entrance, and hid from all but the actual coastline of the
+land. And all was quiet on her clean, freshly-scoured decks&mdash;she
+looked, seen at close quarters, just what her possessors, of course,
+desired her to be taken for&mdash;a gentleman's pleasure yacht, the crew of
+which had nothing to do but keep her smart and bright. No one stepping
+aboard her would have suspected piracy or nefarious doings. And when
+we boarded her, there was nobody visible&mdash;the Chinaman whom I had seen
+looking over the side had disappeared, and from stem to stern there
+was not a sign of human life. But as Miss Raven and I stood side by
+side, glancing about us with curiosity, a homely-looking grey cat came
+rubbing its shoulder against the woodwork and from somewhere forward,
+where a wisp of blue smoke escaped from the chimney of the cook's
+galley, we caught a whiff of a familiar sort&mdash;somebody, somewhere, was
+toasting bread or tea-cakes.</p>
+
+<p>We stood idle, like prisoners awaiting orders, while our captors
+transferred from the boat to the yawl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> two biggish, iron-hooped
+chests, the wood of which was stained and discoloured with earth and
+clay. They were heavy chests, and they used tackle to get them aboard,
+setting them down close by where we stood. I looked at them with a
+good deal of interest; then, remembering that Miss Raven was fully
+conversant with all that Scarterfield had discovered at Blyth, I
+touched her elbow, directing her attention to the two bulky objects
+before us.</p>
+
+<p>"Those are the chests that disappeared from the bank at Blyth," I
+whispered. "Now you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>She gave me a quick, comprehending look.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we are in the hands of Netherfield Baxter?" she murmured. "That
+man&mdash;there."</p>
+
+<p>"Without a doubt," I answered. "And the thing is&mdash;show no fear."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not a scrap afraid," she answered. "It's exciting! And&mdash;he's
+rather interesting, isn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen of his kidney usually are, I believe," I replied. "All the
+same, I should much prefer his room to his company."</p>
+
+<p>Baxter just then came over to us, rubbing from his fingers the soil
+which had gathered on them from handling the chests. He smiled
+politely, with something of the air of a host who wants to apologise
+for the only accommodation he can offer.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Miss Raven," he said, with an accent of almost benevolent
+indulgence, "as we shall be obliged to inflict our hospitality upon
+you for a day or two&mdash;I hope it won't be for longer, for your
+sake&mdash;let me show you what we can give you in the way of quarters to
+yourself. We can't offer you the services of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> maid, but there is a
+good cabin, well fitted, in which you'll be comfortable, and you can
+regard it as your own domain while you're with us. Come this way."</p>
+
+<p>He led us down a short gangway, across a sort of small saloon
+evidently used as common-room by himself and his companion, and threw
+open the door of a neat though very small cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Never been used," he said with another smile. "Fitted up by the
+previous owner of this craft, and all in order, as you see. Consider
+it as your own, Miss Raven, while you're our guest. One of my men
+shall see that you've whatever you need in the way of towels, hot
+water, and the like. If you'll step in and look round, I'll send him
+to you now. As he's a Chinaman, you'll find him as handy as a French
+maid. Give him any orders or instructions you like. And then come on
+deck again, if you please, and you shall have some tea."</p>
+
+<p>He beckoned me to follow him as Miss Raven walked into her quarters,
+and he gave me a reassuring look as we crossed the outer cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"She'll be perfectly safe and secluded in there," he said. "You can
+mount guard here if you like, Mr. Middlebrook&mdash;in fact, this is the
+only place I can offer you for quarters for yourself&mdash;I dare say you
+can manage to make a night's rest on one of these lounges, with the
+help of some rugs and cushions, and we've plenty of both."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all right, thank you," said I. "Don't trouble about me. My only
+concern is about Miss Raven."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take good care that Miss Raven is safe in everything," he
+answered. "As safe as if she were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> in her uncle's house. So don't
+bother your head on that score&mdash;I've given my word."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't doubt it," I said. "But as regards her uncle&mdash;I want to speak
+to you about him."</p>
+
+<p>"A moment," he replied. "Excuse me." We were on deck again, and he
+went forward, poked his head into an open hatchway, and gave some
+order to an unseen person. A moment later a Chinaman, the same whose
+face I had seen as we came aboard, shot out of the hatchway, glided
+past me as he crossed the deck with silent tread, and vanished into
+the cabin we had just left. Baxter came back to me, pulling out a
+cigarette case. "Yes?" he said, offering it. "About Mr. Raven?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Raven," said I, "will be in great anxiety about his niece. She is
+the only relative he has, I believe, and he will be extremely anxious
+if she does not return this evening. He is a nervous, highly-strung
+man&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He interrupted me with a wave of his cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>"I've thought of all that," he said. "Mr. Raven shall not be kept in
+anxiety. As a matter of fact, my friend, whom you met with me up there
+at the ruins, is going ashore again in a few minutes. He will go
+straight to the nearest telegraph office, which is a mile or two
+inland, and there he will send a wire to Mr. Raven&mdash;from you. Mr.
+Raven will get it by, say, seven o'clock. The thing is&mdash;how will you
+word it?"</p>
+
+<p>We looked at each other. In that exchange of glances, I could see that
+he was a man who was quick at appreciating difficulties and that he
+saw the peculiar niceties of the present one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That's a pretty stiff question!" said I.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so!" he agreed. "It is. So take my advice. Instead of having the
+wire sent from the nearest office, do this&mdash;my friend, as a matter of
+fact, is going on by rail to Berwick. Let him send a wire from there:
+it will only mean that Mr. Raven will get it an hour or so later. Say
+that you and Miss Raven find you cannot get home tonight, and that she
+is quite safe&mdash;word it in any reassuring way you like."</p>
+
+<p>I gave him a keen glance.</p>
+
+<p>"The thing is," said I. "Can we get home tomorrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;possibly tomorrow night&mdash;late," he answered. "I will do my
+best. I may be&mdash;I hope to be&mdash;through with my business tomorrow
+afternoon. Then&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the other man appeared on deck, emerging from
+somewhere. He had changed his clothes&mdash;he now presented himself in a
+smart tweed suit, Homburg hat, polished shoes, gloves, walking cane.
+Baxter signed to him to wait, turning to me.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the wisest thing to do," he remarked. "Draft your wire."</p>
+
+<p>I wrote out a message which I hoped would allay Mr. Raven's anxieties
+and handed it to him. He read it over, nodded as if in approbation,
+and went across to the other man. For a moment or two they stood
+talking in low tones; then the other man went over the side, dropped
+into the boat which lay there, and pulled himself off shorewards.
+Baxter came back to me.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll send that from Berwick railway station as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> soon as he gets
+there, at six-thirty," he said. "It should be delivered at Ravensdene
+Court by eight. So there's no need to worry further, you can tell Miss
+Raven. And when all's said and done, Mr. Middlebrook, it wasn't my
+fault that you and she broke in upon very private doings up there in
+the old churchyard&mdash;nor, I suppose, yours either. Make the best of
+it!&mdash;it's only a temporary detention."</p>
+
+<p>I was watching him closely as he talked, and suddenly I made up my
+mind to speak out. It might be foolish, even dangerous, to do it, but
+I had an intuitive feeling that it would be neither.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe," I said, brusquely enough, "that I am speaking to Mr.
+Netherfield Baxter?"</p>
+
+<p>He returned me a sharp glance which was half-smiling. Certainly there
+was no astonishment in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" he answered. "I thought, somehow, that you might be thinking
+that! Well, and suppose I admit it, Mr. Middlebrook? What then? And
+what do you&mdash;a Londoner, I think you told me&mdash;know of Netherfield
+Baxter?"</p>
+
+<p>"You wish to know?" I asked. "Shall I be plain?"</p>
+
+<p>"As a pike-staff, if you like," he replied. "I prefer it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said I, "a good many things&mdash;recently discovered by accident.
+That you formerly lived at Blyth, and had some association with a
+certain temporary bank-manager there, about whose death&mdash;and the
+disappearance of some valuable portable property&mdash;there was a good
+deal of concern manifested about the time that you left Blyth. That
+you were never heard of again until recently, when a Blyth man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+recognized you in Hull, where you bought a yawl&mdash;this yawl, I
+believe&mdash;and said you were going to Norway in her. And that&mdash;but am I
+to be still more explicit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" said he with a laugh. "Forewarned is forearmed. You're
+giving me valuable information."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Mr. Baxter," I continued, determined to show him my cards.
+"There's a certain detective, one Scarterfield, a sharp man, who is
+very anxious to make your acquaintance. For if you want the plain
+truth, he believes you, or some of your accomplices, or you and they
+together, to have had a hand in the murders of Noah and Salter Quick.
+And he's on your track."</p>
+
+<p>I was watching him still more closely as I spoke the last sentence or
+two. He remained as calm and cool as ever, and I was somewhat taken
+aback by the collected fashion in which he not only replied to my
+glance, but answered my words.</p>
+
+<p>"Scarterfield&mdash;of whose doings I've heard a bit&mdash;has got hold of the
+wrong end of the stick there, Mr. Middlebrook," he said quietly. "I
+had no hand in murdering either Noah Quick or his brother Salter. Nor
+had my friend&mdash;the man who's just gone off with your telegram. I don't
+know who murdered those men. But I know that there have always been
+men who were ready to murder them if they got the chance, and I wasn't
+the least surprised to hear that they had been murdered. The wonder is
+that they escaped murder as long as they did! But beyond the fact that
+they were murdered, I know nothing&mdash;nor does anybody on board this
+craft. You and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> Miss Raven are amongst&mdash;well, you can call us pirates
+if you like, buccaneers, adventurers, anything!&mdash;but we're not
+murderers. We know nothing whatever about the murders of Noah and
+Salter Quick&mdash;except what we've read in the papers."</p>
+
+<p>I believed him. And I made haste to say so&mdash;out of a sheer relief to
+know that Miss Raven was not amongst men whose hands were stained with
+blood.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," he said, as coolly as ever. "I'm obliged to you. I've
+been anxious enough to know who did murder those two men. As I say, I
+felt no surprise when I heard of the murders."</p>
+
+<p>"You knew them&mdash;the Quicks?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Did I?" he answered with a cynical laugh. "Didn't I? They were a
+couple of rank bad 'uns! I have never professed sanctity, Mr.
+Middlebrook, but Noah and Salter Quick were of a brand that's far
+beyond me&mdash;they were bad men. I'll tell you more of 'em, later&mdash;here's
+Miss Raven."</p>
+
+<p>"I may as well tell you," I murmured hastily, "that Miss Raven knows
+as much as I do about all that I've just told you."</p>
+
+<p>"That so?" he said. "Um! And she looks a sensible sort of lass,
+too&mdash;well, I'll tell you both what I know&mdash;as I say, later. But
+now&mdash;some tea!"</p>
+
+<p>While he went forward to give his orders, I contrived to inform Miss
+Raven of the gist of our recent conversation, and to assert my own
+private belief in Baxter's innocence. I saw that she was already
+prejudiced in his favour.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad to know that," she said. "But in that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> case&mdash;the mystery's
+all the deeper. What is it, I wonder, that he can tell."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till he speaks," said I. "We shall learn something."</p>
+
+<p>Baxter came back, presently followed by the little Chinaman whom I had
+seen before, who deftly set up a small table on deck, drew chairs
+round it, and a few minutes later spread out all the necessaries of a
+dainty afternoon tea. And in the centre of them was a plum cake. I saw
+Miss Raven glance at it; I glanced at her; I knew of what she was
+thinking. Her thoughts had flown to the plum cake at Lorrimore's, made
+by Wing, his Chinese servant.</p>
+
+<p>But whatever we thought, we said nothing. The situation was romantic,
+and not without some attraction, even in those curious circumstances.
+Here we were, prisoners, first-class prisoners, if you will, but still
+prisoners, and there was our gaoler; he and ourselves sat round a
+tea-table, munching toast, nibbling cakes and dainties, sipping
+fragrant tea, as if we had been in any lady's drawing-room. I think it
+speaks well for all of us that we realized the situation and made the
+most of it by affecting to ignore the actual reality. We chatted, as
+well-behaved people should under similar conditions, about anything
+but the prime fact of our imprisonment; Baxter, indeed, might have
+been our very polite and attentive host and we his willing guests. As
+for Miss Raven, she accepted the whole thing with hearty good humour
+and poured out the tea as if she had been familiar with our new
+quarters for many a long day; moreover, she adopted a friendly
+attitude towards our captors which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> did much towards smoothing any
+present difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to be very well accommodated in the matter of servants, Mr.
+Baxter," she observed. "That little Chinaman, as you said, is as good
+as a French maid, and you certainly have a good cook&mdash;excellent
+pastry-cook, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>Baxter glanced lazily in the direction of the galley.</p>
+
+<p>"Another Chinaman," he answered. He looked significantly at me. "Mr.
+Middlebrook," he continued, "is aware that I bought this yawl from a
+ship-broker in Hull, for a special purpose&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Not aware of the special purpose," I interrupted, with a purposely
+sly glance at him.</p>
+
+<p>"The special purpose is a run across the Atlantic, if you want to
+know," he answered carelessly. "Of course, when I'd got her, I wanted
+a small crew. Now, I've had great experience of Chinamen&mdash;best
+servants on earth, in my opinion&mdash;so I sailed her down to the Thames,
+went up to London Docks, and took in some Chinese chaps that I got in
+Limehouse. Two men and one cook&mdash;man cook, of course. He's good&mdash;I
+can't promise you a real and proper dinner tonight, but I can promise
+a very satisfactory substitute which we call supper."</p>
+
+<p>"And you're going across the Atlantic with a crew of three?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"As a matter of fact," he answered candidly, "there are six of us. The
+three Chinese; myself; my friend who was with me this afternoon, and
+who will join us again tomorrow, and another friend who will return
+with him, and who, like the crew, is a Chinaman. But he's a Chinaman
+of rank and position."</p>
+
+<p>"In other words, the Chinese gentleman who was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> with you and your
+French friend in Hull?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so&mdash;since we're to be frank," he answered. "The same." Then,
+with a laugh, he glanced at Miss Raven. "Mr. Middlebrook," he said,
+"considers me the most candid desperado he ever met!"</p>
+
+<p>"Your candour is certainly interesting," replied Miss Raven.
+"Especially if you really are a desperado. Perhaps&mdash;you'll give us
+more of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you a bit&mdash;later on," he said. "That Quick business, I
+mean."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, setting down his tea-cup, he got up and moved away towards
+the galley, into which he presently disappeared. Miss Raven turned
+sharply on me.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you eat a slice of that plum-cake?" she whispered. "You did?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what you're thinking," I answered. "It reminds you of the cake
+that Lorrimore's man, Wing, makes."</p>
+
+<p>"Reminds!" she exclaimed. "There's no reminding about it! Do you know
+what I think? That man Wing is aboard this yacht! He made that cake!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<h2>BLACK MEMORIES</h2>
+
+
+<p>There was so much of real importance, not only to us in our present
+situation, but to the trend of things in general, in Miss Raven's
+confident suggestion that her words immediately plunged me into a
+thoughtful silence. Rising from my chair at the tea-table, I walked
+across to the landward side of the yawl, and stood there, reflecting.
+But it needed little reflection to convince me that what my
+fellow-prisoner had just suggested was well within the bounds of
+possibility. I recalled all that we knew of the recent movements of
+Dr. Lorrimore's Chinese servant. Wing had gone to London, on the
+pretext of finding out something about that other problematical
+Chinese, Lo Chuh Fen. Since his departure, Lorrimore had had no
+tidings of him and his doings&mdash;in Lorrimore's opinion, he might be
+still in London, or he might have gone to Liverpool, or to Cardiff, to
+any port where his fellow-countrymen are to be found in England. Now
+it was well within probabilities that Wing, being in Limehouse or
+Poplar, and in touch with Chinese sailor-men, should, with others,
+have taken service with Baxter and his accomplice, and, at that very
+moment there, in that sheltered cove on the Northumbrian coast, be
+within a few yards of Miss Raven and myself, separated from us by a
+certain amount<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> of deck-planking and a few bulkheads. But why? If he
+was there, in that yawl, in what capacity&mdash;real capacity&mdash;was he
+there? Ostensibly, as cook, no doubt&mdash;but that, I felt sure, would be
+a mere blind. Put plainly, if he was there, what game was that bland,
+suave, obsequious, soft-tongued Chinaman playing? Was this his way of
+finding out what all of us wanted to know? If it came to it, if there
+was occasion&mdash;such occasion as I dared not contemplate&mdash;could Miss
+Raven and myself count on Wing as a friend, or should we find him an
+adherent of the strange and curious gang, which, if the truth was to
+be faced, literally held not only our liberty, but our lives at its
+disposal? For we were in a tight place&mdash;of that there was no doubt. Up
+to that moment I was not unfavourably impressed by Netherfield Baxter,
+and, whether against my better judgment or not, I was rather more than
+inclined to believe him innocent of actual share or complicity in the
+murders of Noah and Salter Quick. But I could see that he was a queer
+mortal; odd, even to eccentricity; vain, candid and frank because of
+his very vanity; given, I thought, to talking a good deal about
+himself and his doings; probably a megalomaniac. He might treat us
+well so long as things went well with him, but supposing any situation
+to arise in which our presence, nay, our very existence, became a
+danger to him and his plans&mdash;what then? He had a laughing lip and a
+twinkle of sardonic humour in his eye, but I fancied that the lip
+could settle into ruthless resolve if need be and the eye become more
+stony than would be pleasant. And&mdash;we were at his mercy; the mercy of
+a man whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> accomplice might be of a worse kidney than himself, and
+whose satellites were yellow-skinned slant-eyed Easterns, pirates to a
+man, and willing enough to slit a throat at the faintest sign from a
+master.</p>
+
+<p>As I stood there, leaning against the side, gloomily staring at the
+shore, which was so near, and yet so impossible of access, I reviewed
+a point which was of more importance to me than may be imagined&mdash;the
+point of our geographical situation. I have already said that the yawl
+lay at anchor in a sheltered cove. The position of that cove was
+peculiar. It was entered from seawards by an extremely narrow inlet,
+across the mouth of which stretched a bar&mdash;I could realize that much
+by watching the breakers rolling over it; it was plain to me, a
+landsman, that even a small vessel could only get in or out of the
+cove at high water. But once across the bar, and within the narrow
+entry, any vessel coming in from the open sea would find itself in a
+natural harbour of great advantages; the cove ran inland for a good
+mile and was quite another mile in width; its waters were deep, rising
+some fifteen to twenty feet over a clear, sandy bottom, and on all
+sides, right down to the bar at its entrance, it was sheltered by high
+cliffs, covered from the tops of their headlands to the thin, pebbly
+stretches of shore at their feet by thick wood, mostly oak and beech.
+That the cove was known to the folk of that neighbourhood it was
+impossible to doubt, but I felt sure that any strange craft passing
+along the sea in front would never suspect its existence, so carefully
+had Nature concealed the entrance on the landward side of the bar. And
+there were no signs within the cove itself that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> any of the shore folk
+ever used it. There was not a vestige of a human dwelling-place to be
+discovered anywhere along its thickly-wooded banks; no boat lay on its
+white beach; no fishing-net was stretched out there to dry in the sun
+and wind; the entire stretch was desolate. And I knew that an equal
+desolation lay all over the land immediately behind the cove and its
+sheltering woods. That was about the loneliest part of a lonely
+coast&mdash;by that time I had become well acquainted with it. For some
+miles, north and south of that exact spot, there were no coast
+villages&mdash;there was nothing, save an isolated farmstead, set in deep
+ravines at wide distances. The only link with busier things lay in the
+railway&mdash;that, as I also knew, lay about two or two-and-a-half miles
+inland; as far as I could recollect the map which lay in my pocket,
+but which I did not dare to pull out, there was a small wayside
+station on this line, immediately behind the woods through which Miss
+Raven and I had unthinkingly wandered to our fate; from it, doubtless,
+the Frenchman, Baxter's accomplice, had taken train for Berwick, some
+twenty miles northward. Everything considered, Miss Raven and I were
+as securely trapped and as much at our captor's mercy as if we had
+been immured in a twentieth-century Bastille.</p>
+
+<p>I went back, presently, to the tea-table and dropped into my
+deck-chair again. Baxter was still away from us; as far as I could
+see, there was no one about. I gave her a look which was intended to
+suggest caution, but I spoke in a purposely affected tone of
+carelessness.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder if you are right in your suggestion,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> I said. "In
+that case, I think we should have a friend on board in case we need
+one."</p>
+
+<p>"But you don't anticipate any need?" she asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't," said I. "So don't think I do."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose is going to happen to us?" She asked, glancing
+over her shoulder at the open door of the galley into which Baxter had
+vanished.</p>
+
+<p>"I think they'll detain us until they're ready to depart, and then
+they'll release us," I answered. "Our host, or jailor, or whatever you
+like to call him, is a queer chap&mdash;he'll probably make us give him our
+word of honour that we'll keep close tongues."</p>
+
+<p>"He could have done that without bringing us here," she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but he wanted to make sure!" said I. "He's taking no risks.
+However, I'm sure he means no harm to us. Under other conditions, I
+shouldn't have objected to meeting him. He's&mdash;a character."</p>
+
+<p>"Interesting, certainly," she agreed. "Do you think he really is
+a&mdash;pirate?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he'll have any objection to making that quite clear to
+us if he is," I replied, cynically. "I should say he'd be rather proud
+of it. But&mdash;I think we shall hear a good deal of him before we get our
+freedom."</p>
+
+<p>I was right there. Baxter seemed almost wistfully anxiously to talk
+with us&mdash;he behaved like a man who for a long time had small
+opportunity of conversation with the people he would like to converse
+with, and he kept us both talking as the afternoon faded into evening
+and the evening fell towards night. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> was a good talker, too, and
+knew much of books and politics and of men, and could make shrewd
+remarks, tinged, it seemed to me, with a little cynicism that was more
+good-humoured than bitter. The time passed rapidly in this fashion;
+supper-time arrived; the meal, as good and substantial as any dinner,
+was served in the little saloon-like cabin by the soft-footed Chinaman
+who, other than Baxter, was the only living soul we had seen since the
+Frenchman went away in the boat; all through it Baxter kept up his
+ready flow of talk while punctiliously observing his duties as host.
+Until then, the topics had been of a general nature, such as one might
+have heard dealt with at any gentleman's table, but when supper was
+over and the Chinaman had left us alone, he turned on us with a queer,
+inquisitive smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You think me a strange fellow," he said. "Don't deny it!&mdash;I am, and I
+don't mind who thinks it. Or&mdash;who knows it."</p>
+
+<p>I made no reply beyond an acquiescent nod, but Miss Raven&mdash;who, all
+through this adventure, showed a coolness and resourcefulness which I
+can never sufficiently praise&mdash;looked steadily at him.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you must have seen and known some strange things," she said
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye&mdash;and done some!" he answered, with a laugh that had more of
+harshness in it than was usual with him. Then he glanced at me. "Mr.
+Middlebrook, there, from what he told me this afternoon, knows a bit
+about me and my affairs," he said. "But not much. Sufficient to whet
+your curiosity, eh, Middlebrook?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I confess I should like to know more," I replied. "I agree with Miss
+Raven&mdash;you must have seen a good deal of the queer side of life."</p>
+
+<p>There was some fine old claret on the table between us; he pushed the
+bottle over to me, motioning me to refill my glass. For a moment he
+sat, a cigar in the corner of his lips, his hands in the armholes of
+his waistcoat, silently reflecting.</p>
+
+<p>"What's really puzzling you this time," he said suddenly, "is that
+Quick affair&mdash;I know because I've not only read the newspapers, but
+I've picked up a good deal of local gossip&mdash;never mind how. I've heard
+a lot of your goings-on at Ravensdene Court, and the suspicions, and
+so on. And I knew the Quicks&mdash;no man better, at one time, and I'll
+tell you what I know. Not a nice story from any moral point of view,
+but though it's a story of rough men, there's nothing in it at all
+that need offend your ears, Miss Raven&mdash;nothing. It's just a story&mdash;an
+instance&mdash;of some of the things that happen to Ishmaels, outcasts,
+like me."</p>
+
+<p>We made no answer, and he refilled his own glass, took a mouthful of
+its contents, and glancing from one to the other of us, went on.</p>
+
+<p>"You're both aware of my youthful career at Blyth?" he said. "You,
+Middlebrook, are, anyway, from what you told me this afternoon, and I
+gather that you put Miss Raven in possession of the facts. Well, I'll
+start out from there&mdash;when I made the acquaintance of that temporary
+bank-manager chap. Mind you, I'd about come to the end of my tether at
+that time as regards money&mdash;I'd been pretty well fleeced by one or
+another, largely through carelessness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> largely through sheer
+ignorance. I didn't lose all my money on the turf, Middlebrook, I can
+assure you&mdash;I was robbed by more than one worthy man of my native
+town&mdash;legally, of course, bless 'em! And it was that, I think, turned
+me into the Ishmael I've been ever since&mdash;as men had robbed me, I
+thought it a fair thing to get a bit of my own back. Now that
+bank-manager chap was one of those fellows who are born with predatory
+instincts&mdash;my impression of him, from what I recollect, is that he was
+a born thief. Anyway, he and I, getting pretty thick with each other,
+found out that we were just then actuated by similar ambitions&mdash;I from
+sheer necessity, he, as I tell you, from temperament. And to cut
+matters short, we determined to help ourselves out of certain things
+of value stored in that bank, and to clear out to far-off regions with
+what we got. We discovered that two chests deposited in the bank's
+vaults by old Lord Forestburne contained a quantity of simply
+invaluable monastic spoil, stolen by the good man's ancestors four
+centuries before: we determined to have that and to take it over to
+the United States, where we knew we could realize immense sums on it,
+from collectors, with no questions asked. There were other matters,
+too, which were handy&mdash;we carefully removed the lot, brought them
+along the coast to this very cove, and interred them in those ruins
+where we three foregathered this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"And whence, I take it, you have just removed them to the deck above
+our heads?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Right, Middlebrook, quite right&mdash;there they are!" he admitted with a
+laugh. "A grand collection,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> too&mdash;chalices, patens, reliquaries, all
+manner of splendid mediaeval craftsmanship&mdash;and certain other more
+modern things with them&mdash;all destined for the other side of the
+Atlantic&mdash;the market's sure and safe and ready&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You think you'll get them there?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be more surprised than I ever was in my life if I don't," he
+answered readily, and with that note of dryness which one associates
+with certainty. "I'm a pretty cute hand at making and perfecting and
+carrying out a plan. Yes, sir, they'll be there, in good time&mdash;and
+they'd have been there long since if it hadn't been for an accident
+which I couldn't foresee&mdash;that bank-manager chap had the ill-luck to
+break his neck. Now that put me in a fix. I knew that the abstraction
+of these things would soon be discovered, and though I'd exercised
+great care in covering up all trace of my own share in the affair,
+there was always a bare possibility of something coming out. So,
+knowing the stuff was safely planted and very unlikely to be
+disturbed, I cleared out, and determined to wait a fitting opportunity
+of regaining possession of it. My notion at that time, I remember, was
+to get hold of some American millionaire collector who would give me
+facilities for taking up the stuff, to be handed over to him. But I
+didn't find one, and for the time being I had to keep quiet.
+Inquiries, of course, were set afoot about the missing property, but
+fortunately I was not suspected. And if I had been, I shouldn't have
+been found, for I know how to disappear as cleverly as any man who
+ever found that convenient."</p>
+
+<p>He threw away the stump of his cigar, deliberately<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> lighted another,
+and leaned across the table towards me in a more confidential manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we're coming to the more immediately interesting part of the
+story," he said. "All that I've told you is, as it were, ancient
+history. We'll get to more modern times, affairs of yesterday, so to
+speak. After I cleared out of Blyth&mdash;with a certain amount of money in
+my pocket&mdash;I knocked about the world a good deal, doing one thing and
+another. I've been in every continent and in more sea-ports than I can
+remember. I've taken a share in all sorts of queer transactions from
+smuggling to slave-trading. I've been rolling in money in January and
+shivering in rags in June. All that was far away, in strange quarters
+of the world, for I never struck this country again until
+comparatively recently. I could tell you enough to fill a dozen fat
+volumes, but we'll cut all that out and get on to a certain time, now
+some years ago, whereat, in Hong-Kong, I and the man you saw with me
+this afternoon, who, if everybody had their own, is a genuine French
+nobleman, came across those two particularly precious villains, the
+brothers Noah and Salter Quick."</p>
+
+<p>"Was that the first time of your meeting with them?" I asked. Now that
+he was evidently bent on telling me his story, I, on my part, was bent
+on getting out of him all that I could. "You'd never met them
+before&mdash;anywhere?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never seen nor heard of them before," he answered. "We met in a
+certain house-of-call in Hong-Kong, much frequented by Englishmen and
+Americans; we became friendly with them; we soon found out that they,
+like ourselves, were adventurers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> would-be pirates, buccaneers, ready
+for any game; we found out, too, that they had money, and could
+finance any desperate affair that was likely to pay handsomely. My
+friend and I, at that time, were also in funds&mdash;we had just had a very
+paying adventure in the Malay Archipelago, a bit of illicit trading,
+and we had got to Hong-Kong on the look-out for another opportunity.
+Once we had got thoroughly in with the Quicks, that was not long in
+coming. The Quicks were as sharp as their name&mdash;they knew the sort of
+men they wanted. And before long they took us into their confidence
+and told us what they were after and what they wanted us to do, in
+collaboration with them. They wanted to get hold of a ship, and to use
+it for certain nefarious trading purposes in the China seas&mdash;they had
+a plan by which the lot of us could have made a lot of money. Needless
+to say, we were ready enough to go in with them. Already they had a
+scheme of getting a ship such as they particularly needed. There was
+at that time lying at Hong-Kong a sort of tramp steamer, the
+<i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, the skipper of which wanted a crew for a trip to
+Chemulpo, up the Yellow Sea. Salter Quick got himself into the
+confidence and graces of this skipper, and offered to man his ship for
+him, and he packed her as far as he could&mdash;with his own brother, Noah,
+myself, my French friend, and a certain Chinese cook of whom he knew
+and who could be trusted&mdash;trusted, that is, to fall in whatever we
+wanted."</p>
+
+<p>"Am I right in supposing the name of the Chinese cook to have been Lo
+Chuh Fen?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite right&mdash;Lo Chuh Fen was the man," answered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> Baxter. "A very
+handy man for anything, as you'll admit, for you've already seen
+him&mdash;he's the man who attended on Miss Raven and who served our
+supper. I came across him again, in Limehouse, recently, and took him
+into my service once more. Very well&mdash;now you understand that there
+were five of us all in for the Quick's plan, and the notion was that
+when we'd once got safely out of Hong-Kong, Salter, who had a
+particularly greasy and insinuating tongue, should get round certain
+others of the crew by means of promises helped out by actual cash
+bribes. That done, we were going to put the skipper, his mates, and
+such of the men as wouldn't fall in with us, in a boat with provisions
+and let them find their way wherever they liked, while we went off
+with the steamer. That was the surface plan&mdash;my own belief is that if
+it had come to it, the two Quicks would have been quite ready to make
+skipper and men walk the plank, or to have settled them in any other
+way&mdash;both Noah and Salter, for all their respectable appearance, were
+born out of their due time&mdash;they were admirably qualified to have been
+lieutenants to Paul Jones or any other eighteenth-century pirate! But
+in this particular instance, their schemes went all wrong. Whether it
+was that the skipper of the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i>, who was an American
+and cuter than we fancied, got wind of something, or whether somebody
+spilt to him, I don't know, but the fact is that one fine morning when
+we were in the Yellow Sea he and the rest of them set on the Quicks,
+my friend, myself, and the Chinaman, bundled us into a boat and landed
+us on a miserable island, to fend for ourselves. There we were, the
+five of us&mdash;a precious bad lot, to be sure&mdash;marooned!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE POSSIBLE REASON</h2>
+
+
+<p>At that last word, spoken with an emphasis which showed that it awoke
+no very pleasant memories in the speaker, Miss Raven looked
+questioningly from one to the other of us.</p>
+
+<p>"Marooned?" she said. "What is that, exactly?"</p>
+
+<p>Baxter gave her an indulgent and me a knowing look.</p>
+
+<p>"I daresay Mr. Middlebrook can give you the exact etymological meaning
+of the word better than I can, Miss Raven," he answered. "But I can
+tell you what the thing means in actual practice! It means to put a
+man, or men, ashore, preferably on a desert island, leaving him, or
+them, to fend for himself, or themselves, as best he, or they, can! It
+may mean slow starvation&mdash;at best it means living on what you can pick
+up by your own ingenuity, on shell-fish and that sort of thing, even
+on edible sea-weed. Marooned? Yes! that was the only experience I ever
+had of that&mdash;it's all very well talking of it now, as we sit here on a
+comfortable little vessel, with a bottle of good wine before us, but
+at the time&mdash;ah!"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd a stiff time of it?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Worse than you'd believe," he answered. "That old Yankee skipper was
+a vindictive chap, with method in him. He'd purposely gone off the
+beaten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> track to land us on that island, and he played his game so
+cleverly that not even the Quicks&mdash;who were as subtle as snakes!&mdash;knew
+anything of his intentions until we were all marched over the side at
+the point of ugly-looking revolvers. If it hadn't been for that little
+Chinese whom you've just seen we would have starved, for the island
+was little more than a reef of rock, rising to a sort of peak in its
+centre&mdash;worn-out volcano, I imagine&mdash;and with nothing eatable on it in
+the way of flesh or fruit. But Chuh was a God-send! He was clever at
+fishing, and he showed us an edible sea-weed out of which he made good
+eating, and he discovered a spring of water&mdash;altogether he kept us
+alive. All of which," he suddenly added, with a darkening look, "made
+the conduct of these two Quicks not merely inexcusable, but devilish!"</p>
+
+<p>"What did they do?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm coming to it," he said. "All in due order. We were on that island
+several weeks, and from the time we were flung unceremoniously upon
+its miserable shores to the day we left it we never saw a sail nor a
+wisp of smoke from a steamer. And it may be that this, and our
+privations, made us still more birds of a feather than we were.
+Anyway, you, Middlebrook, know how men, thrown together in that way,
+will talk&mdash;nay, must talk unless they'd go mad!&mdash;talk about themselves
+and their doings and so on. We all talked&mdash;we used to tell tales of
+our doubtful pasts as we huddled together under the rocks at nights,
+and some nice, lurid stores there were, I can assure you. The Quicks
+had seen about as much of the doubtful and seamy side of seafaring
+life as men could, and all of us could contribute something.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> Also,
+the Quicks had money, safely stowed away in banks here and there&mdash;they
+used to curse their fate, left there apparently to die, when they
+thought of it. And it was that, I think, that led me to tell, one
+night, about my adventure with the naughty bank-manager at Blyth, and
+of the chests of old monastic treasure which I'd planted up here on
+this Northumbrian coast."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" I exclaimed. "So you told Noah and Salter Quick that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I told Noah and Salter Quick that," he replied slowly. "Yes&mdash;and I
+can now explain to you what Salter was after when he appeared in these
+parts. I read the newspaper accounts, of the inquest and so on, and I
+saw through everything, and could have thrown a lot of light on
+things, only I wasn't going to. But it was this way&mdash;I told the Quicks
+all about the Blyth affair&mdash;the truth was, I didn't believe we should
+ever get away from that cursed island&mdash;but I told them in a fashion
+which, evidently, afterwards led to considerable puzzlement on their
+part. I told them that I buried the chests of old silver, wherein were
+the other valuables taken from the vaults of the bank, in a churchyard
+on this coast, close to the graves of my ancestors&mdash;I described the
+spot and the lie of the ruins pretty accurately. Now where the
+Quicks&mdash;Salter, at any rate&mdash;got puzzled and mixed was over my use of
+the word ancestors. What I meant&mdash;but never said&mdash;was that I had
+planted the stuff near the graves of my maternal ancestors, the old De
+Knaythevilles, who were once great folk in these parts, and of whose
+name my own Christan name, Netherfield, is, of course, a corruption.
+But Salter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> Quick, to be sure, thought the graves would bear the name
+Netherfield, and when he came along this coast, it was that name he
+was hunting for. Do you see?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then Salter Quick was after that treasure?" I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he was!" replied Baxter. "The wonder to me is that he and
+Noah hadn't been after it before. But they were men who had a good
+many irons in the fire&mdash;too many and some of them far too hot, as it
+turned out&mdash;and I suppose they left this little affair until an
+opportune moment. Without a doubt, not so long after I'd told them the
+story, Salter Quick scratched inside the lid of his tobacco-box a
+rough diagram of the place I'd mentioned, with the latitude and
+longitude approximately indicated&mdash;that's the box there's been so much
+fuss about, I read in the papers, and I'll tell you more about it in
+due process. But now about that island and the Quicks, and how they
+and the rest of us got out of it. I told you that the centre of this
+island rose to a high peak, separating one coast from the other&mdash;well,
+one day, when we'd been marooned for several weary weeks and there
+didn't seem the least chance of rescue, I, my French friend, and the
+Chinaman crossed the shoulder of that peak and went along the other
+coast, prospecting&mdash;more out of sheer desperation than in the hope of
+finding anything. We spent the next night on the other side of the
+island, and it was not until late on the following afternoon that we
+returned to our camp, if you can call that a camp which was nothing
+but a hole in the rocks. And we got back to find Noah and Salter Quick
+gone&mdash;and we knew how they had gone when the Chinaman'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>s sharp eyes
+made out a sail vanishing over the horizon. Some Chinese fishing-boat
+had made that island in our absence, and these two skunks had gone
+away in her and left us, their companions, to shift for ourselves.
+That's the sort the Quicks were!&mdash;those were the sort of tricks they'd
+play off on so-called friends! Do you wonder, either of you, that both
+Noah and Salter eventually got&mdash;what they got?"</p>
+
+<p>We made no answer to that beyond, perhaps, a shake of our heads. Then
+Miss Raven spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"But&mdash;you got away, in the end?" she suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"We got away in the end&mdash;some time later, when we were about done
+for," assented Baxter, "and in the same way&mdash;a Chinese fishing-boat
+that came within hail. It landed us on the Kiang-Su coast, and we had
+a pretty bad time of it before we made our way to Shanghai. From that
+port we worked our passage to Hong-Kong: I had an idea that we might
+strike the Quicks there, or get news of them. But we heard nothing of
+those two villains, at any rate. But we did hear that the <i>Elizabeth
+Robinson</i> had never reached Chemulpo&mdash;she'd presumably gone down with
+all hands, and we were supposed, of course, to have gone down with
+her. We did nothing to disabuse anybody of the notion; both I and my
+friend had money in Hong Kong, and we took it up and went off to
+Singapore. As for our Chinaman, Chuh, he said farewell to us and
+vanished as soon as we got back to Hong-Kong, and we never set eyes on
+him again until very recently, when I ran across him in a Chinese
+eating-house in Poplar."</p>
+
+<p>"From that meeting, I suppose, the more recent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> chapters of your story
+begin?" I suggested. "Or do they begin somewhat earlier?"</p>
+
+<p>"A bit earlier," he said. "My friend and I came back to England a
+little before that&mdash;with money in our pockets&mdash;we'd been very lucky in
+the East&mdash;and with a friend of ours, a Chinese gentleman, mind you, we
+decided to go in for a little profitable work of another sort, and to
+start out by lifting my concealed belongings up here. So we bought
+this craft in Hull&mdash;then ran her down to the Thames&mdash;then, as I say, I
+came across Lo Chuh Fen and got his services and those of two other
+compatriots of his, then in London, and&mdash;here we are! You see how
+candid I am&mdash;do you know why?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would be interesting to know, Mr. Baxter," said Miss Raven.
+"Please tell us."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, with a queer deliberation. "Some men in my position
+would have thought nothing about putting bullets through both of you
+when we met this afternoon&mdash;you hit on our secret. But I'm not that
+sort&mdash;I treat you as what you are, a gentlewoman and a gentleman, and
+no harm whatever shall come to you. Therefore, I feel certain that all
+I've said and am saying to you will be treated as it ought to be&mdash;by
+you. I daresay you think I'm an awful scoundrel, but I told you I was
+an Ishmael&mdash;and I certainly haven't got the slightest compunction
+about appropriating the stuff in those chests on deck&mdash;one of the
+Forestburnes stole it from the monks&mdash;why shouldn't I steal it from
+his successor? It's as much mine as his&mdash;perhaps more so, for one of
+my ancestors, a certain Geoffrey de Knaytheville, was at one time Lord
+Abbot of the very house that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> Forestburnes stole that stuff from!
+I reckon I've a prior claim, Middlebrook?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should imagine," I answered, guardedly, "that it would be very
+difficult for anybody to substantiate a claim to ecclesiastical
+property&mdash;of that particular nature&mdash;which disappeared in the
+sixteenth century. What is certain, however, is that you've got it.
+Take my advice&mdash;hand it over to the authorities!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at me in blank astonishment for a moment; then laughed as a
+man laughs who is suddenly confronted by a good joke.</p>
+
+<p>"Hah! hah! hah!" he let out at the top of his voice. "Good! you're a
+born humorist, friend Middlebrook!" He pushed the claret nearer. "Fill
+your glass again! Hand it over to the authorities? Why, that would
+merit a full-page cartoon in the next number of <i>Punch</i>. Good, good!
+but," he went on, suddenly becoming grave again, "we were talking of
+those scoundrelly Quicks. Of course we&mdash;that is, my French friend and
+I&mdash;have been, and are, suspected of murdering them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think that is so," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's a very easy point to settle, if it should ever come to
+it," he replied. "And I'll settle it, for your edification, just now.
+Noah and Salter Quick were done to death, one near Saltash, in
+Cornwall, the other near Alnwick, in Northumberland, several hundreds
+of miles apart, about the same hour of the same evening. Now, my
+friend and I, so far from being anywhere near either Saltash or
+Alnwick on that particular evening and night, spent them together at
+the North Eastern Railway Hotel at York. I went there that afternoon
+from London; he joined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> me from Berwick. We met at the hotel about six
+o'clock; we dined in the hotel; we played billiards in the hotel; we
+slept in the hotel; we breakfasted in the hotel; the hotel folks will
+remember us well, and our particulars are duly registered in their
+books on the date in question. We had no hand whatever in the murders
+of Noah and Salter Quick, and I give you my word of honour&mdash;being under
+the firm impression that though I am a pirate, I am still a
+gentleman&mdash;that neither of us have the very slightest notion who had!"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raven made an involuntary murmur of approval, and I was so much
+convinced of the man's good faith that I stretched out my hand to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Baxter!" said I, "I'm heartily glad to have that assurance from
+you! And whether I'm a humorist or not, I'll beg you once more to take
+my advice and give up that loot to the authorities&mdash;you can make a
+plausible excuse, and throw all the blame on that bank-manager fellow,
+and take my word for it, little will be said&mdash;and then you can devote
+your undoubtedly great and able talents to legitimate ventures!"</p>
+
+<p>"That would be as dull as ditch-water, Middlebrook," he retorted with
+a grin. "You're tempting me! But those Quicks&mdash;I'll tell you in what
+fashion there is a connection between their murder and ourselves, and
+one that would need some explanation. Bear in mind that I've kept
+myself posted in those murders through the newspapers, and also by
+collecting a certain amount of local gossip. Now&mdash;you've a certain
+somewhat fussy and garrulous old gentleman at Ravensdene Court&mdash;"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette!" exclaimed Miss Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cazalette is the name," said Baxter. "I have heard much of him,
+through the sources I've just referred to. Now, this Mr. Cazalette,
+going to or coming from a place where he bathed every morning, which
+place happened to be near the spot whereat Salter Quick was murdered,
+found a blood-stained handkerchief?"</p>
+
+<p>"He did," said I. "And a lot of mystery attaches to it."</p>
+
+<p>"That handkerchief belongs to my French friend," said Baxter. "I told
+you that he joined me at York from Berwick. As a matter of fact, for
+some little time just before the Salter Quick affair, he was down on
+this coast, posing as a tourist, but really just ascertaining if
+things were as I'd left them at the ruins in the wood above this cove
+and what would be our best method of getting the chests of stuff away.
+For a week or so, he lodged at an inn somewhere, I think, near
+Ravensdene Court, and he used sometimes to go down to the shore for a
+swim. One morning he cut his foot on the pebbles, and staunched the
+blood with his handkerchief, which he carelessly threw away&mdash;and your
+Mr. Cazalette evidently found it. That's the explanation of that
+little matter. And now for the tobacco-box."</p>
+
+<p>"A much more important point," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," agreed Baxter. "Now, my friend and I first heard of the murder
+while we were at York. In the newspapers that we read, there was an
+account of a conversation which took place in, I believe, Mr. Raven's
+coach-house, or some out-building, whither the dead man's body had been
+carried, between this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> old Mr. Cazalette and a police-inspector, regarding
+a certain metal tobacco-box found on Salter Quick's body. Now I give you
+my word that that news was the first intimation we had ever had that the
+Quicks were in England! Until then we hadn't the slightest idea that they
+were in England&mdash;but we knew what those mysterious scratches in the
+tobacco-box signified&mdash;Salter had made a rude plan of the place I had told
+him of, and was in Northumberland to search for it. Then, later, we read
+your evidence at the opening of the inquest, and heard what you had to
+tell about his quest of the Netherfield graves, and&mdash;just to satisfy
+ourselves&mdash;we determined to get hold of that tobacco-box, for, don't you
+see, as long as it was about, a possible clue, there was a danger of
+somebody discovering our buried chests of silver and valuables. So my
+friend came down again, in his tourist capacity; put up at the same
+quarters, strolled about, fished a bit, botanized a bit, attended the
+adjourned inquest as a casual spectator, and&mdash;abstracted the tobacco-box
+under the very noses of the police! It's in that locker now," continued
+Baxter, with a laugh, pointing to a corner of the cabin, "and with it are
+the handkerchief, your old friend Mr. Cazalette's pocket-book&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! your friend got that, too, did he?" I exclaimed. "I see!"</p>
+
+<p>"He abstracted that, too, easily enough, one morning when the old
+fellow was bathing," assented Baxter. "Naturally, we weren't going to
+take any chances about our hidden goods being brought to light. We're
+highly indebted to Mr. Cazalette for making so much fuss about the
+tobacco-box, and we're<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> glad there was so much local gossip about it.
+Eh?"</p>
+
+<p>I remained silent awhile, reflecting.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a very fortunate thing for both of you that you could, if
+necessary, prove your presence at York on the night of the murder," I
+remarked at last. "Your doings about the tobacco-box and the other
+things might otherwise wear a very suspicious look. As it is, I'm
+afraid the police would probably say&mdash;granted that they knew what
+you've just told us so frankly&mdash;that even if you and your French
+friend didn't murder Salter Quick and his brother, you were probably
+accessory to both murders. That's how it strikes me, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you're right," he said calmly. "Probably they would. But the
+police would be wrong. We were not accessory, either before or since.
+We haven't the ghost of a notion as to the identity of the Quicks'
+murderers. But since we're discussing that, I'll tell you both of
+something that seems to have completely escaped the notice of the
+police, the detectives, and of you yourself, Middlebrook. You remember
+that in both cases the clothing of the murdered men had been literally
+ripped to pieces?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," said I. "It had&mdash;in Salter's, anyway, to my knowledge."</p>
+
+<p>"And so, they said, it had in Noah's," replied Baxter. "And the
+presumption, of course, was that the murderers were searching for
+something?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," I said. "What other presumption could there be?"</p>
+
+<p>Baxter gave us both a keen, knowing look, bent across the table, and
+tapped my arm as if to arrest my closer attention.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How do you know that the murderers didn't find what they were seeking
+for?" he asked in a low, forceful voice. "Come, now!"</p>
+
+<p>I stared at him; so, too, did Miss Raven. He laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"That, certainly, doesn't seem to have struck anybody," he said. "I'm
+sure, anyway, it hasn't struck you before. Does it now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd never thought of it," I admitted.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly! Nor, according to the papers&mdash;and to my private
+information&mdash;had anybody," he answered. "Yet&mdash;it would have been the
+very first thought that would have occurred to me. I should have said
+to myself, seeing the ripped-up clothing, 'Whoever murdered these men
+was in search of something that one or other of the two had concealed
+on him, and the probability is, he's got it.' Of course!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure nobody&mdash;police or detectives&mdash;ever did think of that," said
+I. "But&mdash;perhaps with your knowledge of the Quicks' antecedents and
+queer doings, you have some knowledge of what they might be likely to
+carry about them?"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed at that, and again leaned nearer to us.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, well!" he replied. "As I've told you so much, I'll tell you
+something more. I do know of something that the two men had on them
+when they were on that miserable island and that they, of course,
+carried away with them when they escaped. Noah and Salter Quick were
+then in possession of two magnificent rubies&mdash;worth no end of money!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CHINESE GENTLEMAN</h2>
+
+
+<p>I could not repress an unconscious, involuntary start on hearing this
+remarkable declaration; it seemed to open, as widely as suddenly, an
+entirely new field of vision; it was as if some hand had abruptly torn
+aside a veil and shown me something that I had never dreamed of. And
+Baxter laughed, significantly.</p>
+
+<p>"That strikes you, Middlebrook?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Very forcibly, indeed!" said I. "If what you say is true&mdash;I mean, if
+one of those two men had such valuables on him, then there's a reason
+for the murder of both that none of us knew of. But&mdash;is it probable
+that the Quicks would still be in possession of jewels that you saw
+some years ago?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not so many years ago, when all's said and done," he answered. "And
+you couldn't dispose of things like those very readily, you know. You
+can take it from me, knowing what I did of them, that neither Noah nor
+Salter Quick would sell anything unless at its full value, or
+something like it. They weren't hard up for money, either of them;
+they could afford to wait, in the matter of a sale of anything, until
+they found somebody who would give their price."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You say these things&mdash;rubies, I think&mdash;were worth a lot of money?" I
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Heaps of money!" he affirmed. "Do you know anything about rubies? Not
+much?&mdash;well, the ruby, I daresay you do know, is the most precious of
+precious stones. The real true ruby, the Oriental one, is found in
+greatest quantity in Burma and Siam, and the best are those that come
+from Mogok, which is a district lying northward of Mandalay. These
+rubies that the Quicks had came from there&mdash;they were remarkably fine
+ones. And I know how and where those precious villains got them!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes?" I said, feeling that another dark story lay behind this
+declaration. "Not honestly, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Far from it!" he replied, with a grim smile. "Those two rubies formed
+the eyes of some ugly god or other in a heathen temple in the
+Kwang-Tung province of Southern China where the Quicks carried on more
+nefarious practices than that. They gouged them out&mdash;according to
+their own story. Then, of course, they cleared off."</p>
+
+<p>"You saw the rubies?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"More than once&mdash;on that island in the Yellow Sea," he answered. "Noah
+and Salter would have bartered either, or both, for a ship at one
+period. But!" he added, with a sneering laugh, "you may lay your life
+that when they boarded that Chinese fishing-boat on which they made
+their escape they'd pay for their passage as meanly as possible.
+No&mdash;my belief is that they still had those rubies on them when they
+turned up in England again, and that, as likely as not, they were
+murdered for them. Take all the circumstances of the murder into
+consideration&mdash;in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> each case the dead man's clothing was ripped to
+pieces, the linings examined, even the padding at chest and shoulder
+torn out and scattered about. What were the murderers seeking for? Not
+for money&mdash;as far as I remember, each man had a good deal of money on
+him, and not a penny was touched. What was it, then? My own belief is
+that after Salter Quick joined Noah at Devonport, both brothers were
+steadily watched by men who knew what they had on them, and that when
+Salter came North he was followed, just as Noah was tracked down at
+Saltash. And I should say that whoever murdered them got the
+rubies&mdash;they may have been on Noah; they may have been on Salter; one
+may have been in Salter's possession; one in Noah's. But there&mdash;in the
+rubies&mdash;lies, in my belief, the secret of those murders."</p>
+
+<p>I felt that here, in this lonely cove, we were probably much nearer
+the solution of the mystery that had baffled Scarterfield, ourselves,
+the police, and everybody that we knew. And so, apparently, did Miss
+Raven, who suddenly turned on Baxter with a look that was half an
+appeal.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Baxter!" she said, colouring a little at her own temerity. "Why
+don't you follow Mr. Middlebrook's advice&mdash;give up the old silver and
+the rest of it to the authorities and help them to track down those
+murderers? Wouldn't that be better than&mdash;whatever it is that you're
+doing?"</p>
+
+<p>But Baxter laughed, flung away his cigar, and rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"A deal better&mdash;from many standpoints, my dear young lady!" he
+exclaimed. "But too late for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> Netherfield Baxter. He's an Ishmael!&mdash;a
+pirate&mdash;a highwayman&mdash;and it's too late for him to do anything but
+gang his own gait. No!&mdash;I'm not going to help the police&mdash;not I! I've
+enough to do to keep out of their way."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll get caught, you know," I said, as good-humouredly as possible.
+"You'll never get this stuff that's upstairs across the Atlantic and
+into New York or Boston or any Yankee port without detection. As you
+are treating us well, your secret's safe enough with us&mdash;but think,
+man, of the difficulties of taking your loot across an ocean!&mdash;to say
+nothing of Customs officers on the other side."</p>
+
+<p>"I never said we were going to take it across the Atlantic," he
+answered coolly and with another of his cynical laughs. "I said we
+were going to sail this bit of a craft across there&mdash;so we are. But
+when we strike New York or New Orleans or Pernambuco or Buenos Ayres,
+Middlebrook, the stuff won't be there&mdash;the stuff, my lad, won't leave
+British waters! Deep, deep, is your queer acquaintance, Netherfield
+Baxter, and if he does run risks now and then, he always provides for
+'em."</p>
+
+<p>"Evidently you intend to tranship your precious cargo?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"The door of its market is yawning for it, Middlebrook, and not far
+away," he answered. "If this craft drops in at Aberdeen, or at Thurso,
+or at Moville, and the Customs folks or any other such-like hawks and
+kites come aboard, they'll find nothing but three innocent gentlemen
+and their servants a-yachting it across the free seas. <i>Verbum
+sapienti</i>, Middlebrook, as we said in my Latin days&mdash;far off,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> now!
+But&mdash;wouldn't Miss Raven like to retire?&mdash;it's late. I'll send Chuh
+with hot water&mdash;if you want anything, Middlebrook, command him. As for
+me, I shan't see you again tonight&mdash;I must keep a watch for my pal
+coming aboard from his little mission ashore."</p>
+
+<p>Then, with curt politeness, he bade us both good night, and went off
+on deck, and we two captives looked at each other.</p>
+
+<p>"Strange man!" murmured Miss Raven. She gave me a direct glance that
+had a lot of meaning in it. "Mr. Middlebrook," she went on in a still
+lower voice, "let me tell you that I'm not afraid. I'm sure that man
+means no personal harm to us. But&mdash;is there anything you want to say
+to me before I go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only this," I answered. "Do you sleep very soundly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not so soundly that I shouldn't hear if you called me," she replied.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to mount guard here," I said. "I, too, believe in what
+Baxter says. But&mdash;if I should, for any reason, have occasion to call
+you during the night, do at once precisely what I tell you to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," she said.</p>
+
+<p>The Chinaman who had been in evidence at intervals since our arrival
+came into the little saloon with a can of hot water and disappeared
+into the inner cabin which had been given up to Miss Raven. She softly
+said good-night to me, with a reassurance of her confidence that all
+would be well, and followed him. I heard her talking to this strange
+makeshift for a maid for a moment or two; then the man came out,
+grinning as if well-pleased with himself, and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> closed and fastened
+the door on him. The Chinaman turned to me, asking in a soft voice if
+there was anything I pleased to need.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing but the rugs and pillows that your master spoke of," I
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>He opened a locker on the floor of the place and producing a number of
+cushions and blankets from it made me up a very tolerable couch. Then,
+with a polite bow, he, too, departed, and I was left alone.</p>
+
+<p>Of one thing I was firmly determined&mdash;I was not going to allow myself
+to sleep. I firmly believed in Baxter's good intentions&mdash;in spite of
+his record, strange and shady by his own admission, there was
+something in him that won confidence; he was unprincipled, without
+doubt, and the sort of man who would be all the worse if resisted,
+being evidently naturally wayward, headstrong, and foolishly
+obstinate, but like all bad men, he had good points, and one of his
+seemed to be a certain pride in showing people like ourselves that he
+could behave himself like a gentleman. That pride&mdash;a species of
+vanity, of course&mdash;would, I felt sure, make him keep his word to us
+and especially to Miss Raven. But he was only one amongst a crowd. For
+anything I knew, his French friend might be as consummate a villain as
+ever walked, and the Chinese in the galley cut-throats of the best
+quality. And there, behind a mere partition, was a helpless girl&mdash;and
+I was unarmed. It was a highly serious and unpleasant situation, at
+the best of it, and the only thing I could do was to keep awake and
+remain on the alert until morning came.</p>
+
+<p>I took off coat and waistcoat, folded a blanket<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> shawl-wise around my
+shoulders, wrapped another round my legs, and made myself fairly
+comfortable in the cushions which the Chinaman had deftly arranged in
+an angle of the cabin. I had directed him to settle my night's
+quarters in a corner close to Miss Raven's door, and immediately
+facing the half-dozen steps which led upwards to the deck. At the head
+of those steps was a door; I had bade him leave it open, so that I
+might have plenty of air; when he had gone I had extinguished the lamp
+which swung from the roof. And now, half-sitting, half-lying amongst
+my cushions and rugs, I faced the patch of sky framed in that open
+doorway and saw that the night was a clear one and that the heavens
+were full of glittering stars.</p>
+
+<p>I had just refilled and lighted my pipe before settling down to my
+vigils, and for a long time I lay there smoking and thinking. My
+thoughts were somewhat confused&mdash;confused, at any rate, to the extent
+that they ranged over a variety of subjects&mdash;our apprehension that
+afternoon; the queer, almost, if not wholly, eccentric character of
+Netherfield Baxter; his strange story of the events in the Yellow Sea;
+his frank avowal of his share in the theft of the monastic spoils; his
+theory about Noah and Salter Quick, and other matters arising out of
+these things. The whirl of it all in my anxious brain made me more
+than once feel disposed to sleep; I realized that in spite of
+everything, I should sleep unless I kept up a stern determination to
+remain awake. Everything on board that strange craft was as still as
+the skies above her decks; I heard no sound whatever save a very
+gentle lapping of the water against the vessel's timbers, and,
+occasionally, the far-off hooting of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> owls in the woods that overhung
+the cove; these sounds, of course, were provocative of slumber; I had
+to keep smoking to prevent myself from dropping into a doze. And
+perhaps two hours may have gone in this fashion, and it was, I should
+think, a little after midnight, when I heard, at first far away
+towards the land, then gradually coming nearer, the light, slow
+plashing of oars that gently and leisurely rose and fell.</p>
+
+<p>This, of course, was the Frenchman, coming back from his mission to
+Berwick&mdash;he would, I knew, have gone there from the little wayside
+station that lay beyond the woods at the back of the cove and have
+returned by a late train to the same place. Somehow&mdash;I could not well
+account for it&mdash;the mere fact of his coming back made me nervous and
+uneasy. I was not so certain about his innocence in the matter of
+Salter Quick's murder. On Baxter's own showing the Frenchman had been
+hanging about that coast for some little time, just when Salter Quick
+descended upon it. He, like Baxter, if Baxter's story were true, was
+aware that one or other of the Quicks carried those valuable rubies;
+even if, the York episode being taken for granted, he had not killed
+Salter Quick himself he might be privy to the doings of some
+accomplice who had. Anyway, he was a doubtful quantity, and the mere
+fact that he was back again on that yawl made me more resolved than
+ever to keep awake and preserve a sharp look-out.</p>
+
+<p>I heard the boat come alongside; I heard steps on the deck just
+outside my open door; then, Baxter's voice. Presently, too, I heard
+other voices&mdash;one that of the Frenchman, which I recognised from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+having heard him speak in the afternoon; the other a soft, gentle,
+laughing voice&mdash;without doubt that of an Eastern. This, of course,
+would be the Chinese gentleman of whom I had heard&mdash;the man who had
+been seen in company with Baxter and the Frenchman at Hull. So now the
+three principal actors in this affair were all gathered together,
+separated from me and Miss Raven by a few planks, and close by were
+three Chinese of whose qualities I knew nothing. Safe we might be&mdash;but
+we were certainly on the very edge of a hornet's nest.</p>
+
+<p>I heard the three men talking together in low, subdued tones for a few
+minutes; then they went along the deck above me and the sound of their
+steps ceased. But as I lay there in the darkness, two round discs of
+light suddenly appeared on a mirror which hung on the boarding of the
+cabin, immediately facing me, and turning my head sharply, I saw that
+in the bulkhead behind me there were two similar holes, pierced in
+what was probably a door, which would, no doubt, be sunk flush with
+the boarding and was possibly the entrance to some other cabin that
+could be entered from a further part of the deck. Behind that, under a
+newly-lighted lamp, the three men were now certainly gathered.</p>
+
+<p>I was desperately anxious to know what they were doing&mdash;anxious, to
+the point of nervousness, to know what they looked like, taken in
+bulk. I could hear them talking in there, still in very low tones, and
+I would have given much to hear even a few words of their
+conversation. And after a time of miserable indecision&mdash;for I was
+afraid of doing anything that would lead to suspicion or resentment on
+their part,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> and I was by no means sure that I might not be under
+observation of one of those silky-footed Chinese from the galley&mdash;I
+determined to look through the holes in the door and see whatever was
+to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>I got out of my wrappings and my corner so noiselessly that I don't
+believe anyone actually present in my cabin would have heard even a
+rustle, and tip-toeing in my stockinged feet across to the bulkhead
+which separated me from the three men, put an eye to one of the holes.
+To my great joy, I then found that I could see into the place to which
+Baxter and his companions had retreated. It was a sort of cabin,
+rougher in accommodation than that in which I stood, fitted with bunks
+on three sides and furnished with a table in the center over which
+swung a lamp. The three men stood round this table, examining some
+papers&mdash;the lamp-light fell full on all three. Baxter stood there in
+his shirt and trousers; the Frenchman also was half-dressed, as if
+preparing for rest. But the third man was still as he had come
+aboard&mdash;a little, yellow-faced, dapper, sleek Chinaman, whose smart,
+velvet-collared overcoat, thrown open, revealed an equally smart dark
+tweed suit beneath it, and an elegant gold watch-chain festooned
+across the waistcoat. He was smoking a cigar, just lighted; that it
+was of a fine brand I could tell by the aroma that floated to me. And
+on the table before the three stood a whisky bottle, a syphon of
+mineral water, and glasses, which had evidently just been filled.</p>
+
+<p>Baxter and the Frenchman stood elbow to elbow; the Frenchman held in
+his hands a number of sheets of paper, foolscap size, to the contents
+of which he was obviously drawing Baxter's attention. Presently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> they
+turned to a desk which stood in one corner of the place, and Baxter,
+lifting its lid, produced a big ledger-like book, over which they
+bent, evidently comparing certain entries in it with the papers in the
+Frenchman's hand. What book or papers might be, I of course, knew
+nothing, for all this was done in silence. But had I known anything,
+or heard anything, it would have seemed of no significance compared
+with what I just then saw&mdash;a thing that suddenly turned me almost sick
+with a nameless fear and set me trembling from toe to finger.</p>
+
+<p>The dapper and smug Chinaman, statuesque on one side of the table,
+immovable save for an occasional puff of his cigar, suddenly shot into
+silent activity as the two men turned their backs on him and bent,
+apparently absorbed, over the desk in the corner. Like a flash (it
+reminded me of the lightning-like movement of a viper) his long, thin
+fingers went into a waistcoat pocket; like a flash emerged, shot to
+the glasses on the table and into two of them dropped something small
+and white&mdash;some tabloid or pellet&mdash;that sank and dissolved as rapidly
+as it was put in. It was all over, all done, within, literally, the
+fraction of a second; when, a moment or two later, Baxter and the
+Frenchman turned round again, after throwing the ledger-like book and
+the papers into the desk, their companion was placidly smoking his
+cigar and sipping the contents of his glass between the whiffs.</p>
+
+<p>I was by that time desperately careless as to whether I might or might
+not be under observation from the open door and stairway of my own
+cabin. I remained where I was, my eye glued to that ventilation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>-hole,
+watching. For it seemed to me that the Chinaman was purposely drugging
+his companions, for some insidious purpose of his own&mdash;in that case,
+what of the personal safety of Miss Raven and myself? For one moment I
+was half-minded to rush round to the other cabin and tell Baxter of
+what I had just seen&mdash;but I reflected that I might possibly bring
+about there and then an affair of bloodshed and perhaps murder in
+which there would be four Chinese against three others, one of
+whom&mdash;my miserable self&mdash;was not only unarmed, but like enough to be
+useless in a scene of violence. No&mdash;the only thing was to wait, and
+wait I did, with a thumping heart and tingling nerves, watching.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing happened. Baxter gulped down his drink at a single draught;
+the Frenchman took his in two leisurely swallows; each flung himself
+on his bunk, pulled his blankets about him, and, as far as I could
+see, seemed to fall asleep instantly. But the Chinaman was more
+deliberate and punctilious. He took his time over his cigar and his
+whisky; he pulled out a suit-case from some nook or other and produced
+from it a truly gorgeous sleeping-suit of gaily-striped silk; it
+occupied him quite twenty minutes to get undressed and into this
+grandeur, and even then he lingered, fiddling about in carefully
+folding and arranging his garment. In the course of this, and in
+moving about the narrow cabin, he took apparently casual glances at
+Baxter and the Frenchman, and I saw from his satisfied, quiet smirk
+that each was sound and fast asleep. And then he thrust his feet into
+a pair of bedroom slippers, as loud in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> colouring as his
+pyjamas, and suddenly turning down the lamp with a twist of his
+wicked-looking fingers, he glided out of the door into the darkness
+above. At that I, too, glided swiftly back to my blankets.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+
+<h2>RED DAWN</h2>
+
+
+<p>I heard steps, soft as snowflakes, go along the deck above me; for an
+instant they paused by the open door at the head of my stairway; then
+they went on again and all was silent as before. But in that silence,
+above the gentle lapping of the water against the side of the yawl, I
+heard the furious thumping of my own heart&mdash;and I did not wonder at
+it, nor was I then, nor am I now ashamed of the fear that made it
+thump. Clearly, whatever else it might mean, if Baxter and the
+Frenchman were, as I surely believed them to be, soundly drugged, Miss
+Raven and I were at the positive mercy of a pack of Chinese
+adventurers who would probably stick at nothing.</p>
+
+<p>But my problem&mdash;one sufficient to wrack every fibre of my brain&mdash;was,
+what were they after? The Chinese gentleman in the flamboyant pyjamas
+had without doubt, repaired to his compatriots in the galley, forward:
+at that moment they were, of course, holding some unholy conference.
+Were they going to murder Baxter and the Frenchman for the sake of the
+swag now safely on board? It was possible: I had heard many a tale far
+less so. No doubt the supreme spirit was a man of subtlety and craft;
+so, too, most likely was our friend Lo Chuh Fen; the other two would
+not be wanting. And if, of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> other two, Wing, as Miss Raven had
+confidently surmised and as I thought it possible, was one, then,
+indeed, there would be brains enough and to spare for the carrying out
+of any adventure. It seemed to me as I lay there, quaking and sweating
+in sheer fright&mdash;I, a defenceless, quiet, peace-loving gentleman of
+bookish tastes, who scarcely knew one end of a revolver from the
+other&mdash;that what was likely was that the Chinese were going to round
+on their English and French associates, collar the loot for
+themselves, and sail the yawl&mdash;Heaven alone knew where! But&mdash;in that
+case, what was going to become of me and my helpless companion? It was
+not likely that these Easterns would treat us with the consideration
+which we had received from the queer, eccentric, somewhat
+muddle-headed Netherfield Baxter, who&mdash;it struck me with odd
+inconsequence at that inopportune moment&mdash;was certainly a combination
+of Dick Turpin, Gil Blas, and Don Quixote.</p>
+
+<p>I suppose it was nearly an hour that passed: it may have been more; it
+may have been less; what I know is that it gave me some idea of what
+an accused man may feel who, waiting in a cell below, wonders what the
+foreman of a jury is going to say when he is called upstairs once more
+to the dock which he has vacated pending that jury's deliberations.
+Once or twice I thought of daring everything, rousing Miss Raven, and
+attempting an escape by means of the boat which no doubt lay at the
+side of the yawl. But reflection suggested that so desperate a deed
+would only mean getting a bullet through me, and perhaps through her
+as well. Then I speculated on my chances of making a sinuous way along
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> deck on my hands and knees, or on my stomach, snake-fashion, with
+the idea of listening at the hatch of the galley&mdash;reflection, again,
+warned me that such an adventure would as likely as not end up with a
+few inches of cold steel in my side or through my gullet. So there I
+lay, sweating with fear, rapidly disintegrating as to nerve-power,
+becoming a lump of moral rag-and-bone&mdash;and suddenly, unheralded by the
+slightest sound, I saw the figure of a man on my stairway, his outline
+silhouetted against the sky and the stars.</p>
+
+<p>It was not because of any bravery on my part&mdash;I am sure of that&mdash;but
+through sheer fright that, before I had the least idea of what I was
+doing, I had thrown myself clear of rugs and pillows, sprung to my
+feet, made one frenzied leap across the bit of intervening space and
+clutched my intruder by his arms before his softly-padded feet touched
+the floor of the cabin. My own breath was coming in gasps&mdash;but the
+response to my frenzy was quiet and cool as an autumnal afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you row a boat?"</p>
+
+<p>I shall never forget the mental douche which dashed itself over me in
+that clear, yet scarcely perceptible whisper, accompanied as it was by
+a ghost-like laugh of sheer amusement. I released my grip, staring in
+the starlight at my visitor. Lo Chuh Fen!</p>
+
+<p>"Yes!" I answered, steadying my voice and keeping it down to as low
+tones as his own. "Yes&mdash;I can!"</p>
+
+<p>He pointed to the door behind which lay Miss Raven.</p>
+
+<p>"Wake missie&mdash;as quietly as possible," he whispered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> "Tell her get
+ready&mdash;come on deck&mdash;make no noise. All ready for you&mdash;then you go
+ashore and away, see? Not good for you to be here longer."</p>
+
+<p>"No danger to&mdash;her?" I asked him.</p>
+
+<p>"No danger to anybody, you do as I say," he answered. "All ready for
+you&mdash;nothing to do but come on deck, forward; get into the boat, be
+off. Now!"</p>
+
+<p>Without another word he glided up the stairway and disappeared. For a
+few seconds I stood irresolute. Was it a trick, a plant? Should we be
+safe on deck&mdash;or targets for Chinese bullets, or receptacles for
+Chinese knives? Maybe!&mdash;yet&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I suddenly made up my mind. It was but one step to the door of the
+little inner cabin&mdash;I scraped on its panels. It opened instantly&mdash;a
+crack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes?" whispered Miss Raven.</p>
+
+<p>I remembered then that if need arose she was to do unquestioningly
+anything I told her to do.</p>
+
+<p>"Dress at once and come out," I said. "Be quick!"</p>
+
+<p>"I've never been undressed," she answered. "I lay down in my clothes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then come, just now," I commanded. "Wait for nothing!"</p>
+
+<p>She was out of the room at once and by my side in the gloom. I laid a
+hand on her arm, giving its plump softness a reassuring pressure.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid!" I whispered. "Follow me on deck. We're going."</p>
+
+<p>"Going!" she said. "Leaving?"</p>
+
+<p>"Come along!" said I.</p>
+
+<p>I went before her up the stairway and out on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> open deck. The night
+was particularly clear; the stars very bright; the patch of water
+between the yawl and the shore lay before us calm and dark; we could
+see the woods above the cove quite plainly, and at the edge of them a
+ribbon of white, the silver-sanded beach. And also, at the forward
+part of the vessel we were leaving I saw, or fancied I saw, shadowy
+forms&mdash;the Chinese were going to see us off.</p>
+
+<p>But one form was not shadowy, nor problematical. Chuh was there,
+awaiting us, his arms filled with rugs. Without a word he motioned us
+to follow, preceded us along the side of the yawl to the boat, went
+before us into it, helped us down, settled us, put the oars into my
+hands, climbed out again, and leaned his yellow face down at me.</p>
+
+<p>"You pull straight ahead," he murmured. "Good landing place straight
+before you: dry place on beach, too&mdash;morning come soon; you get away
+then through woods."</p>
+
+<p>"The boat?" I asked him.</p>
+
+<p>"You leave boat there&mdash;anywhere," he answered. "Boat not wanted
+again&mdash;we go, soon as high water over bar. Hope you get young missie
+safe home."</p>
+
+<p>"Bless you!" I said under my breath. Then, remembering that I had some
+money in my pocket&mdash;three or four loose sovereigns as luck would have
+it, I thrust a hand therein, pulled them out, forced them into the
+man's claw-like fingers. I heard him chuckle softly&mdash;then his head
+disappeared behind the rail of the yawl, and I shoved the boat off,
+and for the next few minutes bent to those oars as I had certainly
+never bent to any previous labour, mental or physical,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> in my life.
+And Miss Raven, seeing my earnestness, said nothing, but quietly took
+the tiller and steered us in a straight line for the spot which the
+Chinaman had indicated. Neither of us&mdash;strange as it may seem&mdash;spoke
+one single word until, at the end of half an hour's steady pull, the
+boat's nose ran on to the shingly beach, beneath a fringe of dwarf oak
+that came right down to the edge of the shore. I sprang out, with a
+feeling of thankfulness that it would be hard to describe&mdash;and for a
+good reason found my tongue once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott!" I exclaimed. "I've left my boots in that cabin!"</p>
+
+<p>Despite the strange situation in which we were still placed, Miss
+Raven's sense of humour asserted itself; she laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Your boots!" she said. "Whatever will you do? These stones!&mdash;and the
+long walk home?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are things to be thought of before that," said I. "We're still
+in the middle of the night. But this boat&mdash;do you think you can help
+me to drag it up the beach?"</p>
+
+<p>Between us, the boat being a light one, we managed to pull it across
+the pebbles and under the low cliff beneath the overhanging fringe of
+the wood. In the uncertain light&mdash;for there was no moon and since our
+setting out from the yawl masses of cloud had come up from the
+south-east to obscure the stars&mdash;the wood looked impenetrably black.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall have to wait here until the dawn comes," I remarked. "We
+can't find our way through the wood in this darkness&mdash;I can't even
+recollect the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> path, if there was one, by which they brought us down
+here from the ruins. You had better sit in the boat and make yourself
+comfortable with those rugs. Considerate of them, at any rate, to
+provide us with those!"</p>
+
+<p>She got into the boat again and I wrapped one rug round her knees and
+placed another about her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"And you?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I must do a bit of amateur boot-making," I answered. "I'm going to
+cut this third rug into strips and bind them about my feet&mdash;can't walk
+over stones and thorns and thistles, to say nothing of the moorland
+track, without some protection."</p>
+
+<p>I got out my pocket-knife and sitting on the side of the boat began my
+task; for a few minutes she watched me, in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"What does all this mean!" she said at last, suddenly. "Why have they
+let us go?"</p>
+
+<p>"No idea," I answered. "But&mdash;things have happened since Baxter said
+good-night to us. Listen!" And I went on to tell her of all that had
+taken place on the yawl since the return of the Frenchman and his
+Chinese companion. "What does it look like?" I concluded. "Doesn't it
+seem as if the Chinese intend foul play to those two?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean&mdash;that they intend to&mdash;to murder them?" she asked in a
+half-frightened whisper. "Surely not that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see that a man who has lived the life that Baxter has can
+expect anything but a violent end," I replied callously. "Yes, I
+suppose that's what I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> do mean. I think the Chinese mean to get rid of
+the two others and get away with the swag&mdash;cleverly enough, no doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"Horrible!" she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"Inevitable!" said I. "To my mind, the whole atmosphere was one
+of&mdash;that sort of thing. We're most uncommonly lucky."</p>
+
+<p>She became silent again, and remained so for some time, while I went
+on at my task, binding the strips of rug about my feet and ankles, and
+fastening them, puttee fashion, around my legs.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand it!" she exclaimed, after several minutes had gone
+by. "Surely those men must know that we, once free of them, would be
+sure to give the alarm. We weren't under any promise to them, whatever
+we were to Baxter."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand anything," I said. "All I know is the surface of
+the situation. But that gentle villain who saw us off the yawl said
+that they were sailing at high water&mdash;only waiting until the tide was
+deep on the bar outside there. And they could get a long way, north or
+south or east, before we could set anybody on to them. Supposing they
+did get rid of Baxter and his Frenchman, what's to prevent them making
+off across the North Sea to, say, some port in the north of Russia?
+They've got stuff on board that would be saleable anywhere&mdash;no doubt
+they'll have melted it all into shapeless lumps before many hours are
+out."</p>
+
+<p>Once more she was silent, and when she spoke again it was in a note of
+decision.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't think that's it at all," she said emphatically.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> "They're
+dependent on wind and weather, and the seas aren't so wide, but that
+they'd be caught on our information. I'm sure that isn't it."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, then?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I've a sort of vague, misty idea," she answered, with a laugh that
+was plainly intended to be deprecatory of her own power. "Supposing
+these Chinese&mdash;you say they're awfully keen and astute&mdash;supposing
+they've got a plot amongst themselves for handing Baxter and the
+Frenchman over to the police&mdash;the authorities&mdash;with their plunder? Do
+you see?"</p>
+
+<p>I had just finished the manufacture of my novel foot-wear, and I
+jumped to my padded feet with an exclamation that&mdash;this time&mdash;did not
+come from unpleasant contact with the sharp stones.</p>
+
+<p>"By George!" I said. "There is an idea in that!&mdash;there may be
+something in it!"</p>
+
+<p>"We thought Wing was on board," she continued. "If so, I think I may
+be right in offering such a suggestion. Supposing that Wing came
+across these people when he went to London; took service with them in
+the hope of getting at their secret; supposing he's induced the other
+Chinese to secure Baxter and the Frenchman&mdash;that, in short, he's been
+playing the part of detective? Wouldn't that explain why they sent us
+away?"</p>
+
+<p>"Partly&mdash;yes, perhaps wholly," I said, struggling with this new idea.
+"But&mdash;where and when and how do they intend&mdash;if your theory's
+correct&mdash;to do the handing over?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's surely easy enough," she replied quickly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> "There's nothing to
+do but sail the yawl into say Berwick harbour and call the police
+aboard. A very, very easy matter!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if it is so?" I answered, musingly. "It might be&mdash;but if we
+stay here until it's light and the tide's up, we shall see which way
+the yawl goes."</p>
+
+<p>"It's high water between five and six o'clock," she remarked. "Anyway,
+it was between four and five yesterday morning at Ravensdene
+Court&mdash;which now seems to be far away, in some other world."</p>
+
+<p>"Hungry?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit," she answered. "But&mdash;it's a long way since yesterday
+afternoon. We've seen things."</p>
+
+<p>"We've certainly seen Mr. Netherfield Baxter," I observed.</p>
+
+<p>"A fascinating man!" she said, with a laugh. "The sort of man&mdash;under
+other circumstances&mdash;one would like to have to dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Um!" said I. "A ready and plausible tongue, to be sure. I dare say
+there are women who would fall in love with such a man."</p>
+
+<p>"Lots!" she answered, with ready assent. "As I said just now, he's a
+very fascinating person."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said I, teasingly. "I had a suspicion last night that he was
+exciting your sympathetic interest."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm much more sympathetic about your lack of boots and shoes," she
+retorted. "But as you seem to have rigged up some sort of satisfactory
+substitute, don't you think we might be making our way homewards? Is
+there any need to go through the woods? Why should we not follow the
+coast?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm doubtful about our ability to get round the south point of this
+cove," I answered. "I was looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> at it yesterday afternoon from the
+deck of the yawl, and I saw that just there a sort of wall of rock
+runs right out into the sea. And if the tide's coming in&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Then, the woods," she interrupted. "Surely we can make our way
+through them, somehow. And it will begin to get light in another hour
+or so."</p>
+
+<p>"If you like to try it," I answered. "But it's darker in there than
+you think for, and rougher going, too. However&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Just then, and before she had made up her mind, we were both switched
+off that line of action by something that broke out on another. Across
+the three-quarters of a mile of water which separated us from our
+recent prison came the sound, clear and unmistakable, of a revolver
+shot, followed almost instantly by another. Miss Raven, who had risen
+to her feet, suddenly sat down again. A third shot rang out&mdash;a
+fourth&mdash;a fifth; we saw the flashes of each; they came, without doubt,
+from the deck of the yawl.</p>
+
+<p>"Firing!" she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"Fighting!" said I. "That's just&mdash;listen to that!"</p>
+
+<p>Half a dozen reports, sharp, insistent, rang out in quick succession;
+then two or three, all mingling together; the echoes followed from
+wood and cliff. Rapidly as the flashes pierced the gloom, the sounds
+died out&mdash;a heavy silence followed.</p>
+
+<p>"That's just what?" asked Miss Raven&mdash;calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if not just what I expected, it's at any rate partly what I
+expected," I said. "It had already struck me that if&mdash;well, supposing
+whatever it was that the Chinaman dropped into those glasses didn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+act quite as soporifically as he intended it to, and Baxter and his
+companion woke up and found there was a conspiracy, a mutiny, going
+on, there'd be&mdash;eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fighting?" she suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"You're not a squeamish girl," I answered. "There'd be bloody murder!
+Their lives&mdash;or the others. And I should say that death's stalking
+through that unholy craft just now."</p>
+
+<p>She made no answer and we stood staring at the black bulk lying
+motionless on the grey water; stood for a long time, listening. I, to
+tell the truth, was straining my ears to catch the plash of oars: I
+thought it possible that some of those on board the yawl might take a
+violent desire to get ashore.</p>
+
+<p>But the silence continued. And now we said no more of setting out on
+our homeward journey: curiosity as to what had happened kept us there,
+whispering. The time passed&mdash;almost before we realized that night was
+passing, we were suddenly aware of a long line of faint yellow light
+that rose above the far horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"Dawn," I muttered. "Dawn!"</p>
+
+<p>And then, at that moment, we both heard something. Somewhere outside
+the bar, but close to the shore, a steam-propelled vessel was tearing
+along at a break-neck speed.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FOURTH CHINAMAN</h2>
+
+
+<p>As we stood there, watching, the long line of yellow light on the
+eastern horizon suddenly changed in colour&mdash;first to a roseate flush,
+then to a warm crimson; the scenes around us, sky, sea and land
+brightened as if by magic. And with equal suddenness there shot round
+the edge of the southern extremity of the cove, outlining itself
+against the red sky in the distance the long, low-lying hulk of a
+vessel&mdash;a dark, sinister-looking thing which I recognised at once as a
+torpedo-destroyer. It was coming along, about half a mile outside the
+bar, at a rare turn of speed which would, I knew, quickly carry it
+beyond our field of vision. And I was wondering whether from its decks
+the inside of the cove and the yawl lying at anchor there was visible
+when it suddenly slackened in its headlong career, went about,
+seaward, and describing the greater part of a circle, came slowly in
+towards the bar, nosing about there beyond the line of white surf, for
+all the world like a terrier at the lip of some rat-hole.</p>
+
+<p>Up to that moment Miss Raven and I had kept silence, watching this
+unexpected arrival in our solitude; now, turning to look at her, I saw
+that the thought which had come into my mind had also occurred to
+hers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Do you think that ship is looking for the yawl?" she asked. "It's a
+gunboat&mdash;or something of that sort, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Torpedo-destroyer&mdash;latest class, too," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Rakish, wicked-looking things, aren't they? And that's just what I,
+too, was wondering. It's possible, some news of the yawl may have got
+to the ears of the authorities, and this thing may have been sent from
+the nearest base to take a look along the coast. Perhaps they've
+spotted the yawl. But they can't get over that bar, yet."</p>
+
+<p>"The tide's rising fast, though," she remarked, pointing to the shore
+immediately before us. "It'll be up to this boat soon."</p>
+
+<p>I saw that she was right, and that presently the boat would be
+floating. We made it fast, and retreated further up the beach, amongst
+the overhanging trees, and there, from beneath the shelter of a group
+of dwarf oaks, looked seaward again. The destroyer lay supine outside
+the bar, watching. Suddenly, right behind her, far across the grey
+sea, the sun shot up above the horizon&mdash;her long dark hull cut across
+his ruddy face. And we were then able to make out shapes that moved
+here and there on her deck. There were live men there!&mdash;but on the
+yawl we saw no sign of life.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, even as we looked, life sprang up there again. Once more a shot
+rang out, followed by two others in sharp succession. And as we stared
+in that direction, wondering what this new affray could be, we saw a
+boat shoot out from beneath the bows, with a low, crouching figure in
+it which was evidently making frantic efforts to get away. Somebody on
+board<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> the yawl was just as eager to prevent this escape; three or
+four shots sounded&mdash;following one of them, the figure in the boat fell
+forward with a sickening suddenness.</p>
+
+<p>"Got him!" I said involuntarily. "Poor devil!&mdash;whoever he is."</p>
+
+<p>"No!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "See!&mdash;he's up again."</p>
+
+<p>The figure was struggling to an erect position&mdash;even at that distance
+we could make out the effort. But the light of the newly-risen sun was
+so dazzling and confusing that we could not tell if the figure was
+that of an Englishman or a Chinaman&mdash;it was, at any rate, the figure
+of a tall man. And whoever he was, he managed to rise to his feet, and
+to lift an arm in the direction of the yawl, from which he was then
+some twenty yards away. Two more shots rang out&mdash;one from the yawl,
+another from the boat. It seemed to me that the man in the boat
+swayed&mdash;but a moment later he was again busy at his oars. No further
+shot came from the yawl, and the boat drew further and further away
+from it, in the direction of a spit of land some three or four hundred
+yards from where we stood. There were high rocks at the sea end of
+that spit&mdash;the boat disappeared behind them.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one villain loose, at any rate," I muttered, not too well
+pleased to think that he was within reach of ourselves. "I wonder
+which. But I'm sure he was winged&mdash;he fell in a heap, didn't he, at
+one of those shots? Of course, he'll take to these woods&mdash;and we've
+got to get through them."</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet!" said Miss Raven. "Look there!"</p>
+
+<p>She pointed across the cove and beyond the bar,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> and I saw then that a
+boat had been put off from the destroyer and was being pulled at a
+rapid rate towards the line of surf which, under the deepening tide,
+was now but a thin streak of white. It seemed to me that I could see
+the glint of arms above the flash of the oars&mdash;anyway there was a
+boat's crew of blue-jackets there.</p>
+
+<p>"They're going to board her!" I exclaimed. "I wonder what they'll
+find?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dead men!" answered Miss Raven, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"What else? After all that shooting! I should think that man who's
+just got away was the last."</p>
+
+<p>"There was a man left on board who fired at him&mdash;and at whom he fired
+back," I pointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;and who never fired again," she retorted. "They must all&mdash;oh!"</p>
+
+<p>She interrupted herself with a sharp exclamation, and turning from
+watching the blue-jackets and their boat I saw that she was staring at
+the yawl. From its forecastle a black column of smoke suddenly shot
+up, followed by a great lick of flame.</p>
+
+<p>"Good heavens!" I exclaimed. "The yawl's on fire!"</p>
+
+<p>I guessed then at what had probably happened. The man who had just
+disappeared with his boat behind the spit of land further along the
+cove had in all likelihood been one of two survivors of the fight
+which had taken place in the early hours of the morning. He had wished
+to get away by himself, had set fire to the yawl, and sneaked away in
+the only boat, exchanging shots with the man left behind and probably
+killing him with the last one. And now&mdash;there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> was smoke and flame
+above what was doubtless a shambles.</p>
+
+<p>But by that time the boat's crew from the destroyer had crossed the
+bar and entered the cove and the vigorously impelled oars were
+flashing fast in the sheltered waters. The boat disappeared behind the
+drifting smoke that poured out of the yawl&mdash;presently we saw figures
+hurrying hither and thither about her deck.</p>
+
+<p>"They may be in time to get the fire under," I said. "Better, perhaps,
+if they let the whole thing burn itself out. It would burn up a lot of
+villainy."</p>
+
+<p>"Here are people coming along the beach," remarked Miss Raven,
+suddenly. "Look! They must have seen the smoke rising."</p>
+
+<p>I turned in the direction in which she was looking, and saw, on the
+strip of land and pebble, beneath the woods, a group of figures,
+standing at that moment and staring in the direction of the burning
+ship, which had evidently just rounded the extreme point of the cove
+at its southern confines. There were several figures in the group, and
+two were mounted. Presently these moved forward in our direction, at a
+smart pace; before they had gone far, I recognized the riders.</p>
+
+<p>"A search party!" I exclaimed. "Look&mdash;that's Mr. Raven, in front, and
+surely that's Lorrimore, behind him. They're looking for us."</p>
+
+<p>She gazed at the approaching figures for a moment, shielding her eyes
+from the already strong glare of the mounting sun, then ran forward
+along the shingle to meet them; I followed as rapidly as my
+improvised<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> foot-wear would permit. By the time I reached them, Mr.
+Raven and Lorrimore were off their horses, the other members of the
+party had come up, and my companion in tribulation was explaining the
+situation. I let her talk&mdash;she was summing it all up in more concise
+fashion than I could have done. Her uncle listened with simple,
+open-mouthed astonishment; Lorrimore, when it came to mention of the
+Chinese element, with an obvious growing concern that seemed to be not
+far away from suspicion. He turned to me as Miss Raven finished.</p>
+
+<p>"How many Chinese do you reckon were on board?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Four&mdash;including the last arrival, described as a gentleman," I
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>"And two English?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"One Englishman, and one Frenchman," said I. "My belief is that the
+Chinese have settled the other two&mdash;and then possibly settled
+themselves, among them. There's one man somewhere in these woods.
+Whether he's a Chinaman we can't say&mdash;we couldn't make out."</p>
+
+<p>He stared at me wonderingly for a moment; then turned and looked at
+the yawl. Evidently the blue-jackets had succeeded in checking the
+fire; the flame had died down, and the smoke now only hung about in
+wreaths; we could see figures running actively about the deck.</p>
+
+<p>"There may be men on there that need medical assistance," said
+Lorrimore. "Where's this boat you mentioned, Middlebrook? I'm going
+off to that vessel. Two of you men pull me across there."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go with you," said I. "I left my boots in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> the cabin&mdash;I may find
+them&mdash;and a good deal else. The boat's just along here."</p>
+
+<p>The search party was a mixed lot&mdash;a couple of local policemen, some
+gamekeepers, two or three fishermen, one of Mr. Raven's men-servants.
+Two of the fishermen ran the boat into the water; Lorrimore and I
+sprang in.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the most extraordinary affair I ever heard of," he said as he
+sat down at my side in the stern.</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't see all these Chinamen? Miss Raven says that you actually
+suspected my man Wing to be on board!"</p>
+
+<p>"Lorrimore," said I, "in ten minutes you'll probably see and learn
+things that you'd never have dreamed of. Whether your man Wing is on
+board or not I don't know&mdash;but I know that that girl and I have had a
+marvellous escape from a nest of human devils! I can't say for myself,
+but&mdash;has my hair whitened?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your hair hasn't whitened," he said. "You were probably safer than
+you knew&mdash;safe enough, if Wing was there."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know," I retorted. "In future, let me avoid the sight
+of yellow cheeks and slit eyes&mdash;I've had enough. But tell me&mdash;how did
+you and your posse come this way? Didn't Mr. Raven get a wire last
+night?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Raven did get a wire," he replied; "but before he got it, he'd
+become anxious, and had sent out some of his men folk along the moors
+and cliffs in search of you. One of them, very late in the evening,
+came across a man who had been cutting wood somewhere hereabouts and
+had seen you and Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> Raven passing through the woods near the shore
+in company with two strangers. Mr. Raven's man returned close on
+midnight, with this news, and the old gentleman was, of course, thrown
+into a great state of alarm. He roused the whole community round
+Ravensdene Court, got me up, and we set out, as you see. But&mdash;the
+whole thing's marvellous! I can't help thinking that Wing may have
+been on board this vessel, and that it was due to him you got away."</p>
+
+<p>"You've heard nothing of him&mdash;from London?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, from anywhere," he replied. "Which is precisely why I feel
+sure that when he went there he came in contact with these people and
+has been playing some deep game."</p>
+
+<p>"Deep, yes!" said I. "Deep indeed! But what game?"</p>
+
+<p>He made no answer; we were now close to the yawl, and he was staring
+expectantly at the figures on her deck. Suddenly two of these detached
+themselves from the rest, turned, came to the side, looked down on us.
+One was a grimy-faced, alert-looking young naval officer, very much
+alive to his job; the other, not quite so smoke-blackened, but
+eminently business-like, was&mdash;Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"Good Heavens!" I muttered. "So&mdash;he's here!"</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield, as we pulled up to the side of the yawl, was evidently
+telling the young officer who we were; he turned from him to us as we
+prepared to clamber aboard and addressed us without ceremony, as if we
+had been parted from him but a few minutes since our last meeting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You'd better be prepared for some unpleasant sights, you two!" he
+said. "This is no place to bring an empty stomach to at this hour of
+the morning&mdash;and I fancy you've no liking for horrors, Mr.
+Middlebrook."</p>
+
+<p>"I've had plenty of them during this night, Scarterfield," said I. "I
+was a prisoner on board this vessel from yesterday afternoon until
+soon after midnight, and I've sat on yonder beach listening to a good
+many things that have gone on since I got away from her."</p>
+
+<p>He stared at me in astonishment for a moment; so did his companion,
+whose sharp eyes, running me over, settled their glance on my swathed
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I said, staring back at him. "Just so!&mdash;I was bundled off in
+such a hurry that I left my boots behind me. They're in the cabin&mdash;and
+if they aren't burned up I'll be glad of them."</p>
+
+<p>I was making a move in that direction, for I saw that the fire, now
+well under control, had been confined to the fore-part of the
+yawl&mdash;but Scarterfield stopped me. He was clearly as puzzled as
+anxious.</p>
+
+<p>"Middlebrook!" he said earnestly. "I don't understand it, at all. You
+say you were on this vessel&mdash;during the night? Then, in God's name,
+who else was on her&mdash;whom did you find here&mdash;what men?"</p>
+
+<p>"I left six men on her," I answered. "Netherfield Baxter&mdash;a
+Frenchman&mdash;a Chinese gentleman, so described&mdash;three Chinese as well.
+The Frenchman and the Chinese gentleman were those fellows we heard of
+at Hull, Scarterfield, and one, at any rate, of the other three Chinese
+was Lo Chuh Fen, of whom we've also heard."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And you got into their hands&mdash;how?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Kidnapped&mdash;Miss Raven and myself&mdash;by Baxter and the Frenchman, in
+those woods, yesterday afternoon," I answered. "We came across them by
+accident, at the place where they'd just dug up that monastic
+silver&mdash;there it is, man!" I continued, pointing to the chests, which
+still stood where I had last seen them. "You've got it, at last."</p>
+
+<p>He threw an almost careless glance at the chests, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I want something beyond that," he muttered. "But&mdash;you say there were
+six men altogether&mdash;six?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've enumerated them." I replied. "Two Europeans&mdash;four Chinese."</p>
+
+<p>He turned a quick eye on the naval officer.</p>
+
+<p>"Then one of 'em's escaped&mdash;somehow!" he exclaimed. "There's only five
+here&mdash;and every man Jack is dead! Where's the other!"</p>
+
+<p>"One did escape," said I. I, too, looked at the lieutenant. "He got
+off in a boat just as you and your men were approaching the bar
+yonder&mdash;I thought you'd see him."</p>
+
+<p>"No," he answered, shaking his head. "We didn't see anybody leave. The
+yawl lay between us and him most likely. Where did he land?"</p>
+
+<p>"Behind that spit," I replied, pointing to the place. "He vanished,
+from where I stood, behind those black rocks. That was just as you
+crossed the bar. And he can't have gone far away, for he was certainly
+wounded as he left the yawl&mdash;a man fired at him from the bows. He
+fired back."</p>
+
+<p>"We heard those shots," said the lieutenant, "and we found a
+chap&mdash;Englishman&mdash;in the bows, dying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> when we boarded her. He died
+just afterwards. They're all dead&mdash;the others were dead then."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a man alive!" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield cast a glance astern&mdash;the glance of a man who draws back
+the curtain from a set stage.</p>
+
+<p>"Look for yourselves!" he muttered. "Too late for any of your work,
+doctor. But&mdash;that sixth man?"</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore and I, giving no heed just then to the detective's
+questioning about the escaped man, went towards the after part of the
+deck. Busied with their labours in getting the fire under control, the
+blue-jackets had up to then left the dead men where they found
+them&mdash;with one exception. The man whom they had found in the bows had
+been carried aft and laid near the entrance to the little
+deck-house&mdash;some hand had thrown a sheet over him. Lorrimore lifted
+it&mdash;we looked down. Baxter!</p>
+
+<p>"That's the fellow we found right forward," said the lieutenant. "He's
+several slighter wounds on him, but he'd been shot through the
+chest&mdash;heart, perhaps&mdash;just before we boarded her. That would be the
+shot fired by the man in the boat, I suppose&mdash;a good marksman! Was
+this the skipper?"</p>
+
+<p>"Chief spirit," said I. "He was lively enough last night. But&mdash;the
+rest?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're all over the place," he answered. "They must have had a most
+desperate do of it. The vessel's more like a slaughter-house than a
+ship!"</p>
+
+<p>He was right there, and I was thankful that Miss Raven and I for
+whatever reason on the part of the Chinese, had been so
+unceremoniously sent ashore before the fight began. As Lorrimore went
+about,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> noting its evidences, I endeavoured to form some idea, more or
+less accurate, of the events which had led up to it. It seemed to me
+that either Baxter or the Frenchman, awaking from sleep sooner than
+the Chinese had expected, had discovered that treachery was afoot and
+that wholesale shooting had begun on all sides. Most of the slaughter
+had taken place immediately in front of the hatchway which led to the
+cabin in which I had seen Baxter and his two principal associates;
+some sort of a rough barricade had been hastily set up there; behind
+it the Frenchman lay dead, with a bullet through his brain; before it,
+here and there on the deck, lay three of the Chinese&mdash;their leader,
+still in his gaily-coloured sleeping suit, prominent amongst them; Lo
+Chuh Fen a little further away; the third man near the wheel, face
+downwards. He, like Chuh, was a small-made, wiry fellow. And there was
+blood everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield jogged my elbow as I stood staring at these unholy
+sights. He was keener of look than I had ever seen him.</p>
+
+<p>"That fourth Chinaman?" he said. "I must get him, dead or alive. The
+rest's nothing&mdash;I want him!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SILK CAP</h2>
+
+
+<p>I glanced round; Lorrimore, after an inspection of the dead men, had
+walked aside with the lieutenant and was in close conversation with
+him. I, too, drew the detective away to the side of the yawl.</p>
+
+<p>"Scarterfield," I said in a whisper, "I've grounds for believing that
+the fourth Chinaman is&mdash;Lorrimore's servant&mdash;Wing."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" he exclaimed. "The man we saw at Ravensdene Court?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," said I, "and who went off to London, you remember, to see
+what he could do in the way of discovering the other Chinaman, Lo Chuh
+Fen."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;I remember that," he answered.</p>
+
+<p>"There is Lo Chuh Fen," I said, pointing to one of the silent figures.
+"And I think that Wing not only discovered him, but came aboard this
+vessel with him, as part of a crew which Baxter and his French friend
+got together at Limehouse or Poplar. As I say, I've grounds for
+thinking it."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield looked round, glanced at the shore, shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all in the dark&mdash;about some things," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I got on the track of this craft&mdash;I'll tell you how, later&mdash;and found
+she'd come up this coast, and we got the authorities to send this
+destroyer after her&mdash;I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> came with her, hell for leather, I can tell
+you, from Harwich. But I don't know a lot that I want to know, Baxter,
+now&mdash;you're sure that man lying dead there is the Baxter we heard of
+at Blyth and traced to Hull?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certain!" said I. "Listen, and I'll give you a brief account of
+what's happened since yesterday, and of what I've learned since
+then&mdash;it will make things clear to you."</p>
+
+<p>Standing there, where the beauty of the fresh morning and the charm of
+sky and sea made a striking contrast to the horror of our immediate
+surroundings, I told him, as concisely as I could, of how Miss Raven
+and myself had fallen into the hands of Netherfield Baxter and the
+Frenchman, of what had happened to me on board, and, at somewhat
+greater length, of Baxter's story of his own career as it related to
+his share in the theft of the monastic treasure from the bank at
+Blyth, his connection with the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> and his knowledge
+of the brothers Quick. Nor did I forget Baxter's theory about the
+rubies&mdash;and at that Scarterfield obviously pricked his ears.</p>
+
+<p>"Now there's something in that," he said, with a regretful glance at
+the place where Baxter's dead body lay under its sheet. "I wish that
+fellow had been alive, to tell more! For he's right about those
+rubies&mdash;quite right. The Quicks had 'em&mdash;two of 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"You know that?" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you," he answered. "After we parted, I was very busy,
+investigating matters still further in Devonport and in London.
+And&mdash;through the newspapers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> of course&mdash;I got in touch with a man who
+told me a lot. He came to headquarters in London, asking for me&mdash;wouldn't
+tell any of our people there anything&mdash;it was a day or two before I got at
+close quarters with him, for when he called I was away at the time. He
+left an address, in Hatton Garden&mdash;a Mr. Isidore Baubenheimer, dealer, as
+you may conclude, in precious stones. Well, I drove off at once to see
+him. He told me a queer tale. He said that he'd only just come back from
+Amsterdam and Paris, or he'd have been in communication with me earlier.
+While he'd been away, he said, he'd read the English newspapers and seen a
+good deal about the two murders at Saltash and Ravensdene Court, and he
+believed that he could throw some light on them, for he felt sure that
+either Noah Quick or Salter Quick was identical with a man with whom he
+had not so long ago talked over the question of the value of certain
+stones which the man possessed. But I'll show you Baubenheimer's own
+words&mdash;I got him to make a clear statement of the whole thing and had it
+taken down in black and white, and I have a typed copy of it in my
+pocket-book&mdash;glance it over for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>He produced a sheet of paper, folded and endorsed and handed it to
+me&mdash;it ran thus:</p>
+
+<p>My place of business in Hatton Garden is a few doors away from the
+Hatton Garden entrance to the old Mitre Tavern, which lies between
+that street and Ely Place. On, as far as I can remember, the seventh
+or eighth of March last, I went into the Mitre about half-past eleven
+o'clock one morning, expecting to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> meet a friend of mine who was often
+there about that time. He hadn't come in&mdash;I sat down with a drink and
+a cigar to wait for him.</p>
+
+<p>In the little room where I sat there were three other men&mdash;two of them
+were men that I knew, men who dealt in diamonds in a smallish way. The
+other was a stranger, a thick-set, middle-aged, seafaring sort of man,
+hard-bitten, dressed in a blue-serge suit of nautical cut; I could
+tell from his hands and his general appearance that he'd knocked about
+the world in his time. Just then he was smoking a cigar and had a
+tumbler of rum and water before him, and he was watching, with a good
+deal of interest, the other two, who, close by, were showing each
+other a quantity of loose diamonds which, evidently to the seafaring
+man's amazement, they spread out openly, on their palms.</p>
+
+<p>After a bit they got up and went out, and the stranger glanced at me.
+Now I am, as you see, something of the nautical sort myself, bearded
+and bronzed and all that&mdash;I'm continually crossing the North Sea&mdash;and
+it may be he thought I was of his own occupation&mdash;anyway, he looked at
+me as if wanting to talk.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon they think nothing of pulling out a fistful o' them things
+hereabouts, mister," he said. "No more to them than sovereigns and
+half-sovereigns and bank-notes is to bank clerks."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about it," said I. "You'll see them shown in the open street
+outside."</p>
+
+<p>"Trade of this part of London, isn't it?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," said I. "I'm in it myself." He gave me a sharp inquiring
+look at that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" he remarked. "Then you'll be a gentleman as knows the vally of a
+thing o' that sort when you sees it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well I think so," I answered. "I've been in the trade all my life.
+Have you got anything to dispose of? I see you're a seafaring man, and
+I've known sailors who brought something nice home now and then."</p>
+
+<p>"Same here," said he; "but I never known a man as brought anything
+half as good as what I have."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said I. "Then you have something?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I come into this here neighbourhood for, this morning,"
+he answered. "I have something, and a friend o' mine, says he to me,
+'Hatton Garden,' he says, 'is the port for you&mdash;they eats and drinks
+and wallers in them sort o' things down that way,' he says.</p>
+
+<p>"So I steers for this here; only, I don't know no fish, d'ye see, as I
+could put the question to what I wants to ask."</p>
+
+<p>"Put it to me," said I, drawing out my card-case. "There's my card,
+and you can ask anybody within half a square mile if they don't know
+me for a trustworthy man. What is it you've got?" I went on, never
+dreaming that he'd got anything at all of any great value. "I'll give
+you an idea of its worth in two minutes."</p>
+
+<p>But he glanced round at the door and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Not here, mister!" he said. "I wouldn't let the light o' day shine on
+what I got in a public place like this, not nohow. But," he added, "I
+see you've a office and all that. I ain't undisposed to go there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> with
+you, if you like&mdash;you seem a honest man."</p>
+
+<p>"Come on then," I said. "My office is just round the corner, and
+though I've clerks in it, we'll be private enough there."</p>
+
+<p>"Right you are, mister," he answered, and he drank off his rum and we
+went out and round to my office.</p>
+
+<p>I took him into my private room&mdash;I had a young lady clerk in there
+(she'd remember this man well enough) and he looked at her and then at
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"Send the girl away," he muttered. "There's a matter of
+undressing&mdash;d'ye see?&mdash;in getting at what I want to show you."</p>
+
+<p>I sent her out of the room, and sat down at my desk. He took off his
+overcoat, his coat, and his waistcoat, shoved his hand into some
+secret receptacle that seemed to be hidden in the band of his
+trousers, somewhere behind the small of his back, and after some
+acrobatic contortions and twistings, lugged out a sort of canvas
+parcel, the folds of which he unwrapped leisurely. And suddenly,
+coming close to me, he laid the canvas down on my blotting-pad and I
+found myself staring at some dozen or so of the most magnificent
+pearls I ever set eyes on and a couple of rubies which I knew to be
+priceless. I was never more astonished in my life, but he was as cool
+as a cucumber.</p>
+
+<p>"What d'ye think o' that lot, mister?" he asked. "I reckon you don't
+see a little lot o' that quality every day."</p>
+
+<p>"No, my friend," said I, "nor every year, either, nor every ten years.
+Where on earth did you get them&mdash;"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Away East," said he, "and I've had 'em some time, not being
+particular about selling 'em, but I've settled down in England now,
+and I think I will sell 'em and buy house-property with the money.
+What do you fix their vally at, now, mister&mdash;thereabouts, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Good heavens, man!" I said. "They're worth a great deal of money&mdash;a
+great deal."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very well aware o' that, mister," he answered. "Very well aware
+indeed&mdash;nobody better. I seen a deal o' things in my time, and I ain't
+no fool."</p>
+
+<p>"You really want to sell them?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"If I get the full price," said he. "And that, of course, would be a
+big 'un."</p>
+
+<p>"The thing to do," I said, "would be to find somebody who wants to
+complete a particularly fine set of pearls&mdash;some very rich woman who'd
+stick at nothing. The same remark applies to the rubies."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you could come across some customer?" he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt, in a little time," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I'm going up North&mdash;I've a bit o' business that way,
+and I reckon I'll be back here in London in a week or so&mdash;I'll call in
+then, mister, and if you've found anybody that's likely to deal, I'll
+show 'em the goods with pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better leave them with me, and let me show them to some
+possible buyers," I said. But he was already folding up his canvas
+wrapping again.</p>
+
+<p>"Guv'nor," he answered, "I can see as how you're a honest man, and I
+treats you as such, and so will, but I couldn't have them things out
+o' my possession<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> for one minute until I sells 'em. I've a brother,
+mister," he added, "as owns a half-share in 'em&mdash;d'ye see?&mdash;and I
+holds myself responsible to him. But now that you've seen 'em guv'nor,
+find a buyer or buyers&mdash;I'll shove my bows round that door o' yours
+again this day week." And with that he restored his treasures to their
+hiding-place, assumed his garments once more, and remarking that he
+had a train to catch, hastened off, again assuring me that he would
+call in a week, on his return from the North.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until he had been gone several minutes that I remembered
+that I had forgotten to ask his name. I certainly expected him to be
+back at the end of the week&mdash;but he didn't come, and just then I had
+to go away. Now I take him to have been the man, Salter Quick, who was
+murdered on the Northumberland coast&mdash;no doubt for the sake of those
+jewels. As for their value, I estimated it, from my cursory
+examination of them, to have been certainly not less than eighty
+thousand pounds.</p>
+
+<p>I folded up the statement and restored it to Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of that?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Salter Quick, without a doubt," I answered. "It corroborates Baxter's
+story of the rubies. He didn't mention any pearls. And I think now,
+Scarterfield, that Salter Quick's murder lies at the door of&mdash;one of
+those Chinamen who in their turn are lying dead before us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, and that's what I think," said he. "Though however a Chinaman
+could be about this coast without the local police learning something
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> it at the time they were inquiring into the murder beats me.
+However, there it is!&mdash;I feel sure of it. And I was going to tell
+you&mdash;I got wind of this yawl down Limehouse way&mdash;I found out that
+she'd been in the Thames, and that her owner had enlisted a small crew
+of Chinamen and gone away with them, and I found out further that
+she'd been seen off the Norfolk coast, going north, so then I pitched
+a hot and strong story to the authorities about piracy and all manner
+of things, and they sent this destroyer in search of Baxter, and me on
+her. If we'd only been twelve hours sooner!"</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore and the lieutenant came up to us.</p>
+
+<p>"My men have the fire completely beaten," said the lieutenant glancing
+at Scarterfield. "If you want to look round&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>We began a thorough examination of the yawl, in the endeavour to
+reconstruct the affair of the early morning. For there were all the
+elements of a strange mystery in that and curiosity about the whole
+thing was as strong in me as in Scarterfield. We knew now many things
+that we had not known twenty-four hours before&mdash;one was that the many
+affairs, dark and nefarious, of Netherfield Baxter, had nothing to do
+with the murders of Noah and Salter Quick; another that those murders
+without doubt arose from the brothers' possession of the pearls and
+rubies which Salter had shown to the Hatton Garden diamond merchant.
+All things considered it seemed to me that the explanation of the
+mystery rested in some such theory as this&mdash;the Chinaman, Lo Chuh Fen,
+doubtless knew as well as Baxter and his French friend that the
+Quicks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> were in possession of the rubies stolen from the heathen
+temple in Southern China; no doubt he had become acquainted with that
+fact when the marooned party from the <i>Elizabeth Robinson</i> were on the
+intimate terms of men united by a common fate on the lonely island.
+Drifting eventually to England, Chuh had probably discovered the
+whereabouts of the two brothers, had somehow found that the rubies
+were still in their possession, might possibly have been in personal
+touch with Salter or with Noah, had taken others of his compatriots,
+discovered in the Chinese quarters of the East End into his
+confidence, and engineered a secret conspiracy for securing the
+valuables. He himself had probably tracked Salter to the lonely bit of
+shore near Ravensdene Court; associates of his had no doubt fallen
+upon Noah at Saltash. But how had all this led up to the attack of the
+Chinese on Baxter and the Frenchman?&mdash;and who was the man who, leaving
+every other member of the yawl's company dead or dying and who had
+exchanged those last shots with Netherfield Baxter, had escaped to the
+shore and was now, no doubt, endeavouring to make a final bid for
+liberty?</p>
+
+<p>Reckoning up everything we saw, it seemed to me, from my knowledge of
+the preceding incidents, that the drug which the Chinese gentleman, as
+Baxter had been pleased to style him, had not had the effects that he
+desired and anticipated, and that one or other of the two men to whom
+it had been administered had been aroused from sleep before any attack
+could be made on both. I figured things in this way&mdash;Baxter, or the
+Frenchman, or both, had awakened and missed the Chinaman. One or both
+had turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> out to seek him; had discovered that Miss Raven and I were
+missing; had scented danger to themselves, found the Chinese up to
+some game, and opened fire on them. Evidently the first fighting&mdash;as I
+had gathered from the revolver shots&mdash;had been sharp and decisive; I
+formed the conclusion that when it was over there were only two men
+left alive, of whom one was Baxter and the other the man whom we had
+seen escaping in the boat. Baxter, I believed, had put up some sort of
+barricade and watched his enemy from it; that he himself was already
+seriously wounded I gathered from two facts&mdash;one that his body had
+several superficial wounds on arms and shoulders, and that in the
+cabin behind the hastily-constructed barricade, sheets had been torn
+into strips for bandages which we found on these wounds, where, as far
+as he could, he had roughly twisted them. Then, according to my
+thinking, he had eventually seen the other survivor, who was probably
+in like case with himself as regards superficial wounds, endeavouring
+to make off, and emerging from his shelter had fired on him from the
+side of the yawl, only to be killed himself by return fire. There was
+no mistaking the effect of that last shot&mdash;chance shot or
+well-directed aim it had done for Netherfield Baxter, and he had
+crumpled up and died where he dropped.</p>
+
+<p>A significant exclamation from Scarterfield called me to his side&mdash;he,
+aided by one of the blue-jackets, was examining the body of Lo Chuh
+Fen.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here!" he murmured as I went up to him. "This chap has been
+searched! After he was dead, I mean. There's a body-belt that he
+wore&mdash;it's been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> violently torn from him, his clothing ripped to get
+at it, and the belt itself hacked to pieces in the endeavour to
+find&mdash;something! Whose work has that been!"</p>
+
+<p>"The work of the man who got away in the boat," said I. "Of course!
+He's been after those rubies and pearls, Scarterfield."</p>
+
+<p>"We must be after him," he said. "You say you think he was wounded in
+getting away?"</p>
+
+<p>"He was certainly wounded," I affirmed. "I saw him fall headlong in
+the boat after the first shot; he recovered himself, fired the shot
+which no doubt finished Baxter, and must have been wounded again, for
+the two men again fired simultaneously, and the man in the boat swayed
+at that second shot. But once more he pulled himself together and
+rowed away."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if he's wounded, he can't get far without attracting notice,"
+declared Scarterfield. "We'll organize a search for him presently. But
+first let's have a look into the quarters that these Chinamen
+occupied."</p>
+
+<p>The smoke of the fire&mdash;which seemed to have broken out in the
+forecastle and had been confined to it by the efforts of the sailors
+from the destroyer&mdash;had now almost cleared away, and we went forward
+to the galley. The fire had not spread to that, and after the scenes
+of blood and violence astern and in the cabin the place looked
+refreshingly spick and span; there was, indeed, an unusual air of
+neatness and cleanliness about it. The various pots and pans shone
+gaily in the sun's glittering lights; every utensil was in its place;
+evidently the galley's controlling spirit had been a meticulously
+careful person who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> hated disorder as heartily as dirt. And on a shelf
+near the stove was laid out what I took to be the things which the
+vanished cook, whoever he might be, had destined for breakfast&mdash;a
+tempting one of kidneys and bacon, soles, eggs, a curry. I gathered
+from this, and pointed my conclusion out to Scarterfield, that the
+presiding genius of the galley had had no idea of the mutiny into
+which he had been plunged soon after midnight.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye!" said Scarterfield. "Just so&mdash;I see your point. And&mdash;you think
+that man of Lorrimore's, Wing, was aboard, and if so, he's the man
+who's escaped?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've strong suspicions," said I. "Yet, they were based on a
+plum-cake."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, and I've known of worse clues," he rejoined. "But&mdash;I wonder?
+Now, if only we knew&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Just then Lorrimore came along, poking his head into the galley. He
+suddenly uttered a sharp exclamation and reached an arm to a black
+silk cap which hung from a peg on the boarding above the stove.</p>
+
+<p>"That's Wing's!" he said, in emphatic tones. "I saw him make that cap
+himself!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+
+<h2>CLEAR DECKS</h2>
+
+
+<p>The bit of head-gear which Lorrimore had taken down assumed a new
+interest; Scarterfield and I gazed at it as if it might speak to us.
+Nevertheless the detective when he presently spoke showed some
+incredulity.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the sort of cap that any Chinaman wears," he remarked. "It may
+have belonged to any of them."</p>
+
+<p>"No!" answered Lorrimore, with emphatic assurance. "That's my man's. I
+saw him making it&mdash;he's as deft with his fingers, at that sort of
+thing, as he is at cooking. And since this cap is his, and as he's not
+amongst the lot there on deck, he's the man that you, Middlebrook, saw
+escaping in the boat. And since he is that man, I know where he'd be
+making."</p>
+
+<p>"Where, then?" demanded Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"To my house!" answered Lorrimore.</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield showed more doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that's likely, doctor," he said. "Presumably, he's got
+those jewels on him, and I should say he'd get away from this with the
+notion of trusting to his own craft to get unobserved on a train and
+lose himself in Newcastle. A Chinaman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> with valuables on him worth
+eighty thousand pounds? Come!"</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know that he's any valuables of any sort on him," retorted
+Lorrimore. "That's all supposition. I say that if my man Wing was on
+this vessel&mdash;as I'm sure he was&mdash;he was on it for purposes of his own.
+He might be with this felonious lot, but he wouldn't be of them. I
+know him!&mdash;and I'm off to get on his track. Lay you anything you
+like&mdash;a thousand to one!&mdash;that I find Wing at my house!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not taking you, Lorrimore," said I. "I don't mind laying the
+same."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield looked curiously at the two of us. Apparently, his belief
+in Chinese virtue was not great.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said. "I'm on his track, anyhow, and I propose to get away
+to the beach. There's nothing more we can do here. These naval people
+have got this job in charge, now. Let's leave them to it. Yet," he
+added, as we left the galley, and with a significant glance at me,
+"there is one thing Middlebrook!&mdash;wouldn't you like to have a look
+inside those two chests that we've heard so much about?&mdash;you and I."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly should!" I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we will," he said. "I, too, have some curiosity that way. And if
+Master Wing has repaired to the doctor's house he's all right, and if
+he hasn't, he can't get very far away, being a Chinaman, in his native
+garments, and wounded."</p>
+
+<p>The chests which had come aboard the yawl with Miss Raven and myself
+the previous afternoon&mdash;it seemed as if ages had gone by since
+then!&mdash;still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> stood where they had been placed at the time; close to
+the gangway leading to the main cabin. Lorrimore, Scarterfield, the
+young naval officer and I gathered round while a couple of handy
+blue-jackets forced them open&mdash;no easy business, for whether the
+dishonest bank-manager and Netherfield Baxter had ever opened them or
+not, they were screwed up again in a fashion which showed
+business-like resolves that they should not easily be opened again.
+But at last the lids were off&mdash;to reveal inner shells of lead. And
+within these, gleaming dully in the fresh sunlight lay the monastic
+treasures of which Scarterfield and I had read in the hotel at Blyth.</p>
+
+<p>"Queer!" said the detective, as he stood staring meditatively at
+patens and chalices, reliquaries and pyxes. "All these, I reckon, are
+sacred things, consecrated and all that, and yet ever since that
+Reformation time, they've been mixed up with robbery, and now at last
+with wholesale murder! Odd, isn't it? However, there they are!&mdash;and
+here," he added, pulling the parchment schedules out of his pocket
+which he had discovered at Baxter's old lodgings in Blyth, and handing
+them to the lieutenant, "here is the list of what there ought to be;
+you'll take all this in charge, of course&mdash;I don't know if it comes
+within the law of treasure trove or not, but as the original owners
+are dust and ashes four hundred years ago, I should say it
+does&mdash;anyway, the Crown solicitors'll soon settle that point."</p>
+
+<p>We went off from the yawl, the three of us, in the boat which had
+brought Lorrimore and me aboard her. The group on shore saw us making
+for the point whereat the escaping figure had landed in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> early
+morning, and followed us thither along the beach. They came up to us
+as we stepped ashore, and while Lorrimore began giving Mr. Raven an
+account of what we had found on the yawl I drew his niece aside.</p>
+
+<p>"You had better know the worst in a word," I said. "We were more than
+fortunate in getting away from the yawl as we did. Don't be
+upset&mdash;there isn't a man alive on that thing!"</p>
+
+<p>"Baxter?" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"I said&mdash;not one!" I answered. "Wholesale! Don't think about it&mdash;as
+for me, I wish I'd never seen it. But now it's a question of a living
+man&mdash;Wing."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it was as I thought?" she asked. "Wing was there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lorrimore is sure of it&mdash;he found a cap of Wing's in the galley,"
+said I. "And as Wing isn't amongst the dead, he's the man who
+escaped."</p>
+
+<p>Scarterfield came up, the local policeman with him who had joined Mr.
+Raven's search-party as it came across country.</p>
+
+<p>"Whereabouts did this man land, Middlebrook?" he asked. "You saw him,
+you and Miss Raven, didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"We saw him round these rocks," I replied. "But then they hid him from
+us&mdash;we couldn't see exactly. Somewhere on the other side of them,
+anyway."</p>
+
+<p>We spread ourselves out along the shore, crossing the spit of sand,
+now encroached on considerably by the tide, and began to search
+amongst the black rocks that jutted out of it thereabouts. Presently
+we came across the boat, slightly rocking in the lapping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> water
+alongside a ledge&mdash;I took a hasty glance into it and drew Miss Raven
+away. For on the thwarts, and on the seat in the stern, and on one of
+the oars, thrown carelessly aside, there was blood.</p>
+
+<p>A sharp cry from one of the men who had gone a little ahead brought us
+all hurrying to his side. He had found, amongst the rocks, a sort of
+pool at the sides of which there was dry, sand-strewn rock; there were
+marks there as if a man had knelt in the sand, and there was more
+blood, and there were strips of clothing&mdash;linen, silk, as if the man
+had torn up some of his garments as temporary bandages.</p>
+
+<p>"He's been here," said Lorrimore in a low voice. "Probably washed his
+wounds here&mdash;salt is a styptic. Flesh wounds, most likely, but," he
+added, sinking his voice still lower, "judging from what we've seen of
+the blood he's lost, he must have been weakening by the time he got
+here. Still, he's a man of vast strength and physique, and&mdash;he'd push
+on. Look for marks of his footsteps."</p>
+
+<p>We eventually picked up a recently made track in the sand and followed
+it until it came to a point at the end of the overhanging woods, where
+they merged into open moorland running steeply downwards to the beach.
+There, in the short, wiry grass of the close-knitted turf, the marks
+vanished.</p>
+
+<p>"Just as I said," muttered Lorrimore, whom with Miss Raven and myself, was
+striding on a little in advance of the rest. "He's made for my place&mdash;as I
+knew he would. I knew enough of this country to know that there's a road
+at the head of these moors that runs parallel with the railway on one side
+and the coast on the other towards Ravensdene&mdash;he'd be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> making for that.
+He'd take up the side of this wood, as the nearest way to strike the
+road."</p>
+
+<p>That he was right in this we were not long in finding out. Twice, as
+our party climbed the steep side of the moorland we came across
+evidences of the fugitive. At two points we found places whereat a man
+had recently sat down on the bank beneath the trees, to rest. And at
+one of them we found more&mdash;a blood-soaked bandage.</p>
+
+<p>"No man can go far, losing blood in that way," whispered Lorrimore to
+me as we went onward. "He can't be far off."</p>
+
+<p>And suddenly we came across our quarry. Coming out on the top of the
+moorland, and rounding the corner of the woods, we hit the road of
+which Lorrimore had spoken&mdash;a long, white, hedgeless, wall-less ribbon
+of track that ran north and south through treeless country. There, a
+few yards away from us, stood an isolated cottage, some gamekeeper's
+or watcher's place, with a bit of unfenced garden before it. In that
+garden was a strange group, gathered about something that at first we
+did not see&mdash;Mr. Cazalette, obviously very busy, the police-inspector
+(a horse and trap, tethered to a post close by, showed how they had
+come) a woman, evidently the mistress of the cottage, a child,
+open-mouthed wide-eyed with astonishment at these strange happenings,
+a dog that moved uneasily around the two-legged folk, whimpering his
+concern. The bystanders moved as we hurried up, and then we caught
+glimpses of towels and water and hastily-improvised bandages and smelt
+brandy, and saw, in the midst of all this Wing, propped up against a
+bank of earth,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> his eyes closed, and over his yellow face a queer
+grey-white pallor. His left arm and shoulder were bare, save for the
+bandages which Cazalette was applying&mdash;there were discarded ones on
+the turf which were soaked with blood.</p>
+
+<p>Lorrimore darted forward with a hasty exclamation, and had Cazalette's
+job out of the old gentleman's hands and into his own before the rest
+of us could speak. He motioned the whole of us away except Cazalette
+and the woman, and the police-inspector turned to Mr. Raven and his
+niece, and to myself and Scarterfield.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we were just about in time," he said, laconically. "I don't
+know what it all means, but I reckon the man was about done for.
+Bleeding to death, I should say."</p>
+
+<p>"You found him?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he answered. "Not at first anyway. The woman there says she was
+out here in her garden, feeding her fowls, when she saw him stagger
+round the corner of the wood there, and make for her. He fell across
+the bank where he's lying in a dead faint, and she ran for water. Just
+then we came along in the trap, saw what was happening and jumped out.
+Fortunately, when we set off, Mr. Cazalette insisted on bringing a big
+flask of neat brandy, and some food&mdash;he said you never knew what you
+mightn't want&mdash;and we gave him a stiff dose, and pulled him round
+sufficiently to be able to tell us where he was wounded. And he's got
+a skinful!&mdash;a bullet through the thick part of his left arm, another
+at the point of the same shoulder, and a third just underneath it. Mr.
+Cazalette says they're all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> flesh wounds&mdash;but I don't know: I know the
+man's fainted twice since we got to him. And look here!&mdash;just before
+he fainted the last time, he managed to fumble amongst his clothing
+with his right hand and he pulled something out and shoved it into my
+hand with a word or two. 'Give it Lorrimore,' he said, in a very weak
+voice. 'Tell him I found it all out&mdash;was going to trap all of
+them&mdash;but they were too quick for me last night&mdash;all dead now.' Then
+he fainted again. And&mdash;look at this!"</p>
+
+<p>He drew out a piece of canvas, twisted up anyhow, and opening it
+before our wondering eyes, revealed a heap of magnificent pearls and a
+couple of wonderful rubies that shone in the sunlight like fire.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what he gave me," said the inspector. "What is it? what's it
+mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what Salter Quick was murdered for," said I. "And it means
+that Lorrimore's man ran down the murderer."</p>
+
+<p>And without waiting for any comment from him, and leaving Scarterfield
+to explain matters, I went across the little garden to see how the
+honest Chinaman was faring.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>It was a strange, yet a plain story that Wing told his master and a
+select few of us a day or two later, when Lorrimore had patched him
+up. To anybody of a hum-drum life&mdash;such as mine had always been until
+these events&mdash;it was, indeed, a stirring story. The queer thing,
+however&mdash;at any rate, queer to me&mdash;was that the narrator, as calm and
+suave as ever in his telling of it&mdash;did not seem to regard it as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+anything strange at all&mdash;he might have been explaining to us some new
+way of making a good cake.</p>
+
+<p>At our request and suggestion, he had journeyed to London and plunged
+into those quarters of the East End wherein his fellow-countrymen are
+to be found. His knowledge of the district of which Limehouse Causeway
+forms a centre soon brought him in touch with Lo Chuh Fen, who, as he
+quickly discovered, had remained in London during the last two or
+three years, assisting in the management of a Chinese eating-house.
+Close by, in a lodging kept by a compatriot, Wing put himself up and
+cultivated Chuh's acquaintance. Ere many days had passed another
+Chinaman came on the scene&mdash;this was the man whom Baxter had described
+as a Chinese gentleman. He represented himself to Wing and Chuh as a
+countryman of theirs who had been engaged in highly successful trading
+operations in Europe, and was now, in company with two friends, an
+Englishman and a Frenchman, carrying out another which involved a trip
+in a small, but well-appointed yacht, across the Atlantic: he wanted
+these countrymen of his own to make up a crew. An introduction to
+Baxter and the Frenchman followed, and Wing and Chuh were taken into
+confidence as regards the treasure hidden on the Northumberland coast.
+A share of the proceeds was promised them: they secured a third,
+trustworthy Chinaman in the person of one Ah Wong, an associate of
+Chuh's, and the yawl, duly equipped, left the Thames and went
+northward. By this time, Wing had wormed himself completely into
+Chuh's confidence, and without even discovering whether Chuh was or
+was not the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> actual murderer of Salter Quick (he believed him to be
+and believed Wong to be the murderer of Noah, at Saltash) he had found
+out that Chuh was in possession of the pearls and rubies which&mdash;though
+Wing had no knowledge of that&mdash;Salter had exhibited to Baubenheimer.
+And as the yawl neared the scene of the next operations, Wing made his
+own plans. He had found out that its owners, after recovering the
+monastic treasures, were going to call at Leith, where they were to be
+met by the private yacht of some American, whose name Wing never
+heard. Accordingly, he made up his mind to escape from the yawl as
+soon as it got into Leith, to go straight to the police, and there
+give information as to the doings of the men he was with. But here his
+plans were frustrated. He was taken aback by the capture of Miss Raven
+and myself by Baxter and the Frenchman, and though he contrived to
+keep out of our way, he was greatly concerned lest we should see him
+and conclude that he had joined the gang and was privy to its past and
+present doings. But that very night a much more serious development
+materialized. The Chinese gentleman, arriving from London, and being
+met by the Frenchman at Berwick, had a scheme of his own, which, after
+he had attempted the drugging of his two principal associates, he
+unfolded to his fellow-countrymen. This was to get rid of Baxter and
+the Frenchman and seize the yawl and its contents for themselves,
+sailing with it to some port in North Russia. Wing had no option but
+to profess agreement&mdash;his only proviso was that Miss Raven and myself
+should be cleared out of the yawl. This proposition was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> readily
+assented to, and Chuh was charged with the job of sending us ashore.
+But almost immediately afterwards, everything went wrong with the
+conspirator's plans. The drug which had been administered to Baxter
+and the Frenchman failed to act; Baxter, waking suddenly to find the
+Chinamen advancing on the cabin with only too evident murderous
+intent, opened fire on them, and the situation rapidly resolved itself
+into a free fight, in the course of which Wing barricaded himself into
+the galley. Before long he saw that of all the men on board, only
+himself and Baxter remained alive&mdash;he saw, too, that Baxter was
+already wounded. Baxter, evidently afraid of Wing, also barricaded
+himself into the cabin; for some hours the two secretly awaited each
+other's onslaught. At last, Wing determined to make a bid for liberty,
+and cautiously worming his way to the cabin he looked in and as he
+thought, saw Baxter lying either dead or dying. He then hastily
+stripped Chuh of the belt in which he knew him to carry the precious
+stones, and taking to the boat which lay at the side of the yawl,
+pushed off, only to find Baxter after him with a revolver. In the
+exchange of shots which followed Wing was hit twice, but a lucky reply
+of his laid Baxter dead. At that he got away, weak and fainting,
+managed to make the shore, to bind up as much of his wounded body as
+he could get at, and set out as well as he was able for his master's
+house. The rest we knew.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>So that was all over, and it only remained now for the police to clear
+things up, for Wing to be thoroughly whitewashed in the matter of the
+shooting of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> Netherfield Baxter, and for everybody in the countryside
+to talk of the affair for nine days&mdash;and perhaps a little more. Mr.
+Cazalette talked a great deal: as for Miss Raven and myself, as actors
+in the last act of the drama which ended in such a tragedy, we talked
+little: we had seen too much at close quarters. But on the first
+occasion on which she and I were alone again, I made a confession to
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you&mdash;of all people&mdash;to get any mistaken impression about
+me," I said. "So, I'm going to tell you something. During the whole of
+the time you and I were on that yawl, I was in an absolute panic of
+fear!"</p>
+
+<p>"You were?" she exclaimed. "Really frightened?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quaking with fright!" I declared boldly. "Especially after you'd
+retired. I literally sweated with fear. There! Now it's out!"</p>
+
+<p>She looked at me not at all unkindly.</p>
+
+<p>"Um!" she said at last. "Then, all I have to say is that you concealed
+it admirably&mdash;when I was about, at any rate. And"&mdash;here she sunk her
+voice to a pleasing whisper&mdash;"I'm sure that if you were frightened, it
+was entirely on my account. So&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>In that way we began a courtship which, proving highly satisfactory on
+both sides, is now about to come to an end&mdash;or a new beginning&mdash;in
+marriage.</p>
+
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h4><i>THE MYSTERY STORIES OF</i></h4>
+<h2><i>J. S. FLETCHER</i></h2>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>We always feel as though we were really spreading happiness
+when we can announce a genuinely satisfactory mystery story,
+such as J. S. Fletcher's new one.</i>"</p></div>
+
+<p class="f3">&mdash;N. P. D. in the New York Globe.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p><b>THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER [1918]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Unquestionably, the detective story of the season and,
+therefore, one which no lover of detective fiction should
+miss."&mdash;<i>The Broadside.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM [1920]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"A crackerjack mystery tale; the story of Linford Pratt, who
+earnestly desired to get on in life, by hook or by
+crook&mdash;with no objection whatever to crookedness, so long as
+it could be performed in safety and secrecy."&mdash;<i>Knickerbocker
+Press.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>THE PARADISE MYSTERY [1920]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"As a weaver of detective tales Mr. Fletcher is entitled to a
+seat among the elect. His numerous followers will find his
+latest book fully as absorbing as anything from his pen that
+has previously appeared."&mdash;<i>New York Times.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>DEAD MEN'S MONEY [1920]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The story is one that holds the reader with more than the
+mere interest of sensational events; Mr. Fletcher writes in a
+notable style."&mdash;<i>Newark Evening News.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>THE ORANGE-YELLOW DIAMOND [1921]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"... A rattling good yarn.... An uncommonly well written
+tale."&mdash;<i>New York Times.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>THE CHESTERMARKE INSTINCT [1921]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Fletcher is a master of plot.... To tell a story as well
+as this is a literary achievement."&mdash;<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>THE BOROUGH TREASURER [1921]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"As mystifying a tale as even Mr. Fletcher himself has
+written."&mdash;<i>New York Times.</i></p></div>
+
+<p><b>THE HERAPATH PROPERTY [1921]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Numerous complications lead from the murder of Jacob Herapath
+and the search for his will.</p></div>
+
+<p><b>SCARHAVEN KEEP [1922]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The mystery of the disappearance of Bassett Oliver, famous
+actor.</p></div>
+
+<p><b>RAVENSDENE COURT [1922]</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Two men are struck down by an unseen hand, at the same time
+in widely separated places&mdash;who killed them?</p></div>
+
+<p class="center"><i>$2.00 net each at all booksellers or from the Publisher</i></p>
+
+<h3>ALFRED A. KNOPF, New York.</h3>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAVENSDENE COURT***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 26324-h.txt or 26324-h.zip *******</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ravensdene Court, by J. S. (Joseph Smith)
+Fletcher
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Ravensdene Court
+
+
+Author: J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008  [eBook #26324]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAVENSDENE COURT***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Sankar Viswanathan, Suzanne Shell, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT
+
+by
+
+J. S. FLETCHER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Alfred A. Knopf
+MCMXXII
+
+Copyright, 1922, by
+Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
+
+Published July, 1922
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+I     THE INN ON THE CLIFF               9
+
+II    RAVENSDENE COURT                  21
+
+III   THE MORNING TIDE                  34
+
+IV    THE TOBACCO BOX                   46
+
+V     THE NEWS FROM DEVONPORT           58
+
+VI    SECRET THEFT                      71
+
+VII   YELLOWFACE                        84
+
+VIII  WAS IT A WOMAN?                   96
+
+IX    THE ENLARGED PHOTOGRAPH          108
+
+X     THE YELLOW SEA                   120
+
+XI    THE FIVE CONCLUSIONS             133
+
+XII   NETHERFIELD BAXTER               145
+
+XIII  THE SPOILS OF SACRILEGE          157
+
+XIV   SOLOMON FISH                     169
+
+XV    MR. JALLANBY--SHIP BROKER        181
+
+XVI   THE PATHLESS WOOD                193
+
+XVII  HUMFREY DE KNAYTHVILLE           206
+
+XVIII THE PLUM CAKE                    218
+
+XIX   BLACK MEMORIES                   230
+
+XX    THE POSSIBLE REASON              242
+
+XXI   THE CHINESE GENTLEMAN            254
+
+XXII  RED DAWN                         267
+
+XXIII THE FOURTH CHINAMAN              279
+
+XXIV  THE SILK CAP                     291
+
+XXV   CLEAR DECKS                      304
+
+
+
+
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE INN ON THE CLIFF
+
+
+According to an entry in my book of engagements, I left London for
+Ravensdene Court on March 8th, 1912. Until about a fortnight earlier I
+had never heard of the place, but there was nothing remarkable in my
+ignorance of it, seeing that it stands on a remote part of the
+Northumbrian coast, and at least three hundred miles from my usual
+haunts. But then, towards the end of February, I received the
+following letter which I may as well print in full: it serves as a
+fitting and an explanatory introduction to a series of adventures, so
+extraordinary, mysterious, and fraught with danger, that I am still
+wondering how I, until then a man of peaceful and even dull life, ever
+came safely through them.
+
+                           "RAVENSDENE COURT, NEAR ALNWICK
+                                         NORTHUMBERLAND
+                                       February 24, 1912
+
+     "_Dear Sir_,
+
+     "I am told by my friend Mr. Gervase Witherby of Monks
+     Welborough, with whom I understand you to be well
+     acquainted, that you are one of our leading experts in
+     matters relating to old books, documents, and the like, and
+     the very man to inspect, value, and generally criticize the
+     contents of an ancient library. Accordingly, I should be
+     very glad to secure your valuable services. I have recently
+     entered into possession of this place, a very old
+     manor-house on the Northumbrian coast, wherein the senior
+     branch of my family has been settled for some four hundred
+     years. There are here many thousands of volumes, the
+     majority of considerable age; there are also large
+     collections of pamphlets, manuscripts, and broadsheets--my
+     immediate predecessor, my uncle, John Christopher Raven, was
+     a great collector; but, from what I have seen of his
+     collection up to now, I cannot say that he was a great
+     exponent of the art of order, or a devotee of system, for an
+     entire wing on this house is neither more nor less than a
+     museum, into which books, papers, antiques, and similar
+     things appear to have been dumped without regard to
+     classification or arrangement. I am not a bookman, nor an
+     antiquary; my life until recently has been spent in far
+     different fashion, as a Financial Commissioner in India. I
+     am, however, sincerely anxious that these new possessions of
+     mine should be properly cared for, and I should like an
+     expert to examine everything that is here, and to advise me
+     as to proper arrangement and provision for the future. I
+     should accordingly be greatly obliged to you if you could
+     make it convenient to come here as my guest, give me the
+     benefit of your expert knowledge, and charge me whatever fee
+     seems good to you. I cannot promise you anything very lively
+     in the way of amusement in your hours of relaxation, for
+     this is a lonely place, and my family consists of nothing
+     but myself and my niece, a girl of nineteen, just released
+     from the schoolroom; but you may find some more congenial
+     society in another guest of mine, Mr. Septimus Cazalette,
+     the eminent authority on numismatics, who is here for the
+     purpose of examining the vast collection of coins and medals
+     formed by the kinsman I have just referred to. I can also
+     promise you the advantages of a particularly bracing
+     climate, and assure you of a warm welcome and every possible
+     provision for your comfort. In the hope that you will be
+     able to come to me at an early date,
+
+                     "I am, dear sir,
+
+                            "Yours truly,
+
+                                  "FRANCIS RAVEN.
+
+  "Leonard Middlebrook, ESQ.,
+
+    "35M, Old Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, W. C."
+
+Several matters referred to in this letter inclined me towards going
+to Ravensdene Court--the old family mansion--the thousands of ancient
+volumes--the prospect of unearthing something of real note--the
+chance of examining a collector's harvest--and perhaps more than
+anything, the genuinely courteous and polite tone of my invitation. I
+was not particularly busy at that time, nor had I been out of London
+for more than a few days now and then for several years: a change to
+the far-different North had its attractions. And after a brief
+correspondence with him, I arranged to go down to Mr. Raven early in
+March, and remain under his roof until I had completed the task which
+he desired me to undertake. As I have said already, I left London on
+the 8th of March, journeying to Newcastle by the afternoon express
+from King's Cross. I spent that night at Newcastle and went forward
+next morning to Alnmouth, which according to a map with which I had
+provided myself, was the nearest station to Ravensdene Court. And soon
+after arriving at Alnmouth the first chapter of my adventures opened,
+and came about by sheer luck. It was a particularly fine, bright,
+sharply-bracing morning, and as I was under no particular obligation
+to present myself at Ravensdene Court at any fixed time, I determined
+to walk thither by way of the coast. The distance, according to my
+map, was about nine or ten miles. Accordingly, sending on my luggage
+by a conveyance, with a message to Mr. Raven that I should arrive
+during the afternoon, I made through the village of Lesbury toward the
+sea, and before long came in sight of it ... a glorious stretch of
+blue, smooth that day as an island lake and shining like polished
+steel in the light of the sun. There was not a sail in sight, north
+or south or due east, nor a wisp of trailing smoke from any passing
+steamer: I got an impression of silent, unbroken immensity which
+seemed a fitting prelude to the solitudes into which my mission had
+brought me.
+
+I was at that time just thirty years of age, and though I had been
+closely kept to London of late years, my youth had been spent in
+lonely places, and I had an innate love of solitudes and wide spaces.
+I saw at once that I should fall in love with this Northumbrian coast,
+and once on its headlands I took my time, sauntering along at my
+leisure: Mr. Raven, in one of his letters, had mentioned seven as his
+dinner hour: therefore, I had the whole day before me. By noon the sun
+had grown warm, even summer-like; warm enough, at any rate, to warrant
+me in sitting down on a ledge of the cliffs while I smoked a pipe of
+tobacco and stared lazily at the mighty stretch of water across which,
+once upon a time, the vikings had swarmed from Norway. I must have
+become absorbed in my meditations--certainly it was with a start of
+surprise that I suddenly realized that somebody was near me, and
+looked up to see, standing close by and eyeing me furtively, a man.
+
+It was, perhaps, the utter loneliness of my immediate surroundings
+just then that made me wonder to see any living thing so near. At that
+point there was neither a sail on the sea, nor a human habitation on
+the land; there was not even a sheep cropping the herbage of the
+headlands. I think there were birds calling about the pinnacles of the
+cliffs--yet it seemed to me that the man broke a complete stillness
+when he spoke, as he quietly wished me a good morning.
+
+The sound of his voice startled me; also, it brought me out of a
+reverie and sharpened my wits, and as I replied to him, I took him in
+from head to foot. A thick-set middle-aged man, tidily dressed in a
+blue serge suit of nautical cut, the sort of thing that they sell,
+ready-made, in sea-ports and naval stations. His clothes went with his
+dark skin and grizzled hair and beard, and with the gold rings which
+he wore in his ears. And there was that about him which suggested that
+he was for that time an idler, lounging.
+
+"A fine morning," I remarked, not at all averse to entering into
+conversation, and already somewhat curious about him.
+
+"A fine morning it is, master, and good weather, and likely to keep
+so," he answered, glancing around at sea and sky. Then he looked
+significantly at my knickerbockers and at a small satchel which I
+carried over my shoulders. "The right sort o' weather," he added, "for
+gentlemen walking about the country--pleasuring."
+
+"You know these parts," I suggested.
+
+"No!" he said, with a decisive shake of his head. "I don't, master,
+and that's a fact. I'm from the south, I am--never been up this way
+before, and, queerly enough, for I've seen most of the world in my
+time, never sailed this here sea as lies before us. But I've a sort of
+connection with this bit of country--mother's side came from
+hereabouts. And me having nothing particular to do, I came down here
+to take a cast round, like, seeing places as I've heard of--heard of,
+you understand, but ain't never seen."
+
+"Then you're stopping in the neighbourhood?" I asked.
+
+He raised one of his brown, hairy hands, and jerked a thumb landwards.
+
+"Stopped last night in a little place, inland," he answered. "Name of
+Lesbury--a riverside spot. But that ain't what I want--what I want is
+a churchyard, or it might be two, or it might be three, where there's
+gravestones what bears a name. Only I don't know where that
+churchyard--or, again, there may be more than one--is, d'ye see?
+Except--somewhere between Alnmouth one way and Brandnell Bay,
+t'other."
+
+"I have a good map, if it's any use to you," I said. He took the map
+with a word of thanks, and after spreading it out, traced places with
+the end of his thick forefinger.
+
+"Hereabouts we are, at this present, master," he said, "and here and
+there is, to be sure, villages--mostly inland. And'll have graveyards
+to 'em--folks must be laid away somewhere. And in one of them
+graveyards there'll be a name, and if I see that name, I'll know where
+I am, and I can ask further, aiming at to find out if any of that name
+is still flourishing hereabouts. But till I get that name, I'm clear
+off my course, so to speak."
+
+"What is the name?" I asked him.
+
+"Name of Netherfield," he answered, slowly. "Netherfield. Mother's
+people--long since. So I've been told. And seen it--in old books, what
+I have far away in Devonport. That's the name, right enough, only I
+don't know where to look for it. You ain't seen it, master, in your
+wanderings round these parts?"
+
+"I've only come into these parts this morning," I replied. "But--if
+you look closely at that map, you'll observe that there aren't many
+villages along the coast, so your search ought not to be a lengthy
+one. I should question if you'll find more than two or three
+churchyards between here and Brandell Bay--judging by the map."
+
+"Aye, well, Netherfield is the name," he repeated. "Netherfield,
+mother's side. In some churchyards hereabouts. And there may be some
+of 'em left--and again there mayn't be. My name being Quick--Salter
+Quick. Of Devonport--when on land."
+
+He folded up and handed back the map, with an old-fashioned bow. I
+rose from the ledge of rock on which I had been resting, and made to
+go forward.
+
+"I hope you'll come across what you're seeking, Mr. Quick," I said.
+"But I should say you won't have much difficulty. There can't be many
+churchyards in this quarter, and not many gravestones in any of them."
+
+"I found nothing in that one behind," he answered, jerking his thumb
+towards Lesbury. "And it's a long time since my mother left these
+parts. But here I am--for the purpose, d'ye see, master. Time's no
+object--nor yet expense. A man must take a bit of a holiday some day
+or other. Ain't had one--me--for thirty odd year."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We walked forward, northing our course, along the headlands. And
+rounding a sharp corner, we suddenly came in sight of a little
+settlement that lay half-way down the cliff. There was a bit of a
+cottage or two, two or three boats drawn up on a strip of yellow sand,
+a crumbling smithie, and above these things, on a shelf of rock, a
+low-roofed, long-fronted inn, by the gable of which rose a mast,
+wherefrom floated a battered flag. At the sight of this I saw a gleam
+come into my companion's eye, and I was quick to understand it's
+meaning.
+
+"Do you feel disposed to a glass of ale?" I asked. "I should say we
+could get one down there."
+
+"Rum," he replied, laconically. "Rum is my drink, master. Used to
+that--I ain't used to ale. Cold stuff! Give me something that warms a
+man."
+
+"It's poor ale that won't warm a man's belly," I said with a laugh.
+"But every man to his taste. Come on, then."
+
+He followed in silence down the path to the lonely inn; once, looking
+back, I saw that he was turning a sharp eye round and about the new
+stretch of country that had just opened before us. From the inn and
+its surroundings a winding track, a merely rough cartway, wound off
+and upward into the land; in the distance I saw the tower of a church.
+Salter Quick saw it, too, and nodded significantly in its direction.
+
+"That'll be where I'll make next," he observed. "But first--meat and
+drink. I ate my breakfast before seven this morning, and this walking
+about on dry land makes a man hungry."
+
+"Drink you'll get here, no doubt," said I. "But as to meat--doubtful."
+
+His reply to that was to point to the sign above the inn door, to
+which we were now close. He read its announcement aloud, slowly.
+
+"'The Mariner's Joy. By Hildebrand Claigue. Good Entertainment for Man
+and Beast,'" he pronounced. "'Entertainment'--that means eating--meat
+for man; hay for cattle. Not that there's much sign of either in these
+parts, I think, master."
+
+We walked into the Mariner's Joy side by side, turning into a
+low-ceilinged, darkish room, neat and clean enough, wherein there was
+a table, chairs, the model of a ship in a glass case on the
+mantelpiece, and a small bar, furnished with bottles and glasses,
+behind which stood a tall, middle-aged man, clean-shaven, spectacled,
+reading a newspaper. He bade us good morning, with no sign of surprise
+at the presence of strangers, and looked expectantly from one to the
+other. I turned to my companion.
+
+"Well?" I said. "You'll drink with me? What is it--rum?"
+
+"Rum it is, master, thanking you," he replied. "But vittals, too, is
+what I want." He glanced knowingly at the landlord. "You ain't got
+such a thing as a plateful--a good plateful!--of cold beef, with a
+pickle--onion or walnut, 'tain't no matter. And bread--a loaf of real
+home-baked? And a morsel of cheese?"
+
+The landlord smiled as he reached for the rum bottle.
+
+"I daresay we can fit you up, my lad," he answered. "Got a nice round
+of boiled beef on go--as it happens. Drop of rum first, eh? And--yours
+sir?"
+
+"A glass of ale if you please," said I. "And as I'm not quite as
+hungry as our friend here, a crust of bread and a piece of cheese."
+
+The landlord satisfied our demands, and then vanished through a door
+at the back of his bar. And when he had expressed his wishes for my
+good health, Salter Quick tasted the rum, smacked his lips over it,
+and looked about him with evident approval.
+
+"Sort of port that a vessel might put into with security and comfort
+for a day or two, this, master," he observed. "I reckon I'll put
+myself up here, while I'm looking round--this will do me very well.
+And doubtless there'll be them coming in here, night-time, as'll know
+the neighbourhood, and be able to give a man points as to his
+bearings."
+
+"I daresay you'll be very comfortable here," I assented. "It's not
+exactly a desert island."
+
+"Aye, well, and Salter Quick's been in quarters of that sort in his
+time," he observed, with a glance that suggested infinite meaning. "He
+has, so! But this ain't no desert island, master. I can see they ain't
+short of good grub and sound liquor here!"
+
+He made his usual jerk of the thumb--this time in the direction of the
+landlord, who just then came back with a well-filled tray. And
+presently, first removing his cap and saying his grace in a devout
+fashion, he sat down and began to eat with an evidently sharp-set
+appetite. Trifling with my bread and cheese, I turned to the landlord.
+
+"This is a very lonely spot," I said. "I was surprised to see a
+licensed house here. Where do you get your customers?"
+
+"Ah, you wouldn't see it as you came along," replied the landlord. "I
+saw you coming--you came from Alnmouth way. There's a village just
+behind here--it 'ud be hidden from you by this headland at back of the
+house--goodish-sized place. Plenty o' custom from that, o' nights. And
+of course there's folks going along, north and south."
+
+Quick, his weather-stained cheeks bulging with his food, looked up
+sharply.
+
+"A village, says you!" he exclaimed. "Then if a village, a church. And
+if a church, a churchyard. There is a churchyard, ain't there?"
+
+"Why, there is a church, and there's a churchyard to it," replied the
+landlord. "What o' that?"
+
+Quick nodded at me.
+
+"As I been explaining to this gentleman," he said, "churchyards is
+what I'm looking for. Graves in 'em, you understand. And on them
+graves, a name. Name of Netherfield. Now I asks you, friendly--ha' you
+ever seen that name in your churchyard? 'Cause if so I'm at anchor.
+For the time being."
+
+"Well, I haven't," answered the landlord. "But our churchyard--Lord
+bless you, there's scores o' them flat stones in it that's covered
+with long grass--there might be that name on some of 'em, for aught I
+know; I've never looked 'em over, I'm sure. But----"
+
+Just then there came into the parlour a man, who from his rough dress,
+appeared to be a cattle-drover or a shepherd. Claigue turned to him
+with a glance that seemed to indicate him as authority.
+
+"Here's one as lives by that churchyard," he observed. "Jim! ha' you
+ever noticed the name of Netherfield on any o' them old gravestones up
+yonder? This gentleman's asking after it, and I know you mow that
+churchyard grass time and again."
+
+"Never seen it!" answered the new-comer. "But--strange things!--there
+was a man come up to me the other night, this side o' Lesbury, and
+asked that very question--not o' these parts, he wasn't. But--"
+
+He stopped at that. Salter Quick dropped his knife and fork with a
+clatter, and held up his right hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT
+
+
+It was very evident to Claigue and myself, interested spectators, that
+the new-comer's announcement, sudden and unexpected as it was, had had
+the instantaneous effect of making Quick forget his beef and his rum.
+Indeed, although he was only half-way through its contents, he pushed
+his plate away from him as if food were just then nauseous to him; his
+right hand lifted itself in an arresting, commanding gesture, and he
+turned a startled eye on the speaker, looking him through and through
+as if in angry doubt of what he had just said.
+
+"What's that?" he snapped out. "What says you? Say it again--no, I'll
+say it for you--to make sure that my ears ain't deceiving me! You met
+a man--hereabouts--what asked you if you knew where there was graves
+with a certain name on 'em? And that name was--Netherfield? Did you
+say that?--I asks you serious?"
+
+The drover, or shepherd, or whatever he was, looked from Quick to me
+and then to Claigue, and smiled, as if he wondered at Quick's
+intensity of manner.
+
+"You've got it all right, mister," he answered. "That's just what I
+did say. A stranger chap, he was--never seen him in these parts
+before."
+
+Quick took up his glass and drank. There was no doubt about his being
+upset, for his big hand trembled.
+
+"Where was this here?" he demanded. "Recent?"
+
+"Two nights ago," replied the man readily. "I was coming home,
+lateish, from Almwick, and met with this here chap a bit this side o'
+Lesbury. We walked a piece of the road together, talking. And he asked
+me what I've told you. Did I know these parts?--was I a native
+hereabouts?--did I know any churchyards with the name Netherfield on
+gravestones? And I said I didn't, but that there was such-like places
+in our parts where you couldn't see the gravestones for the grass, and
+these might be what he was asking after. And when we came to them
+cross-roads, where it goes to Denwick one direction and Boulmer the
+other, he left me, and I ain't seen aught of him since. Nor heard."
+
+Quick pushed his empty glass across the table, with a sign to Claigue
+to refill it; at the same time he pointed silently to his informant,
+signifying that he was to be served at his expense. He was evidently
+deep in thought by that time, and for a moment or two he sat staring
+at the window and the blue sea beyond, abstracted and pondering.
+Suddenly he turned again on his informant.
+
+"What like was this here man?" he demanded.
+
+"I couldn't tell you, mister," replied the other. "It was well after
+dark and I never saw his face. But, for the build of him, a strong-set
+man, like myself, and just about your height. And now I come to think
+of it, spoke in your way--not as we do in these quarters. A
+stranger--like yourself. Seafaring man, I took him for."
+
+"And you ain't heard of his being about?" asked Quick.
+
+"Not a word, mister," affirmed the informant. "He went Denwick way
+when he left me. That's going inland."
+
+Quick turned to me.
+
+"I would like to see that map of yours again, master, if you please,"
+he said. "I ought to ha' provided myself with one before I came here."
+He spread the map out before him, and after taking another gulp of his
+rum, proceeded to trace roads and places with the point of his finger.
+"Denwick?" he muttered. "Aye I see that. And these places where
+there's a little cross?--that'll mean there's a church there?"
+
+I nodded an affirmative, silently watching him, and wondering what
+this desire on the part of two men to find the graves of the
+Netherfields might mean. And the landlord evidently shared my wonder,
+for presently he plumped his customer with a direct question.
+
+"You seem very anxious to find these Netherfield gravestones," he
+remarked, with good-humoured inquisitiveness. "And so, apparently,
+does another man. Now, I've been in these parts a good many years, and
+I've never heard of 'em; never even heard the name."
+
+"Nor me!" said the other man. "There's none o' that name in these
+parts--'twixt Alnmouth Bay and Budle Point. I ain't never heard it!"
+
+"And he's a native," declared the landlord. "Born and bred and brought
+up here. Wasn't you, Jim?"
+
+"Never been away from it," assented Jim, with a short laugh. "Never
+been farther north than Belford, south than Warkworth, west than
+Whittingham. And as for east, I reckon you can't get much further that
+way than where we are now."
+
+"Not unless you take to the water, you can't," said Claigue. "No--we
+ain't heard of no Netherfields hereabouts."
+
+Quick seemed indifferent to these remarks. He suddenly folded up the
+map, returned it to me with a word of thanks, and plunging a hand in
+his trousers' pocket, produced a fistful of gold coins.
+
+"What's to pay?" he demanded. "Take it out o' that--all we've had, and
+do you help yourself to a glass and a cigar." He flung a sovereign on
+the table, and rose to his feet. "I must be stepping along," he
+continued, looking at me. "If so be as there's another man seeking
+for----"
+
+But at that he checked himself, remaining silent until Claigue counted
+out and handed over his change; silently, too, he pocketed it, and
+turned to the door. Claigue stopped him with an arresting word and
+motion of his hand.
+
+"I say!" he said. "No business of mine, to be sure, but--don't you
+show that money of yours over readily hereabouts--in places like this,
+I mean. There's folk up and down these roads that 'ud track you for
+miles on the chance of--eh, Jim?"
+
+"Aye--and farther!" assented Jim. "Keep it close, master."
+
+Quick listened quietly--just as quietly he slipped a hand to his hip
+pocket, brought it back to the front and showed a revolver.
+
+"That and me, together--eh?" he said significantly. "Bad look-out for
+anybody that came between us and the light."
+
+"They might come between you and the dark," retorted Claigue. "Take
+care of yourself! 'Tisn't a wise thing to flash a handful of gold
+about, my lad."
+
+Quick made no remark. He walked out on to the cobbled pavement in
+front of the inn, and when I had paid Claigue for my modest lunch, and
+had asked how far it was to Ravensdene Court, I followed him. He was
+still in a brown study, and stood staring about him with moody eyes.
+
+"Well?" I said, still inquisitive about this apparently mysterious
+man. "What next? Are you going on with your search?"
+
+He scraped the point of a boot on the cobble-stones for awhile, gazing
+downwards almost as if he expected to unearth something; suddenly he
+raised his eyes and gave me a franker look than I had so far had from
+him.
+
+"Master," he said, in a low voice, and with a side glance at the open
+door of the inn, "I'll tell you a bit more than I've said
+before--you're a gentleman, I can see, and such keeps counsel. I've an
+object--and a particular object!--in finding them graves. That's why
+I've travelled all this way--as you might say, from one end of England
+to the other. And now, arriving where they ought to be, I
+find--another man after what I'm after! Another man!"
+
+"Have you any idea who he may be?" I asked.
+
+He hesitated--and then suddenly shook his head.
+
+"I haven't!" he answered. "No, I haven't, and that's a fact. For a
+minute or two, in there, I thought that maybe I did know, or, at any
+rate, had a notion; but it's a fact, I haven't. All the same, I'm
+going Denwick way, to see if I can come across whoever it is, or get
+news of him. Is that your road, master?"
+
+"No," I replied. "I'm going some way farther along the headlands.
+Well--I hope you'll be successful in your search for the family
+gravestones."
+
+He nodded, very seriously.
+
+"I'm not going out o' this country till I've found 'em!" he asserted
+determinedly. "It's what I've come three hundred miles for. Good-day,
+master."
+
+He turned off by the track that led over the top of the headlands, and
+as long as I watched him went steadily forward without even looking
+back, or to the right or left of him. And presently I, too, went on my
+way, and rounding another corner of the cliff left the lonely inn
+behind me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But as I went along, following the line of the headlands, I wondered a
+good deal about Salter Quick and the conversation at the Mariner's
+Joy. What was it that this hard-bitten, travel-worn man, one who had
+seen, evidently, much of wind and wave, was really after? I gave no
+credence to his story of the family relationship--it was not at all
+likely that a man would travel all the way from Devonshire to
+Northumberland to find the graves of his mother's ancestors. There was
+something beyond that--but what? It was very certain that Quick wanted
+to come across the tombs of the dead and gone Netherfields, however,
+for whatever purpose--certain, too, that there was another man who had
+the same wish. That complicated matters, and it deepened the mystery.
+Why did two men--seafaring men, both of them--arrive in this
+out-of-the-way spot about the same time, unknown to each other, but
+each apparently bent on the same object? And what would happen if, as
+seemed likely, they met? It was impossible to find an answer to these
+questions; but the mystery was there, all the same.
+
+The afternoon remained fine, and, for the time of year, warm, and I
+took advantage of it by dawdling along that glorious stretch of
+sea-coast, taking in to the full its rich stores of romantic scenery
+and suggestion of long-past ages. Sometimes I sat for a long time,
+smoking my pipe on the edge of the headlands, staring at the blue of
+the water, the curl of the waves on the brown sands, conscious most of
+the compelling silence, and only dimly aware of the calling of the
+sea-birds on the cliffs. Altogether, the afternoon was drawing to its
+close when, rounding a bluff that had been in view before me for some
+time, I came in sight of what I felt sure to be Ravensdene Court, a
+grey-walled, stone-roofed Tudor mansion that stood at the head of a
+narrow valley or ravine--dene they call it in those parts, though a
+dene is really a tract of sand, while these breaks in the land are
+green and thickly treed--through which a narrow, rock-encumbered
+stream ran murmuring to the sea. Very picturesque in its old-worldness
+it looked in the mellowing light; the very place, I thought, which a
+bookman and an antiquary, such as I had heard the late owner to be,
+would delight to store with his collections.
+
+A path that led inland from the edge of the cliffs took me after a few
+minutes' walking to a rustic gate which was set in the boundary wall
+of a small park; within the wall rose a belt of trees, mostly oak and
+beech, their trunks obscured by a thick undergrowth. Passing through
+this, I came out on the park itself, at a point where, on a well-kept
+green, a girl, whom I immediately took to be the niece, recently
+released from the schoolroom, of whom Mr. Raven had spoken in his
+letter, was studying the lie of a golf ball. Behind her, carrying her
+bag of sticks, stood a small boy, chiefly remarkable for his large
+boots and huge tam-o'-shanter bonnet, who, as I appeared on the scene,
+was intently watching his young mistress's putter, wavering
+uncertainly in her slender hands before she ventured on what was
+evidently a critical stroke. But before the stroke was made the girl
+caught sight of me, paused, seemed to remember something, and then,
+swinging her club, came lightly in my direction--a tallish,
+elastic-limbed girl, not exactly pretty, but full of attraction
+because of her clear eyes, healthy skin, and general atmosphere of
+life and vivacity. Recently released from the schoolroom though she
+might be, she showed neither embarrassment nor shyness on meeting a
+stranger. Her hand went out to me with ready frankness.
+
+"Mr. Middlebrook?" she said inquiringly. "Yes, of course--I might have
+known you'd come along the cliffs. Your luggage came this morning, and
+we got your message. But you must be tired after all those miles?
+I'll take you up to the house and give you some tea."
+
+"I'm not at all tired, thank you," I answered. "I came along very
+leisurely, enjoying the walk. Don't let me take you from your game."
+
+"Oh, that's all right," she said carelessly, throwing her putter to
+the boy. "I've had quite enough; besides, it's getting towards dusk,
+and once the sun sets, it's soon dark in these regions. You've never
+seen Ravensdene Court before?"
+
+"Never," I replied, glancing at the house, which stood some two or three
+hundred yards before us. "It seems to be a very romantically-situated,
+picturesque old place. I suppose you know all its nooks and corners?"
+
+She gave her shoulders--squarely-set, well-developed ones--a little
+shrug, and shook her head.
+
+"No, I don't," she answered. "I never saw it before last month. It's
+all that you say--picturesque and romantic enough. And queer! I
+believe it's haunted."
+
+"That adds to its charm," I remarked with a laugh. "I hope I shall
+have the pleasure of seeing the ghost."
+
+"I don't!" she said. "That is, I hope I shan't. The house is odd
+enough without that! But--you wouldn't be afraid?"
+
+"Would you?" I asked, looking more closely at her.
+
+"I don't know," she replied. "You'll understand more when you see the
+place. There's a very odd atmosphere about it. I think something must
+have happened there, some time. I'm not a coward, but, really, after
+the daylight's gone----"
+
+"You're adding to its charms!" I interrupted. "Everything sounds
+delightful!"
+
+She looked at me half-inquiringly, and then smiled a little.
+
+"I believe you're pulling my leg," she said. "However--we'll see. But
+you don't look as if you would be afraid--and you're not a bit like
+what I thought you'd be, either."
+
+"What did you think I should be?" I asked, amused at her candour.
+
+"Oh, I don't know--a queer, snuffy, bald-pated old man, like Mr.
+Cazalette," she replied. "Booky, and papery, and that sort of thing.
+And you're quite--something else--and young!"
+
+"The frost of thirty winters have settled on me," I remarked with mock
+seriousness.
+
+"They must have been black frosts, then!" she retorted. "No!--you're a
+surprise. I'm sure Uncle Francis is expecting a venerable, dry-as-dust
+sort of man."
+
+"I hope he won't be disappointed," I said. "But I never told him I was
+dry as dust, or snuffy, or bald----"
+
+"It's your reputation," she said quickly. "People don't expect to find
+such learning in ordinary young men in tweed suits."
+
+"Am I an ordinary young man, then?" I demanded. "Really----"
+
+"Oh, well, you know what I mean!" she said hastily. "You can call me
+a very ordinary young woman, if you like."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the sort!" said I. "I have a habit of always
+calling things by their right names, and I can see already that you
+are very far from being an ordinary young woman."
+
+"So you begin by paying me compliments?" she retorted with a laugh.
+"Very well--I've no objection, which shows that I'm human, anyhow. But
+here is my uncle."
+
+I had already seen Mr. Francis Raven advancing to meet us; a tall,
+somewhat stooping man with all the marks of the Anglo-Indian about
+him: a kindly face burnt brown by equatorial suns, old-fashioned,
+grizzled moustache and whiskers; the sort of man that I had seen more
+than once coming off big liners at Tilbury and Southampton, looking as
+if England, seen again after many years of absence, were a strange
+country to their rather weary, wondering eyes. He came up with
+outstretched hands; I saw at once that he was a man of shy, nervous
+temperament.
+
+"Welcome to Ravensdene Court, Mr. Middlebrook!" he exclaimed in quick,
+almost deprecating fashion. "A very dull and out-of-the-way place to
+which to bring one used to London; but we'll do our best--you've had a
+convoy across the park, I see," he added with a glance at his niece.
+"That's right!"
+
+"As charming a one as her surroundings are delightful, Mr. Raven," I
+said, assuming an intentionally old-fashioned manner. "If I am treated
+with the same consideration I have already received, I shall be loth
+to bring my task to an end!"
+
+"Mr. Middlebrook is a bit of a tease, Uncle Francis," said my guide.
+"I've found that out already. He's not the paper-and-parchment person
+you expected."
+
+"Oh, dear me, I didn't expect anything of the sort!" protested Mr.
+Raven. He looked from his niece to me, and laughed, shaking his head.
+"These modern young ladies--ah!" he exclaimed. "But come--I'll show
+Mr. Middlebrook his rooms."
+
+He led the way into the house and up the great stair of the hall to a
+couple of apartments which overlooked the park. I had a general sense
+of big spaces, ancient things, mysterious nooks and corners; my own
+rooms, a bed-chamber and a parlour, were delightful. My host was
+almost painfully anxious to assure himself that I had everything in
+them that I was likely to want, and fussed about from one room to the
+other, seeing to details that I should never have thought of.
+
+"You'll be able to find your way down?" he said at last, as he made
+for the door. "We dine at seven--perhaps there'll be time to take a
+little look round before then, after we've dressed. And I must
+introduce Mr. Cazalette--you don't know him personally?--oh, a
+remarkable man, a very remarkable man indeed--yes!"
+
+I did not waste much time over my toilet, nor, apparently did Miss
+Marcia Raven, for I found her, in a smart gown, in the hall when I
+went down at half-past-six. And she and I had taken a look at its
+multifarious objects before Mr. Raven appeared on the scene, followed
+by Mr. Cazalette. One glance at this gentleman assured me that our
+host had been quite right when he spoke of him as remarkable--he was
+not merely remarkable, but so extraordinary in outward appearance that
+I felt it difficult to keep my eyes off him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE MORNING TIDE
+
+
+Miss Raven had already described Mr. Cazalette to me, by inference, as
+a queer, snuffy bald-pated old man, but this summary synopsis of his
+exterior features failed to do justice to a remarkable original. There
+was something supremely odd about him. I thought, at first, that my
+impression of oddity might be derived from his clothes--he wore a
+strangely-cut dress-coat of blue cloth, with gold buttons, a buff
+waistcoat, and a frilled shirt--but I soon came to the conclusion that
+he would be queer and uncommon in any garments. About Mr. Cazalette
+there was an atmosphere--and it was decidedly one of mystery. First
+and last, he looked uncanny.
+
+Mr. Raven introduced us with a sort of old-world formality (I soon
+discovered, as regards him, that he was so far unaware that a vast
+gulf lay between the manners and customs of society as they are
+nowadays and as they were when he left England for India in the
+'seventies: he was essentially mid-Victorian) and in order to keep up
+to it, I saluted Mr. Cazalette with great respect and expressed myself
+as feeling highly honoured by meeting one so famous as my
+fellow-guest. Somewhat to my surprise, Mr. Cazalette's tightly-locked
+lips relaxed into what was plainly a humorous smile, and he favoured
+me with a knowing look that was almost a wink.
+
+"Aye, well," he said, "you're just about as well known in your own
+line, Middlebrook, as I am in mine, and between the pair of us I've no
+doubt we'll be able to reduce chaos into order. But we'll not talk
+shop at this hour of the day--there's more welcome matters at hand."
+
+He put his snuff box and his gaudy handkerchief out of sight, and
+looked at his host and hostess with another knowing glance, reminding
+me somehow of a wicked old condor which I had sometimes seen at the
+Zoological Gardens, eyeing the keeper who approached with its meal.
+
+"Mr. Cazalette," remarked Miss Raven, with an informing glance at me,
+"never, on principle, touches bite or sup between breakfast and
+dinner--and he has no great love of breakfast."
+
+"I'm a disciple of the justly famed and great man, Abernethy,"
+observed Mr. Cazalette. "I'd never have lived to my age nor kept my
+energy at what, thank Heaven, it is, if I hadn't been. D'ye know how
+old I am, Middlebrook?"
+
+"I really don't, Mr. Cazalette," I replied.
+
+"Well I'm eighty years of age," he answered with a grin. "And I'm
+intending to be a hundred! And on my hundredth birthday, I'll give a
+party, and I'll dance with the sprightliest lassie that's there, and
+if I'm not as lively as she is I'll be sore out of my calculations."
+
+"A truly wonderful young man!" exclaimed Mr. Raven. "I veritably
+believe he feels--and is--younger than myself--and I'm twenty years
+his junior."
+
+So I had now discovered certain facts about Mr. Cazalette. He was an
+octogenarian. He was uncannily active. He had an almost imp-like
+desire to live--and to dance when he ought to have been wrapped in
+blankets and saying his last prayers. And a few minutes later, when we
+were seated round our host's table, I discovered another fact--Mr.
+Cazalette was one of those men to whom dinner is the event of the day,
+and who regard conversation--on their own part, at any rate--as a
+wicked disturbance of sacred rites. As the meal progressed (and Mr.
+Raven's cook proved to be an unusually clever and good one) I was
+astonished at Mr. Cazalette's gastronomic powers and at his love of
+mad dishes: indeed, I never saw a man eat so much, nor with such
+hearty appreciation of his food, nor in such a concentrated silence.
+Nevertheless, that he kept his ears wide open to what was being said
+around him, I soon discovered. I was telling Mr. Raven and his niece
+of my adventure of the afternoon, and suddenly I observed that Mr.
+Cazalette, on the other side of the round table at which we sat, had
+stopped eating, and that, knife and fork still in his queer, claw-like
+hands, he was peering at me under the shaded lamps, his black, burning
+eyes full of a strange, absorbed interest. I paused--involuntarily.
+
+"Go on!" said he. "Did you mention the name Netherfield just then?"
+
+"I did," said I. "Netherfield."
+
+"Well, continue with your tale," he said. "I'm listening. I'm a
+silent man when I'm busy with my meat and drink, but I've a fine pair
+of ears."
+
+He began to ply knife and fork again, and I went on with my story,
+continuing it until the parting with Salter Quick. When I came to
+that, the footman who stood behind Mr. Cazalette's chair was just
+removing his last plate, and the old man leaned back a little and
+favoured the three of us with a look.
+
+"Aye, well," he said, "and that's an interesting story, Middlebrook,
+and it tempts me to break my rule and talk a bit. It was some
+churchyard this fellow was seeking?"
+
+"A churchyard--in this neighbourhood," I replied. "Or--churchyards."
+
+"Where there were graves with the name Netherfield on their stones or
+slabs or monuments," he continued.
+
+"Aye--just so. And those men he foregathered with at the inn, they'd
+never heard of anything at that point, nor elsewhere?"
+
+"Neither there nor elsewhere," I assented.
+
+"Then if there is such a place," said he, "it'll be one of those
+disused burial-grounds of which there are examples here in the north,
+and not a few."
+
+"You know of some?" suggested Mr. Raven.
+
+"I've seen such places," answered Mr. Cazalette. "Betwixt here--the
+sea-coast--and the Cheviots, westward, there's a good many spots that
+Goldsmith might have drawn upon for his deserted village. The folks
+go--the bit of a church falls into ruins--its graveyard gets choked
+with weeds--the stones are covered with moss and lichen--the monuments
+fall and are obscured by the grass--underneath the grass and the weed
+many an old family name lies hidden. And what'll that man be wanting
+to find any name at all for, I'd like to know!"
+
+"The queer thing to me," observed Mr. Raven, "is that two men should
+be wanting to find it at the same time."
+
+"That looks as if there were some very good reason why it should be
+found, doesn't it?" remarked his niece. "Anyway, it all sounds very
+queer--you've brought mystery with you, Mr. Middlebrook! Can't you
+suggest anything, Mr. Cazalette? I'm sure you're good at solving
+problems."
+
+But just then Mr. Cazalette's particular servant put a fresh dish in
+front of him--a curry, the peculiar aroma of which evidently aroused
+his epicurean instinct. Instead of responding to Miss Raven's
+invitation he relapsed into silence, and picked up another fork.
+
+When dinner was over I excused myself from sitting with the two elder
+men over their wine--Mr. Cazalette, whom by that time I, of course,
+knew for a Scotchman, turned out to have an old-fashioned taste for
+claret--and joined Miss Raven in the hall, a great, roomy, shadowy
+place which was evidently popular. There was a great fire in its big
+hearth-place with deep and comfortable chairs set about it; in one of
+these I found her sitting, a book in her hand. She dropped it as I
+approached and pointed to a chair at her side.
+
+"What do you think of that queer old man?" she asked in a low voice as I
+sat down. "Isn't there something almost--what is it?--uncanny?--about
+him?"
+
+"You might call him that," I assented. "Yes--I think uncanny would fit
+him. A very marvellous man, though, at his age."
+
+"Aye!" she exclaimed, under her breath. "If I could live to see it, it
+wouldn't surprise me if he lived to be four hundred. He's so queer. Do
+you know that he actually goes out early--very early--in the morning
+and swims in the open sea?"
+
+"Any weather?" I suggested.
+
+"No matter what the weather is," she replied. "He's been here three
+weeks now, and he has never missed that morning swim. And sometimes
+the mornings have been Arctic--more than I could stand, anyway, and
+I'm pretty well hardened."
+
+"A decided character!" I said musingly. "And somehow, he seems to fit
+in with his present surroundings. From what I have seen of it, Mr.
+Raven was quite right in telling me that this house was a museum."
+
+I was looking about me as I spoke. The big, high-roofed hall, like
+every room I had so far seen, was filled from floor to ceiling with
+books, pictures, statuary, armour, curiosities of every sort and of
+many ages. The prodigious numbers of the books alone showed me that I
+had no light task in prospect. But Miss Raven shook her head.
+
+"Museum!" she exclaimed. "I should think so! But you've seen
+nothing--wait till you see the north wing. Every room in that is
+crammed with things--I think my great-uncle, who left all this to
+Uncle Francis recently, must have done nothing whatever but buy, and
+buy, and buy things, and then, when he got them home, have just dumped
+them down anywhere! There's some order here," she added, looking
+round, "but across there, in the north wing, it's confusion."
+
+"Did you know your great-uncle?" I asked.
+
+"I? No!" she replied. "Oh, dear me, no! I'd never been in the north
+until Uncle Francis came home from India some months ago and fetched
+me from the school where I'd been ever since my father and mother
+died--that was when I was twelve. No, except my father, I never knew
+any of the Raven family. I believe Uncle Francis and myself are the
+very last."
+
+"You must like living under the old family roof?" I suggested.
+
+She gave me a somewhat undecided look.
+
+"I'm not quite sure," she answered. "Uncle Francis is the very soul of
+kindness--I think he's the very kindest person, man or woman, I ever
+came across, but--I don't know."
+
+"Don't know--what?" I asked.
+
+"Don't know if I really like this place," she said. "As I said to you
+this afternoon, this is a very odd house altogether, and there's a
+strange atmosphere about it, and I think something must have happened
+here. I--well, personally, I feel as if I were something so very small
+and insignificant, shut up in immensity."
+
+"That's because it's a little strange, even now," I suggested. "You'll
+get used to it. And I suppose there's society."
+
+"Uncle Francis is a good deal of a recluse," she answered. "It's
+really a very good thing that I'm fond of outdoor life, and that I
+take an interest in books, too. But I'm very deficient in knowledge in
+book matters--do teach me something while you're here!--I'd like to
+know a good deal about all these folios and quartos and so on."
+
+I made haste to reply that I should be only too happy to put my
+knowledge at her disposal, and she responded by saying that she would
+like to help me in classifying and inspecting the various volumes
+which the dead-and-gone great-uncle had collected. We got on very well
+together, and I was a little sorry when my host came in with his other
+guest--who, a loop-hole being given him, proceeded to give us a
+learned dissertation on the evidences of Roman occupation of the North
+of England as evidenced by recent and former discoveries of coins
+between Trent and Tweed: it was doubtless very interesting, and a
+striking proof of Mr. Cazalette's deep and profound knowledge of his
+special subject, and at another time I should have listened to it
+gladly. But--somehow I should just then have preferred to chat quietly
+in the corner of the hearth with Miss Raven.
+
+We all retire early--that, Mr. Raven informed me with a shy laugh, as
+if he were confessing a failing, was the custom of the house. But, he
+added, I should find a fire in my sitting-room, so that if I wanted to
+read or write, I should be comfortable in my retirement. On hearing
+that, I begged him to countermand any such luxuries on my account in
+future; it was my invariable habit, I assured him, to retire to bed at
+ten o'clock, wherever I was--reading or writing at night, I said,
+were practices which I rigidly tabooed. Mr. Cazalette, who stood by,
+grimly listening, nodded approval.
+
+"Wise lad!" he said. "That's another reason why I'm what I am. Don't
+let any mistake be made about it!--the old saw, much despised and
+laughed at though it is, has more in it than anybody thinks for. Get
+to your pillow early, and leave it early!--that's the sure thing."
+
+"I don't think I should like to get up as early as you do, though,"
+remarked Mr. Raven. "You certainly don't give the worms much chance!"
+
+"Aye, and I've caught a few in my time," assented the old gentleman,
+complacently. "And I hope to catch a few more yet. You folk who don't
+get up till the morning's half over don't know what you miss."
+
+I slept soundly that night--a strange bed and unfamiliar surroundings
+affect me not at all. Just as suddenly as I had dropped asleep, I
+woke. My windows face due east--I was instantly aware that the sun had
+either risen or was just about to rise. Springing out of bed and
+drawing up the blind of one of the three tall, narrow windows of my
+room, I saw him mounting behind a belt of pine and fir which stretched
+along a bluff of land that ran down to the open sea. And I saw, too,
+that it was high tide--the sea had stolen up the creek which ran right
+to the foot of the park, and the wide expanse of water glittered and
+coruscated in the brilliance of the morning glory.
+
+My watch lay on the dressing-table close by; glancing at it, I saw
+that the time was twenty-five minutes to seven. I had been told that
+the family breakfasted at nine, so I had nearly two-and-a-half hours
+of leisure. Of course, I would go out, and enjoy the freshness of the
+morning. I turned to the window again, just to take another view of
+the scenery in front of the house, and to decide in which direction I
+would go. And there, emerging from a wicket-gate that opened out of an
+adjacent plantation, I caught sight of Mr. Cazalette.
+
+It was evident that this robust octogenarian had been taking that
+morning swim of which Miss Raven had told me the previous evening. He
+was muffled up in an old pea-jacket; various towels were festooned
+about his shoulders; his bald head shone in the rising sun. I watched
+him curiously as he came along the borders of a thick yew hedge at the
+side of the gardens. Suddenly, at a particular point, he stopped, and
+drawing something out of his towels, thrust it, at the full length of
+his arm, into the closely interwoven mass of twig and foliage at his
+side. Then he moved forward towards the house; a bushy clump of
+rhododendron hid him from my sight. Two or three minutes later I heard
+a door close somewhere near my own; Mr. Cazalette had evidently
+re-entered his own apartment.
+
+I was bathed, shaved, and dressed by a quarter past seven, and finding
+my way out of the house went across the garden towards the wicket-gate
+through which I had seen Mr. Cazalette emerge--as he had come from the
+sea that way, it was, I concluded, the nearest way to it. My path led
+by the yew-hedge which I have just mentioned, and I suddenly saw the
+place where Mr. Cazalette had stood when he thrust his arm into it;
+thereabouts, the ground was soft, mossy, damp: the marks of his shoes
+were plain. Out of mere curiosity, I stood where he had stood, and
+slightly parting the thick, clinging twigs, peeped into the obscurity
+behind. And there, thrust right in amongst the yew, I saw something
+white, a crumpled, crushed-up lump of linen, perhaps a man's
+full-sized pocket-handkerchief, whereon I could make out, even in that
+obscurity (and nothing in the way of hedges can be thicker or darker
+than one of old, carefully-trimmed yew) brown stains and red stains,
+as if from contact with soil or clay in one case, with blood in the
+other.
+
+I went onward, considerably mystified. But most people, chancing upon
+anything mysterious try to explain it to their own satisfaction. I
+came to the conclusion that Mr. Cazalette, during his morning swim--no
+doubt in very shallow waters--had cut hand or foot against some sharp
+pebble or bit of rock, and had used his handkerchief as a bandage
+until the bleeding stopped. Yet--why thrust it away into the
+yew-hedge, close to the house? Why carry it from the shore at all, if
+he meant to get rid of it? And why not have consigned it to his
+dirty-linen basket and have it washed?
+
+"Decidedly an odd character," I mused. "A man of mystery!"
+
+Then I dismissed him from my thoughts, my mind becoming engrossed by
+the charm of my surroundings. I made my way down to the creek, passed
+through the belt of pine and fir over which I had seen the sun rise,
+and came out on a little, rock-bound cove, desolate and wild. Here one
+was shut out from everything but the sea in front: Ravensdene Court
+was no longer visible; here, amongst great masses of fallen cliff and
+limpet-encrusted rock, round which the full strength of the tide was
+washing, one seemed to be completely alone with sky and strand.
+
+But the place was tenanted. I had not taken twenty paces along the
+foot of the overhanging cliff before I pulled myself sharply to a
+halt. There, on the sand before me, his face turned to the sky, his
+arms helplessly stretched, lay Salter Quick. I knew he was dead in my
+first horrified glance. And for the second time that morning, I saw
+blood--red, vivid, staining the shining particles in the yellow,
+sun-lighted beach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE TOBACCO BOX
+
+
+My first feeling of almost stupefied horror at seeing a man whom I had
+met only the day before in the full tide of life and vigour lying
+there in that lonely place, literally weltering in his own blood and
+obviously the victim of a foul murder speedily changed to one of angry
+curiosity. Who had wrought this crime? Crime it undoubtedly was--the
+man's attitude, the trickle of blood from his slightly parted lips
+across the stubble of his chin, the crimson stain on the sand at his
+side, the whole attitude of his helpless figure, showed me that he had
+been attacked from the rear and probably stricken down by a deadly
+knife thrust through his shoulders. This was murder--black murder. And
+my thoughts flew to what Claigue, the landlord, had said, warningly,
+the previous afternoon, about the foolishness of showing so much gold.
+Had Salter Quick disregarded that warning, flashed his money about in
+some other public house, been followed to this out of the way spot and
+run through the heart for the sake of his fistful of sovereigns? It
+looked like it. But then that thought fled, and another took its
+place--the recollection of the blood-stained linen, rag, bandage, or
+handkerchief, which that queer man Mr. Cazalette had pushed into
+hiding in the yew-hedge. Had that--had Cazalette himself--anything to
+do with this crime?
+
+The instinctive desire to get an answer to this last question made me
+suddenly stoop down and lay my fingers on the dead man's open palm. I
+was conscious as I did so of the extraordinary, appealing helplessness
+of his hands--instead of being clenched in a death agony as I should
+have expected they were stretched wide; they looked nerveless, limp,
+effortless. But when my fingers came to the nearest one--the right
+hand--I found that it was stiff, rigid, stone-cold. I knew then that
+Salter Quick had been dead for several hours; had probably been lying
+there, murdered, all through the darkness of the night.
+
+There were no signs of any struggle. At this point the sands were
+unusually firm and for the most part, all round and about the body,
+they remained unbroken. Yet there were footprints, very faint indeed,
+yet traceable, and I saw at once that they did not extend beyond this
+spot. There were two distinct marks; one there of boots with nails in
+the heels; these were certainly made by the dead man; the other
+indicated a smaller, very light-soled boot, perhaps a slipper. A yard
+or so behind the body these marks were mingled; that had evidently
+been done when the murderer stole close up to his victim, preparatory
+to dealing the fatal thrust.
+
+Carefully, slowly, I traced these footsteps. They were plainly
+traceable, faint though they were, to the edge of the low cliff, there
+a gentle slope of some twelve or fifteen feet in height; I traced them
+up its incline. But from the very edge of the cliff the land was
+covered by a thick wire-like turf; you could have run a heavy gun
+over it without leaving any impression. Yet it was clear that two men
+had come across it to that point, had then descended the cliff to the
+sand, walked a few yards along the beach, and then--one had murdered
+the other.
+
+Standing there, staring around me, I was suddenly startled by the
+explosion of a gun, close at hand. And then, from a coppice, some
+thirty yards away, a man emerged, whom I took, from his general
+appearance, to be a gamekeeper. Unconscious of my presence he walked
+forward in my direction, picked up a bird which his shot had brought
+down, and was thrusting it into a bag that hung at his hip, when I
+called to him. He looked round sharply, caught sight of me, and came
+slowly in my direction, wondering, I could see, who I was. I made
+towards him. He was a middle-aged, big-framed man, dark of skin and
+hair, sharp-eyed.
+
+"Are you Mr. Raven's gamekeeper?" I asked, as I got within speaking
+distance. "Just so--I am staying with Mr. Raven. And I've just made a
+terrible discovery. There is a man lying behind the cliff
+there--dead."
+
+"Dead, sir?" he exclaimed. "What--washed up by the tide, likely."
+
+"No," I said. "He's been murdered. Stabbed to death!"
+
+He let out a short, sibilant breath, looking at me with rapidly
+dilating eyes: they ran me all over, as if he wondered whether I were
+romancing.
+
+"Come this way," I continued, leading him to the edge of the cliff.
+"And mind how you walk on the sand--there are footmarks there, and I
+don't want them interfered with till the police have examined them.
+There!" I continued, as we reached the edge of the turf and came in
+view of the beach. "You see?"
+
+He gave another exclamation of surprise: then carefully followed me to
+the dead man's side where he stood staring wonderingly at the stains
+on the sand.
+
+"He must have been dead for some hours," I whispered. "He's
+stone-cold--and rigid. Now, this is murder! You live about here, no
+doubt? Did you see or hear anything of this man in the neighbourhood
+last night--or in the afternoon or evening?"
+
+"I, sir?" he exclaimed. "No, sir--nothing!"
+
+"I met him yesterday afternoon on the headlands between this and
+Alnmouth," I remarked.
+
+"I was with him for a while at the Mariner's Joy. He pulled out a big
+handful of gold there, to pay for his lunch. The landlord warned him
+against showing so much money. Now, before we do more, I'd like to
+know if he's been murdered for the sake of robbery. You're doubtless
+quicker of hand than I am--just slip your hand into that right-hand
+pocket of his trousers, and see if you feel money there."
+
+He took my meaning on the instant, and bending down, did what I
+suggested. A smothered exclamation came from him.
+
+"Money?" he said. "His pocket's full o' money!"
+
+"Bring it out," I commanded.
+
+He withdrew his hand; opened it; the palm was full of gold. The light
+of the morning sun flashed on those coins as if in mockery. We both
+looked at them--and then at each other with a sudden mutual
+intelligence.
+
+"Then it wasn't robbery!" I exclaimed. "So--"
+
+He thrust back the gold, and pulling at a thick chain of steel which
+lay across Quick's waistcoat, drew out a fine watch.
+
+"Gold again, sir!" he said. "And a good 'un, that's never been bought
+for less than thirty pound. No, it's not been robbery."
+
+"No," I agreed, "and that makes it all the more mysterious. What's
+your name?"
+
+"Tarver, sir, at your service," he answered, as he rose from the dead
+man's side. "Been on this estate a many years, sir."
+
+"Well, Tarver," I said, "the only thing to be done is that I must go
+back to the house and tell Mr. Raven what's happened, and send for the
+police. Do you stay here--and if anybody comes along, be very careful
+to keep them off those footmarks."
+
+"Not likely that there'll be anybody, sir," he remarked. "As lonely a
+bit of coast, this, as there is, hereabouts. What beats me," he added,
+"is--what was he--and the man as did it--doing, here? There's naught
+to come here for. And--it must ha' happened in the night, judging by
+the looks of him."
+
+"The whole thing's a profound mystery," I answered. "We shall hear a
+lot more of it."
+
+I left him standing by the dead man and went hurriedly away towards
+Ravensdene Court. Glancing at my watch as I passed through the belt of
+pine, I saw that it was already getting on to nine o'clock and
+breakfast time. But this news of mine would have to be told: this was
+no time for waiting or for ceremony. I must get Mr. Raven aside, at
+once, and we must send for the nearest police officer, and--
+
+Just then, fifty yards in front of me, I saw Mr. Cazalette vanishing
+round the corner of the long yew-hedge, at the end nearest to the
+house. So--he had evidently been back to the place whereat he had
+hidden the stained linen, whatever it was? Coming up to that place a
+moment later, and making sure that I was not observed, I looked in
+amongst the twigs and foliage. The thing was gone.
+
+This deepened the growing mystery more than ever. I began, against my
+will, to piece things together. Mr. Cazalette, returning from the
+beach, hides a blood-stained rag--I, going to the beach, find a
+murdered man--coming back, I ascertain that Mr. Cazalette has already
+removed what he had previously hidden. What connection was there--if
+any at all--between Mr. Cazalette's actions and my discovery? To say
+the least of it, the whole thing was queer, strange, and even
+suspicious.
+
+Then I caught sight of Mr. Cazalette again. He was on the terrace, in
+front of the house, with Mr. Raven--they were strolling up and down,
+before the open window of the morning room, chatting. And I was
+thankful that Miss Raven was not with them, and that I saw no sign of
+her near presence.
+
+I determined to tell my gruesome news straight out--Mr. Raven, I felt
+sure, was not the man to be startled by tidings of sudden death, and I
+wanted, of set purpose, to see how his companion would take the
+announcement. So, as I walked up the steps of the terrace, I loudly
+called my host's name. He turned, saw from my expression that
+something of moment had happened, and hurried toward me, Cazalette
+trotting in his rear. I gave a warning look in in the direction of
+the house and its open windows.
+
+"I don't want to alarm Miss Raven," I said in a low voice, which I
+purposely kept as matter-of-fact as possible. "Something has happened.
+You know the man I was telling you of last night--Salter Quick? I
+found his dead body, half-an-hour ago, on your beach. He has been
+murdered--stabbed to the heart. Your gamekeeper, Tarver, is with him.
+Had you not better send for the police?"
+
+I carefully watched both men as I broke the news. Its effect upon them
+was different in both cases. Mr. Raven started a little; exclaimed a
+little: he was more wonder-struck than horrified. But Mr. Cazalette's
+mask-like countenance remained immobile; only, a gleam of sudden,
+almost pleased interest showed itself in his black, shrewd eyes.
+
+"Aye?" he exclaimed. "So you found your man dead and murdered,
+Middlebrook? Well, now, that's the very end that I was thinking the
+fellow would come to! Not that I fancied it would be so soon, nor so
+close at hand. On one's own doorstep so to speak. Interesting! Very
+interesting!"
+
+I was too much taken aback by his callousness to make any observation
+on these sentiments; instead, I looked at Mr. Raven. He was evidently
+too much surprised just then to pay any attention to his elder guest:
+he motioned me to follow him.
+
+"Come with me to the telephone," he said. "Dear, dear, what a very sad
+thing. Of course, the poor fellow has been murdered for his money? You
+said he'd a lot of gold on him."
+
+"It's not been for robbery," I answered. "His money and his watch are
+untouched. There's more in it than that."
+
+He stared at me as if failing to comprehend.
+
+"Some mystery?" he suggested.
+
+"A very deep and lurid one, I think," said I. "Get the police out as
+quickly as possible, and bid them bring a doctor."
+
+"They'll bring their own police-surgeon," he remarked, "but we have a
+medical man closer at hand. I'll ring him up, too. Yet--what can they
+do?"
+
+"Nothing--for him," I replied. "But they may be able to tell us at
+what hour the thing took place. And that's important."
+
+When we left the telephone we went to the morning-room, to get a
+mouthful of food before going down to the beach. Miss Raven was
+there--so was Cazalette. I saw at once that he had told her the news.
+She was sitting behind her tea and coffee things, staring at him: he,
+on his part, a cup of tea in one hand, a dry biscuit in the other, was
+marching up and down the room sipping and munching, and holding forth,
+in didactic fashion, on crime and detection. Miss Raven gave me a
+glance as I slipped into a place at her side.
+
+"You found this poor man?" she whispered. "How dreadful for you!"
+
+"For him, too--and far more so," I said. "I didn't want you to know
+until--later. Mr. Cazalette oughtn't to have told you."
+
+She arched her eyebrows in the direction of the odd, still orating
+figure.
+
+"Oh!" she murmured. "He's no reverence for anything--life or death. I
+believe he's positively enjoying this: he's been talking like that
+ever since he came in and told me of it."
+
+Mr. Raven and I made a very hurried breakfast and prepared to join
+Tarver. The news of the murder had spread through the household; we
+found two or three of the men-servants ready to accompany us. And Mr.
+Cazalette was ready, too, and, I thought, more eager than any of the
+rest. Indeed, when we set out from the house he led the way, across
+the gardens and pleasure-grounds, along the yew-hedge (at which he
+never so much as gave a glance) and through the belt of pine wood. At
+its further extremity he glanced at Mr. Raven.
+
+"From what Middlebrook says, this man must be lying in Kernwick Cove,"
+he said. "Now, there's a footpath across the headlands and the field
+above from Long Houghton village to that spot. Quick must have
+followed it last night. But how came he to meet his murderer--or did
+his murderer follow him? And what was Quick doing down here? Was he
+directed here--or led here?"
+
+Mr. Raven seemed to think these questions impossible of immediate
+answer: his one anxiety at that moment appeared to be to set the
+machinery of justice in motion. He was manifestly relieved when, as we
+came to the open country behind the pines and firs, where a narrow
+lane ran down to the sea, we heard the rattle of a light dog-cart and
+turned to see the inspector of police and a couple of his men, who had
+evidently hurried off at once on receiving the telephone message. With
+them, seated by the inspector on the front seat of the trap, was a
+professional-looking man who proved to be the police-surgeon.
+
+We all trooped down to the beach, where Tarver was keeping his
+unpleasant vigil. He had been taking a look round the immediate scene
+of the murder, he said, during my absence, thinking that he might find
+something in the way of a clue. But he had found nothing: there were
+no signs of any struggle anywhere near. It seemed clear that two men
+had crossed the land, descended the low cliffs, and that one had
+fallen on the other as soon as the sands were reached--the footmarks
+indicated as much. I pointed them out to the police, who examined them
+carefully, and agreed with me that one set was undoubtedly made by the
+boots of the dead man while the other was caused by the pressure of
+some light-footed, lightly-shoed person. And there being nothing else
+to be seen or done at that place, Salter Quick was lifted on to an
+improvised stretcher which the servants had brought down from the
+Court and carried by the way we had come to an outhouse in the
+gardens, where the police-surgeon proceeded to make a more careful
+examination of his body. He was presently joined in this by the
+medical man of whom Mr. Raven had spoken--a Dr. Lorrimore, who came
+hurrying up in his motor-car, and at once took a hand in his
+fellow-practitioner's investigations. But there was little to
+investigate--just as I had thought from the first. Quick had been
+murdered by a knife-thrust from behind--dealt with evident knowledge
+of the right place to strike, said the two doctors, for his heart had
+been transfixed, and death must have been instantaneous.
+
+Mr. Raven shrank away from these gruesome details, but Mr. Cazalette
+showed the keenest interest in them, and would not be kept from the
+doctor's elbows. He was pertinacious in questioning them.
+
+"And what sort of a weapon was it, d'ye suppose that the assassin
+used?" he asked. "That'll be an important thing to know, I'm
+thinking."
+
+"It might have been a seaman's knife," said the police-surgeon. "One
+of those with a long, sharp blade."
+
+"Or," said Dr. Lorrimore, "a stiletto--such as foreigners carry."
+
+"Aye," remarked Mr. Cazalette, "or with an operating knife--such as
+you medicos use. Any one of those fearsome things would serve, no
+doubt. But we'll be doing more good, Middlebrook, just to know what
+the police are finding in the man's pockets."
+
+The police-inspector had got all Quick's belongings in a little heap.
+They were considerable. Over thirty pounds in gold and silver. Twenty
+pounds in notes in an old pocket-book. His watch--certainly a valuable
+one. A pipe, a silver match-box, a tobacco-box of some metal, quaintly
+chased and ornamented. Various other small matters--but, with one
+exception, no papers or letters. The one exception was a slightly
+torn, dirty envelope addressed in an ill-formed handwriting to Mr.
+Salter Quick, care of Mr. Noah Quick, The Admiral Parker, Haulaway
+Street, Devonport. There was no letter inside it, nor was there
+another scrap of writing anywhere about the dead man's pockets.
+
+The police allowed Mr. Cazalette to inspect these things according to
+his fancy. It was very clear to me by that time that the old
+gentleman had some taste for detective work, and I watched him with
+curiosity while he carefully examined Quick's money, his watch (of
+which he took particular notice, even going so far as to jot down its
+number and the name of its maker on his shirt cuff), and the rest of
+his belongings. But nothing seemed to excite his interest very deeply
+until he began to finger the tobacco-box; then, indeed, his eyes
+suddenly coruscated, and he turned to me almost excitedly.
+
+"Middlebrook!" he whispered, edging me away from the others. "Do you
+look here, my lad! D'ye see the inside of the lid of this box? There's
+been something--a design, a plan, something of that sort,
+anyway--scratched into it with the point of a nail, or a knife. Look
+at the lines--and see, there's marks and there's figures! Now I'd like
+to know what all that signifies? What are you going to do with all
+these things?" he asked, turning suddenly on the inspector. "Take them
+away?"
+
+"They'll all be carefully sealed up and locked up till the inquest,
+sir," replied the inspector. "No doubt the dead man's relatives will
+claim them."
+
+Mr. Cazalette laid down the tobacco-box, left the place, and hurried
+away in the direction of the house. Within a few minutes he came
+hurrying back, carrying a camera. He went up to the inspector with an
+almost wheedling air.
+
+"Ye'll just indulge an old man's fancy?" he said, placatingly.
+"There's some queer marking inside the lid of that bit of a box that
+the poor man kept his tobacco in. I'd like to take a photograph of
+them. Man! you don't know that an examination of them mightn't be
+useful."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE NEWS FROM DEVONPORT
+
+
+The police-inspector, a somewhat silent, stolid sort of man, looked
+down from his superior height on Mr. Cazalette's eager face with a
+half-bored, half-tolerant expression; he had already seen a good deal
+of the old gentleman's fussiness.
+
+"What is it about the box?" he demanded.
+
+"Certain marks on it--inside the lid--that I'd like to photograph,"
+answered Mr. Cazalette. "They're small and faint, but if I get a good
+negative of them I can enlarge it. And I say again, you don't know
+what one mightn't find out--any little detail is of value in a case of
+this sort."
+
+The inspector picked up the metal tobacco-box from where it lay amidst
+Quick's belongings and looked inside the lid. It was very plain that
+he saw nothing there but some--to him meaningless scratches and he put
+the thing into Mr. Cazalette's hands with an air of indifference.
+
+"I see no objection," he said. "Let's have it back when you've done
+with it. We shall have to exhibit these personal properties before the
+coroner."
+
+Mr. Cazalette carried his camera and the tobacco-box outside the shed
+in which the dead man's body lay and began to be busy. A gardener's
+potting-table stood against the wall; on this, backed by a black
+cloth which he had brought from the house, he set up the box and
+prepared to photograph it. It was evident that he attached great
+importance to what he was doing.
+
+"I shall take two or three negatives of this, Middlebrook," he
+observed, consequentially. "I'm an expert in photography, and I've got
+an enlarging apparatus in my room. Before the day's out, I shall show
+you something."
+
+Personally, I had seen no more in the inner lid of the tobacco-box
+than the inspector seemed to have seen--a few lines and scratches,
+probably caused by thumb or finger-nail--and I left Mr. Cazalette to
+his self-imposed labours and rejoined the doctors and the police who
+were discussing the next thing to be done. That Quick had been
+murdered there was no doubt; there would have to be an inquest, of
+course, and for that purpose his body would have to be removed to the
+nearest inn, a house on the cross-roads just beyond Ravensdene Court;
+search would have to be set up at once for suspicious characters, and
+Noah Quick, of Devonport, would have to be communicated with.
+
+All this the police took in hand, and I saw that Mr. Raven was
+heartily relieved when he heard that the dead man would be removed
+from his premises and that the inquest would not be held there. Ever
+since I had first broken the news to him, he had been upset and
+nervous: I could see that he was one of those men who dislike fuss and
+publicity. He looked at me with a sort of commiseration when the
+police questioned me closely about my knowledge of Salter Quick's
+movements on the previous day, and especially about his visit to the
+Mariner's Joy.
+
+"Yet," said I, finishing my account of that episode, "it is very
+evident that the man was not murdered for the sake of robbery, seeing
+that his money and his watch were found on him untouched."
+
+The inspector shook his head.
+
+"I'm not so sure," he remarked. "There's one thing that's certain--the
+man's clothes had been searched. Look here!"
+
+He turned to Quick's garments, which had been removed, preparatory to
+laying out the body in decent array for interment, and picked up the
+waistcoat. Within the right side, made in the lining, there was a
+pocket, secured by a stout button. That pocket had been turned inside
+out; so, too, had a pocket in the left hip of the trousers,
+corresponding to that on the right in which Quick had carried the
+revolver that he had shown to us at the inn. The waistcoat was a
+thick, quilted affair--its lining, here and there, had been ripped
+open by a knife. And the lining of the man's hat had been torn out,
+too, and thrust roughly into place again: clearly, whoever killed him
+had searched for something.
+
+"It wasn't money they were after," observed the inspector, "but there
+was an object. He'd that on him that his murderer was anxious to get.
+And the fact that the murderer left all this gold untouched is the
+worst feature of the affair--from our point of view."
+
+"Why, now?" inquired Mr. Raven.
+
+"Because, sir, it shows that the murderer, whoever he was, had plenty
+of money on him," replied the inspector grimly. "And as he had, he'd
+have little difficulty in getting away. Probably he got an early
+morning train, north or south, and is hundreds of miles off by this
+time. But we must do our best--and we'll get to work now."
+
+Leaving everything to the police--obviously with relief and
+thankfulness--Mr. Raven retired from the scene, inviting the two
+medical men and the inspector into the house with him, to take, as he
+phrased, a little needful refreshment; he sent out a servant to
+minister to the constables in the same fashion. Leaving him and his
+guests in the morning-room and refusing Mr. Cazalette's invitation to
+join him in his photographic enterprise, I turned into the big hall
+and there found Miss Raven. I was glad to find her alone; the mere
+sight of her, in her morning freshness, was welcome after the gruesome
+business in which I had just been engaged. I think she saw something
+of my thoughts in my face, for she turned to me sympathetically.
+
+"What a very unfortunate thing that this should have happened at the
+very beginning of your visit!" she exclaimed. "Didn't it give you an
+awful shock, to find that poor fellow?--so unexpectedly!"
+
+"It was certainly not a pleasant experience," I answered. "But--I was
+not quite as surprised as you might think."
+
+"Why not?" she asked.
+
+"Because--I can't explain it, quite--I felt, yesterday, that the man
+was running risks by showing his money as foolishly as he did," I
+replied. "And, of course, when I found him, I thought he'd been
+murdered for his money."
+
+"And yet he wasn't!" she said. "For you say it was all found on him.
+What an extraordinary mystery! Is there no clue? I suppose he must
+really have been killed by that man who was spoken of at the inn? You
+think they met?"
+
+"To tell you the truth," I answered, "at present I don't know what to
+think--except that this is merely a chapter in some mystery--an
+extraordinary one, as you remark. We shall hear more. And, in the
+meantime--a much pleasanter thing--won't you show me round the house?
+Mr. Raven is busy with the police-inspector and the doctors, and--I'm
+anxious to know what the extent of my labours may be."
+
+She at once acquiesced in this proposition, and we began to inspect
+the accumulations of the dead-and-gone master of Ravensdene Court. As
+his successor had remarked in his first letter to me, Mr. John
+Christopher Raven, though obviously a great collector, had certainly
+not been a great exponent of system and order--except in the library
+itself, where all his most precious treasures were stored in tall,
+locked book-presses, his gatherings were lumped together anyhow and
+anywhere, all over the big house--the north wing was indeed a
+lumber-house--he appeared to have bought books, pamphlets, and
+manuscripts by the cart-load, and it was very plain to me, as an
+expert, that the greater part of his possessions of these sorts had
+never even been examined. Before Miss Raven and I had spent an hour in
+going from one room to another I had arrived at two definite
+conclusions--one, that the dead man's collection of books and papers
+was about the most heterogeneous I had ever set eyes on, containing
+much of great value and much of none whatever; the other, that it
+would take me a long time to make a really careful and proper
+examination of it, and longer still to arrange it in proper order.
+Clearly, I should have to engage Mr. Raven in a strictly business
+talk, and find out what his ideas were in regard to putting his big
+library on a proper footing. Mr. Raven at last joined us, in one of
+the much-encumbered rooms. With him was the doctor, Lorrimore, whom he
+had mentioned to me as living near Ravensdene Court. He introduced him
+to his niece, with, I thought, some signs of pleasure; then to me,
+remarking that we had already seen each other in different
+surroundings--now we could foregather in pleasanter ones.
+
+"Dr. Lorrimore," he continued, glancing from me to Miss Raven and then
+to the doctor with a smile that was evidently designed to put us all
+on a friendly footing, "Dr. Lorrimore and I have been having quite a
+good talk. It turns out that he has spent a long time in India. So we
+have a lot in common."
+
+"How very nice for you, Uncle Francis!" said Miss Raven. "I know
+you've been bored to death with having no one you could talk to about
+curries and brandy-pawnees and things--now Dr. Lorrimore will come and
+chat with you. Were you long in India, Dr. Lorrimore?"
+
+"Twelve years," answered the doctor. "I came home just a year ago."
+
+"To bury yourself in these wilds!" remarked Miss Raven. "Doesn't it
+seem quite out of the world here--after that?"
+
+Dr. Lorrimore glanced at Mr. Raven and showed a set of very white
+teeth in a meaning smile. He was a tall, good-looking man, dark of eye
+and hair; moustached and bearded; apparently under forty years of
+age--yet, at each temple, there was the faintest trace of silvery
+grey. A rather notable man, too, I thought, and one who was evidently
+scrupulous about his appearance--yet his faultlessly cut frock suit of
+raven black, his glossy linen, and smart boots looked more fitted to a
+Harley Street consulting-room than to the Northumbrian cottages and
+farmsteads amongst which his lot must necessarily be cast. He
+transferred his somewhat gleaming, rather mechanical smile to Miss
+Raven.
+
+"On the contrary," he said in a quiet almost bantering tone, "this
+seems--quite gay. I was in a part of India where one had to travel
+long distances to see a white patient--and one doesn't count the rest.
+And--I bought this practice, knowing it to be one that would not make
+great demands on my time, so that I could devote myself a good deal to
+certain scientific pursuits in which I am deeply interested. No!--I
+don't feel out of the world, Miss Raven, I assure you."
+
+"He has promised to put in some of his spare time with me, when he
+wants company," said Mr. Raven. "We shall have much in common."
+
+"Dark secrets of a dark country!" remarked Dr. Lorrimore, with a sly
+glance at Miss Raven. "Over our cheroots!"
+
+Then, excusing himself from Mr. Raven's pressing invitation to stay to
+lunch, he took himself off, and my host, his niece, and myself
+continued our investigations. These lasted until the lunch hour--they
+afforded us abundant scope for conversation, too, and kept us from
+any reference to the grim tragedy of the early morning.
+
+Mr. Cazalette made no appearance at lunch. I heard a footman inform
+Miss Raven, in answer to her inquiry, that he had just taken Mr.
+Cazalette's beef-tea to his room and that he required nothing else.
+And I did not see him again until late that afternoon, when, as the
+rest of us were gathered about the tea-table in the hall, before a
+cheery fire, he suddenly appeared, a smile of grim satisfaction on his
+queer old face. He took his usual cup of tea and dry biscuit and sat
+down in silence. But by that time I was getting inquisitive.
+
+"Well, Mr. Cazalette," I said, "have you brought your photographic
+investigations to any successful conclusion?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Cazalette," chimed in Miss Raven, whom I had told of the old
+man's odd fancy about the scratches on the lid of the tobacco-box.
+"We're dying to know if you've found out anything. Have you--and what
+is it?"
+
+He gave us a knowing glance over the rim of his tea-cup.
+
+"Aye!" he said. "Young folks are full of curiosity. But I'm not going
+to say what I've discovered, nor how far my investigations have gone.
+Ye must just die a bit more, Miss Raven, and maybe when ye're on the
+point of demise I'll resuscitate ye with the startling news of my
+great achievements."
+
+I knew by that time that when Mr. Cazalette relapsed into his native
+Scotch he was most serious, and that his bantering tone was assumed as
+a cloak. It was clear that we were not going to get anything out of
+him just then. But Mr. Raven tried another tack, fishing for
+information.
+
+"You really think those marks were made of a purpose, Cazalette?" he
+suggested. "You think they were intentional?"
+
+"I'll not say anything at present," answered Mr. Cazalette. "The
+experiment is in course of process. But I'll say this, as a student of
+this sort of thing--yon murderer was far from the ordinary."
+
+Miss Raven shuddered a little.
+
+"I hope the man who did it is not hanging about!" she said.
+
+Mr. Cazalette shook his head with a knowing gesture.
+
+"Ye need have no fear of that, lassie!" he remarked. "The man that did
+it had put a good many miles between himself and his victim long
+before Middlebrook there made his remarkable discovery."
+
+"Now, how do you know that, Mr. Cazalette?" I asked, feeling a bit
+restive under the old fellow's cock-sureness. "Isn't that guess-work?"
+
+"No!" said he. "It's deduction--and common-sense. Mine's a nature
+that's full of both those highly admirable qualities, Middlebrook."
+
+He went away then, as silently as he had come. And when, a few minutes
+later, I, too, went off to some preliminary work that I had begun in
+the library, I began to think over the first events of the morning,
+and to wonder if I ought not to ask Mr. Cazalette for some explanation
+of the incident of the yew-hedge. He had certainly secreted a piece of
+blood-stained, mud-discoloured linen in that hedge for an hour or so.
+Why? Had it anything to do with the crime? Had he picked it up on the
+beach when he went for his dip? Why was he so secretive about it? And
+why, if it was something of moment, had he not carried it straight to
+his own room in the house, instead of hiding it in the hedge while he
+evidently went back to the house and made his toilet? The circumstance
+was extraordinary, to say the least of it.
+
+But on reflection I determined to hold my tongue and abide my time.
+For anything I knew, Mr. Cazalette might have cut one of his feet on
+the sharp stones on the beach, used his handkerchief to staunch the
+wound, thrown it away into the hedge, and then, with a touch of native
+parsimony, have returned to recover the discarded article. Again, he
+might be in possession of some clue, to which his tobacco-box
+investigations were ancillary--altogether, it was best to leave him
+alone. He was clearly deeply interested in the murder of Salter Quick,
+and I had gathered from his behaviour and remarks that this sort of
+thing--investigation of crime--had a curious fascination for him. Let
+him, then, go his way; something, perhaps, might come of it. One thing
+was very sure, and the old man had grasped it readily--this crime was
+no ordinary one.
+
+As the twilight approached, making my work in the library impossible,
+and having no wish to go on with it by artificial light, I went out
+for a walk. The fascination which is invariably exercised on any of us
+by such affairs led me, half-unconsciously, to the scene of the
+murder. The tide, which had been up in the morning, was now out,
+though just beginning to turn again, and the beach, with its masses
+of bare rock and wide-spreading deposits of sea-weed, looked bleak and
+desolate in the uncertain grey light. But it was not without life--two
+men were standing near the place where I had come upon Salter Quick's
+dead body. Going nearer to them, I recognized one as Claigue, the
+landlord of the Mariner's Joy. He recognized me at the same time, and
+touched his cap with a look that was alike knowing and confidential.
+
+"So it came about as I'd warned him, sir!" he said, without preface.
+"I told him how it would be. You heard me! A man carrying gold about
+him like that!--and showing it to all and sundry. Why, he was asking
+for trouble!"
+
+"The gold was found on him," I answered. "And his watch and other
+things. He wasn't murdered for his property."
+
+Claigue uttered a sharp exclamation. He was evidently taken aback.
+
+"You hadn't heard that, then?" I suggested.
+
+"No," he replied. "I hadn't heard that, sir. Bless me! his money and
+valuables found on him. No! we've heard naught except that he was
+found murdered, here, early this morning. Of course, I concluded that
+it had been for the sake of his money--that he'd been pulling it out
+in some public-house or other, and had been followed. Dear me! that
+puts a different complexion on things. Now, what's the meaning of it,
+in your opinion, sir?"
+
+"I have none," I answered. "The whole thing's a mystery--so far. But,
+as you live hereabouts, perhaps you can suggest something. The
+doctors are of the opinion that he was murdered--here--yesterday
+evening: that his body had been lying here, just above high-water
+mark, since, probably, eight or nine o'clock last night. Now, what
+could he be doing down at this lonely spot? He went inland when he
+left your house."
+
+The man who was with Claigue offered an explanation. There was, he
+said, a coast village or two further along the headlands; it would be
+a short cut to them to follow the beach.
+
+"Yes," said I, "but that would argue that he knew the lie of the land.
+And, according to his own account, he was a complete stranger."
+
+"Aye!" broke in Claigue. "But he wasn't alone, sir, when he came here!
+He'd fallen in with somebody, somewhere, that brought him down
+here--and left him, dead. And--who was it?"
+
+There was no answering that question, and presently we parted, Claigue
+and his companion going back towards his inn, and I to Ravensdene
+Court. The dusk had fallen by that time, and the house was lighted
+when I came back. Entering by the big hall, I saw Mr. Raven, Mr.
+Cazalette, and the police-inspector standing in close conversation by
+the hearth. Mr. Raven beckoned me to approach.
+
+"Here's some most extraordinary news from Devonport--where Quick came
+from," he said. "The inspector wired to the police there this morning,
+telling them to communicate with his brother, whose name, you know,
+was found on him. He's had a wire from them this afternoon--read it!"
+
+He turned to the inspector, who placed a telegram in my hand. It ran
+thus:
+
+     "Noah Quick was found murdered at lonely spot on riverside
+     near Saltash at an early hour this morning. So far no clue
+     whatever to murderer."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+SECRET THEFT
+
+
+I handed the telegram back to the police-inspector with a glance that
+took in the faces of all three men. It was evident that they were
+thinking the same thought that had flashed into my own mind. The
+inspector put it into words.
+
+"This," he said in a low voice, tapping the bit of flimsy paper with
+his finger, "this throws a light on the affair of this morning. No
+ordinary crime, that, gentlemen! When two brothers are murdered on the
+same night, at places hundreds of miles apart, it signifies something
+out of the common. Somebody has had an interest in getting rid of both
+men!"
+
+"Wasn't this Noah Quick mentioned in some paper you found on Salter
+Quick?" I asked.
+
+"An envelope," replied the inspector. "We have it, of course.
+Landlord--so I took it to mean--of the Admiral Parker, Haulaway
+Street, Devonport. I wired to the police authorities there, telling
+them of Salter Quick's death and asking them to communicate at once
+with Noah. Their answer is--this!"
+
+"It'll be at Devonport that the secret lies," observed Mr. Cazalette
+suddenly. "Aye--that's where you'll be seeking for news!"
+
+"We've got none here--about our affair," remarked the inspector. "I
+set all my available staff to work as soon as I got back to
+headquarters this forenoon, and up to the time I set off to show you
+this, Mr. Raven, we'd learned nothing. It's a queer thing, but we
+haven't come across anybody who saw this man after he left you, Mr.
+Middlebrook, yesterday afternoon. You say he turned inland, towards
+Denwick, when he left you after coming out of Claigue's place--well,
+my men have inquired in every village and at every farmstead and
+wayside cottage within an area of ten or twelve miles, and we haven't
+heard a word of him. Where did he go? Whom did he come across?"
+
+"I should say that's obvious," said I. "He came across the man of whom
+he heard at the Mariner's Joy--the man who, like himself, was asking
+for information about an old churchyard in which people called
+Netherfield are buried."
+
+"We've heard all about that from the man who told him--Jim Gelthwaite,
+the drover," replied the inspector. "He's told us of his meeting with
+such a man, a night or two ago. But we can't get any information on
+that point, either. Nobody else seems to have seen that man, any more
+than they've seen Salter Quick!"
+
+"I suppose there are places along this coast where a man might hide?"
+I suggested.
+
+"Caves, now?" put in Mr. Cazalette.
+
+"There may be," admitted the inspector. "Of course I shall have the
+coast searched."
+
+"Aye, but ye'll not find anything--now!" affirmed Mr. Cazalette. "Yon
+man, that Jim the drover told of, he might be hiding here or there in
+a cave, or some out o' the way place, of which there's plenty in this
+part, till he did the deed, but when it was once done, he'd be away!
+The railway's not that far, and there's early morning trains going
+north and south."
+
+"We've been at the railway folk, at all the near stations," remarked
+the inspector. "They could tell nothing. It seems to me," he
+continued, turning to Mr. Raven, and nodding sidewise at Mr.
+Cazalette, "that this gentleman hits the nail on the head when he says
+it's to Devonport that we'll be turning for explanations--I'm coming
+to the conclusion that the whole affair has been engineered from that
+quarter."
+
+"Aye!" said Mr. Cazalette, laconically confident. "Ye'll learn more
+about Salter when ye hear more about Noah. And it's a very bonny
+mystery and with an uncommonly deep bottom to it!"
+
+"I've wired to Devonport for full particulars about the affair there,"
+said the inspector. "No doubt I shall have them by the time our
+inquest opens tomorrow."
+
+I forget whether these particulars had reached him, when, next
+morning, Mr. Raven, Mr. Cazalette, the gamekeeper Tarver, and myself
+walked across the park to the wayside inn to which Salter Quick's body
+had been removed, and where the coroner was to hold his inquiry. I
+remember, however, that nothing was done that morning beyond a merely
+formal opening of the proceedings, and that a telegram was received
+from the police at Devonport in which it was stated that they were
+unable to find out if the two brothers had any near relations--no one
+there knew of any. Altogether, I think, nothing was revealed that day
+beyond what we knew already, and so far as I remember matters, no
+light was thrown on either murder for some time. But I was so much
+interested in the mystery surrounding them that I carefully collected
+all the newspaper accounts concerning the murder at Saltash and that
+at Ravensdene Court, and pasted the clippings into a book, and from
+these I can now give something like a detailed account of all that was
+known of Salter and Noah Quick previous to the tragedies of that
+spring.
+
+Somewhere about the end of the year 1910, Noah Quick, hailing,
+evidently, from nowhere in particular, but, equally evidently, being
+in possession of plenty of cash, became licensee of a small tavern
+called the Admiral Parker, in a back street in Devonport. It was a
+fully-licensed house, and much frequented by seamen. Noah Quick was a
+thick-set, sturdy, middle-aged man, reserved, taciturn, very strict in
+his attention to business; a steady, sober man, keen on money matters.
+He was a bachelor, keeping an elderly woman as housekeeper, a couple
+of stout women servants, a barmaid, and a potman. His house was
+particularly well-conducted; it was mentioned at the inquest on him
+that the police had never once had any complaint in reference to it,
+and that Noah, who had to deal with a rather rough class of customers,
+was peculiarly adept in keeping order--one witness, indeed, said that
+having had opportunities of watching him, he had formed the opinion
+that Noah, before going into the public-house business, had held some
+position of authority and was accustomed to obedience. Everything
+seemed to be going very well with him and the Admiral Parker, when,
+in February, 1912, his brother, Salter Quick, made his appearance in
+Devonport.
+
+Nobody knew anything about Salter Quick, except that he was believed
+to have come to Devonport from Wapping or Rotherhithe, or somewhere
+about those Thames-side quarters. He was very like his brother in
+appearance, and in character, except that he was more sociable, and
+more talkative. He took up his residence at the Admiral Parker, and he
+and Noah evidently got on together very well: they were even
+affectionate in manner toward each other. They were often seen in
+Devonport and in Plymouth in company, but those who knew them best at
+this time noted that they never paid visits to, nor received visits
+from, any one coming within the category of friends or relations. And
+one man, giving evidence at the inquest on Noah Quick, said that he
+had some recollection that Salter, in a moment of confidence, had once
+told him that he and Noah were orphans, and hadn't a blood-relation in
+the world.
+
+According to all that was brought out, matters went quite smoothly and
+pleasantly at the Admiral Parker until the 5th of March, 1912--three
+days, it will be observed, before I myself left London for Ravensdene
+Court. On that date, Salter Quick, who had a banking account at a
+Plymouth bank (to which he had been introduced by Noah, who also
+banked there), cashed a check for sixty pounds. That was in the
+morning--in the early afternoon, he went away, remarking to the
+barmaid at his brother's inn that he was first going to London and
+then north. Noah accompanied him to the railway station. As far as
+any one knew, Salter was not burdened by any luggage, even by a
+handbag.
+
+After he had gone, things went on just as usual at the Admiral Parker.
+Neither the housekeeper, nor the barmaid, nor the potman, could
+remember that the place was visited by any suspicious characters, nor
+that its landlord showed any signs of having any trouble or any
+extraordinary business matters. Everything was as it should be, when,
+on the evening of the 9th of March (the very day on which I met Salter
+Quick on the Northumbrian coast), Noah told his housekeeper and
+barmaid that he had to go over to Saltash, to see a man on business,
+and should be back about closing-time. He went away about seven
+o'clock, but he was not back at closing-time. The potman sat up for
+him until midnight: he was not back then. And none of his people at
+the Admiral Parker heard any more of him until just after breakfast
+next morning, when the police came and told them that their employer's
+body had been found at a lonely spot on the bank of the river a little
+above Saltash, and that he had certainly been murdered.
+
+There were some points of similarity between the murders of Salter
+Quick and Noah Quick. The movements and doings of each man were
+traceable up to a certain point, after which nothing whatever could be
+discovered respecting them. As regards Noah Quick he had crossed the
+river between Keyham and Saltash by the ferry-boat, landing just
+beneath the great bridge which links Devon with Cornwall. It was then
+nearly dark, but he was seen and spoken to by several men who knew him
+well. He was seen, too, to go up the steep street towards the head of
+the queer old village: there he went into one of the inns, had a glass
+of whisky at the bar, exchanged a word or two with some men sitting in
+the parlour, and after awhile, glancing at his watch, went out--and
+was never seen again alive. His dead body was found next morning at a
+lonely spot on an adjacent creek, by a fisherman--like Salter, he had
+been stabbed, and in similar fashion. And as in Salter's case, robbery
+of money and valuables had not been the murderer's object. Noah Quick,
+when found, had money on him, gold, silver; he was also wearing a gold
+watch and chain and a diamond ring; all these things were untouched,
+as if the murderer had felt contemptuous of them. But here again was a
+point of similarity in the two crimes--Noah Quick's pocket's had been
+turned out; the lining of his waistcoat had been slashed and slit; his
+thick reefer jacket had been torn off him and subjected to a similar
+search--its lining was cut to pieces, and it and his overcoat were
+found flung carelessly over the body. Close by lay his hard felt
+hat--the lining had been torn out.
+
+This, according to the evidence given at the inquests and to the facts
+collected by the police at the places concerned, was all that came
+out. There was not the slightest clue in either case. No one could say
+what became of Salter Quick after he left me outside the Mariner's
+Joy; no one knew where Noah Quick went when he walked out of the
+Saltash inn into the darkness. At each inquest a verdict of wilful
+murder against some person or persons unknown was returned, and the
+respective coroners uttered some platitudes about coincidence and
+mystery and all the rest of it. But from all that had transpired it
+seemed to me that there were certain things to be deduced, and I find
+that I tabulated them at the time, writing them down at the end of the
+newspaper clippings, as follows:
+
+1. Salter and Noah Quick were in possession of some secret.
+
+2. They were murdered by men who wished to get possession of it for
+themselves.
+
+3. The actual murderers were probably two members of a gang.
+
+4. Gang--if a gang--and murderers were at large, and, if they had
+secured possession of the secret would be sure to make use of it.
+
+Out of this arose the question--what was the secret? Something, I had
+no doubt whatever, that related to money. But what, and how? I
+exercised my speculative faculties a good deal at the time over this
+matter, and I could not avoid wondering about Mr. Cazalette and the
+yew-hedge affair. He never mentioned it; I was afraid and nervous
+about telling him what I had seen. Nor for some time did he mention
+his tobacco-box labours--indeed, I don't remember that he mentioned
+them directly at all. But, about the time that the inquests on the two
+murdered men came to an end, I observed that Mr. Cazalette, most of
+whose time was devoted to his numismatic work, was spending his
+leisure in turning over whatever books he could come across at
+Ravensdene Court which related to local history and topography; he was
+also studying old maps, charts and the like. Also, he got from London
+the latest Ordnance Map. I saw him studying that with deep attention.
+Yet he said nothing until one day, coming across me in the library,
+alone, he suddenly plumped me with a question.
+
+"Middlebrook!" said he, "the name which that poor man mentioned to you
+as you talked with him on the cliff was--Netherfield?"
+
+"Netherfield," said I. "That was it--Netherfield."
+
+"He said there were Netherfields buried hereabouts?" he asked.
+
+"Just so--in some churchyard or other," I answered. "What of it, Mr.
+Cazalette?"
+
+He helped himself to a pinch of snuff, as if to assist his thoughts.
+
+"Well," said he presently, "and it's a queer thing that at the time of
+the inquest nobody ever thought of inquiring if there is such a
+churchyard and such graves."
+
+"Why didn't you suggest it?" I asked.
+
+"I'd rather find it out for myself," said he, with a knowing look.
+"And if you want to know, I've been trying to do so. But I've looked
+through every local history there is--and I think the late John
+Christopher Raven collected every scrap of printed stuff relating to
+this corner of the country that's ever left a press--and I can't find
+any reference to such a name."
+
+"Parish registers?" I suggested.
+
+"Aye, I thought of that," he said. "Some of 'em have been printed, and
+I've consulted those that have, without result. And, Middlebrook, I'm
+more than ever convinced that yon dead man knew what he was talking
+about, and that there's dead and gone Netherfields lying somewhere in
+this quarter, and that the secret of his murder is, somehow, to be
+found in their ancient tombs! Aye!"
+
+He took another big pinch of snuff, and looked at me as if to find out
+whether or no I agreed with him. Then I let out a question.
+
+"Mr. Cazalette, have you found out anything from your photographic
+work on that tobacco-box lid?" I asked. "You thought you might."
+
+Much to my astonishment, he turned and shuffled away.
+
+"I'm not through with that matter, yet," he answered.
+"It's--progressing."
+
+I told Miss Raven of this little conversation. She and I were often
+together in the library; we often discussed the mystery of the
+murders.
+
+"What was there, really, on the lid of the tobacco-box?" she asked.
+"Anything that could actually arouse curiosity?"
+
+"I think Mr. Cazalette exaggerated their importance," I replied, "but
+there were certainly some marks, scratches, which seemed to have been
+made by design."
+
+"And what," she asked again, "did Mr. Cazalette think they might
+mean?"
+
+"Heaven knows!" I answered. "Some deep and dark clue to Quick's
+murder, I suppose."
+
+"I wish I had seen the tobacco-box," she remarked. "Interesting,
+anyway."
+
+"That's easy enough," said I. "The police have it--and all the rest of
+Quick's belongings. If we walked over to the police-station, the
+inspector would willingly show it to you."
+
+I saw that this proposition attracted her--she was not beyond feeling
+something of the fascination which is exercised upon some people by
+the inspection of the relics of strange crimes.
+
+"Let us go, then," she said. "This afternoon?"
+
+I had a mind, myself, to have another look at that tobacco-box; Mr.
+Cazalette's hints about it, and his mysterious secrecy regarding his
+photographic experiments, made me inquisitive. So after lunch that day
+Miss Raven and I walked across country to the police-station, where we
+were shown into the presence of the inspector, who, in the midst of
+his politeness, frankly showed his wonder at our pilgrimage.
+
+"We have come with an object," said I, giving him an informing glance.
+"Miss Raven, like most ladies, is not devoid of curiosity. She wishes
+to see that metal tobacco-box which was found on Salter Quick."
+
+The inspector laughed.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed. "The thing that the old gentleman--what's his
+name? Mr. Cazalette?--was so keen about photographing. Why, I don't
+know--I saw nothing but two or three surface scratches inside the lid.
+Has he discovered anything?"
+
+"That," I answered, "is only known to Mr. Cazalette himself. He
+preserves a strict silence on that point. He is very mysterious about
+the matter. It is his secrecy, and his mystery, that makes Miss Raven
+inquisitive."
+
+"Well," remarked the inspector, indulgently, "it's a curiosity that
+can very easily be satisfied. I've got all Quick's belongings
+here--just as they were put together after being exhibited before the
+coroner." He unlocked a cupboard and pointed to two bundles--one, a
+large one, was done up in linen; the other, a small one, in a wrapping
+of canvas. "That," he continued, pointing to the linen-covered
+package, "contains his clothing; this, his effects: his money, watch
+and chain, and so on. It's sealed, as you see, but we can put fresh
+seals on after breaking these."
+
+"Very kind of you to take so much trouble," said Miss Raven. "All to
+satisfy a mere whim."
+
+The inspector assured her that it was no trouble, and broke the seals
+of the small, carefully-wrapped package. There, neatly done up, were
+the dead man's effects, even down to his pipe and pouch. His money was
+there, notes, gold, silver, copper; there was a stump of lead-pencil
+and a bit of string; every single thing found upon him had been kept.
+But the tobacco-box was not there.
+
+"I--I don't see it!" exclaimed the inspector. "How's this?"
+
+He turned the things over again, and yet again--there was no
+tobacco-box. And at that, evidently vexed and perplexed, he rang a
+bell and asked for a particular constable, who presently entered. The
+inspector indicated the various properties.
+
+"Didn't you put these things together when the inquest was over?" he
+demanded. "They were all lying on the table at the inquest--we showed
+them there. I told you to put them up and bring them here and seal
+them."
+
+"I did, sir," answered the man. "I put together everything that was on
+the table, at once. The package was never out of my hands till I got
+it here, and sealed it. Sergeant Brown and myself counted the money,
+sir."
+
+"The money is all right," observed the inspector. "But there's a metal
+box--a tobacco-box--missing. Do you remember it?"
+
+"Can't say that I do, sir," replied the constable. "I packed up
+everything that was there."
+
+The inspector nodded a dismissal; when we were alone again, he turned
+to Miss Raven and me with a queer expression.
+
+"That box has been abstracted at the inquest!" he said, "Now then!--by
+whom?--and why?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+YELLOWFACE
+
+
+It was very evident that the inspector was considerably puzzled, not
+to say upset, by the disappearance of the tobacco-box, and I fancied
+that I saw the real reason of his discomfiture. He had poohpoohed Mr.
+Cazalette's almost senile eagerness about the thing, treating his
+request as of no importance; now he suddenly discovered that somebody
+had conceived a remarkable interest in the tobacco-box and had
+cleverly annexed it--under his very eyes--and he was angry with
+himself for his lack of care and perception. I was not indisposed to
+banter him a little.
+
+"The second of your questions might be easily answered," I said. "The
+thing has been appropriated because somebody believes, as Mr.
+Cazalette evidently does, or did, that there may be a clue in those
+scratches, or marks, on the inside of the lid. But as to who it was
+that believed this, and managed to secrete the box--that's a far
+different matter!"
+
+He was thinking, and presently he nodded his head.
+
+"I can call to mind everybody who sat round that table, where these
+things were laid out," he remarked, confidently. "There were two or
+three officials, like myself. There was our surgeon and Dr. Lorrimore.
+Two or three of the country gentlemen--all magistrates; all well known
+to me. And at the foot of the table there were a couple of reporters:
+I know them, too, well enough. Now, who, out of that lot, would be
+likely to steal--for that's what it comes to--this tobacco-box? A
+thing that had scarcely been mentioned--if at all--during the
+proceedings!"
+
+"Well, I don't know," I remarked. "But you're forgetting one thing,
+inspector. That's--curiosity!"
+
+He looked at me blankly--clearly, he did not understand. Neither, I
+saw, did Miss Raven.
+
+"There are some people," I continued, "who have an itching--perhaps a
+morbid--desire to collect and possess relics, mementoes of crime and
+criminals. I know a man who has a cabinet filled with such
+things--very proud of the fact that he owns a flute which once
+belonged to Charles Pease; a purse that was found on Frank Muller; a
+reputed riding-whip of Dick Turpin's and the like. How do you know
+that one or other of the various men who sat round the table you're
+talking of hasn't some such mania and appropriated the tobacco-box as
+a memento of the Ravensdene Court mania?"
+
+"I don't know," he replied. "But I don't think it likely: I know the
+lot of them, more or less, and I think they've all too much sense."
+
+"All the same, the thing's gone," I remarked. "And you'll excuse me
+for saying it--you're a bit concerned by its disappearance."
+
+"I am!" he said, frankly. "And I'll tell you why. It's just because no
+particular attention was drawn to it at the inquest. So far as I remember
+it was barely mentioned--if it was, it was only as one item, an
+insignificant one, amongst more important things; the money, the watch and
+chain, and so on. But--somebody--somebody there!--considered it of so
+much importance as to appropriate it. Therefore, it is--just what I
+thought it wasn't--a matter of moment. I ought to have taken more care
+about it, from the time Mr. Cazalette first drew my attention to those
+marks inside the lid."
+
+"You're sure that it was on the table at the inquest?" I suggested.
+
+"I'm sure of that," he replied with conviction, "for I distinctly
+remember laying out the various objects myself. When the inquest was
+over, I told the man you've just seen to put them all together and to
+seal the package when he brought it back here. No--that tobacco-box
+was picked up--stolen--off that table."
+
+"Then there's more in the matter than lies on the surface," said I.
+
+"Evidently," said he. He looked dubiously from Miss Raven to myself.
+"I suppose the old gentleman--Mr. Cazalette--is to be--trusted? I
+mean--you don't think that he's found out anything with his
+photography, and is keeping it dark?"
+
+"Miss Raven and myself," I replied, "know nothing whatever of Mr.
+Cazalette except that he is a famous authority on coins and medals, a
+very remarkable person for his age, and Mr. Raven's guest. As to his
+keeping the result of his investigations dark, I should say that no
+one could do that sort of thing better!"
+
+"Aye, so I guessed," muttered the inspector. "I wish he'd tell us,
+though, if he has discovered anything. But I suppose he'll take his
+time?"
+
+"Precisely," said I. "Men like Mr. Cazalette do. Time is regarded by
+men of his peculiar temperament in somewhat different fashion to the
+way in which we younger folk regard it--having come a long way along
+the road of life, they refuse to be hurried. Well--I suppose you'll
+make some inquiries about that box? By the way, if it's not a
+professional secret, have you heard any more of the affair at
+Saltash?"
+
+"They haven't found out another thing," he answered, with a shake of
+the head. "That's as big a mystery as this!
+
+"What do you think, from your standpoint, of the two affairs?" I
+asked, more for the delectation of Miss Raven than for my own
+satisfaction--I knew she was curious about the double mystery. "Have
+you formed any conclusion?"
+
+"I've thought a great deal about it," he replied. "It seems to me that
+the two brothers, Salter and Noah Quick, were men who had what's
+commonly called a past, and that there was some strange secret in
+it--probably one of money. I think that in their last days they were
+tracked, shadowed, whatever you like to call it, by some old
+associates of theirs, who murdered them in the expectation of getting
+hold of something--papers, or what not. And what I would like to know
+is--why did Salter Quick come down here, to this particular bit of the
+North Country?"
+
+"He said--to look for the graves of his ancestors on the mother's
+side, the Netherfields," I answered.
+
+"Aye, well!" remarked the inspector, almost triumphantly. "I know he
+did--but I've had the most careful inquires made. There isn't such a
+name in any churchyard of these parts. There isn't such a name in any
+parish register between Alnmouth Bay and Fenham Flats--and that's a
+pretty good stretch of country! I set to work on those investigations
+as soon as you told me about your first meeting with Salter Quick, and
+every beneficed clergyman and parish clerk in the district--and
+further afield--has been at work. The name of Netherfield is
+absolutely unknown--in the past or present."
+
+"And yet," suddenly broke in Miss Raven, "it was not Salter Quick
+alone who was seeking the graves of the Netherfields! There was
+another man."
+
+The inspector gave her an appreciative look.
+
+"The most mysterious feature of the whole case!" he exclaimed. "You're
+right, Miss Raven! There was another man--asking for the same
+information. Who was he! Where is he? If only I could clap a hand on
+him----"
+
+"You think you'd be clapping a hand on Salter Quick's murderer?" I
+said sharply.
+
+To my surprise he gave me an equally sharp look and shook his head.
+
+"I'm not at all sure of that, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered quietly.
+"Not at all sure! But I think I could get some information out of him
+that I should be very glad to secure."
+
+Miss Raven and I rose to leave; the inspector accompanied us to the
+door of the police-station. And as we were thanking him for his polite
+attentions, a man came along the street, and paused close by us,
+looking inquiringly at the building from which we had just emerged and
+at our companion's smart semi-uniform. Finally, as we were about to
+turn away, he touched his cap.
+
+"Begging your pardon," he said; "is this here the police office?"
+
+There was a suggestion in the man's tone which made me think that he
+had come there with a particular object, and I looked at him more
+attentively. He was a shortish, thick-set man, hound-faced, frank of
+eye and lip; no beauty, for he had a shock of sandy-red hair and three
+or four days' stubble on his cheeks and chin; yet his apparent
+frankness and a certain steadiness of gaze set him up as an honest
+fellow. His clothing was rough; there were bits of straw, hay, wood
+about it, as if he were well acquainted with farming life; in his
+right hand he carried a stout ash-plant stick.
+
+"You are right, my friend," answered the inspector. "It is! What are
+you wanting?"
+
+The man looked up the steps at his informant with a glance in which
+there was a decided sense of humour. Something in the situation seemed
+to amuse him.
+
+"You'll not know me," he replied. "My name's Beeman--James Beeman. I
+come fro' near York. I'm t' chap 'at were mentioned by one o' t'
+witnesses at t' inquest on that strange man 'at were murdered
+hereabouts. I should ha' called to see you about t' matter before now,
+but I've nobbut just come back into this part o' t' country; I been
+away up i' t' Cheviot Hills there."
+
+"Oh?" said the inspector. "And--what mention was made of you?"
+
+James Beeman showed a fine set of teeth in a grin that seemed to
+stretch completely across his homely face.
+
+"I'm t' chap 'at were spoken of as asking about t' graves o' t'
+Netherfield family," he answered. "You know--on t' roadside one night,
+off a fellow 'at I chanced to meet wi' outside Lesbury. That's who I
+am!"
+
+The inspector turned to Miss Raven and myself with a look which meant
+more than he could express in words.
+
+"Talk about coincidence!" he whispered. "This is the very man we'd
+just mentioned. Come back to my office and hear what he's got to tell.
+Follow me," he continued, beckoning the caller. "I'm much obliged to
+you for coming. Now," he continued, when all four of us were within
+his room. "What can you tell me about that? What do you know about the
+grave of the Netherfields?"
+
+Beeman laughed, shaking his round head. Now that his old hat was
+removed, the fiery hue of his poll was almost alarming in its
+crudeness of hue.
+
+"Nowt," he said. "Nowt at all! I'll tell you all about it--that's what
+I've comed here for, hearing as you were wondering who I was and what
+had come o' me. I come up here--yes, it were on t' sixth o' March--to
+see about some sheep stock for our maister, Mr. Dimbleby, and I put up
+for t' first night at a temp'rance i' Alnwick yonder. But of course,
+temp'rances is all right for sleeping and braikfasting, but nowt for
+owt else, so when I'd tea'd there, I went down t' street for a
+comfortable public, where I could smoke my pipe and have a glass or
+two. And while I was there, a man come in 'at, from his description
+i' t' papers, 'ud be this here fellow that were murdered. I didn't
+talk none to him, but, after a bit, I heard him talking to t'
+landlord. And, after a deal o' talk about fishing hereabouts, I heard
+him asking t' landlord, as seemed to be a gr't fisherman and knew all
+t' countryside, if he knew any places, churchyards, where there were
+Netherfields buried? He talked so much about 'em, 'at 't name got
+right fixed on my mind. T' next day I had business outside Alnwick, at
+one or two farms, and that night I made further north, to put up at
+Embleton. Now then, as I were walking that way, after dark I chanced
+in wi' a man near Lesbury, and walked wi' him a piece, and I asked
+him, finding he were a native, if he knew owt o' t' Netherfield
+graves. And that 'ud be t' man 'at tell'd you 'at he'd met such a
+person. All right!--I'm t' person.'
+
+"Then you merely asked the question out of curiosity?" suggested the
+inspector.
+
+"Aye--just 'cause I'd heard t' strange man inquire," assented Beeman.
+"I just wondered if it were some family o' what they call
+consequence."
+
+"You never saw the man again whom you speak of as having seen at
+Alnwick?" the inspector asked. "And had no direct conversation with
+him yourself?"
+
+"Never saw t' fellow again, nor had a word with him," replied Beeman.
+"He had his glass or two o' rum, and went away. But I reckon he was t'
+man who was murdered."
+
+"And where have you been, yourself, since the time you tell us about?"
+asked the inspector.
+
+"Right away across country," answered Beeman readily. "I went across
+to Chillingham and Wooler, then forrard to some farms i' t' Cheviots,
+and back by Alnham and Whittingham to Alnwick. And then I heard all
+about this affair, and so I thought good to come and tell you what bit
+I knew."
+
+"I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Beeman," said the inspector. "You've
+cleared up something, at any rate. Are you going to stay longer in the
+neighbourhood?"
+
+"I shall be here--leastways, at Alnwick yonder, at t' Temp'rance--for
+two or three days yet, while I've collected some sheep together 'at
+I've bowt for our maister, on one farm and another," replied Beeman.
+"Then I shall be away. But if you ever want me, at t' 'Sizes, or wot
+o' that sort, my directions is James Beeman, foreman to Mr. Thomas
+Dimbleby, Cross-houses Manor, York."
+
+When this candid and direct person had gone, the inspector looked at
+Miss Raven and me with glances that indicated a good deal.
+
+"That settles one point and seems to establish another," he remarked
+significantly. "Salter Quick was not murdered by somebody who had come
+into these parts on the same errand as himself. He was murdered by
+somebody who was--here already!"
+
+"And who met him?" I suggested.
+
+"And who met him," assented the inspector. "And now I'm more anxious
+than ever to know if there is anything in that tobacco-box theory of
+Mr. Cazalette's. Couldn't you young people cajole Mr. Cazalette into
+telling you a little? Surely he would oblige you, Miss Raven?"
+
+"There are moments when Mr. Cazalette is approachable," replied Miss
+Raven. "There are others at which I should as soon think of asking a
+question of the Sphinx."
+
+"Wait!" said I. "Mr. Cazalette, I firmly believe, knows something. And
+now--you know more than you did. One mystery has gone by the board."
+
+"It leaves the main one all the blacker," answered the inspector.
+"Who, of all the folk in these parts, is one to suspect? Yet--it would
+seem that Salter Quick found somebody here to whom his presence was so
+decidedly unwelcome that there was nothing for it but--swift and
+certain death! Why? Well--death ensures silence."
+
+Miss Raven and I took our leave for the second time. We walked some
+distance from the police-station before exchanging a word: I do not
+know what she was thinking of; as for myself, I was speculating on the
+change in my opinion brought about by the rough-and-ready statement of
+the brusque Yorkshireman. For until then I had firmly believed that
+the man who had accosted our friend of the Mariner's Joy, Jim
+Gelthwaite, the drover, was the man who had murdered Salter Quick. My
+notion was that this man, whoever he was, had foregathered somewhere
+with Quick, that they were known to each other, and had a common
+object, and that he had knifed Quick for purposes of his own. And now
+that idea was exploded, and so far as I could see, the search for the
+real assassin was yet to begin.
+
+Suddenly Miss Raven spoke.
+
+"I suppose it's scarcely possible that the murderer was present at
+that inquest?" she asked, half-timidly, as if afraid of my ridiculing
+her suggestion.
+
+"Quite possible," said I. "The place was packed to the doors with all
+sorts of people. But why?"
+
+"I thought perhaps that he might have contrived to abstract that
+tobacco-box, knowing that as long as it was in the hands of the police
+there might be some clue to his identity," she suggested.
+
+"Good notion!" I replied. "But there's just one thing against it. If
+the murderer had known that, if he felt that, he'd have secured the
+box when he searched Quick's clothing, as he undoubtedly did."
+
+"Of course!" she admitted. "I ought to have thought of that. But there
+are such a lot of things to think of in connection with this
+case--threads interwoven with each other."
+
+"You've been thinking much about it?" I asked.
+
+She made no reply for a moment, and I waited, wondering.
+
+"I don't think it's a very comfortable thing to know that one's had a
+particularly brutal murder at one's very door and that, for all one
+knows, the murderer may still be close at hand," she said at last.
+"There's such a disagreeable feeling of uneasiness about this affair.
+I know that Uncle Francis is most awfully upset by it."
+
+I looked at her in some surprise. I had not seen any marked signs of
+concern in Mr. Raven.
+
+"I hadn't observed that," I said.
+
+"Perhaps not," she answered. "But I know him better. He's an unusually
+nervous man. Do you know that since this happened he's taken to going
+round the house every night, examining doors and windows?--And--he's
+begun to carry a revolver."
+
+The last statement made me think. Why should Mr. Raven expect--or, if
+not expect, be afraid of, any attack on himself? But before I could
+make any comment on my companion's information, my attention to the
+subject was diverted. All that afternoon the weather had been
+threatening to break--there was thunder about. And now, with startling
+suddenness, a flash of lightning was followed by a sharp crack, and
+that on the instant by a heavy downpour of rain. I glanced at Miss
+Raven's light dress--early spring though it was, the weather had been
+warm for more than a week, and she had come out in things that would
+be soaked through in a moment. But just then we were close to an old
+red-brick house, which stood but a yard or two back from the road, and
+was divided from it by nothing but a strip of garden. It had a deep
+doorway, and without ceremony, I pushed open the little gate in front,
+and drew Miss Raven within its shelter. We had not stood there many
+seconds, our back to the door (which I never heard opened), when a
+soft mellifluous voice sounded close to my startled ear.
+
+"Will you not step inside and shelter from the storm?"
+
+Twisting round sharply, I found myself staring at the slit-like eyes
+and old parchment-hued face of a smiling Chinaman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+WAS IT A WOMAN?
+
+
+Had Miss Raven and I suddenly been caught up out of that little coast
+village and transported to the far East on a magic carpet, to be set
+down in the twinkling of an eye on some Oriental threshold, we could
+scarcely have been more surprised than we were at the sight of that
+bland, smiling countenance. For the moment I was at a loss to think
+who and what the man could be; he was in the dress of his own country,
+a neat, close-fitting, high-buttoned blue jacket; there was a little
+cap on his head, and a pigtail dependent from behind it--I was not
+sufficiently acquainted with Chinese costumes to gather any idea of
+his rank or position from these things--for aught I knew to the
+contrary, he might be a mandarin who, for some extraordinary reason,
+had found his way to this out-of-the-world spot. And my answer to his
+courteous invitation doubtless sounded confused and awkward.
+
+"Oh, thank you," I said, "pray don't let us put you to any trouble. If
+we may just stand under your porch a moment--"
+
+He stood a little aside, waving us politely into the hall behind him.
+
+"Dr. Lorrimore would be very angry with me if I allowed a lady and
+gentleman to stand in his door and did not invite them into his
+house," he said, in the same even, mellifluous tones. "Please to
+enter."
+
+"Oh, is this Dr. Lorrimore's?" I said. "Thank you--we'll come in. Is
+Dr. Lorrimore at home?"
+
+"Presently," he answered. "He is in the village."
+
+He closed the door as we entered, passed us with a bow, preceded us
+along the hall, and threw open the door of a room which looked out on
+a trim garden at the rear of the house. Still smiling and bland he
+invited us to be seated, and then, with another bow, left the room,
+apparently walking on velvet. Miss Raven and I glanced at each other.
+
+"So Dr. Lorrimore has a Chinese man servant?" she said.
+"How--picturesque!"
+
+"Um!" I muttered.
+
+She gave me a questioning, half-amused glance, and dropped her voice.
+
+"Don't you like--Easterns?" she whispered.
+
+"I like 'em in the East," I replied. "In Northumberland they
+don't--shall we say they don't fit in with the landscape."
+
+"I think he fits in--here," she retorted, looking round. "This is a
+bit Oriental."
+
+She was right in that. The room into which we had been ushered was
+certainly suggestive of what one had heard of India. There were fine
+Indian rugs on the floor; ivories and brasses in the cabinets; the
+curtains were of fabric that could only have come out of some Eastern
+bazaar; there was a faint, curious scent of sandal-wood and of dried
+rose-leaves. And on the mantelpiece, where, in English households, a
+marble clock generally stands, reposed a peculiarly ugly Hindu god,
+cross-legged, hideous of form, whose baleful eyes seemed to follow all
+our movements.
+
+"Yes," I admitted, reflectively. "I think he fits in--here. Dr.
+Lorrimore said he had been in India for some years, didn't he? He
+appears to have brought some of it home with him."
+
+"I suppose this is his drawing-room," said Miss Raven. "Now, if only
+it looked out on palm-trees, and--and all other things that one
+associates with India."
+
+"Just so," said I. "What it does look out on, however, is a typical
+English garden on which, at present, about a ton of rain is
+descending. And we are nearly three miles from Ravensdene Court!"
+
+"Oh, but it won't keep on like that, for long," she said. "And I suppose,
+if it does, that we can get some sort of a conveyance--perhaps, Dr.
+Lorrimore has a brougham that he'd lend us."
+
+"I don't think that's very likely," said I. "The country practitioner,
+I think, is more dependent on a bicycle than on a brougham. But here
+is Dr. Lorrimore."
+
+I had just caught sight of him as he entered his garden by a door set
+in its ivy-covered wall. He ran hastily up the path to the
+house--within a minute or two, divested of his mackintosh, he opened
+the door of our room.
+
+"So glad you were near enough to turn in here for shelter!" he
+exclaimed, shaking hands with us warmly. "I see that neither of you
+expected rain--now, I did, and I went out prepared."
+
+"We made for the first door we saw," said Miss Raven. "But we'd no
+idea it was yours, Dr. Lorrimore. And do tell me!--the Chinese," she
+continued, in a whisper. "Is he your man-servant?"
+
+Lorrimore laughed, rubbing his hands together. That day he was not in
+the solemn, raven-hued finery in which he had visited Ravensdene
+Court; instead he wore a suit of grey tweed, in which, I thought, he
+looked rather younger and less impressive than in black. But he was
+certainly no ordinary man, and as he stood there smiling at Miss
+Raven's eager face, I felt conscious that he was the sort of somewhat
+mysterious, rather elusive figure in which women would naturally be
+interested.
+
+"Man-servant!" he said, with another laugh. "He's all the servant I've
+got. Wing--he's too or three other monosyllabic patronymics, but Wing
+suffices--is an invaluable person. He's a model cook, valet,
+launderer, general factotum--there's nothing that he can't or won't
+do, from making the most perfect curries--I must have Mr. Raven to try
+them against the achievements of his man!--to taking care about the
+halfpennies, when he goes his round of the tradesmen. Oh, he's a
+treasure--I assure you, Miss Raven, you could go the round of this
+house, at any moment, without finding a thing out of place or a speck
+of dust in any corner. A model!"
+
+"You brought him from India, I suppose?" said I.
+
+"I brought him from India, yes," he answered. "He'd been with me for
+some time before I left. So, of course, we're thoroughly used to each
+other."
+
+"And does he really like living--here?" asked Miss Raven. "In such
+absolutely different surroundings?"
+
+"Oh, well, I think he's a pretty good old hand at making the best of the
+moment," laughed Lorrimore. "He's a philosopher. Deep--inscrutable--in
+short, he's Chinese. He has his own notions of happiness. At present he's
+supremely happy in getting you some tea--you mightn't think it, but that
+saffron-faced Eastern can make an English plum-cake that would put the
+swellest London pastry-cook to shame! You must try it!"
+
+The Chinaman presently summoned us to tea, which he had laid out in
+another room--obviously Lorrimore's dining-room. There was nothing
+Oriental in that; rather, it was eminently Victorian, an affair of
+heavy furniture, steel engravings, and an array, on the sideboard, of
+what, I suppose, was old family plate. Wing ushered us and his master
+in with due ceremony and left us; when the door had closed on him,
+Lorrimore gave us an arch glance.
+
+"You see how readily and skilfully that chap adapts himself to the
+needs of the moment," he said. "Now, you mightn't think it, but this
+is the very first time I have ever been honoured with visitors to
+afternoon tea. Observe how Wing immediately falls in with English
+taste and custom! Without a word from me, out comes the silver
+tea-pot, the best china, the finest linen! He produces his choicest
+plum-cake; the bread-and-butter is cut with wafer-like thinness; and
+the tea--ah, well, no Englishwoman, Miss Raven, can make tea as a
+Chinese man-servant can!"
+
+"It's quite plain that you've got a treasure in your house, Dr.
+Lorrimore," said Miss Raven. "But then, the Chinese are very clever,
+aren't they?"
+
+"Very remarkable people, indeed," assented our host. "Shrewd,
+observant, penetrative. I have often wondered if this man of mine
+would find any great difficulty in seeing through a brick wall!"
+
+"He would be a useful person, perhaps, in solving the present
+mystery," said I. "The police seem to have got no further."
+
+"Ah, the Quick business?" remarked Lorrimore. "Um!--well, as regards
+that, it seems to me that whatever light is thrown on it will have to
+be thrown from the other angle--from Devonport. From all that I heard
+and gathered, it's very evident that what is really wanted is a strict
+examination into the immediate happenings at Noah Quick's inn, and
+also into the antecedents of Noah and Salter. But is there anything
+fresh?"
+
+I told him, briefly, all that had happened that afternoon--of the
+information given by James Beeman and of the disappearance of the
+tobacco-box.
+
+"That's odd!" he remarked. "Let's see--it was the old gentleman I saw
+at Ravensdene Court who had some fancy about that box, wasn't it?--Mr.
+Cazalette. What was his idea, now?"
+
+"Mr. Cazalette," I replied, "saw, or fancied he saw, certain marks or
+scratches within the lid of the box which he took to have some
+meaning: they were, he believed, made with design--with some purpose.
+He thought that by photographing them, and then enlarging his
+photograph, he would bring out those marks more clearly, and possibly
+find out what they were really meant for."
+
+"Yes?" said Lorrimore. "Well--what has he discovered?"
+
+"Up to now nobody knows," said Miss Raven. "Mr. Cazalette won't tell
+us anything."
+
+"That looks as if he had discovered something," observed Lorrimore.
+"But--old gentlemen are a little queer, and a little vain. Perhaps
+he's suddenly going to let loose a tremendous theory and wants to
+perfect it before he speaks. Oh, well!" he added, almost
+indifferently, "I've known a good many murder mysteries in my
+time--out in India--and I always found that the really good way of
+getting at the bottom of them was to go right back!--as far back as
+possible. If I were the police in charge of these cases, I should put
+one question down before me and do nothing until I'd exhausted every
+effort to solve it."
+
+"And that would be--what?" I asked.
+
+"This," said he. "What were the antecedents of Noah and Salter Quick?"
+
+"You think they had a past?" suggested Miss Raven.
+
+"Everybody has a past," answered Lorrimore. "It may be this; it may be
+that. But nearly all the problems of the present have their origin and
+solution in the past. Find out what and where those two middle-aged
+men had been, in their time!--and then there'll be a chance to work
+forward."
+
+The rain cleared off soon after we had finished tea, and presently
+Miss Raven and I took our leave. Lorrimore informed us that Mr. Raven
+had asked him to dinner on the following evening; he would accordingly
+see us again very soon.
+
+"It will be quite an event for me!" he said, gaily, as he opened his
+garden gate. "I live like an anchorite in this place. A little--a
+very little practice--the folk are scandalously healthy!--and a great
+deal of scientific investigation--that's my lot."
+
+"But you have a treasure of a servant," observed Miss Raven. "Please
+tell him that his plum-cake was perfection."
+
+The Chinaman was just then standing at the open door, in waiting on
+his master. Miss Raven threw him a laughing nod to which he responded
+with a deep bow--we left them with that curious picture in our minds:
+Lorrimore, essentially English in spite of his long residence in the
+East; the Chinaman, bland, suave, smiling.
+
+"A curious pair and a strange combination!" I remarked as we walked
+away. "That house, at any rate, has a plenitude of brain-power in it.
+What amazes me is that a clever chap like Master Wing should be
+content to bury his talents in a foreign place, out of the world--to
+make curries and plum-cake!"
+
+"Perhaps he has a faithful devotion to his master," said Miss Raven.
+"Anyway, it's very romantic, and picturesque, and that sort of thing,
+to find a real live Chinaman in an English village--I wonder if the
+poor man gets teased about his queer clothes and his pigtail?"
+
+"Didn't Lorrimore say he was a philosopher?" said I. "Therefore he'll
+be indifferent to criticism. I dare say he doesn't go about much."
+
+That the Chinaman was not quite a recluse, however, I discovered a day
+or two later, when, going along the headlands for a solitary stroll
+after a stiff day's work in the library, I turned into the Mariner's
+Joy for a glass of Claigue's undeniably good ale. Wing was just coming
+out of the house as I entered it. He was as neat, as bland, and as
+smiling as when I saw him before; he was still in his blue jacket, his
+little cap. But he was now armed with a very large umbrella, and on
+one arm he carried a basket, filled with small parcels; evidently he
+had been on a shopping expedition. He greeted me with a deep obeisance
+and respectful smile and went on his way--I entered the inn and found
+its landlord alone in his bar-parlour.
+
+"You get some queer customers in here, Mr. Claigue," I observed as he
+attended to my modest wants. "Yet it's not often, I should think, that
+a real live Chinaman walks in on you."
+
+"He's been in two or three times, that one," replied Claigue.
+"Chinaman he is, no doubt, sir, but it strikes me he must know as much
+of this country as he knows of his own, for he speaks our tongue like
+a native--a bit soft and mincing-like, but never at a loss for a word.
+Dr. Lorrimore's servant, I understand."
+
+"He has been in Dr. Lorrimore's service for some years," I answered.
+"No doubt he's had abundant opportunities of picking up the language.
+Still--it's an odd sight to see a Chinaman, pigtail and all, in these
+parts, isn't it?"
+
+"Well, I've had all sorts in here, time and again," replied Claigue
+reflectively. "Sailor men, mostly. But," he added, with a meaning
+look, "of all the lot, that poor chap as got knifed the other week was
+the most mysterious! What do you make of it, sir?"
+
+"I don't know what to make of it," said I. "I don't think anybody
+knows what to make of it. The police don't, anyhow!"
+
+"The police!" he exclaimed, with a note of derision. "Yah! they're
+worse than a parcel of old women! Have they ever tried? Just a bit of
+surface inquiry--and the thing slips past. Of course, the man was a
+stranger. Nobody cares; that's about it. My notion is that the police
+don't care the value of that match whether the thing's ever cleared up
+or not. Nine days' wonder, you know, Mr. Middlebrook. Still--there's a
+deal of talk about."
+
+"I suppose you hear a good deal in this parlour of yours?" I
+suggested.
+
+"Nights--yes," he said. "A murder's always a good subject of
+conversation. At first, those who come in here of an evening--regular
+set there, in from the village at the back of the cliffs--they could
+talk of naught else, starting first this and that theory. It's died
+down a good deal, to be sure--there's been naught new to start it
+afresh, on another tack--but there is some talk, even now."
+
+"And what's the general opinion?" I inquired. "I suppose there is
+one?"
+
+"Aye, well, I couldn't say that there's a general opinion," he
+answered. "There's a many opinions. And some queer notions, too!"
+
+"Such as what?" I asked.
+
+"Well," said he, with a laugh, as if he thought the suggestion
+ridiculous, "there's one that comes nearer being what you might call
+general than any of the others. There's a party of the older men that
+come here who're dead certain that Quick was murdered by a woman!"
+
+"A woman!" I exclaimed. "Whatever makes them think that?"
+
+"Those footmarks," answered Claigue. "You'll remember, Mr.
+Middlebrook, that there were two sets of prints in the sand
+thereabouts. One was certainly Quick's--they fitted his boots. The
+other was very light--delicate, you might call 'em--made, without
+doubt, by some light-footed person. Well, some of the folk hereabouts
+went along to Kernwick Cove the day of the murder, and looked at those
+prints. They say the lighter ones were made by a woman."
+
+I let my recollections go back to the morning on which I had found
+Quick lying dead on the patch of yellow sand.
+
+"Of course," I said, reflectively, "those marks are gone, now."
+
+"Gone? Aye!" exclaimed Claigue. "Long since. There's been a good many
+tides washed over that spot since this, Mr. Middlebrook. But they
+haven't washed out the fact that a man's life was let out there! And
+whether it was man or woman that stuck that knife into the poor
+fellow's shoulders, it'll come out, some day."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," said I. "There's a goodly percentage of
+unsolved mysteries of that kind."
+
+"Well, I believe in the old saying," he declared. "Murder will out!
+What I don't like is the notion that the murderer may be walking about
+this quarter, free, unsuspected. Why, I may ha' served him with a
+glass of beer! What's to prevent it? Murderers don't carry a label on
+their foreheads!"
+
+"What do you think the police ought to do--or ought to have done?" I
+asked.
+
+"I think they should ha' started working backward," he replied, with
+decision. "I read all I could lay hands on in the newspapers, and I
+came to the conclusion that there was a secret behind those two men.
+Come! two brothers murdered on the same night--hundreds of miles
+apart! That's no common crime, Mr Middlebrook. Who were these two
+men--Noah and Salter Quick? What was their past history? That's what
+the police ought to ha' busied themselves with. If they lost or
+couldn't pick up the scent here, they should ha' tried far back. Go
+backward they should--if they want to go forward."
+
+That was the second time I had heard that advice, and I returned to
+Ravensdene Court reflecting on it. Certainly it was sensible. Who,
+after all, were Noah and Salter Quick--what was their life-story. I
+was wondering how that could be brought to light, when, having dressed
+for dinner, and I was going downstairs, Mr. Cazalette's door opened
+and he quietly drew me inside his room.
+
+"Middlebrook!" he whispered--though he had carefully shut the
+door--"you're a sensible lad, and I'll acquaint you with a matter.
+This very morning, as I was taking my bit of a dip, my pocket-book was
+stolen out of the jacket that I'd left on the shore. Stolen,
+Middlebrook!"
+
+"Was there anything of great value in it?" I asked.
+
+"Aye, there was!" answered Mr. Cazalette. "There was that in it which,
+in my opinion, might be some sort of a clue to the real truth about
+yon man's murder!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE ENLARGED PHOTOGRAPH
+
+
+I was dimly conscious, in a vague, uncertain fashion, that Mr.
+Cazalette was going to tell me secrets; that I was about to hear
+something which would explain his own somewhat mysterious doings on
+the morning of the murder; a half-excited, anticipating curiosity rose
+in me. I think he saw it, for he signed to me to sit down in an easy
+chair close by his bed; he himself, a queer, odd figure in his quaint,
+old-fashioned clothes, perched himself on the edge of the bed.
+
+"Sit you down, Middlebrook," he said. "We've some time yet before
+dinner, and I'm wanting to talk to you--in private, you'll bear in
+mind. There's things I know that I'm not willing--as yet--to tell to
+everybody. But I'll tell them to you, Middlebrook--for you're a
+sensible young fellow, and we'll take a bit of counsel together.
+Aye--there was that in my pocket-book that might be--I'll not say
+positively that it was, but that it might be--a clue to the identity
+of the man that murdered yon Salter Quick, and I'm sorry now that I've
+lost it and didn't take more care of it. But man! who'd ha' thought
+that I'd have my pocket-book stolen from under my very nose! And
+that's a convincing proof that there's uncommonly sharp and clever
+criminals around us in these parts, Middlebrook."
+
+"You lost your pocket-book while you were bathing, Mr. Cazalette?" I
+asked, wishful to know all his details.
+
+He turned on his bed, pointing to a venerable Norfork jacket which
+hung on a peg in a recess by the washstand. I knew it well enough: I
+had often seen him in it first thing of a morning.
+
+"It's my custom," said he, "to array myself in that old coatie when I
+go for my bit dip, you see--it's thick and it's warm, and I've had it
+twenty years or more--good tweed it is, and homespun. And whenever
+I've gone out here of a morning, I've put my pocket-book in the inside
+pocket, and laid the coat itself and the rest o' my scanty attire on
+the bank there down at Kernwick Cove while I went in the water. And I
+did that very same thing this morning--and when I came to my clothes
+again, the pocket-book was gone!"
+
+"You saw nobody about?" I suggested.
+
+"Nobody," said he. "But Lord, man, I know how easy it was to do the
+thing! You'll bear in mind that on the right hand side of that cove
+the plantation comes right down to the edge of the bit of cliff--well,
+a man lurking amongst the shrubs and undergrowth 'ud have nothing to
+do but reach his arm to the bank, draw my coatie to his nefarious
+self, and abstract my property. And by the time I was on dry land
+again, and wanting my garments, he'd be a quarter of a mile away!"
+
+"And--the clue?" I asked.
+
+He edged a little nearer to me, and dropped his voice still lower.
+
+"I'm telling you," he said. "Now you'll let your mind go back to the
+morning whereon you found yon man Quick lying dead and murdered on the
+sand? And you'll remember that before ever you were down at the place,
+I'd been there before you. You'll wonder how it comes about that I
+didn't find what you found, but then, there's a many big rocks and
+boulders standing well up on that beach, and its very evident that the
+corpse was obscured from my view by one or other and maybe more of
+'em. Anyway, I didn't find Salter Quick--but I did find something that
+maybe--mind, I'm saying maybe, Middlebrook--had to do with his
+murder."
+
+"What, Mr. Cazalette?" I asked, though I knew well enough what it was.
+I wanted him to say, and have done with it; his circumlocution was
+getting wearisome. But he was one of those old men who won't allow
+their cattle to be hurried, and he went on in his long-winded way.
+
+"You'll be aware," he continued, "that there's a deal of gorse and
+bramble growing right down to the very edge of the coast thereabouts,
+Middlebrook. Scrub--that sort o' thing. The stuff that if it catches
+anything loose, anything protruding from say, the pocket of a garment,
+'ll lay hold and stick to it. Aye, well, on one of those bushes, gorse
+or bramble I cannot rightly say which, just within the entrance to the
+plantation, I saw, fluttering in the morning breeze that came sharp
+and refreshing off the face of the water, a handkerchief. And there
+was two sorts o' stains on it--caused in the one case by mud--the
+soft mud of the adjacent beach--and in the other by blood. A smear of
+blood--as if somebody had wiped blood off his fingers, you'll
+understand. But it was not that, not the blood, made me give my
+particular attention to the thing, which I'd picked off with my thumb
+and finger. It was that I saw at once that this was no common man's
+property, for there was a crest woven into one corner, and a monogram
+of initials underneath it, and the stuff itself was a sort that I'm
+unfamiliar with--it wasn't linen, though it looked like it, and it
+wasn't silk, for I'm well acquainted with that fabric--maybe it was a
+mixture of the two, but it had not been woven or made in any British
+factory: the thing, Middlebrook, was of foreign origin."
+
+"What were the markings you speak of?" I asked.
+
+"Well, I tell you there was a crest; anyhow it was a coronet, or that
+make of a thing," he answered. "Woven in one corner--I mean worked in
+by hand. And the letters beneath it were a V and a de--small, that
+last--and a C. Man! that handkerchief was the property of some man of
+quality! And the stains being wet--the mud-stains, at any rate, though
+the smear of blood was dry--I gathered that it had been but recently
+deposited, by accident, where I found it. I reckoned it up this way,
+d'ye see, Middlebrook--the man who'd left it there had used it on the
+beach--maybe he'd cut his toe, bathing, or something o' that sort, or
+likely a cut finger, gathering a shell or a fossil--and had thrust it
+carelessly into a side-pocket, for a thorn to catch hold of as he
+passed. But there it was, and there I found it."
+
+"And what did you do with it, Mr. Cazalette?" I inquired with seeming
+innocence.
+
+"I'm telling you," he replied. "I had no knowledge, you're aware, of
+what lay behind me on the sands: I just thought it a queer thing that
+a man of quality's handkerchief should be there. And I slipped it
+among my towels, to bring along wi' me to the house here. But I'm
+whiles given to absent-mindedness, and not liking that I should put
+the blood-stained thing down on my dressing-table there and cause the
+maids to wonder, I thrust it into a hedge as I was passing along, till
+I could go back and examine it at my leisure. And when I'd got myself
+dressed, I went back and took it, and put it in a stout envelope into
+my pocket--and then you came along, Middlebrook, with your story of
+the murder, and I saw then that before saying a word to anybody, I'd
+keep my own counsel and examine that thing more carefully. And man
+alive! I've no doubt whatever that the man who left the handkerchief
+behind him was the man who knifed Salter Quick."
+
+"I gather, from all you've said, that the handkerchief was in the
+pocket-book you had stolen this morning?" I suggested.
+
+"You're right in that," said he. "Oh, it was! Wrapped up in a bit of
+oiled paper, and in an envelope, sealed down and attested in my
+handwriting, Middlebrook--date and particulars of my discovery of it,
+all in order. Aye, and there was more. Letters and papers of my own,
+to be sure, and a trifle money--bank-notes. But there was yet another
+thing that, in view of all we know, may be a serious thing to have
+fall into the hands of ill-doers. A print, Middlebrook, of the
+enlarged photograph I got of the inside of the lid of yon dead man's
+tobacco-box!"
+
+He regarded me with intense seriousness as he made this announcement,
+and not knowing exactly what to say, I remained silent.
+
+"Aye!" he continued. "And it's my distinct and solemn belief that it's
+that the thief was after! Ye see, Middlebrook, it's been spoken
+of--not widely noised abroad, as you might say, but still spoken of,
+and things spread, that I was keenly interested in those marks,
+scratches, whatever they were, on the inside of that lid, and got the
+police to let me make a photograph, and it's my impression that
+there's somebody about who's been keenly anxious to know what results
+I obtained."
+
+"You really think so?" said I. "Why--who could there be?"
+
+"Aye, man, and who could there be, wi' a crest and monogram on his
+kerchief, that 'ud murder yon man the secret way he has?" he retorted,
+answering my incredulous look with one of triumph. "Tell me that, my
+laddie! I'm telling you, Middlebrook, that this was no common murder
+any more than the murder of the man's own brother down yonder at
+Saltash, which is a Cornish riverside place, and a good four or five
+hundred miles away, was a common, ordinary crime! Man! we're living in
+the very midst of a mystery--and that there's bloody-minded, aye, and
+bloody-handed men, maybe within our gates, but surely close by us, is
+as certain to me as that I'm looking at you!"
+
+"I thought you believed that Salter Quick's murderer was miles away
+before ever Salter Quick was cold?" I observed.
+
+"I did--and I've changed my mind," he answered. "I'm not thinking it
+any more, and all the less since I was robbed of my venerable
+pocket-book, with those two exhibits o' the crime in its wame. The
+murderer is about! and though he mayn't have thought to get his
+handkerchief, he may have hoped that he'd secure some result o' my
+labours in the photographic line."
+
+"Mr. Cazalette!" said I, "what were the results of your labours? I
+don't suppose that the print which was in your pocket-book was the
+only one you possess?"
+
+"You're right there," he replied. "It wasn't. If the thief thought he
+was securing something unique, he was mistaken. But--I didn't want
+him, or anybody, to get hold of even one print, for as sure as we're
+living men, Middlebrook, what was on the inside of that lid was--a key
+to something!"
+
+"You forget that the tobacco-box itself has been stolen from the
+police's keeping," I reminded him.
+
+"And I don't forget anything of the sort," he retorted. "And the fact
+you've mentioned makes me all the more assured, my man, that what I
+say is correct! There's him, or there's them--in all likelihood it's
+the plural--that's uncommonly anxious, feverishly anxious, to get hold
+of that key that I suspicion. What were Salter Quick's pockets turned
+out for? What were the man's clothes slashed and hacked for? Why did
+whoever slew Noah Quick at Saltash treat the man in similar fashion?
+It wasn't money the two men were murdered for!--no, it was for
+information, a secret! Or, as I put it before, the key to something."
+
+"And you believe, really and truly, that this key is in the marks or
+scratches or whatever they are on the lid of the tobacco-box?" I
+asked.
+
+"Aye, I do!" he exclaimed. "And what's more, Middlebrook, I believe
+I'm a doited old fool! If I'd contrived to get a good, careful,
+penetrating look at that box, without saying anything to the police, I
+should ha' shown some common-sense. But like the blithering old idiot
+that I am, I spoke my thoughts aloud before a company, and I made a
+present of an idea to these miscreants. Until I said what I did, the
+murderous gang that knifed yon two men hadn't a notion that Salter
+Quick carried a key in his tobacco-box! Now--they know."
+
+"You don't mean to suggest that any of the murderers were present when
+you asked permission to photograph the box!" I exclaimed.
+"Impossible!"
+
+"There's very few impossibilities in this world, Middlebrook," he
+answered. "I'm not saying that any of the gang were present in Raven's
+outhouse yonder, where they carried the poor fellow's body, but there
+were a dozen or more men heard what I said to the police-inspector,
+like the old fool I was, and saw me taking my photograph. And men
+talk--no matter of what degree they are."
+
+"Mr. Cazalette," said I, "I'd just like to see your results."
+
+He got off his bed at that, and going over to a chest of drawers,
+unlocked one, and took out a writing-case, from which he presently
+extracted a sheet of cardboard, whereon he had mounted a photograph,
+beneath which, on the cardboard, were some lines of explanatory
+writing in its fine, angular style of caligraphy. This he placed in my
+hand without a word, watching me silently as I looked at it.
+
+I could make nothing of the thing. It looked to me like a series--a
+very small one--of meaningless scratches, evidently made with the
+point of a knife, or even by a strong pin on the surface of the metal.
+Certainly, the marks were there, and, equally certainly, they looked
+to have been made with some intent--but what did they mean?
+
+"What d'ye make of it, lad?" he inquired after awhile. "Anything?"
+
+"Nothing, Mr. Cazalette!" I replied. "Nothing whatever."
+
+"Aye, well, and to be candid, neither do I," he confessed. "And yet,
+I'm certain there's something in it. Take another look--and consider
+it carefully."
+
+I looked again--this is what there was to look at: mere lines, and at
+the foot of the photograph, Mr. Cazalette's explanatory notes and
+suggestions: I sat studying this for a few moments. "I make nothing of
+it. It seems to be a plan. But of what?"
+
+"It is a plan, Middlebrook," he answered. "A plan of some place. But
+there I'm done! What place? Somebody that's in the secret, to a
+certain point, might know--but who else could? I've speculated a deal
+on the meaning and significance of those lines and marks, but without
+success. Yet--they're the key to something."
+
+"Probably to some place that Salter Quick knew of," I suggested.
+
+"Aye, and that somebody else wants to know of!" he exclaimed. "But
+what place, and where?"
+
+"He was asking after a churchyard," said I, suddenly remembering
+Quick's questions to me and his evident eagerness to acquire
+knowledge. "This may be a rude drawing of a corner of it."
+
+"Aye, and he wanted the graves of the Netherfields," remarked Mr.
+Cazalette, dryly. "And I've made myself assured of the fact that there
+isn't a Netherfield buried anywhere about this region! No, it's my
+belief that this is a key to some spot in foreign parts, and that
+there's those who are anxious to get hold of it that they'll not
+stop--and haven't stopped--at murder. And now--they've got it!"
+
+"They've got--or somebody's got--your pocket-book," I answered. "But
+really, you know, Mr. Cazalette, this, and the handkerchief, mayn't
+have been the thief's object. You see, it must be pretty well known
+that you go down there to bathe every morning, and are in the habit of
+leaving your clothes about--and, well there may be those who're not
+particularly honest even in these Arcadian solitudes."
+
+"No--I'm not with you, Middlebrook!" he said. "Somewhere around us
+there's what I say--crafty and bloody murderers! But ye'll keep all
+this to yourself for awhile, and----"
+
+Just then the dinner-bell rang, and he put the photographic print
+away, and we went downstairs together. That was the evening on which
+Dr. Lorrimore was to dine with us--we found him in the hall, talking
+to Mr. Raven and his niece. Joining them, we found that their subject
+of conversation was the same that had just engaged Mr. Cazalette and
+myself--the tobacco-box. It turned out that the police-inspector had
+been round to Lorrimore's house, inquiring if Lorrimore, who, with the
+police-surgeon, had occupied a seat at the table whereon the Quick
+relics were laid out at the inquest, had noticed that now missing and
+consequently all-important object.
+
+"Of course I saw it!" remarked Lorrimore, narrating this. "I told him
+I not only saw it, but handled it--so, too, did several other
+people--Mr. Cazalette there had drawn attention to the thing when we
+were examining the dead man, and there was some curiosity about it."
+(Here Mr. Cazalette, standing close by me, nudged my elbow, to remind
+me of what he had just said upstairs.) "And I told the inspector
+something else, or, rather, put him in mind of something he'd
+evidently forgotten," continued Lorrimore. "That inquest, or, to be
+precise, the adjourned inquest, was attended by a good many strangers,
+who had evidently been attracted by mere curiosity. There were a lot
+of people there who certainly did not belong to this neighbourhood.
+And when the proceedings were over, they came crowding round that
+table, morbidly inquisitive about the dead man's belongings. What
+easier, as I said to the inspector, than for some one of them--perhaps
+a curio-hunter--to quietly pick up that box and make off with it?
+There are people who'd give a good deal to lay hold of a souvenir of
+that sort."
+
+Mr. Raven muttered something about no accounting for tastes, and we
+went in to dinner, and began to talk of less gruesome things.
+Lorrimore was a brilliant and accomplished conversationalist, and the
+time passed pleasantly until, as we men were lingering a little over
+our wine, and Miss Raven was softly playing the piano in the adjoining
+drawing-room, the butler came in and whispered to his master. Raven
+turned an astonished face to the rest of us.
+
+"There's the police-inspector here now," he said, "and with him a
+detective--from Devonport. They are anxious to see me--and you,
+Middlebrook. The detective has something to tell."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE YELLOW SEA
+
+
+I am not sure which, or how many, of us sitting at that table had ever
+come into personal contact with a detective--I myself had never met
+one in my life!--but I am sure that Mr. Raven's announcement that
+there was a real live one close at hand immediately excited much
+curiosity. Miss Raven, in the adjoining room, the door of which was
+open, caught her uncle's last words, and came in, expectantly--I think
+she, like most of us, wondered what sort of being we were about to
+see. And possibly there was a shade of disappointment on her face when
+the police-inspector walked in followed, not by the secret, subtle,
+sleuth-hound-like person she had perhaps expected, but by a little,
+rotund, rather merry-faced man who looked more like a prosperous
+cheesemonger or successful draper than an emissary of justice: he was
+just the sort of person you would naturally expect to see with an
+apron round his comfortable waist-line or a pencil stuck in his ear
+and who was given to rubbing his fat, white hands--he rubbed them now
+and smiled, wholesale, as his companion led him forward.
+
+"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Raven," said the inspector with an
+apologetic bow, "but we are anxious to have a little talk with you and
+Mr. Middlebrook. This is Mr. Scarterfield--from the police at
+Devonport. Mr. Scarterfield has been in charge of the investigations
+about the affair--Noah Quick, you know--down there, and he has come
+here to make some further inquiries."
+
+Mr. Raven murmured some commonplace about being glad to see his
+visitors, and, with his usual hospitality, offered them refreshment.
+We made room for them at the table at which we were sitting, and some
+of us, I think, were impatient to hear what Mr. Scarterfield had to
+tell. But the detective was evidently one of those men who readily
+adapt themselves to whatever company they are thrown into, and he
+betrayed no eagerness to get to business until he had lighted one of
+Mr. Raven's cigars and pledged Mr. Raven in a whisky and soda. Then,
+equipped and at his ease, he turned a friendly, all-embracing smile on
+the rest of us.
+
+"Which," he asked, looking from one to the other, "which of these
+gentlemen is Mr. Middlebrook?"
+
+The general turning of several pairs of eyes in my direction gave him
+the information he wanted--we exchanged nods.
+
+"It was you who found Salter Quick?" he suggested. "And who met him,
+the previous day, on the cliffs hereabouts, and went with him into the
+Mariner's Joy?"
+
+"Quite correct," said I. "All that!"
+
+"I have read up everything that appeared in print in connection with
+the Salter Quick affair," he remarked. "It has, of course, a bearing
+on the Noah Quick business. Whatever is of interest in the one is of
+interest in the other."
+
+"You think the two affairs one really--eh?" inquired Mr. Raven.
+
+"One!" declared Scarterfield. "The object of the man who murdered Noah
+was the same object as that of the man who murdered Salter. The two
+murderers are, without doubt, members of a gang. But what gang, and
+what object--ah! that's just what I don't know yet!"
+
+What we were all curious about, of course, was--what did he know that
+we did not already know? And I think he saw in what direction our
+thoughts were turning, for he presently leaned forward on the table
+and looked around the expectant faces as if to command our attention.
+
+"I had better tell you how far my investigations have gone," he said
+quietly. "Then we shall know precisely where we are, and from what
+point we can, perhaps, make a new departure, now that I have come
+here. I was put in charge of this case--at least of the Saltash
+murder--from the first. There's no need for me to go into the details
+of that now, because I take it that you have all read them, or quite
+sufficient of them. Now, when the news about Salter Quick came
+through, it seemed to me that the first thing to do was to find out a
+very pertinent thing--who were the brothers Quick? What were their
+antecedents? What was in their past, the immediate or distant past,
+likely to lead up to these crimes? A pretty stiff proposition, as you
+may readily guess! For, you must remember, each was a man of mystery.
+No one in our quarter knew anything more of Noah Quick than that he
+had come to Devonport some little time previous, taken over the
+license of the Admiral Parker, conducted his house very well, and had
+the reputation of being a quiet, close, reserved sort of man who was
+making money. As to Salter, nobody knew anything except that he had
+been visiting Noah for some time. Family ties, the two men evidently
+have none!--not a soul has come forward to claim relationship.
+And--there has been wide publicity."
+
+"Do you think Quick was the real name?" asked Mr. Cazalette, who from
+the first had been listening with rapt attention. "Mayn't it have been
+an assumed name?"
+
+"Well, sir," replied Scarterfield, "I thought of that. But you must
+remember that full descriptions of the two brothers appeared in the
+press, and that portraits of both were printed alongside. Nobody came
+forward, recognizing them. And there has been a powerful, a most
+powerful, inducement for their relations to appear, never mind whether
+they were Quick, or Brown, or Smith, or Robinson,--the most powerful
+inducement we could think of!"
+
+"Aye!" said Mr. Cazalette. "And that was----"
+
+"Money!" answered the detective. "Money! If these men left any
+relations--sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces--it's in the interest of
+these relations to come into the light, for there's money awaiting
+them. That's well known--I had it noised abroad in the papers, and let
+it be freely talked of in town. But, as I say, nobody's come along. I
+firmly believe, now, that these two hadn't a blood relation in the
+world--a queer thing, but it seems to be so."
+
+"And--this money?" I asked. "Is it much?"
+
+"That was one of the first things I went for," answered Scarterfield.
+"Naturally, when a man comes to the end which Noah Quick met with,
+inquiries are made of his solicitors and his bankers. Noah had both in
+our parts. The solicitors knew nothing about him except that he had
+employed them now and then in trifling matters, and that of late he
+had made a will in which, in brief fashion, he left everything of
+which he died possessed to his brother Salter, whose address he gave
+as being the same as his own; about the same time they had made a will
+for Salter, in which he bequeathed everything he had to Noah. But as
+to the antecedents of Noah and Salter--nothing! Then I approached the
+bankers. There I got more information. When Noah Quick first went to
+Devonport he deposited a considerable sum of money with one of the
+leading banks at Plymouth, and at the time of his death he had several
+thousand pounds lying there to his credit: his bankers also had charge
+of valuable securities of his. On Salter Quick's coming to the Admiral
+Parker, Noah introduced him to this bank: Salter deposited there a sum
+of about two thousand pounds, and of that he had only withdrawn about
+a hundred. So he, too, at the time of his death, had a large balance;
+also, he left with the bankers, for safe keeping, some valuable scrip
+and securities, chiefly of Indian railways. Altogether, those bankers
+hold a lot of money that belongs to the two brothers, and there are
+certain indications that they made their money--previous to coming to
+Devonport--in the far East. But the bankers know no more of their
+antecedents than the solicitors do. In both instances--banking matters
+and legal matters--the two men seem to have confined their words to
+strict business, and no more; the only man I have come across who can
+give me the faintest idea of anything respecting their past is a
+regular frequenter of the Admiral Parker who says that he once
+gathered from Salter Quick that he and Noah were natives of
+Rotherhithe, or somewhere in that part, and that they were orphans and
+the last of their lot."
+
+"Of course, you have been to Rotherhithe--making inquiries?" suggested
+Mr. Raven.
+
+"I have, sir," replied Scarterfield. "And I searched various parish
+registers there, and found nothing that helped me. If the two brothers
+did live at Rotherhithe, they must have been taken there as children
+and born elsewhere--they weren't born in Rotherhithe parish. Nor could
+I come across anybody at all who knew anything of them in seafaring
+circles thereabouts. I came to the conclusion that whoever those two
+men were, and whatever they had been, most of their lives had been
+spent away from this country."
+
+"Probably in the far East, as you previously suggested," muttered Mr.
+Cazalette.
+
+"Likely!" agreed Scarterfield. "Their money would seem to have been
+made there, judging by, at any rate, some of their securities. Well,
+there's more ways than one of finding things out, and after I'd
+knocked round a good deal of Thames' side, and been in some queer
+places, I turned my attention to Lloyds. Now, connected with Lloyds,
+are various publications having to do with shipping matters--the
+'Weekly Shipping Index,' the 'Confidential Index,' for instance;
+moreover, with time and patience, you can find out a great deal at
+Lloyds not only about ships, but about men in them. And to cut a long
+story short, gentlemen, last week I did at last get a clue about Noah
+and Salter Quick which I now mean to follow up for all it's worth."
+
+Here the detective, suddenly assuming a more business-like air than he
+had previously shown, paused, to produce from his breast-pocket a
+small bundle of papers, which he laid before him on the table. I
+suppose we all gazed at them as if they suggested deep and dark
+mystery--but for the time being Scarterfield let them lie idle where
+he had placed them.
+
+"I'll have to tell the story in a sort of sequence," he continued.
+"This is what I have pieced together from the information I collected
+at Lloyds. In October, 1907, now nearly five years ago, a certain
+steam ship, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, left Hong-Kong, in Southern
+China, for Chemulpo, one of the principal ports in Korea. She was
+spoken in the Yellow Sea several days later. After that she was never
+heard of again, and according to the information available at Lloyds
+she probably went down in a typhoon in the Yellow Sea and was totally
+lost, with all hands on board. No great matter, perhaps!--from all
+that I could gather she was nothing but a tramp steamer that did, so
+to speak, odd jobs anywhere between India and China; she had gone to
+Hong-Kong from Singapore: her owners were small folk in Singapore, and
+I imagine that she had seen a good deal of active service. All the
+same, she's of considerable interest to me, for I have managed to
+secure a list of the names of the men who were on her when she left
+Hong-Kong for Chemulpo--and amongst those names are those of the two
+men we're concerned about: Noah and Salter Quick."
+
+Scarterfield slipped off the india-rubber band which confined his
+papers, and selecting one, slowly unfolded it. Mr. Raven spoke.
+
+"I understood that this ship, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, was lost with
+all hands?" he said.
+
+"So she is set down at Lloyds," replied Scarterfield. "Never heard of
+again--after being spoken in the Yellow Sea about three days from
+Chemulpo."
+
+"Yet--Noah and Salter Quick were on her--and were living five years
+later?" suggested Mr. Raven.
+
+"Just so, sir!" agreed Scarterfield, dryly. "Therefore, if Noah and
+Salter Quick were on her, and as they were alive until recently,
+either the _Elizabeth Robinson_ did not go down in a typhoon, or from
+any other reason, or--the brothers Quick escaped. But here is a list
+of the men who were aboard when she sailed from Hong-Kong. She was, I
+have already told you, a low-down tramp steamer, evidently picking up
+a precarious living between one far Eastern port and another--a small
+vessel. Her list includes a master, or captain, and a crew of
+eighteen--I needn't trouble you with their names, except in two
+instances, which I'll refer to presently. But here are the names of
+Noah Quick, Salter Quick--set down as passengers. Passengers!--not
+members of the crew. Nothing in the list of the crew strikes me but
+the two names I spoke of, and that I'll now refer to. The first name
+will have an interest for Mr. Middlebrook. It's Netherfield."
+
+"Netherfield!" I exclaimed. "The name----"
+
+"That Salter Quick asked you particular questions about when he met
+you on the headlands, Mr. Middlebrook," answered Scarterfield, with a
+knowing look, "and that he was very anxious to get some news of
+William Netherfield, deck-hand, of Blyth, Northumberland--that's the
+name on the list of those who were aboard the _Elizabeth Robinson_
+when she went out of Hong-Kong--and disappeared forever!"
+
+"Of Blyth?" remarked Mr. Cazalette. "Um!--Blyth lies some miles to the
+southward."
+
+"I'm aware of it, sir," said Scarterfield, "and I propose to visit the
+place when I have made certain inquiries about this region. But I hope
+you appreciate the extraordinary coincidence, gentlemen? In October,
+1907, Salter Quick is on a tramp steamer in the Yellow Sea in company,
+more or less intimate, with a sailor-man from Blyth, in
+Northumberland, whose name is Netherfield: in March, 1912, he is on
+the sea-coast near Alnmouth, asking anxiously if anybody knows of a
+churchyard or churchyards in these parts where people of the name of
+Netherfield are buried? Why? What had the man Netherfield who was with
+Salter Quick in Chinese waters in 1907 got to do with Salter Quick's
+presence here five years later?"
+
+Nobody attempted to answer these questions, and presently I put one
+for myself.
+
+"You spoke of two names on the list as striking you with some
+significance," I said. "Netherfield is one. What is the other?"
+
+"That of a Chinaman," he replied promptly, referring to his
+documents. "Set down as cook--I'm told most of those coasting steamers
+in that part of the world carry Chinamen as cooks. Chuh Fen--that's
+the name. And why it's significant to me, when all the rest aren't, is
+this--during the course of my inquiries at Lloyds, I learnt that about
+three years ago a certain Chinaman, calling himself Chuh Fen, dropped
+in at Lloyds and was very anxious to know if the steamer _Elizabeth
+Robinson_, which sailed from Hong-Kong for Chemulpo in October, 1907,
+ever arrived at its destination? He was given the same information
+that was afforded me, and on getting it went away, silent. Now
+then--was this man, this Chinaman, the Chuh Fen who turned up in
+London, the same Chuh Fen who was on the _Elizabeth Robinson_? If so,
+how did he escape a shipwreck which evidently happened? And why--if
+there was no shipwreck, and something else took place of which we have
+no knowledge--did he want to know, after two years' lapse of time, if
+the ship did really get to Chemulpo?"
+
+There was a slight pause then, suddenly broken by Dr. Lorrimore, who
+then spoke for the first time.
+
+"Do you know what all this is suggesting to me?" he exclaimed, nodding
+at Scarterfield. "Something happened on that ship! It may be that
+there was no shipwreck, as you said just now--something may have taken
+place of which we have no knowledge. But one fact comes out
+clearly--whether the _Elizabeth Robinson_ ever reached any port or
+not, it's very evident--nay, certain!--that Noah and Salter Quick did.
+And--considering the inquiry he made at Lloyds--so did the Chinaman,
+Chuh Fen. Now--what could those three have told about the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_?"
+
+No one made any remark on that, until Scarterfield remarked softly:
+
+"I wish I had chanced to be at Lloyds when Chuh Fen called there!
+But--that's three years ago, and Chuh Fen may be--where?"
+
+Something impelled Miss Raven and myself to glance at Dr. Lorrimore.
+He nodded--he knew what we were thinking of. And he turned to
+Scarterfield.
+
+"I happen," he said, "to have a Chinaman in my employ at present--one
+Wing, a very clever man. He has been with me for some years--I brought
+him from India, when I came home recently. An astute chap, like----"
+
+He paused suddenly; the detective had turned a suddenly interested
+glance on him.
+
+"You live hereabouts, sir?" he asked. "I--I don't think I've caught
+your name?"
+
+"Dr. Lorrimore--our neighbour," said Mr. Raven hurriedly. "Close by."
+
+I think Lorrimore saw what had suddenly come into Scarterfield's mind.
+He laughed, a little cynically.
+
+"Don't get the idea, or suspicion, formed or half-fledged, that my man
+Wing had anything to do with the murder of Salter Quick!" he said. "I
+can vouch for him and his movements--I know where he was on the night
+of the murder. What I was thinking of was this--Wing is a man of
+infinite resource and of superior brains. He might be of use to you in
+tracing this Chuh Fen, if Chuh Fen is in England. When Wing and I
+were in London--we were there for some time after I returned from
+India, previous to my coming down here--Wing paid a good many visits
+to his fellow Chinamen in the East End, Limehouse way; he also had a
+holiday in Liverpool and another at Swansea and Cardiff, where, I am
+told, there are Chinese settlements. And I happen to know that he
+carries on an extensive correspondence with his compatriots. If you
+think he could give you any information, Mr. Scarterfield----"
+
+"I'd like to have a talk with him, certainly," responded the
+detective, with some eagerness. "I know a bit about these chaps--some
+of them can see through a brick wall!"
+
+Lorrimore turned to Mr. Raven.
+
+"If your coachman could run across with the dog-cart, or anything
+handy," he said, "and would tell Wing that I want him, here, he'd be
+with me at once. And he may be able to suggest something--I know that
+before he came to me--I picked him up in Bombay--he had knocked about
+the ports of Southern China a great deal."
+
+"Come with me and give my coachman instructions," said Mr. Raven.
+"He'll run over to your place in ten minutes; and while we are
+discussing this affair we may as well have as much light as we can get
+on it."
+
+He and Lorrimore left the room together; when they returned, the
+conversation reverted to a discussion of possible ways and means of
+finding out more about the antecedents of the Quicks. Half an hour
+passed in this--fruitlessly; then the door was quietly opened and
+behind the somewhat pompous figure of the butler I saw the bland,
+obsequious smile of the Chinaman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE FIVE CONCLUSIONS
+
+
+We who sat round that table during the next hour or so must have made a
+strange group. Mr. Raven, always a little nervous and flustered in manner;
+his niece, fresh and eager, in her pretty dinner dress, a curious contrast
+to the antiquated garb and parchment face of old Cazalette, who sat by
+her, watchful and doubting; the officialdom-suggesting figure of the
+police-inspector, erect and rigid in his close-fitting uniform; the
+detective, rubicund and confident, though of what one scarcely knew;
+Lorrimore and myself, keen listeners and watchers, and last, but not by
+any means the least notable, the bland, suave Chinaman in his neat native
+dress, sitting modestly in the background, inscrutable as an image carved
+out of ivory. I do not know what the rest thought, but it lay in my own
+mind that if there was one man in that room who might be trusted to find
+his way out of the maze in which we were wandering, that man was Dr.
+Lorrimore's servant.
+
+It was Lorrimore who, at the detective's request, explained to Wing
+why we had sent for him. The Chinaman nodded a grave assent when
+reminded of the Salter Quick affair--evidently he knew all about it.
+And--if one really could detect anything at all in so carefully-veiled
+a countenance--I thought I detected an increased watchfulness in his
+eyes when Scarterfield began to ask him questions arising out of what
+Lorrimore had said.
+
+"There is evidence," began the detective, "that this man Salter Quick,
+and his brother Noah Quick, were mixed up in some affair that had
+connection with a trading steamer, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, believed
+to have been lost in the Yellow Sea, between Hong-Kong and Chemulpo,
+in October 1907. On board that steamer was a certain Chinaman, who,
+two years later, turned up in London. Now, Dr. Lorrimore tells me that
+when you and he were in London, some little time ago, you spent a good
+deal of time amongst your own people in the East End, and that you
+also visited some of them in Liverpool, Cardiff, and Swansea. So I
+want to ask you--did you ever hear, in any of these quarters, of a man
+named Chuh Fen? Here--in London--two years after the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_ affair--that's three years back from now."
+
+The Chinaman moved his head very slightly.
+
+"No," he answered. "Not in London--nor in England. But I knew a man
+named Chuh Fen ten, eleven, years ago, before I went to Bombay and
+entered my present service."
+
+"Where did you know him?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Two--perhaps three places," said Wing. "Singapore, Penang, perhaps
+Rangoon, too. I remember him."
+
+"What was he?"
+
+"A cook--very good cook."
+
+"Would you be surprised to hear of his being in England three years
+ago?"
+
+"Not at all. Many Chinamen come here. I myself--why not others? If
+Chuh Fen came here, three years ago, perhaps he came as cook on some
+ship trading from China or Burma. Then--go back again."
+
+"I wonder if he did!" muttered the detective. "Still," he continued,
+turning to Wing, "a lot of your people when they come here, stop,
+don't they?"
+
+"Many stop in this country," said Wing.
+
+"Laundry business, eating-houses, groceries, and so on?" suggested
+Scarterfield. "And chiefly in the places I've mentioned, eh?--the East
+End of London, Liverpool, and the two big Welsh towns? Now, I want to
+ask you a question. This man I'm talking of, Chuh Fen, was certainly
+in London three years ago. Are there places and people in London where
+one could get to hear of him?"
+
+"Where I could get to hear of him--yes," answered Wing.
+
+"You say--where you could get to hear of him," remarked Scarterfield.
+"Does that mean that you would get information which I shouldn't get?"
+
+The very faintest ghost of a smile showed itself in the wrinkles about
+the Chinaman's eyes. He inclined his head a little, politely, and
+Lorrimore stepped into the arena.
+
+"What Wing means is that being a Chinaman himself, naturally he could
+get news of a fellow-Chinaman from fellow-Chinamen where you, an
+Englishman, wouldn't get any at all!" he said with a laugh. "I dare
+say that if you, Mr. Scarterfield, went down Limehouse way seeking
+particulars about Chuh Fen, you'd be met with blank faces and stopped
+ears."
+
+"That's just what I'm suggesting, doctor," answered the detective,
+good-humouredly. "I'll put the thing in a nutshell--my profound belief
+is that if we want to get at the bottom of these two murders we've got
+to go back a long way, to the _Elizabeth Robinson_ time, and that Chuh
+Fen is the only person I've heard of, up to now, who can throw a light
+on that episode. And it seems to me, to be plain about it, that Mr.
+Wing there could be extremely useful."
+
+"How?" asked Lorrimore. "He's at your service, I'm sure."
+
+"Well, by finding out if this Chuh Fen, when he was here, three years
+since, made any revelations to his Chinese brethren in Limehouse or
+elsewhere," replied Scarterfield. "He may have known something about
+the brothers Quick and concerning that _Elizabeth Robinson_ affair
+that would help immensely. Any little thing!--a mere scrap of
+information--just a bit of chance gossip--a hint--you don't know how
+valuable these things are. The mere germ of a clue--you know!"
+
+"I know," said Lorrimore. He turned to his servant and addressed him
+in some strange tongue in which Wing at once responded: for some
+minutes they talked together, volubly: then Lorrimore looked round at
+Scarterfield.
+
+"Wing says that if Chuh Fen was in London three years ago he can
+engage to find out how long he was here, whence he came and why, and
+where he went," he said. "I gather that there's a sort of freemasonry
+amongst these men--naturally, they seek each other out in strange
+lands, and there are places in London and the other parts to which a
+Chinaman resorts if he happens to land in England. This he can do for
+you--he's no doubt of it."
+
+"There's another thing," said Scarterfield. "If Chuh Fen is still in
+England--as he may be--can he find him?"
+
+Wing's smooth countenance, on hearing this, showed some sign of
+animation. Instead of replying to the detective, he again addressed
+his master in the foreign tongue. Lorrimore nodded and turned to
+Scarterfield with a slightly cynical smile.
+
+"He says that if Chuh Fen is anywhere in England he can lay hands on
+him, quickly," said Lorrimore. "But--he adds that it might not be at
+all convenient to Chuh Fen to come into the full light of day: Chuh
+Fen may have reasons of his own for desiring strict privacy."
+
+"I take you!" said Scarterfield, with a wink. "All right, doctor! If
+Mr. Wing can unearth Mr. Chuh Fen and that mysterious gentleman can
+give me a tip, I'll respect his privacy! So now--do we get at
+something? Do I understand that your man will help us by trying to
+find out some particulars of Chuh Fen, or laying hands on Chuh Fen
+himself? All expenses defrayed, you know," he went on, turning to
+Wing, "and a handsome remuneration if it leads to results. And--follow
+your own plans! I know you Chinamen are smart and deep at this sort of
+thing!"
+
+"Leave it to him," said Lorrimore. "To him and to me. If there's news
+to be had of this man Chuh Fen, he'll get it."
+
+"Then that is something done!" exclaimed Scarterfield, rubbing his
+hands. "Good!--I like to see even a bit of progress. But now, while
+I'm here, and while we're at business--and I hope this young lady
+doesn't find it dull business!--there's another matter. The inspector
+tells me there have been alarums and excursions about a certain
+tobacco-box which was found on Salter Quick, that Mr. Cazalette--you,
+sir, I think--had had various experiments in connection with it, and
+that the thing has been stolen. Now, I want to know all about
+that!--who can tell me most?"
+
+Mr. Cazalette was sitting between Miss Raven and myself; I leaned
+close to him and whispered, feeling that now was the time to bring
+every known fact to light.
+
+"Tell all--all--you told me just before dinner!" I urged upon him.
+"Table the whole pack of cards: let us get at something--now!"
+
+He hesitated, looking half-suspiciously from one to the other of those
+opposite.
+
+"D'ye think I'd be well advised, Middlebrook?" he whispered. "Is it
+wise policy to show all the cards you're holding?"
+
+"In this case, yes!" I said. "Tell everything!"
+
+"Well," he said. "Maybe. But--it's on your advice, you'll remember,
+and I'm not sure this is the time, nor just the company. However--"
+
+So, for the second time that day, Mr. Cazalette told the story of the
+tobacco-box and of his pocket-book, and produced his photograph. It
+came as a surprise to all there but myself, and I saw that Mr. Raven
+in particular was much perturbed by the story of the theft that
+morning. I knew what he was thinking--the criminal or criminals were
+much too close at hand. He cut in now and then with a question--but
+the detective listened in grim, absorbed silence.
+
+"Now, you know, this is really about the most serious and important
+thing I've heard, so far," he said, when Mr. Cazalette had finished.
+"Just let's sum it up. Salter Quick is murdered in a strange and
+lonely place. Not for his goods, for all his money and his
+valuables--not inconsiderable--are found on him. But the murderer was
+in search of something that he believed to be on Salter Quick, for he
+thoroughly searched his clothing, slashed its linings, turned his
+pockets out--and probably, no, we may safely say certainly, failed in
+his search. He did not get what he was after--any more than his
+fellow-murderer who slew Noah Quick, some hundreds of miles away from
+here, about the very same time, got what he was after. But now comes
+in Mr. Cazalette. Mr. Cazalette, inadvertently, never thinking what he
+was doing, draws public attention to certain marks and scratches,
+evidently made on purpose, in Salter Quick's tobacco-box. Do you see
+my point, gentlemen? The murderer hears of this and says to himself,
+'That box is the thing I want!' So--he appropriates it, at the
+inquest! But even then, so faint and almost illegible are the marks
+within the lid, he doesn't find exactly what he wants. But he knows
+that Mr. Cazalette was going to submit his photograph to an enlarging
+process, which would make the marks clearer; he also knows Mr.
+Cazalette's habits (a highly significant fact!) so he sets himself to
+steal Mr. Cazalette's pocket-book, theorizing that Mr. Cazalette
+probably has a copy of the enlarged photograph within it. And, this
+morning, while Mr. Cazalette is bathing, he gets it! Gentlemen!--what
+does this show? One thing as a certainty--the murderer is close at
+hand!"
+
+There was a dead silence--broken at last by a querulous murmur from
+Mr. Cazalette himself.
+
+"Ye may be as sure o' that, my man, as that Arthur's Seat o'erlooks
+Edinbro'!" he said. "I wish I was as sure o' his identity!"
+
+"Well, we know something that's gradually bringing us toward
+establishing that," remarked Scarterfield. "Let me see that photograph
+again, if you please."
+
+The rest of us watched Scarterfield as he studied the thing over which
+Mr. Cazalette and I had exercised our brains in the half-hour before
+dinner. He seemed to get no more information from a long perusal of it
+than we had got, and he finally threw it away from him across the
+table, with a muttered exclamation which confessed discomfiture. Miss
+Raven picked up the photograph.
+
+"Aye!" mumbled Mr. Cazalette. "Let the lassie look at it! Maybe a
+woman's brains is more use than a man's whiles."
+
+"Often!" said the detective. "And if Miss Raven can make anything of
+that----"
+
+I saw that Miss Raven was already wishful to speak, and I hastened to
+encourage her by throwing a word to Scarterfield.
+
+"You'd be infinitely obliged to her, I'm sure," I put in. "It would be
+a help?"
+
+"No slight one!" said he. "There's something in that diagram.
+But--what?"
+
+Miss Raven, timid, and a little shy of concentrated attention, laid
+the photograph again on the table.
+
+"Don't--don't you think there may be some explanation of this in what
+Salter Quick said to Mr. Middlebrook when they met on the cliffs?" she
+asked. "He told Mr. Middlebrook that he wanted to find a churchyard
+where there were graves of people named Netherfield, but he didn't
+know exactly where it was, though it was somewhere in this locality.
+Now supposing this is a rough outline of that churchyard? These outer
+lines may be the wall--then these little marks may show the situation
+of the Netherfield graves. And that cross in the corner--perhaps there
+is something buried, hidden, there, which Salter Quick wanted to
+find?"
+
+The detective uttered a sharp exclamation and snatched up the
+photograph again.
+
+"Good! Good!" he said. "Upon my word, I shouldn't wonder! To be sure,
+that may be it. What's against it?"
+
+"This," remarked Mr. Cazalette solemnly. "That there isn't anybody of
+the name of Netherfield buried between Alnmouth and Budle Bay! That's
+a fact."
+
+"Established," added the police-inspector, "by as an exhaustive
+inquiry as anybody could make. It is a fact--as Mr. Cazalette says."
+
+"Well," observed Scarterfield, "but Salter Quick may have been wrong
+in his locality. You can be sure of this--whatever secret he held was
+got from somebody else. He may have been twenty, thirty, even fifty
+miles out. But we know something--the Netherfield who was with him on
+the _Elizabeth Robinson_ hailed from Blyth, in this county. I'm going
+to Blyth myself--tomorrow; I'll find out if there are Netherfields
+buried about there. Personally, I believe Miss Raven's hit the nail on
+the head--this is a rough chart of a spot Salter Quick wanted to
+find--where, no doubt, something is hidden. What? Who knows?
+But--judging from the fact that two men have been murdered for the
+secret of it--something of great value. Buried treasure, no doubt."
+
+"That's precisely what I've been thinking from the very first,"
+murmured Mr. Cazalette. "And ye'll have to go back--to go back, my
+man!"
+
+"It's certainly the only way of going forward," agreed Scarterfield
+with a laugh. "But now, before we part, gentlemen, let us see where
+we've got to. I, for myself, have drawn five distinct conclusions
+about this affair:
+
+"_First_--That the Quicks, Noah and Salter, were in possession of a
+secret, which was probably connected with their shipmate of the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_, Netherfield, who hailed from Blyth;
+
+"_Second_--That certain men knew the Quicks to be in possession of
+that secret and murdered both to get hold of it;
+
+"_Third_--That they failed to get it from either Noah or Salter;
+
+"_Fourth_--That Mr. Cazalette's zeal about the tobacco-box, publicly
+expressed, put the criminals on a new scent, and that they, in
+pursuance of it, stole both the tobacco-box and Mr. Cazalette's
+pocket-book;
+
+"_Fifth_--That the criminals are--or were very recently, in fact, this
+very morning--in the vicinity of this place.
+
+"So," he continued, looking round, "the thing's narrowing. Let Mr.
+Wing there help by getting some news of Chuh Fen, if possible; as for
+me, I'm going to follow up the Netherfield line. I think we shall
+track these fellows yet--you never know how unexpectedly a clue may
+turn up."
+
+"You've not said anything about the handkerchief that I found,"
+observed Mr. Cazalette. "There's a clue, surely!"
+
+"Difficult to follow up, sir," replied Scarterfield. "There is such a
+thing as little articles of that sort being lost at the laundry, put
+into the wrong basket, and so on. Now if we could trace the owner of
+the handkerchief and find where he gets his washing done, and a great
+deal more--you see? But we'll not lose sight of it, Mr.
+Cazalette--only, there are more important clues than that to go on in
+the meantime. The great thing is--what was this precious secret that
+the Quicks shared, and that certainly had to do with some place here
+in Northumberland? Let's get at that--if we can."
+
+The two police officials went away with Dr. Lorrimore and his servant,
+all in deep converse, and the four of us who were left behind
+endeavoured to settle our minds for the repose of the night. But I saw
+that Mr. Raven had been upset by the recent talk: he had got it firmly
+fixed in his consciousness that the murderer of Salter Quick was, as
+it were, in our very midst.
+
+"How do I know that the guilty man mayn't be one of my own servants?"
+he muttered, as he, Mr. Cazalette and I took up our candles. "There
+are six men in the house--all strangers to me--and several employed
+outside. The idea's deucedly unpleasant!"
+
+"Ye may put it clear away from you, Raven," said Mr. Cazalette. "The
+murderer may be within bow-shot, but he's none o' yours. Ye'll look
+deeper, far, far deeper than that--this is no ordinary affair, and no
+ordinary men at the bottom of it." Then, when he and I had left our
+host, and were going along one of the upstairs passages towards our
+own rooms, he added: "No ordinary man, Middlebrook! but you see how
+ordinary folk are suspicioned! Raven'll be doubting the _bona fides_
+of his own footmen and his own garden lads next. No--no! it'll be
+deeper down than that, my lad!"
+
+"The mystery is deep," I agreed.
+
+"Aye--and I'm wondering if it was well to let yon Chinese fellow into
+all of it," he muttered significantly. "I'm no great believer in
+Orientals, Middlebrook."
+
+"Lorrimore answers for him," said I.
+
+"And who answers for Lorrimore?" he demanded. "What do you or I know
+of Lorrimore? I'm thinking yon Lorrimore was far too glib of his
+tongue--and maybe I was too ready myself and talked beyond reason to
+strangers. I don't know Lorrimore--nor his Chinaman."
+
+From which I gathered that Mr. Cazalette himself was not superior to
+suspicions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NETHERFIELD BAXTER
+
+
+However Mr. Raven's nerves may have been wrung by the mysterious
+events which found place around his recently acquired possessions,
+nothing untoward or disturbing occurred at Ravensdene Court itself at
+that time. Indeed, had it not been for what we heard from outside, and
+for such doings as the visit of the inspector and Scarterfield, the
+daily life under Mr. Raven's roof would have been regular and decorous
+almost to the point of monotony. We were all engaged in our respective
+avocations--Mr. Cazalette with his coins and medals; I with my books
+and papers; Mr. Raven with his steward, his gardeners, and his various
+potterings about the estate; Miss Raven with her flowers and her golf.
+Certainly there was relaxation--and in taking it, we sorted out each
+other. Mr. Raven and Mr. Cazalette made common cause of an afternoon;
+they were of that period of life--despite the gulf of twenty years
+between them--when lounging in comfortable chairs under old cedar
+trees on a sunlit lawn is preferable to active exercise; Miss Raven
+and I being younger, found our diversion in golf and in occasional
+explorations of the surrounding country. She had a touch of the
+nomadic instinct in her; so had I; the neighbourhood was new to both;
+we began to find great pleasure in setting out on some excursion as
+soon as lunch was over and prolonging our wanderings until the falling
+shadows warned us that it was time to make for home. What these
+pilgrimages led to--in more ways than one--will eventually appear.
+
+We heard nothing of Scarterfield, the detective, nor of Wing, pressed
+into his service, for some days after the consultation in Mr. Raven's
+dining-room. Then, as we were breakfasting one morning, the post-bag
+was brought in, and Mr. Raven, opening it, presently handed me a
+letter in an unfamiliar handwriting, the envelope of which bore the
+post-mark Blyth. I guessed, of course, that it was from Scarterfield,
+and immediately began to wonder what on earth made him write to me.
+But there it was--he had written, and here is what he wrote:
+
+                                               "NORTH SEA HOTEL,
+
+                                          "BLYTH, NORTHUMBERLAND
+
+                                                 "April 23, 1912
+
+     "_Dear Sir:_
+
+     "You will remember that when we were discussing matters the
+     other night round Mr. Raven's table I mentioned that I
+     intended visiting this town in order to make some inquiries
+     about the man Netherfield who was with the brothers Quick on
+     the _Elizabeth Robinson_. I have been here two days, and I
+     have made some very curious discoveries. And I am now
+     writing to ask you if you could so far oblige and help me in
+     my investigations as to join me here for a day or two, at
+     once? The fact is, I want your assistance--I understand that
+     you are an expert in deciphering documents and the like, and
+     I have come across certain things here in connection with
+     this case which are beyond me. I can assure you that if you
+     could make it convenient to spare me even a few hours of
+     your valuable time you would put me under great obligations
+     to you.
+
+                            "Yours truly,
+
+                                 "THOMAS SCARTERFIELD."
+
+I read this letter twice over before handing it to Mr. Raven. Its
+perusal seemed to excite him.
+
+"Bless me!" he exclaimed. "How very extraordinary! What strange
+mysteries we seem to be living amongst? You'll go, of course,
+Middlebrook?"
+
+"You think I should?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, certainly, certainly!" he said with emphasis. "If any of us can
+do anything to solve this strange problem, I think we should. Of
+course, one hasn't the faintest idea what it is that the man wants.
+But from what I observed of him the other evening, I should say that
+Scarterfield is a clever fellow--a very clever fellow who should be
+helped."
+
+"Scarterfield," I remarked, glancing at Miss Raven and at Mr.
+Cazalette, who were manifesting curiosity, "has made some discoveries
+at Blyth--about the Netherfield man--and he wants me to go over there
+and help him--to elucidate something, I think, but what it is, I don't
+know."
+
+"Oh, of course, you must go!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "How exciting! Mr.
+Cazalette! aren't you jealous already?"
+
+"No, but I'm curious," answered Mr. Cazalette, to whom I had passed
+the letter. "I see the man wants something deciphered--aye, that'll be
+in your line, Middlebrook. Didn't I tell all of you, all along, that
+there'd be more in this business than met the eye? Well, I'll be
+inquisitive to know what new developments have arisen! It's a strange
+fact, but it is a fact, that in affairs of this sort there's often
+evidence, circumstantial, strong, lying ready to be picked up. Next
+door, as it were--and as it is evidently in this case, for Blyth's a
+town that's not so far away."
+
+Far away or near away, it took me some hours to get to Blyth, for I
+had to drive to Alnwick, and later to change at Morpeth, and again at
+Newsham. But there I was at last, in the middle of the afternoon, and
+there, on the platform to meet me was the detective, as rubicund and
+cheerful as ever, and full of gratitude for my speedy response to his
+request.
+
+"I got your telegram, Mr. Middlebrook," he remarked as we walked away
+from the station, "and I've booked you the most comfortable room I
+could get in the hotel, which is a nice quiet house where we'll be
+able to talk in privacy, for barring you and myself there's nobody
+stopping in it, except a few commercial travellers, and to be sure,
+they've their own quarters. You'll have had your lunch?"
+
+"While I waited at Morpeth," I answered.
+
+"Aye," he said, "I figured on that. So we'll just get into a corner of
+the smoking-room and have a quiet glass over a cigar, and I'll tell
+you what I've made out here--and a very strange and queer tale it is,
+and one that's worth hearing, whether it really has to do with our
+affair or no!"
+
+"You're not sure that it has?" I asked.
+
+"I'm as sure as may be that it probably has!" he replied. "But still,
+there's a gulf between extreme probability and absolute certainty
+that's a bit wider than the unthinking reckon for. However, here we
+are--and we'll just get comfortable."
+
+Scarterfield's ideas of comfort, I found, were to dispose himself in
+the easiest of chairs in the quietest of corners with whisky and soda
+on one hand and a box of cigars on the other--this sort of thing he
+evidently regarded as a proper relaxation from his severe mental
+labours. I had no objection to it myself after four hours slow
+travelling--yet I confess I felt keenly impatient until he had mixed
+our drinks, lighted his cigar and settled down at my elbow.
+
+"Now," he said confidentially, "I'll set it all out in order--what
+I've done and found out since I came here two days ago. There's no
+need, Mr. Middlebrook, to go into detail about how I set to work to
+get information: we've our own ways and methods of getting hold of
+stuff when we strike a strange town. But you know what I came here
+for. There's been talk, all through this case, of the name
+Netherfield--from the questions that Salter Quick put to you when you
+met him on the cliffs, and from what was said at the Mariner's Joy.
+Very good--now I fell across that name, too, in my investigations in
+London, as being the name of a man who was on the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_, of uncertain memory, lost or disappeared in the year 1907,
+with the two Quicks. He was set down, that Netherfield, as being of
+Blyth, Northumberland. Clearly, then, Blyth was a place to get in
+touch with--and here in Blyth we are!"
+
+"A clear bit of preface, Scarterfield," said I approvingly. "Go ahead!
+I'm bearing in mind that you've been here forty-eight hours."
+
+"I've made good use of my time!" he chuckled, with a knowing grin.
+"Although I say it myself, Mr. Middlebrook, I'm a bit of a hustler.
+Well, self-praise, they say, is no recommendation, though to be sure
+I'm no believer in that old proverb, for, after all, who knows a man
+better than himself? So we'll get to the story. I came here, of
+course, to see if I could learn anything of a man of this place who
+answered to what I had already learnt about Netherfield of the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_. I went to the likely people for news, and I very
+soon found out something. Nobody knew anything of any man, old or
+young, named William Netherfield, belonging, present or past, to this
+town. But a good many people--most, if not all people--do know of a
+man who used to be in much evidence here some years ago; a man of the
+name of Netherfield Baxter."
+
+"Netherfield Baxter," I repeated. "Not a name to be readily
+forgotten--once known."
+
+"He's not forgotten," said Scarterfield, grimly, "and he was well
+enough known, here, once upon a time, and not so long since, either.
+And now, who was Netherfield Baxter? Well, he was the only child of an
+old tradesman of this town, whose wife died when Netherfield was a
+mere boy, and who died himself when his son was only seventeen years
+of age. Old Baxter was a remarkably foolish man. He left all he had to
+this lad--some twelve thousand pounds--in such a fashion that he came
+into absolute, uncontrolled possession of it on attaining his
+twenty-first birthday. Now then you can imagine what happened! My
+young gentleman, nobody to say him nay, no father, mother, sister,
+brother, to restrain him or give him a word in season--or a hearty
+kicking, which would have been more to the purpose!--went the pace,
+pretty considerably. Horses, cards, champagne--you know! The twelve
+thousand began to melt like wax in a fire. He carried on longer than
+was expected, for now and then he had luck on the race-course; won a
+good deal once, I heard, on the big race at Newcastle--what they call
+the Pitman's Darby. But it went--all of it went!--and by the beginning
+of the year 1904--bear the date in mind, Mr. Middlebrook--Netherfield
+Baxter was just about on his last legs--he was, in fact, living from
+hand to mouth. He was then--I've been particular about collecting
+facts and statistics--just twenty-nine years of age, so, one way or
+another, he'd made his little fortune last him eight years; he still
+had good clothes--a very taking, good-looking fellow he was, they
+say--and he'd a decent lodging. But in spring 1904 he was living on
+the proceeds of chance betting, and was sometimes very low down, and
+in May of that year he disappeared, in startlingly sudden fashion,
+without saying a word to anybody, and since then nobody has ever seen
+a vestige or ever heard a word of him."
+
+Scarterfield paused, looking at me as if to ask what I thought of it.
+I thought a good deal of it.
+
+"A very interesting bit of life-drama, Scarterfield," said I. "And
+there have been far stranger things than it would be if this
+Netherfield Baxter of Blyth turned out to be the William Netherfield
+of the _Elizabeth Robinson_. You haven't hit on anything in the shape
+of a bridge, a connecting link between the two?"
+
+"Not yet, anyway," he answered. "And I don't think it's at all likely
+that I shall, here, for, as I said just now, nobody in this place has
+ever heard of Netherfield Baxter since he walked out of his lodging
+one evening and clean vanished. To be sure, there's been nobody at all
+anxious to hear of him. For one thing, he left no near and dear
+relations or friends--for another, he left no debts behind him. The
+last fact, of course," added Scarterfield, with a wink, "was due to
+another, very pertinent fact--nobody, to be sure, in his latter
+stages, would give him credit!"
+
+"You've more to tell," I suggested.
+
+"Oh, much more!" he acquiesced. "We're about half-way through the
+surface matters. Now then--you're bearing in mind that Netherfield
+Baxter disappeared, very suddenly, in May 1904. Perhaps the town
+didn't make much to do over his disappearance for a good reason--it
+was just then in the very midst of what we generally call a nine days'
+wonder. For some months the Old Alliance Bank here had been in charge
+of a temporary manager, in consequence of the regular manager's
+long-continued illness. This temporary manager was a chap named
+Lester--John Martindale Lester--who had come here from a branch of the
+same bank at Hexham, across country. Now, this Lester was a young man
+who was greatly given to going about on a motor-cycle--not so many of
+those things about, then, as we see now; he was always tearing about
+the country, they say, on half-holidays, and Saturdays and Sundays.
+And one evening, careering round a sharp corner, somewhere just
+outside the town, in the dark, he ran full tilt into a cart that
+carried no tail-light, and--broke his neck! They picked him up dead."
+
+"Well?" said I.
+
+"You're wondering if that's anything to do with Netherfield Baxter's
+disappearance?" said Scarterfield. "Well--it's an odd thing, but out
+of all the folk that I've made inquiry of in the town, I haven't come
+across one yet who voluntarily suggested that it had! But--I do! And
+you'll presently see why I think so. Now, this man, John Martindale
+Lester, was accidentally killed about the beginning of the first week
+in May 1904. Three or four days later, Netherfield Baxter cleared out.
+I've been careful, in my conversations with the townfolk--officials,
+mostly--not to appear to connect Lester's death with Baxter's
+departure. But that there was a connection, I'm dead certain. Baxter
+hooked it, Mr. Middlebrook, because he knew that Lester's sudden death
+would lead to an examination of things at the Old Alliance Bank!"
+
+"Ah!" said I. "I begin to see things!"
+
+"So do I--through smoked glass, though, as yet," assented
+Scarterfield. "But--it's getting clearer. Now, things at the bank were
+examined--and some nice revelations came forth! To begin with, there
+was a cash deficiency--not a heavy one, but quite heavy enough. In
+addition to that, certain jewels were missing, which had been
+deposited with the bankers for security by a lady in this
+neighbourhood--they were worth some thousands of pounds. And, to add
+to this, two chests of plate were gone which had been placed with the
+bank some years before by the executors of the will of the late Lord
+Forestburne, to be kept there till the coming of age of his heir, a
+minor when his father died. Altogether, Mr. John Martindale Lester and
+his accomplices, or accomplice, had helped themselves very freely to
+things until then safe in the vaults and strong room."
+
+"Have you found out if Netherfield Baxter and the temporary
+bank-manager were acquainted?" I asked.
+
+"No--that's a matter I've very carefully refrained from inquiring
+into," answered Scarterfield. "So far, no one has mentioned their
+acquaintanceship or association to me, and I haven't suggested it, for
+I don't want to raise suspicions--I want to keep things to myself, so
+that I can play my own game. No--I've never heard the two men spoken
+of in connection with each other."
+
+"What is thought in the town about Lester and the valuables?" I
+inquired. "They must have some theory?"
+
+"Oh, of course, they have," he replied. "The theory is that Lester had
+accomplices in London, that he shipped these valuables off there, and
+that when his accomplices heard of his sudden death they--why, they
+just held their tongues. But--my notion is that the only accomplice
+Lester had was our friend Netherfield Baxter."
+
+"You've some ground?" I asked.
+
+"Yes--or I shouldn't think so," said Scarterfield. "I'm now coming to
+the reason of my sending for you, Mr. Middlebrook. I told you that
+this fellow Baxter had a decent lodging in the town. Well, I made it
+my business to go there yesterday morning, and finding that the
+landlady was a sensible woman and likely to keep a quiet tongue I just
+told her a bit of my business and asked her some questions. Then I
+found out that Baxter left various matters behind him, which she still
+had--clothes, books (he was evidently a chap for reading, and of
+superior education, which probably accounts for what I'm going to tell
+you), papers, and the like. I got her to let me have a sight of them.
+And amongst the papers I found two, which seem to me to have been
+written hundreds of years ago and to be lists with names and figures
+in them. My impression is that Lester found them in those chests of
+plate, couldn't make them out, and gave them to Netherfield Baxter, as
+being a better educated man--Baxter, I found out, did well at school
+and could read and write two or three languages. Well, now, I
+persuaded the landlady to lend me these documents for a day or two,
+and I've got them in my room upstairs, safely locked up--I'll fetch
+them down presently and you shall see if you can decipher them--very
+old they are, and the writing crabbed and queer--but Lord bless you,
+the ink's as black as jet!"
+
+"Scarterfield!" said I. "It strikes me you've possibly hit on a
+discovery. Supposing this stolen stuff is safely hidden somewhere
+about? Supposing Netherfield Baxter knew where, and that he's the
+William Netherfield of the _Elizabeth Robinson_? Supposing that he let
+the Quicks into the secret? Supposing--but, bless me! there are a
+hundred things one can suppose! Anyhow, I believe we're getting at
+something."
+
+"I've been supposing a lot of what you've just suggested ever since
+yesterday morning," he answered quietly. "Didn't I say we should have
+to hark back? Well, I'll fetch down these documents."
+
+He went away, and while he was absent I stood at the window of the
+smoking-room, looking out on the life of the little town and
+wondering. There, across the street, immediately in front of the hotel
+was the bank of which Scarterfield had been telling me--an
+old-fashioned, grey-walled, red-roofed place, the outer door of which
+was just then being closed for the day by a white-whiskered old porter
+in a sober-hued uniform. Was it possible--could it really be--that the
+story which had recently ended in a double murder had begun in that
+quiet-looking house, through the criminality of an untrustworthy
+employee? But did I say ended?--nay, for all I knew the murderers of
+the Quicks were only an episode, a chapter in the story--the end
+was--where?
+
+Then Scarterfield came back and from a big envelope drew forth and
+placed in my hands two folded pieces of old, time-yellowed parchment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE SPOILS OF SACRILEGE
+
+
+Until that moment I had not thought much about the reason of my
+presence at Blyth--I had, at any rate, thought no more than that
+Scarterfield had merely come across some writing which he found it
+hard to decipher. But one glance at the documents which he placed in
+my hands showed me that he had accidentally come across a really
+important find; within another moment I was deeply engrossed, and he
+saw that I was. He sat silently watching me; once or twice, looking up
+at him, I saw him nod as if to imply that he had felt sure of the
+importance of the things he had given me. And presently, laying the
+documents on the table between us, I smiled at him.
+
+"Scarterfield!" I said. "Are you at all up in the history of your own
+country?"
+
+"Couldn't say that I am, Mr. Middlebrook," he answered with a shake of
+his head. "Not beyond what a lad learns at school--and I dare say I've
+forgotten a lot of that. My job, you see, has always been with the
+hard facts of the actual present--not with what took place in the
+past."
+
+"But you're up to certain notable episodes?" I suggested. "You know,
+for instance, that when the religious houses were suppressed--abbeys,
+priories, convents, hospitals--in the reign of Henry the Eighth, a
+great deal of their plate and jewels were confiscated to the use of
+the King?"
+
+"Oh, I've heard that!" he admitted. "Nice haul the old chap got, too,
+I'm given to understand."
+
+"He didn't get all," said I. "A great deal of the monastic plate
+disappeared--clean vanished. It used to be said that a lot of it was
+hidden away or buried by its owners, but it's much more likely that it
+was stolen by the covetous and greedy folk of the neighbourhood--the
+big men, of course. Anyway, while a great deal was certainly sent by
+the commissioners to the king's treasury in London, a lot
+more--especially in out-of-the-way places and districts--just
+disappeared and was never heard of again. Up here in the North of
+England that was very often the case. And all this is merely a preface
+to what I'm going to tell you. Have you the least idea of what these
+documents are?"
+
+"No," he replied. "Unless they're lists of something--I did make out
+that they might be, by the way the words and figures are arranged.
+Like--inventories."
+
+"They are inventories!" I exclaimed. "Both. Written in crabbed
+caligraphy, too, but easy enough to read if you're acquainted with
+sixteenth century penmanship, spelling and abbreviations. Look at the
+first one. It is here described as an inventory of all the jewels,
+plate, et cetera, appertaining and belonging unto the Abbey of
+Forestburne, and it was made in the year 1536--this abbey, therefore,
+was one of the smaller houses that came under the L200 limit and was
+accordingly suppressed in the year just mentioned. Now look at the
+second. It also is an inventory--of the jewels and plate of the Priory
+of Mellerton, made in the same year, and similarly suppressed. But
+though both these houses were of the smaller sort, it is quite
+evident, from a cursory glance at these inventories that they were
+pretty rich in jewels and plate. By the term jewels is meant plate
+wherein jewels were set; as to the plate it was, of course, the
+sacramental vessels and appurtenances. And judging by these entries
+the whole mass of plate must have been considerable!"
+
+"Worth a good deal, eh?" he asked.
+
+"A great deal!--and if it's in existence now, much more than a great
+deal," I replied. "But I'll read you some of the items set down
+here--I'll read a few haphazard. They are set down, you see, with
+their weight in ounces specified, and you'll observe what a number of
+items there are in each inventory. We'll look at just a few. A
+chalice, twenty-eight ounces. Another chalice, thirty-six ounces. A
+mazer, forty-seven ounces. One pair candlesticks, fifty-two ounces.
+Two cruets, thirty-one ounces. One censer, twenty-eight ounces. One
+cross, fifty-eight ounces. Another cross, forty-eight ounces. Three
+dozen spoons, forty-eight ounces. One salt, with covering,
+twenty-eight ounces. A great cross, seventy-two ounces. A paten,
+sixteen ounces. Another paten, twenty ounces. Three tablets of proper
+gold work, eighty-five ounces in all. And so on and so on!--a very
+nice collection, Scarterfield, considering that these are only a few
+items at random, out of some seventy or eighty altogether. But we can
+easily reckon up the total weight--indeed, it's already reckoned up at
+the foot of each inventory. At Forestburne, you see, there was a sum
+total of two thousand two hundred and thirty-eight ounces of plate; at
+Mellerton, one thousand eight hundred and seventy ounces--so these two
+inventories represent a mass of about four thousand ounces. Worth
+having, Scarterfield!--in either the sixteenth or the twentieth
+century."
+
+"And, in the main, it would be--what?" asked Scarterfield. "Gold,
+silver?"
+
+"Some of it gold, some silver, a good deal of it silver-gilt," I
+replied. "I can tell all that by reading the inventories more
+attentively. But I've told you what a mere, cursory glance shows."
+
+"Four thousand ounces of plate--some of it jewelled!" he soliloquised.
+"Whew! And what do you make of it, Mr. Middlebrook? I mean--of all
+that I've told you?"
+
+"Putting everything together that you've told me," I answered, with
+some confidence, "I make this of it. This plate, originally church
+property, came--we won't ask how--into the hands of the late Lord
+Forestburne, and may have been in possession of his family, hidden
+away, perhaps, for four centuries. But at any rate, it was in his
+possession, and he deposited it with his bankers across the way. He
+may, indeed, not have known what was in it--again, he may have known.
+Now I take it that the dishonest temporary manager you told me of
+examined those chests, decided to appropriate their valuable contents,
+and enlisted the services of Netherfield Baxter in his nefarious
+labours. I think that these inventories were found in the chests--one,
+probably, in each--and that Baxter kept them out of sheer
+curiosity--you say he was a fellow of some education. As for the
+plate, I think he and his associate hid it somewhere--and, if you want
+my honest opinion, it was for it that Salter Quick was looking."
+
+Scarterfield clapped his hand on the table.
+
+"That's it!" he exclaimed. "Hanged if I don't think that myself! It's
+my opinion that this Netherfield Baxter, when he hooked it out of
+here, got into far regions and strange company, came into touch with
+those Quicks and told 'em the secret of this stolen plate--he was, I'm
+sure, the Netherfield of that ship the Quicks were on. Yes, sir!--I
+think we may safely bet on it that Salter Quick, as you say, was
+looking for this plate!"
+
+"And--so was somebody else," said I. "And it was that somebody else
+who murdered Salter Quick."
+
+"Aye!" he assented. "Now--who? That's the question. And what's the
+next thing to do, Mr. Middlebrook?"
+
+"It seems to me that the next thing to do is to find out all you can
+about this plate," I replied. "If I were you, I should take two people
+into your confidence--the head man, director, chairman, or whatever he
+is, at the bank--and the present Lord Forestburne."
+
+"I will!" he agreed. "I'll see 'em both, first thing tomorrow morning.
+Do you go with me, Mr. Middlebrook? You'll explain these old papers
+better than I should."
+
+So Scarterfield and I spent that evening together in the little hotel,
+and after dinner I explained the inventories more particularly. I came
+to the conclusion that if the four thousand ounces of plate specified
+in them were in the chests which the dishonest temporary bank-manager
+had stolen, he had got a very fine haul: the value, of course, of the
+plate, was not so much intrinsic as extrinsic: there were collectors,
+English and American, who would cheerfully give vast sums for
+pre-Reformation sacramental vessels. Transactions of this kind, I
+fancied, must have been in the minds of the thieves. There were
+features of the whole affair which puzzled me--not the least important
+was my wonder that this plate, undeniably church property, should have
+remained so long in the Forestburne family without being brought into
+the light of day. I hoped that our inquiries next morning would bring
+some information on that point.
+
+But we got no information--at least, none of any consequence. All that
+was known by the authorities at the bank was that the late Lord
+Forestburne had deposited two chests of plate with them years before,
+with instructions that they were to remain in the bank's custody until
+his son succeeded him--even then they were not to be opened unless the
+son had already come of age. The bank people had no knowledge of the
+precise contents of the chests--all they knew was that they contained
+plate. As for the present Lord Forestburne, a very young man, he knew
+nothing, except that his father's mysterious deposit had been burgled
+by a dishonest custodian. He expressed no opinion about anything,
+therefore. But the chief authority at the bank, a crusty and
+self-sufficient old gentleman, who seemed to consider Scarterfield and
+myself as busybodies, poohpoohed the notion that the inventories which
+we showed him had anything to do with the rifled Forestburne chests,
+and scorned the notion that the family had ever been in possession of
+goods obtained by sacrilege.
+
+"Preposterous!" said he, with a sniff of contempt. "What the chests
+contained was, of course, superfluous family plate. As for these
+documents, that fellow Baxter, in spite of his loose manner of living,
+was, I remember, a bit inclined to scholarship, and went in for old
+books and things--a strange mixture altogether. He probably picked up
+these parchments in some book-seller's shop in Durham or Newcastle. I
+don't believe they've anything to do with Lord Forestburne's stolen
+property, and I advise you both not to waste time in running after
+mare's nests."
+
+Scarterfield and I got ourselves out of this starchy person's presence
+and confided to each other our private opinions of him and his
+intelligence. For to us the theory which we had set up was
+unassailable: we tried to reduce it to strict and formal precision as
+we ate our lunch in a quiet corner of the hotel coffee-room, previous
+to parting.
+
+"More than one of us, Scarterfield, who have taken part in this
+discussion, have said that if we are going to get at the truth of
+things we shall have to go back," I observed. "Well, what you have
+found out here takes us back some way. Let us suppose--we can't do
+anything without a certain amount of supposition--let us, I say, for
+the sake of argument, suppose that the man Netherfield of Blyth, who
+was with Noah and Salter Quick on the ship _Elizabeth Robinson_, bound
+from Hong-Kong to Chemulpo is the same person as Netherfield Baxter,
+who certainly lived in this town a few years ago. Very well--now then,
+what do we know of Baxter? We know this--that a dishonest
+bank-manager stole certain valuables from the bank, died suddenly just
+afterwards, and that Baxter disappeared just as suddenly. The
+supposition is that Baxter was concerned in that theft. We'll suppose
+more--that Baxter knew where the stolen goods were; had, in fact,
+helped to secrete them. Well, the next we hear of him is--supposing
+him to be Netherfield--on this ship, which, according to the reports
+you got at Lloyds, was lost with all hands in the Yellow Sea. But--a
+big but!--we know now that whatever happened to the rest of those on
+board her, three men at any rate saved their lives--Noah Quick, Salter
+Quick and the Chinese cook, whose exact name we've forgotten, but one
+of whose patronymics was Chuh. Chuh turns up at Lloyds, in London, and
+asks a question about the ship. Noah Quick materialises at Devonport,
+and runs a public-house. Salter joins him there. And presently Salter
+is up on the Northumbrian coast, professing great anxiety to find a
+churchyard, or churchyards wherein are graves with the name
+Netherfield on them--he makes the excuse that that is the family name
+of his mother's people. Now we know what happened to Salter Quick, and
+we also know what happened to Noah Quick. But now I'm wondering if
+something else had happened before that?"
+
+"Aye, Mr. Middlebrook?" said Scarterfield. "And what, now?"
+
+"I'm wondering," I answered, leaning nearer to him across the little
+table at which we sat, "if Noah and Salter, severally, or conjointly,
+had murdered this Netherfield Baxter before they themselves were
+murdered? They--or somebody who was in with them, who afterwards
+murdered them? Do you understand?"
+
+"I'm afraid I don't," he said. "No--I don't quite see things."
+
+"Look you here, Scarterfield," said I. "Supposing a gang of men--men
+of no conscience, desperate, adventurous men--gets together, as men
+were together on that ship, the doings and fate of which seem to be
+pretty mysterious. They're all out for what they can get. One of them
+is in possession of a valuable secret, and he imparts it to the
+others, or to some of them--a chosen lot. There have been known such
+cases--where a secret is shared by say five or six men--in which
+murder after murder occurs until the secret is only held by one or
+two. A half-share in a thing is worth more than one-sixth,
+Scarterfield--and a secret of one is far more valuable than a secret
+shared with three. Do you understand now?"
+
+"I see!" he answered slowly. "You mean that Salter and Noah may have
+got rid of Netherfield Baxter and that somebody has got rid of them?"
+
+"Precisely!" said I. "You put it very clearly."
+
+"Well," he said, "if that's so, there are--as has been plain all
+along--two men concerned in putting the Quicks out of the way. For
+Noah was finished off on the same night that saw Salter finished--and
+there was four hundred miles distance between the scenes of their
+respective murders. The man who killed Noah was not the man who killed
+Salter, to be sure."
+
+"Of course!" I agreed. "We've always known there were two. There may
+be more--a gang of them, and remarkably clever fellows. But I'm
+getting sure that the desire to recover some hidden treasure,
+valuables, something of that sort, was at the bottom of it, and now
+I'm all the surer because of what we've found out about this monastic
+spoil. But there are things that puzzle me."
+
+"Such as what?" he asked.
+
+"Well, that eagerness of Salter Quick's to find a churchyard with the
+name Netherfield on the stones," I replied. "And his coming to that
+part of the Northumbrian coast expecting to find it. Because, so far
+as the experts know, there is no such name on any stone, nor in any
+parish register, in all that district. Who, then, told him of the
+name? You see, if my theory is correct, and Baxter told him and Noah,
+he'd tell them the exact locality."
+
+"Ah, but would he?" said Scarterfield. "He mightn't. He might only
+give them a general notion. Still--Netherfield it was that Salter
+asked for."
+
+"That's certain," said I. "And--I'm puzzled why. But I'm puzzled still
+more about another thing. If the men who murdered Noah and Salter
+Quick were in possession of the secret as well, why did they rip their
+clothes to pieces, searching for--something? Why, later, did somebody
+steal that tobacco-box from under the very noses of the police?"
+
+Scarterfield shook his head: the shake meant a great deal.
+
+"That fairly settles me!" he remarked. "Why, the murderer must have
+been actually present at the inquest."
+
+But at that I shook my head.
+
+"Oh, dear me, no!" said I. "Not at all! But--some agent of his was
+certainly there. My own impression is that Mr. Cazalette's eagerness
+about that box gave the whole show away. Shall I tell you how I figure
+things out? Well, I think there were men--we don't know who!--that
+either knew, with absolute certainty, or were pretty sure that Noah
+Quick, and Salter Quick were in possession of a secret and that one or
+the other--and perhaps both--carried it on him, in the shape of
+papers. Each was killed for that secret. The murderers found nothing,
+in either case. But Mr. Cazalette's remarks, made before a lot of men,
+drew attention to the tobacco-box, and the murderer determined to get
+it. And--what was easier than to abstract it, at the inquest, where it
+was exhibited in company with several other things of Salter's?"
+
+"I can't say if it was easy or not, Mr. Middlebrook," observed
+Scarterfield. "Were you there--present?"
+
+"I was there," said I. "So were most people of the neighbourhood--as
+many as could get into the room, anyway. A biggish room--there'd be a
+couple of hundred people in it. And many of them were strangers. When
+the proceedings were over, men were crowding about the table on which
+Quick's things had been laid out, for exhibition to the coroner and
+the jury--what easier than for someone to pick up that box? The place
+was so crowded that such an action would pass unnoticed."
+
+"Very evident it did!" observed Scarterfield.
+
+"But I've heard of such things being taken out of sheer
+curiosity--morbid desire to get hold of something that had to do with
+a murder. However, if this particular thing was abstracted by the
+murderer, or by somebody acting on his behalf it looks as if he, or
+they, were on the spot. And then--that affair of Mr. Cazalette's
+pocket-book!"
+
+"Well, Scarterfield," said I. "There's another way of regarding both
+these thefts. Supposing tobacco-box and pocket-book were stolen, not
+as means of revealing a secret, but so that no one else--Cazalette or
+anybody--should get at it! Eh?"
+
+"There's something in that," he admitted thoughtfully. "You mean that
+the murderers had already got rid of the Quicks so that there should
+be two less in the secret, and these things stolen lest outsiders
+should get any inkling of it?"
+
+"Precisely!" I answered. "Closeness and secrecy--that's been at the
+back of everything so far. I tell you--you're dealing with unusually
+crafty brains!"
+
+"I wish I could get the faintest idea of whose brains they were!" he
+sighed. "A direct clue, now--"
+
+Before he could say any more one of the hotel servants came into the
+coffee-room and made for our table.
+
+"There's a man in the hall asking for Mr. Scarterfield," he announced.
+"Looks like a seafaring man, sir. He says Mrs. Ormthwaite told him
+he'd find you here."
+
+"Woman with whom Baxter used to lodge," muttered Scarterfield, in an
+aside to me. "Come along, Mr. Middlebrook--you never know what you
+mayn't hear."
+
+We went out into the hall. There, twisting his cap in his hands, stood
+a big, brown-bearded man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SOLOMON FISH
+
+
+It needed but one glance at Scarterfield's visitor to assure me that
+he was a person who had used the sea. There was the suggestion of salt
+water and strong winds all over him, from his grizzled hair and beard
+to his big, brawny hands and square set build; he looked the sort of
+man who all his life had been looking out across wide stretches of
+ocean and battling with the forces of Nature in her roughest moods.
+Just then there was questioning in his keen blue eyes--he was
+obviously wondering, with all the native suspicion of a simple soul,
+what Scarterfield might be after.
+
+"You're asking for me?" said the detective.
+
+The man glanced from one to the other of us; then jerked a big thumb
+in the direction of some region beyond the open door behind his burly
+figure.
+
+"Mrs. Ormthwaite," he said, bending a little towards Scarterfield.
+"She said as how there was a gentleman stopping in this here house as
+was making inquiries, d'ye see, about Netherfield Baxter, as used to
+live hereabouts. So I come along."
+
+Scarterfield contrived to jog my elbow. Without a word, he turned
+towards the door of the smoking room, motioning his visitor to follow.
+We all went into the corner wherein, on the previous afternoon,
+Scarterfield had told me of his investigations and discoveries at
+Blyth. Evidently I was now to hear more. But Scarterfield asked for no
+further information until he had provided our companion with
+refreshment in the shape of a glass of rum and a cigar, and his first
+question was of a personal sort.
+
+"What's your name, then?" he inquired.
+
+"Fish," replied the visitor, promptly. "Solomon. As everybody is
+aware."
+
+"Blyth man, no doubt," suggested Scarterfield.
+
+"Born and bred, master," said Fish. "And lived here always--'cepting
+when I been away, which, to be sure, has been considerable. But
+whether north or south, east or west, always make for the old spot
+when on dry land. That is to say--when in this here country."
+
+"Then you'd know Netherfield Baxter?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+Fish waved his cigar.
+
+"As a baby--as a boy--as a young man," he declared. "Cut many a toy
+boat for him at one stage, taught him to fish at another, went sailing
+with him in a bit of a yawl that he had when he was growed up. Know
+him? Did I know my own mother!"
+
+"Just so," said Scarterfield, understandingly. "To be sure! You know
+Baxter quite well, of course." He paused a moment, and then leant
+across the table round which the three of us were sitting. "And when
+did you see him last?" he asked.
+
+Fish, to my surprise, laughed. It was a queer laugh. There was
+incredulity, uncertainty, a sense of vagueness in it; it suggested
+that he was puzzled.
+
+"Aye, once?" said he. "That's just it, master. And I asks you--and
+this other gent, which I takes him to be a friend o' yours, and
+confidential--I asks you, can a man trust his own eyes and his own
+ears? Can he now, solemn?"
+
+"I've always trusted mine, Fish," answered Scarterfield.
+
+"Same here, master, till awhile ago," replied Fish. "But now I ain't
+so mortal sure o' that matter as I was! 'Cause, according to my eyes,
+and according to my ears, I see Netherfield Baxter, and I hear
+Netherfield Baxter, inside o' three weeks ago!"
+
+He brought down his big hand on the table with a hearty smack as he
+spoke the last word or two; the sound of it was followed by a dead
+silence, in which Scarterfield and I exchanged quick glances. Fish
+picked up his tumbler, took a gulp at its contents, and set it down
+with emphasis.
+
+"Gospel truth!" he exclaimed.
+
+"That you did see him?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Gospel truth, master, that if my eyes and ears is to be trusted I see
+him and I hear him!" declared Fish. "Only," he continued, after a
+pause, during which he stared fixedly, first at me, then at
+Scarterfield. "Only--he said as how he wasn't he! D'ye understand?
+Denied his-self!"
+
+"What you mean is that the man you took for Baxter said you were
+mistaken, and that he wasn't Baxter," suggested Scarterfield. "That
+it?"
+
+"You puts it very plain, master," assented Fish. "That is what did
+happen. But if the man I refers to wasn't Netherfield Baxter, then
+I've no more eyes than this here cigar, and no more ears than that
+glass! Fact!"
+
+"But you've never had reason to doubt either before, I suppose," said
+Scarterfield. "And you're not inclined to doubt them now. Now then,
+let's get to business. You really believe, Fish, that you met
+Netherfield Baxter about three weeks ago? That's about it, isn't it?
+Never mind what the man said--you took him to be Baxter. Now, where
+was this?"
+
+"Hull!" replied Fish. "Three weeks ago come Friday."
+
+"Under what circumstances?" asked Scarterfield. "Tell us about it."
+
+"Ain't such a long story, neither," remarked Fish. "And seeing as how,
+according to Widow Ormthwaite, you're making some inquiries about
+Baxter, I don't mind telling, 'cause I been mighty puzzled ever since
+I see this chap. Well, you see, I landed at Hull from my last
+voyage--been out East'ard and back with a trading vessel what belongs
+to Hull owners. And before coming home here to Blyth, knocked about a
+day or two in that port with an old messmate o' mine that I chanced to
+meet there. Now then one morning--as I say, three weeks ago it is,
+come this Friday--me and my mate, which his name is Jim Shanks, of
+Hartlepool, and can corrob'rate, as they call it, what I says--we
+turns into a certain old-fashioned place there is there in Hull, in a
+bit of an alley off High Street--you'll know Hull, no doubt, you
+gentlemen?"
+
+"Never been there," replied Scarterfield.
+
+"I have," said I. "I know it well--especially the High Street."
+
+"Then you'll know, guv'nor, that all round about that High Street
+there's still a lot o' queer old places as ancient as what it is,"
+continued Fish. "Me and my mate, Shanks, knew one, what we'd oft used
+in times past--the Goose and Crane, as snug a spot as you'll find in
+any shipping-town in this here country. Maybe you'll know it?"
+
+"I've seen it from outside, Fish," I answered. "A fine old front--half
+timber."
+
+"That's it, guv'nor--and as pleasant inside as it's remarkable
+outside," he said. "Well, my mate and me we goes in there for a
+morning glass, and into a room where you'll find some interesting folk
+about that time o' day. There's a sign on the door o' that room,
+gentlemen, what reads 'For Master Mariners Only,' but it's an old
+piece of work, and you don't want to take no heed of it--me and Shanks
+we ain't master mariners, though we may look it in our shore rig-out,
+and we've used that room whenever we've been in Hull. Well, now we
+gets our glasses, and our cigars, and we sits down in a quiet corner
+to enjoy ourselves and observe what company drops in. Some queer old
+birds there is comes in to that place, I do assure you, gentlemen, and
+some strange tales o' seafaring life you can hear. Howsomever, there
+wasn't nothing partic'lar struck me that morning until it was getting
+on to dinner-time, and me an Shanks was thinking o' laying a course
+for our lodgings, where we'd ordered a special bit o' dinner to
+celebrate our happy meeting, like, when in comes the man I'm a talking
+about. And if he wasn't Netherfield Baxter, what I'd known ever since
+he was the heighth o' six-pennorth o' copper, then, says I, a man's
+eyes and a man's ears isn't to be trusted!"
+
+"Fish!" said Scarterfield, who was listening intently. "It'll be best
+if you give us a description of this man. Tell us, as near as you can,
+what he's like--I mean, of course the man you saw at the Goose and
+Crane."
+
+Our visitor seemed to pull his mental faculties together. He took
+another pull at his glass and several at his cigar.
+
+"Well," he said, "t'aint much in my line, that, me not being a
+scholar, but I can give a general idea, d'ye see, master. A tallish,
+good-looking chap, as the women 'ud call handsome, sort of rakish
+fellow, you understand. Dressed very smart. Blue serge suit--good
+stuff, new. Straw hat--black band. Brown boots--polished and shining.
+Quite the swell--as Netherfield always was, even when he'd got through
+his money. The gentleman! Lord bless your souls, I knew him, for all
+that I hadn't seen him for several years, and that he'd grown a
+beard!"
+
+"A beard, eh--" interrupted Scarterfield.
+
+"Beard and moustache," assented Fish.
+
+"What colour?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"What you might call a golden-brown," replied Fish. "Cut--the beard
+was--to a point. Suited him."
+
+Scarterfield drew out his pocket-book and produced a slightly-faded
+photograph--that of a certain good-looking, rather nattish young man,
+taken in company with a fox-terrier. He handed it to Fish.
+
+"Is that Baxter?" he asked.
+
+"Aye!--as he was, years ago," said Fish. "I know that well
+enough--used to be one o' them in the phottygrapher's window down the
+street, outside here. But now, d'ye see, he's grown a beard.
+Otherwise--the same!"
+
+"Well?" said Scarterfield, "What happened? This man came in. Was he
+alone?"
+
+"No," replied Fish. "He'd two other men with him. One was a chap about
+his own age, just as smart as what he was, and dressed similar.
+T'other was an older man, in his shirt sleeves and without a
+hat--seemed to me he'd brought Baxter and his friend across from some
+shop or other to stand 'em a drink. Anyways, he did call for
+drinks--whisky and soda--and the three on 'em stood together talking.
+And as soon as I heard Baxter's voice, I was dead sure about him--he'd
+always a highish voice, talked as gentlemen talks, d'ye see, for, of
+course, he was brought up that way--high eddicated, you understand?"
+
+"What were these three talking about?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Far as I could make out about ship's fittings," answered Fish.
+"Something 'o that sort, anyway, but I didn't take much notice o'
+their talk; I was too much taken up watching Baxter, and growing more
+certain every minute, d'ye see, that it was him. And 'cepting that a
+few o' years does make a bit o' difference, and that he's grown a
+beard, I didn't see no great alteration in him. Yet I see one thing."
+
+"Aye?" asked Scarterfield. "What, now?"
+
+"A scar on his left cheek," replied Fish. "What begun underneath his
+beard, as covered most of it, and went up to his cheek-bone. Just an
+inch or so showing, d'ye understand? 'That's been knife's work!'
+thinks I to myself. 'You've had your cheek laid open with a knife, my
+lad, somewhere and somehow!' Struck me, then, he'd grown a beard to
+hide it."
+
+"Very likely," assented Scarterfield. "Well, and what happened? You
+spoke to this man?"
+
+"I waited and watched," continued Fish. "I'm one as has been trained
+to use his eyes. Now, I see two or three little things about this man
+as I remembered about Baxter. There was a way he had of chucking up
+his chin--there it was! Another of playing with his watch-chain when
+he talked--it was there! And of slapping his leg with his
+walking-stick--that was there, too! 'Jim!' I says to my mate, 'if that
+ain't a man I used to know, I'm a Dutchman!' Which, of course, I
+ain't. And so, when the three of 'em sets down their glasses and turns
+to the door, I jumps up and makes for my man, holding out a hand to
+him, friendly. And then, of course, come all the surprise!"
+
+"Didn't know you, I suppose?" suggested Scarterfield.
+
+"I tell 'ee what happened," answered Fish.
+
+"'Morning, Mr. Baxter!' says I. 'It's a long time since I had the
+pleasure o' seeing you, sir!'--and as I say, shoves my hand out,
+hearty. He turns and gives me a hard, keen look--not taken aback, mind
+you, but searching-like. 'You're mistaken, my friend,' he says, quiet,
+but pleasant. 'You're taking me for somebody else.' 'What!' says I,
+all of a heap. 'Ain't you Mr. Netherfield Baxter, what I used to know
+at Blyth, away up North?' 'That I'm certainly not,' says he, as cool
+as the North Pole. 'Then I ax your pardon, sir,' says I, 'and all I
+can say is that I never see two gentlemen so much alike in all my born
+days, and hoping no offence.' 'None at all!' says he, as pleasant as
+might be. 'They say everybody has a double.' And at that he gives me a
+polite nod, and out he goes with his pals, and I turns back to Shanks.
+'Jim!' says I. 'Don't let me ever trust my eyes and ears no more,
+Jim!' I says. 'I'm a breaking-up, Jim!--that's what it is. Thinking I
+sees things when I don't.' 'Stow all that!' says Jim, what's a
+practical sort o' man. 'You was only mistook' says he. 'I've been in
+that case more than once,' he says. 'Wherever there's a man, there's
+another somewheres that's as like him as two peas is like each other;
+let's go home to dinner,' he says. So we went off to the lodgings, and
+at first I was sure I'd been mistaken. But later, and now--well, I
+ain't. That there man was Netherfield Baxter!"
+
+"You feel sure of it?" suggested Scarterfield.
+
+"Aye, certain, master!" declared Fish. "I've had time to think it
+over, and to reckon it all up, and now I'm sure it was him--only he
+wasn't going to let out that it was. Now, if I'd only chanced on him
+when he was by himself, what?"
+
+"You'd have got just the same answer," said the detective laconically.
+"He didn't want to be known. You saw no more of him in Hull, of
+course--"
+
+"Yes, I did," answered Fish. "I saw him again that night. And--as
+regards one of 'em at any rate, in queerish company."
+
+"What was that?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Well," replied Fish, "me and Jim Shanks, we went home to
+dinner--couple o' roast chickens, and a nice bit o' sirloin to follow.
+And after that we had a nice comfortable sleep for the rest of the
+afternoon, and then, after a wash-up and a drop o' tea, we went out to
+look round the town a bit for an evening's diversion, d'ye see. Not to
+any partic'lar place, but just strolling round, like, as sailor-men
+will, being ashore and stretching their legs. And it so came about
+that lateish in the evening we turned into the smoking-room of the
+Cross Keys, in the Market Place--maybe this here friend o' yours,
+seeing as he's been in Hull, knows that!"
+
+"I know it, Fish," said I.
+
+"Then you'll know that you goes in at an archway, turns in at your
+right, and there you are," he said. "Well, Shanks and me, we goes in,
+casual like, not expecting anything that you wouldn't expect. But we'd
+no sooner sat us down in that smoking-room and taken an observation
+that I sees the very man that I'd seen at the Goose and Crane, him
+that I'd taken for Baxter. There he was, in a corner of the room, and
+the other smart-dressed man with him, their glasses in front of 'em,
+and their cigars in their mouths. And with 'em there was something
+else that I certainly didn't go for to expect to see in that place."
+
+"What?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"What I seen plenty of, time and again, in various parts o' this here
+world, and ain't so mighty fond o' seeing," answered Fish, with a
+scowl. "A chink!"
+
+"A--what?" demanded the detective. "A--chink?"
+
+"He means a Chinaman," I said. "That's it, isn't it, Fish?"
+
+"That's it, guv'nor," assented Fish. "A yellow-skinned, slit-eyed,
+thin-fingered Chinee, with a face like a image and a voice like
+silk--which," he added, scowling more than ever, "is pison that I
+can't abide, nohow, having seen more than enough of."
+
+I looked at Scarterfield. He had been attentive enough all through the
+course of our visitor's story, but I saw that his attention had
+redoubled since the last few words.
+
+"A Chinaman!" he said in a low voice. "With--him!"
+
+"As I say, master, a Chinee, and with that there man, what, when all's
+said and done, I'm certain was and is Netherfield Baxter," reiterated
+Fish. "But mind you, and here's the queer part of it, he wasn't no
+common Chinaman. Not the sort that you'll see by the score down in
+Limehouse way, or in Liverpool, or in Cardiff--not at all. Lord bless
+you, this here chap was smarter dressed than t'other two! Swell-made
+dark clothes, gold-handled umbrella, kid gloves on his blooming hands,
+and a silk top-hat--a reg'lar dude! But--a chink!"
+
+"Well?" said Scarterfield, after a pause, during which he seemed to be
+thinking a good deal. "Anything happen?"
+
+"Nothing happened, master--what should happen?" replied Fish. "Them
+here were in their corner, and Jim Shanks and me, we was in ours. They
+were busied talking amongst themselves--of course, we heard nothing.
+And at last all three went out."
+
+"Did the man you take to be Baxter look at you?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Never showed a sign of it!" declared Fish. "Him and t'other passed us
+on their way to the door, but he took no notice."
+
+"See him again anywhere?" inquired Scarterfield.
+
+"No, I didn't" replied Fish. "I left Hull early next morning, and went
+to see relatives o' mine at South Shields. Only came home a day or two
+since, and happening to pass the time o' day with widow Ormthwaite
+this morning, I told her what I've told you. Then she told me that you
+was inquiring about Baxter, guv'nor--so I comes along here to see you.
+What might you be wanting with my gentleman, now?"
+
+Scarterfield told Fish enough to satisfy and quieten him; and
+presently the man went away, having first told us that he would be at
+home for another month. When he had gone Scarterfield turned to me.
+
+"There!" he said. "What d'you think of that, Mr. Middlebrook?"
+
+"What do you think of it?" I suggested.
+
+"I think that Netherfield Baxter is alive and active and up to
+something," he answered. "And I'd give a good deal to know who that
+Chinaman is who was with him. But there's ways of finding out a lot
+now that I've heard all this, Mr. Middlebrook!--I'm off to Hull. Come
+with me!"
+
+Until that instant such an idea had never entered my head. But I made
+up my mind there and then.
+
+"I will!" said I. "We'll see this through, Scarterfield. Get a
+time-table."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MR. JALLANBY--SHIP BROKER
+
+
+There were reasons, other than the suddenly excited desire to follow
+this business out to whatever end it might come at, which induced me
+to consent to the detective's suggestion that I should go to Hull with
+him. As I had said to Solomon Fish, I knew Hull--well enough. In my
+very youthful days I had spent an annual holiday there, with
+relatives, and I had vivid recollections of the place.
+
+Already, in those days, they had begun to pull Hull to pieces, laying
+out fine new streets and open spaces where there had been
+old-fashioned, narrow alleys and not a little in the slum way. But
+then, as happily now, there was still the old Hull of the ancient High
+Street, and the Market Place, and the Land of Green Ginger, and the
+older docks, wharves, and quays; it had been amongst these survivals
+of antiquity, and in the great church of Holy Trinity and its scarcely
+less notable sister of St. Mary in Lowgate that I had loved to wander
+as a boy--there was a peculiar smell of the sea in Hull, and an
+atmosphere of seafaring life that I have never met with elsewhere,
+neither in Wapping nor in Bristol, in Southhampton nor in Liverpool;
+one felt in Hull that one was already half-way to Bergen or Stockholm
+or Riga--there was something of North Europe about you as soon as you
+crossed the bridge at the top of Whitefriargate and plunged into masts
+and funnels, stacks of fragrant pine, and sheds bursting with foreign
+merchandise. And I had a sudden itching and half-sentimental desire to
+see the old seaport again, and once more catch up its appeal and its
+charm.
+
+"Yes, I'll certainly go with you, Scarterfield!" I repeated. "In for a
+penny, in for a pound, they say. I wonder, though, what we are in for!
+You think, really, we're on the track of Netherfield Baxter?"
+
+"Haven't a doubt of it!" asserted Scarterfield, as he turned over the
+pages of the railway guide. "That man who's just gone was right--that
+was Baxter he saw. With who knows what of mystery and crime and all
+sorts of things behind him!"
+
+"Including the murder of one of the Quicks?" I suggested.
+
+"Including some knowledge of it, anyway," he said. "It's a clue, Mr.
+Middlebrook, and I'm on it. As this man was in Hull, there'll be news
+of him to be picked up there--very likely in plenty."
+
+"Very well," said I. "I'm with you. Now let's be off."
+
+Going southward by way of Newcastle and York, we got to Hull that
+night, late--too late to do more than eat our suppers and go to bed at
+the Station Hotel. And we took things leisurely next morning,
+breakfasting late and strolling through the older part of the town
+before, as noon drew near, we approached the Goose and Crane. We had
+an object in selecting time and place. Fish had told us that the man
+whom he had seen in company with our particular quarry, the supposed
+Baxter, had come into the queer old inn in his shirt-sleeves and
+without his hat--he was therefore probably some neighbouring shop or
+store-keeper, and in the habit of turning into the ancient hostelry
+for a drink about noon. Such a man--that man--Scarterfield hoped to
+encounter. Out of him, if he met him, he could hope to get some news.
+
+Although, as a boy, I had often seen the street front of the Goose and
+Crane, I had never passed its portals. Now, entering it, we found it
+to be even more curious inside than it was out. It was a fine relic of
+Tudor days--a rabbit warren of snug rooms, old furniture, wide chimney
+places, tiled floors; if the folk who lived in it and the men who
+frequented it had only worn the right sorts of costume, we might
+easily have thought ourselves to be back in "Elizabethan times." We
+easily found the particular room of which Solomon Fish had
+spoken--there was the door, half open, with its legend on an upper
+panel in faded gilt letters, "For Master Mariners Only." But, as we
+had inferred, that warning had been set up in the old days, and was no
+longer a strict observance; we went into the room unquestioned by
+guardians or occupants, and calling for refreshments, sat ourselves
+down to watch and wait.
+
+There were several men in this quaint old parlour; all seemed, in one
+degree or another, to be connected with the sea. Men, thick-set,
+sturdy, bronzed, branded in solid suits of good blue cloth, all with
+that look in the eye which stamps the seafarer. Other men whom one
+supposed to have something to do with sea-trade--ship's chandlers,
+perhaps, or shipping-agents. We caught stray whiffs of talk--it was
+all about the life of the port and of the wide North Sea that
+stretches away from the Humber. And in the middle of this desultory
+and apparently aimless business in came a man who, I am sure from my
+first glimpse of him, was the very man we wanted. A shortish,
+stiffly-built, paunchy man, with a beefy face, shrewd eyes, and a
+bristling, iron-gray moustache; a well-dressed man, and sporting a
+fine gold chain and a diamond pin in his cravat. But--in his shirt
+sleeves, and without a hat. Scarterfield leaned nearer to me.
+
+"Our man for a million!" he muttered.
+
+"I think so," said I.
+
+The new-comer, evidently well known from the familiar way in which
+nods and brief salutations were exchanged for him, bustled up to the
+bar, called for a glass of bitter beer and helped himself to a crust
+of bread and a bit of cheese from the provender at his elbow. Leaning
+one elbow on the counter and munching his snack he entered into
+conversation with one or two men near him; here, again, the talk as
+far as we could catch it, was of seafaring matters. But we did not
+catch the name of the man in the shirt-sleeves, and when, after he had
+finished his refreshment, he nodded to the company and bustled out as
+quickly as he had entered, Scarterfield gave me a look, and we left
+the room in his wake, following him.
+
+Our quarry bustled down the alley and turned the corner into the old
+High Street. He was evidently well known there; we saw several
+passers-by exchange greetings with him. Always bustling along, as if
+he were a man whose time was precious, he presently crossed the
+narrow roadway and turned into an office, over the window of which was
+a sign--"Jallanby, Ship Broker." He had only got a foot across his
+threshold, however, when Scarterfield was at his elbow.
+
+"Excuse me, sir," he said politely. "May I have a word with you?"
+
+The man turned, stared, evidently recognized Scarterfield as a
+stranger he had just seen in the Goose and Crane, and turned from him
+to me.
+
+"Yes?" he answered questionably. "What is it?"
+
+Scarterfield pulled out his pocket-book and produced his official
+card.
+
+"You'll see who I am from that," he remarked. "This gentleman's a
+friend of mine--just now giving me some professional help. I take it
+you're Mr. Jallanby?"
+
+The ship-broker started a little as he glanced at the card and
+realized Scarterfield's calling.
+
+"Yes, I'm Mr. Jallanby," he answered. "Come inside, gentlemen." He led
+the way into a dark, rather dismal and dusty little office, and signed
+to a clerk who was writing there to go out. "What is it, Mr.
+Scarterfield?" he asked. "Some information?"
+
+"You've hit it sir," replied Scarterfield. "That's just what we do
+want; we came here to Hull on purpose to find you, believing you can
+give it. From something we heard only yesterday afternoon, Mr.
+Jallanby, a long way from here, we believe that one morning about
+three weeks ago, you were in the Goose and Crane in that very room
+where we saw you just now, in company with two men--smartly dressed
+men, in blue serge suits and straw hats; one of them with a pointed,
+golden-brown beard. Do you remember?"
+
+I was watching the ship-broker's face while Scarterfield spoke, and I
+saw that deep interest, wonder, perhaps suspicion was being aroused in
+him.
+
+"Bless me!" he exclaimed. "You don't mean to say they're--wanted?"
+
+"I mean to say that I want to get some information about them, and
+very particularly," answered Scarterfield. "You do remember that
+morning, then?"
+
+"I remember a good many mornings," said Jallanby, readily enough. "I
+went across there with those two several times while they were in the
+town. They were doing a bit of business with me--we often dropped in
+over yonder for a glass before dinner. But--I'm surprised that--well,
+to put it plainly--that detectives should be inquiring after 'em!--I
+am, indeed."
+
+"Mr. Jallanby," said Scarterfield, "I'll be plain with you. This is,
+so far, merely a matter of suspicion. I'm not sure of the identity of
+one of these men--it's but one I want to trace at present, though I
+should like to know who the other is. But--if my man is the man I
+believe him to be, there's a matter of robbery, and possibly of
+murder. So you see how serious it is! Now, I'll jog your memory a bit.
+Do you remember that one morning, as you and these two men were
+leaving the Goose and Crane, a big seafaring-looking man stepped up to
+the bearded man you were with and claimed acquaintance with him as
+being one Netherfield Baxter?"
+
+Jallanby started. It was plain that he remembered.
+
+"I do!" he exclaimed. "Well enough! I stood by. But--he said he
+wasn't. There was a mistake."
+
+"I believe there was no mistake," said Scarterfield. "I believe that
+man is Netherfield Baxter, and--it's Netherfield Baxter I want. Now,
+Mr. Jallanby, what do you know of those two? In confidence!"
+
+We had all been standing until then, but at this invitation to
+disclosure the ship-broker motioned us to sit down, he himself turning
+the stool which the clerk had just vacated.
+
+"This is a queer business, Mr. Scarterfield," he said. "Robbery?
+Murder? Nasty things, nasty terms to apply to folk that one's done
+business with. And that, of course, was all that I did with those two
+men, and all I know about them. Pleasant, good-mannered, gentlemanly
+chaps I found 'em--why, Lord bless me, I dined with 'em one night at
+their hotel!"
+
+"Which hotel?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Station Hotel," replied Jallanby. "They were there for ten days or
+so, while they did their business with me. I never saw aught wrong
+about 'em either--seemed to be what they represented themselves to be.
+Certainly they'd plenty of money--for what they wanted here in Hull,
+anyway. But of course, that's neither here nor there."
+
+"What names did you know them under?" inquired Scarterfield. "And
+where did they profess to come from?"
+
+"Well, the man with the brownish beard called himself Mr. Norman
+Belford," answered Jallanby. "I gathered he was from London. The other
+man was a Frenchman--some French lord or other, from his name, but I
+forget it. Mr. Belford always called him Vicomte--which I took to be
+French for our Viscount."
+
+Scarterfield turned and looked at me. And I, too, looked at him. We
+were thinking of the same thing--old Cazalette's find on the bush in
+the scrub near the beach at Ravensdene Court. And I could not repress
+an exclamation.
+
+"The handkerchief!"
+
+Scarterfield coughed. A dry, significant cough--it meant a great deal.
+
+"Aye!" he said. "Just so--the handkerchief! Um!" He turned to the
+ship-broker. "Mr. Jallanby," he continued, "what did these two want of
+you? What was their business here in Hull?"
+
+"I can tell you that in a very few words," answered Jallanby. "Simple
+enough and straight enough, on the surface. So far as I was concerned,
+anyhow. They came in here one morning, told me they were staying at
+the Station Hotel, and said that they wanted to buy a small craft of
+some sort that a small crew could run across the North Sea to the
+Norwegian fiords--the sort of thing you can manage with three or four,
+you know. They said they were both amateur yachtsmen, and, of course,
+I very soon found out that they knew what they were talking about--in
+fact, between you and me, I should have said that they were as
+experienced in sea-craft as any man could be!--I soon detected that."
+
+"Aye!" said Scarterfield, with a nod at me. "I dare say you would."
+
+"Well, it so happened that I'd just the very thing they seemed to
+want," continued the ship-broker. "A vessel that had recently been
+handed over to me for disposal, and then lying in the Victoria Dock,
+just at the back here, beyond the old harbour: just the sort of craft
+that they could sail themselves, with say a man, or a boy or two--I
+can tell you exactly what she was, if you like."
+
+"It might be very useful to know that," remarked Scattered, with
+emphasis on the last word. "We may want to identify her."
+
+"Well," said Jallanby, "she was a yawl about eighteen tons register;
+thirty tons yacht measurement; length forty-two feet; beam thirteen;
+draught seven and a half feet; square stern; coppered above the
+water-line; carried main, jib-headed mizen, fore-staysail, and jib,
+and in addition had a sliding gunter gaff-topsail, and----"
+
+"Here!" interrupted Scarterfield with a smile. "That's all too
+technical for me to carry in my head! If we want details, I'll trouble
+you to write 'em down later. But I take it this vessel was all ready
+for going to sea?"
+
+"Ready any day," asserted Jallanby. "Only just wanted tidying up and
+storing. As a matter of fact, she'd been in use, quite recently, but
+she was a bit too solid for her late owner's tastes--the truth was,
+she'd been originally built for a Penzance fishing-lugger--splendid
+sea-going boats, those!"
+
+"Do I understand that this vessel could undertake a longish voyage?"
+asked Scarterfield. "For instance, could they have crossed, say, the
+Atlantic in her?"
+
+"Atlantic? Lord bless you, yes!" replied the ship-broker. "Or
+Pacific, either. Go tens o' thousands o' miles in a craft of that
+soundness, as long as you'd got provisions on board!
+
+"Did they buy her?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"They did--at once," replied Jallanby. "And paid the money for her--in
+cash, there and then."
+
+"Cheque?" inquired Scarterfield, laconically.
+
+"No, sir--good Bank of England notes," answered Jallanby. "Oh, they
+were all right as regards money--in my case, anyway. And you'll find
+the same as regards the tradesmen they dealt with here--cash on the
+spot. They fitted her out with provisions as soon as they'd got
+her--that, of course, took a few days."
+
+"And then went off--to Norway?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"So I understand," assented Jallanby. "That's what they said. They
+were going, first of all, to Stavanger--then to Bergen--then further
+north."
+
+"Just the two of them?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+"Why, no," replied Jallanby. "They were joined, a day or two before they
+sailed, by a friend of theirs--a Chinaman. Queer combination--Englishman,
+Frenchman, Chinaman. But this Chinaman, he was a swell--what we should
+call a gentleman, you know--Mr. Belford told me, in private, that he
+belonged to the Chinese Ambassador's suite in London."
+
+"Oh!" said Scarterfield. "Just so! A diplomat. And where did he
+stop--here?"
+
+"Oh, he joined them at the hotel," answered Jallanby. "He'd come there
+that night I dined with them. Quiet, very gentlemanly little
+chap--quite the gentleman, you know."
+
+"And--his name?" asked Scarterfield.
+
+But the ship-broker held up a deprecating hand.
+
+"Don't ask me!" he said. "I heard it, but I'm not up to those Chinese
+names. Still, you'd find it in the hotel register, no doubt. But
+really, gentlemen, you surprise me!--I should never have thought--yet,
+you never know who people are, do you? Nice, pleasant, well-behaved
+fellows these were, and----"
+
+"Ah!" said Scarterfield, with deep significance. "It's a queer world,
+Mr. Jallanby. Now then, for the moment, oblige me by keeping all this
+to yourself. But two questions--first, how long since is it that these
+chaps sailed for Bergen; second, what is the name of this smart little
+vessel?"
+
+"They sailed precisely three weeks ago next Monday," answered the
+ship-broker, "and the name of the vessel is the _Blanchflower_."
+
+We left Mr. Jallanby then, promising to see him again, and went away.
+I was wondering what the detective made out of all this, and I waited
+with some curiosity for him to speak. But we had got half way up the
+old High Street before Scarterfield opened his lips. And then his tone
+was a blend of speculation and distrust.
+
+"Now, I wonder where those chaps have gone?" he muttered. "Of course
+they haven't gone to Norway! Of course that Chinese chap wasn't from
+the Chinese Legation in London! The whole thing's a bluff. By this
+time they'll have altered the name of that yawl, and gone--where? In
+search of that buried stuff, to be sure!"
+
+"If the man who called himself Belford is really Baxter, he'll know
+precisely where it is," I said.
+
+"Aye, just so, Mr. Middlebrook," assented Scarterfield. "But--there's
+been time in all these years to shift that stuff from one place to
+another! I haven't the slightest doubt that Belford is Baxter, and
+that he and his associates bought that vessel as the easiest way of
+getting the stuff from wherever it's hid--but where are we to look for
+them and their craft? Have they gone north or south! It would be waste
+of time and money to cable to the Norwegian ports for news of
+them--they're not gone there, that I'll swear."
+
+"Scarterfield," said I, feeling convinced on the matter. "If the man's
+Baxter, and he's after that stuff, he's gone north. The stuff is near
+Blyth! Dead certain!"
+
+"I dare say you're right," he said slowly. "And as I've found out all
+there is to find out here in Hull, I suppose a return to Blyth is the
+most advisable thing. After all, we know what to look out for on that
+coast--a twenty-ton yawl, with an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a
+Chinaman aboard her. Very well."
+
+So that afternoon, after seeing the ship-broker again, and making
+certain arrangements with him in case he heard anything of the
+_Blanchflower_ and her crew of three queerly-assorted individuals, we
+retraced our steps northward. But while Scarterfield turned off at
+Newcastle for Tynemouth and Blyth, I went forward alone, for Alnwick
+and Ravensdene Court.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE PATHLESS WOOD
+
+
+Being very late in the evening when I arrived at Alnwick, I remained
+there for that night, and it was not until noon of the next day that I
+once more reached Ravensdene Court. Lorrimore was there, he had come
+over to lunch, and for the moment I hoped that he had brought some
+news from his Chinese servant. But he had heard nothing of Wing since
+his departure: it would scarcely be Wing's method, he said, to
+communicate with him by letter; when he had anything to tell, he would
+either return or act, of his own initiative, upon his acquired
+information: the way of the Chinaman, he remarked with a knowing look
+at Mr. Raven, was dark, subtle, and not easily understandable to
+Western minds.
+
+"And yourself, Middlebrook?" asked Mr. Raven. "What did the detective
+want, and what have you found out?"
+
+I told them the whole story as we sat at lunch. They were all deeply
+absorbed, but no one so much as Mr. Cazalette, who, true to his
+principle of doing no more than crumbling a dry biscuit and sipping a
+glass or two of sherry at that hour, gave my tale of the doings at
+Blyth and Hull his undivided attention. And when he had heard me out,
+he slipped away in silence, evidently very thoughtful, and
+disappeared into the library.
+
+"So there it all is," I said in conclusion, "and if anybody can make
+head or tail of it and get a definite and dependable theory, I am sure
+that Scarterfield, from a professional standpoint, will be glad to
+hear whatever can be said."
+
+"It seems to me that Scarterfield is on the high road to a very
+respectable theory already," remarked Lorrimore. "So are you! The
+thing--to me--appears to be fairly plain. It starts out with the
+association of Baxter and the dishonest bank-manager. The
+bank-manager, left in charge of this old-fashioned bank at Blyth,
+where any supervision of his doings was no doubt pretty slack, and
+where he was, of course, fully trusted, examines the nature of the
+various matters committed to his care, and finds out the contents of
+those Forestburne chests. He then enters into a conspiracy with Baxter
+for purloining them and some other valuables--those jewels you
+mentioned, Middlebrook. It would not be a difficult thing to get them
+away from the bank premises without anyone knowing. Then the two
+conspirators secrete them in a safe and unlikely place, easily
+accessible, I take it, from the sea. Probably, they meant to remove
+them for good and all, just before the dishonest bank-manager's
+temporary residence in the town came to an end. But his fatal accident
+occurs. Then Master Baxter is placed in a nice fix! He knows that his
+fellow-criminal's sudden death will necessarily lead to some
+examination, more or less thorough, of the effects at the bank. That
+examination, to be sure, was made. But Baxter has gone, cleared out,
+vanished, before the result is known. He may have had an idea--we can
+only guess at it--that suspicion would fall on him. Anyway, he leaves
+the town, and is never seen in or near it again. If this theory is a
+true one, things seem pretty clear up to this point."
+
+"Of course," said I, "it is theory! All supposition, you know."
+
+"Right!" assented Lorrimore. "But let us theorise a bit further--I am,
+you see, merely following out the train of thought which seems to have
+been set up in you and in Scarterfield. Baxter disappears. Nobody
+knows where he's gone. There is a veil drawn over a certain
+period--pretty thickly. But we, who have had occasion to try to pierce
+it, have seen, so we think, through certain tears and rifts in it. We
+know that a certain number of years ago there was a trading ship in
+the Yellow Sea, the _Elizabeth Robinson_, concerning the fate of which
+there is more mystery than is quite in accordance with either safety
+or respectability. She was bound from Hong-Kong to Chemulpo, and she
+never reached Chemulpo. But we also know that on her, when she left
+Hong-Kong there were two men, presumably brothers, whose names were
+Noah Quick and Salter Quick, set down, mind you, not as members of the
+crew, but as passengers. Also there was a Chinese cook, of the name of
+Lo Chuh Fen. And there was another man, who called himself
+Netherfield, and who hailed from Blyth, in Northumberland."
+
+He looked round the table, evidently bent on securing our attention to
+their particular point. We were all, of course, fully acquainted with
+the details he was unfolding, but he was summing things up in quite
+judicial fashion, and there was a certain amount of intellectual
+satisfaction in listening to a succinct resume. One of us, at any
+rate, was following him with rapt attention--Miss Raven. I fancied I
+saw why--Baxter, or Netherfield, had already presented himself to her
+as a personage of a dark and romantic, if deeply-wicked and even
+blood-stained sort.
+
+"Now," continued Lorrimore, becoming more judicial than ever, "according
+to the official accounts, as shown at Lloyds, the _Elizabeth Robinson_
+never reached Chemulpo, and she is--officially--believed to have been
+lost, with all hands, during a typhoon, in the Yellow Sea. All hands! But
+we know that, whatever happened to the _Elizabeth Robinson_, and to the
+rest of the crew, certain men who were on board her when she left
+Hong-Kong, for Chemulpo, did escape whatever catastrophe occurred. The
+_Elizabeth Robinson_ may be at the bottom of the Yellow Sea, and most of
+her folk with her. But in course of time Noah Quick turns up at Devonport
+in England, in possession, evidently, of plenty of money. He takes a
+licensed house, runs it on highly respectable lines, and comports himself
+as a decent member of society; also he prospers, and has a very good
+balance at his bankers. So there is one man who certainly did not go down
+with the _Elizabeth Robinson_. And now--to keep matters in chronological
+order--we hear of another. A Chinaman, undoubtedly Lo Chuh Fen, turns up
+at Lloyds and endeavours to find out if this _Elizabeth Robinson_ ever did
+reach Chemulpo. There is a strange point here--Lo Chuh Fen certainly
+sailed out of Hong-Kong with the _Elizabeth Robinson_, bound for
+Chemulpo, yet, some years later, he is inquiring in London, if the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_ ever reached her destination. Why? Did the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_ touch at any port after leaving Hong-Kong? Did Lo Chuh Fen leave
+her at any such port? We don't know--and for the moment it is not
+material; what is material is that a second member of the company on board
+the _Elizabeth Robinson_ did not go down with her in the Yellow Sea if, as
+is said, she did go. So there are two survivors--Noah Quick and Lo Chuh
+Fen. And now a third is added in the person of another Quick--Salter, who
+turns up at Devonport as the guest of Noah, and who, like his brother, is
+evidently in possession of a plenitude of this world's goods. He has money
+in the bank, is a gentleman of leisure, and, like Noah, a person of
+reserved speech."
+
+Lorrimore was now fairly into his stride, and becoming absorbed in his
+summing-up. He pushed aside his glass and other table impediments, and
+leaning forward spoke more earnestly, emphasising his words with
+equally emphatic gestures.
+
+"A person of reserved speech!" he continued. "But--on one occasion, at
+any rate, so eager to get hold of information, that he casts his
+habitual reserve aside. On a certain day in March of this year, Salter
+Quick, with a handsome amount of ready money in his pocket, leaves
+Devonport, saying that he is going away for a few days. We next hear
+of him at an hotel in Alnwick, where he is asking for information
+about certain churchyards on this Northumbrian coast wherein he will
+find the graves of people of the name of Netherfield--the name of a
+man, be it remembered, who was with him and his brother Noah Quick,
+on board the _Elizabeth Robinson_. Next morning he meets with Mr.
+Middlebrook on the headlands between Alnmouth and Ravensdene Court and
+taking him for an inhabitant of these parts, he puts the same question
+to him. He accompanies Mr. Middlebrook to an inn on the cliffs; he
+asks the same question there--and there, evidently to his great
+discomfiture, he hears that another man, whose identity did not then
+appear, but who, we now know, was only a casual traveller who was
+merely repeating Salter Quick's own questions of the previous evening
+which he had overheard at Alnwick, had been asking similar questions.
+Why had Salter Quick travelled all the way from Devonport to
+Northumberland to find the graves of some people named Netherfield? We
+don't know--but we do know that on the very night of the day on which
+he had asked his questions of Mr. Middlebrook and of Claigue, the
+landlord, Salter Quick was murdered. And on that same night, at
+Devonport, four hundred miles away, his brother, Noah Quick, met a
+similar fate."
+
+Mr. Cazalette came back into the room. He was carrying a couple of fat
+quarto books under one arm, and a large folio under the other, and he
+looked as if he had many important things to communicate. But Miss
+Raven smilingly motioned him to be seated and silent, and Lorrimore,
+with a glance at him which a judge might have bestowed on some belated
+counsel who came tip-toeing into his court, went on.
+
+"Now," he said, "there were certain similarities in these two murders
+which lead to the supposition that, far apart as they were, they were
+the work of a gang, working with common purpose. There was no robbery
+from the person in either instance, though each victim had money and
+valuables on him to a considerable amount. But each man had been
+searched. Pockets had been turned out--clothing ripped up. In the case
+of Salter Quick, we are familiar with the details of the tobacco-box,
+on the inner lid of which there was a roughly-scratched plan of some
+place, and of the handkerchief bearing a monogram which Mr. Cazalette
+discovered near the scene of the murder. These are details--of great
+importance--the true significance of which does not yet appear. But
+the real, prime detail is the curious, mysterious connection between
+the name Netherfield, which Salter Quick was so anxious to find on
+gravestones in some Northumbrian churchyard or other, and the man of
+that name who was with him on the _Elizabeth Robinson_. And we are at
+once faced with the question--was the man, Netherfield Baxter, who
+left Blyth some years ago, the man Netherfield, described as of Blyth,
+whose name was on the _Elizabeth Robinson's_ list?"
+
+Mr. Raven treated us to one of his characteristic sniffs. He had a
+way, when he was stating what he considered to be a dead certainty, or
+when he was assenting to one, of throwing up his head and sniffing,
+with a somewhat cynical smile as accompaniment. He sniffed now, and
+Lorrimore went on--to a peroration.
+
+"There can be no doubt about it!" he said with emphasis. "A Blyth man,
+a seafarer, named Solomon Fish, chances to be in Hull and, in a tavern
+there which is evidently the resort of seafaring folk, sees a man whom
+he instantly recognizes as Netherfield Baxter, whom he had known as
+child, boy and young man. He accosts him--the man denies it. We need
+pay no attention whatever to that denial: we may be quite sure from
+the testimony of Fish that the man is Baxter. Now then, what is Baxter
+doing? He is evidently in possession of ample funds--he and his
+companions buy a small vessel, a twenty-ton yawl, in which, they said,
+they want to cross the North Sea to the Norwegian fiords. And who are
+his companions? One is a Chinaman. Probably Lo Chuh Fen. The other is
+a Frenchman, who, says Mr. Jallanby, the Hull ship-broker, was
+addressed as Vicomte. He, probably, is an adventurer, and a criminous
+one, like Baxter, and--he is also probably the owner of the
+handkerchief which Mr. Cazalette found, stained with Salter Quick's
+blood!"
+
+Lorrimore paused a moment, looking round to see how this impressed us.
+The last suggestion was new to me, but I saw its reasonableness and
+nodded. Lorrimore nodded back, and continued.
+
+"Now a last word," he said. "I, personally, haven't a doubt that these
+three, one or other of 'em, murdered the Quicks, and that they're now
+going to take up that swag which Baxter and the dishonest bank-manager
+safely planted somewhere. But--I don't believe it's buried or secreted
+in any out-of-the-way place on the coast. I know where I should look
+for it, and where Scarterfield ought to search for it."
+
+"Where, then?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Well," he answered, "the thing is--to consider what those fellows
+were likely to do with the old monastic plate and the jewels and so on
+when they'd got them. They probably knew that the ancient chalices,
+reliquaries, and that sort of thing would fetch big prices, sold
+privately to collectors--especially to American collectors, who, as
+everybody knows, are not at all squeamish or particular about the
+antecedents of property so long as they secure it. I should say that
+Baxter, acting for his partner in crime, stored these things, and has
+waited for a favourable opportunity to resume possession of them. I
+incline to the opinion that he stored them at Hartlepool, or at
+Newcastle, or at South-Shields--at any place whence they could easily
+be transferred by ship. He may, indeed, have stored them at Liverpool,
+for easy transit across the Atlantic. I don't believe in the theory
+that they're planted in some hole-and-corner of the coast."
+
+"In that case, what becomes of Salter Quick's search for the graves of
+the Netherfields?" I suggested.
+
+"Can't say," replied Lorrimore, with a shrug of his shoulders. "But
+Salter Quick may have got hold of the wrong tale, or half a tale, or
+mixed things up. Anyway, that's my opinion--that this stolen property
+is not cached anywhere, but is somewhere within four respectable
+walls, and if I were Scarterfield, I should communicate with stores
+and repositories asking for information about goods left with them
+some time ago and not yet reclaimed."
+
+"Good idea!" agreed Mr. Raven. "Much more likely than the buried
+treasure notion."
+
+"To which, however, I incline," I said stubbornly. "When Salter Quick
+sought for the graves of the Netherfields, he had a purpose."
+
+Mr. Cazalette came nearer the table with his big volumes. It was very
+evident that he had made some discovery and was anxious to tell us of
+it.
+
+"Before you go any further into that matter," said he, laying down his
+burdens, "there are one or two things I should like to draw your
+attention to in connection with what Middlebrook told us before I left
+the room just a while since. Now about that monastic plate,
+Middlebrook, of which you've seen the inventories--you may not be
+aware of it, but there's a reference to that matter in Dryman's
+'History of the Religious Foundations of Northumberland' which I will
+now read to you. Hear you this, now:
+
+     "_Abbey of Forestburne._--It is well known that the altar
+     vessels, plate, and jewels of this house were considerable
+     in number and in value, but were never handed over to the
+     custodians of the King's Treasury House in London. They were
+     duly inventoried by the receivers in these parts, and there
+     are letters extant recording their dispatch to London. But
+     they never reached their destination, and it is commonly
+     believed that like a great deal more of the monastic
+     property of the Northern districts these valuables were
+     appropriated by high-placed persons of the neighbourhood who
+     employed their underlings, marked and disguised, to waylay
+     and despoil the messengers entrusted to carry them
+     Southward. N. B.--These foregoing remarks apply to the plate
+     and jewels which appertained to the adjacent Priory of
+     Mellerton, which were also of great value."
+
+"So," continued Mr. Cazalette, "there's no doubt, in my mind, anyway,
+that the plate of which Middlebrook saw the inventories is just what
+they describe it to be, and that it came, in course of time, into the
+hands of the Lord Forestburne who deposited it in yon bank. And now,"
+he went on, opening the biggest of his volumes, "here's the file of a
+local paper which your respected predecessor, Mr. Raven, had the good
+sense to keep, and I've turned up the account of the inquest that was
+held at Blyth on yon dishonest bank-manager. And there's a bit of
+evidence here that nobody seems to have drawn Scarterfield's attention
+to. 'The deceased gentleman,' it reads, 'was very fond of the sea, and
+frequently made excursions along our beautiful coast in a small yacht
+which he hired from Messrs. Capsticks, the well-known boat-builders of
+the town. It will be remembered that he had a particular liking for
+night-sailing, and would often sail his yacht out of harbour late of
+an evening in order, as he said, to enjoy the wonderful effects of
+moonlight on sea and coast.' That, you'll bear in mind," concluded Mr.
+Cazalette, with a more than usually sardonic grin, "was penned by some
+fatuous reporter before they knew that the deceased gentleman had
+robbed the bank. And no doubt it was on those night excursions that
+he, and this man Baxter that we've heard of, carried away the stolen
+valuables, and safely hid them in some quiet spot on this coast--and
+there you'll see, they'll be found all in good time. And as sure as my
+name is what it is, Dr. Lorrimore, it was that spot that Salter Quick
+was after--only he wasn't exactly certain where it was, and had
+somehow got mixed about the graves of the Netherfields. Man alive! yon
+plate of the old monks is buried under some Netherfield headstone at
+this minute!"
+
+"Don't believe it, sir!" said Lorrimore. "It's much more likely to be
+stored in some handy seaport where it can be easily called for without
+attracting attention. And if Middlebrook'll give me Scarterfield's
+address that's what I'm going to suggest to him."
+
+I suppose Lorrimore wrote to the detective. But during the next few
+days I heard nothing from Scarterfield; indeed nobody heard anything
+new from anywhere. I believe that Scarterfield from Blyth, gave some
+hints to the coastguard people about keeping a look-out for the
+_Blanchflower_, but I am not sure of it. However, two of us at
+Ravensdene Court took a mutual liking for walks along the loneliest
+stretches of the coast--myself and Miss Raven. Before my journey to
+Blyth and Hull, she and I had already taken to going for afternoon
+excursions together; now we lengthened them, going out after lunch and
+remaining away until we had only just time to return home by the
+dinner-hour. I think we had some vague idea that we might possibly
+discover something--perhaps find some trace, we knew not of what. Then
+we were led, unexpectedly, as such things always do happen, to the
+threshold of our great and perilous adventure. Going further afield
+than usual one day, and, about five o'clock of a spring afternoon,
+straying into a solitary ravine that opened up before us on the moors
+that stretched to the very edge of the coast, we came upon an ancient
+wood of dwarf oak, so venerable and time-worn in appearance that it
+looked like a survival of the Druid age. There was not an opening to
+be seen in its thick undergrowth, nor any sign of path or track
+through it, but it was with a mutual consent and understanding that we
+made our way into its intense silence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+HUMFREY DE KNAYTHVILLE
+
+
+In order to arrive at a proper understanding of the peculiar
+circumstances and position in which Miss Raven and myself very shortly
+found ourselves placed, it is necessary to give some information as to
+the geographical situation of the wood into which we plunged, more I
+think, out of a mingled feeling of curiosity and mystery than of
+anything else. We had then walked several miles from Ravensdene Court
+in a northerly direction, but instead of keeping to the direct line of
+the cliffs and headlands we had followed an inland track along the
+moors, which, however, was never at any point of its tortuous way more
+than a mile from the coast. The last mile or two of this had been
+through absolute solitudes--save for a lonely farmstead, or shepherd's
+cottage, seen far off on the rising ground, further inland, we had not
+seen a sign of human habitation. Nor that afternoon did we see any
+sail on the broad stretch of sea at our right, nor even the
+smoke-trail of any passing steamer on the horizon. Yet the place we
+now approached seemed even more solitary. We came to a sort of ravine,
+a deep fissure in the line of the land, on the south side of which lay
+the wood of ancient oak of which I have spoken. Beyond it, on the
+northern side, the further edge of this ravine rose steeply, masses
+of scarred limestone jutting out of its escarpments; it seemed to me
+that at the foot of the wood and in the deepest part of this natural
+declension, there would be a burn, a stream, that ran downwards from
+the moor to the sea. I think we had some idea of getting down to this,
+following its course to its outlet on the beach, and returning
+homeward by way of the sands.
+
+The wood into which we made our way was well-nigh impregnable; it
+seemed to me that for age upon age its undergrowth had run riot,
+untrimmed, unchecked, until at last it had become a matted growth of
+interwoven, strangely twisted boughs and tendrils. It was only by
+turning in first one, then another direction through it that we made
+any progress in the downward direction we desired; sometimes it was a
+matter of forcing one's way between the thickly twisted obstacles. We
+exchanged laughing remarks about our having found the forest primeval;
+before long each was plentifully adorned with scratches and tears. All
+around us the silence was intense; there was no singing of birds nor
+humming of insects in that wood. But more than once we came across
+bones--the whitened skeletons of animals that had sought these shades
+and died there or had been dragged into them and torn to pieces by
+their fellow beasts. Altogether there was an atmosphere of eeriness
+and gloom in that wood, and I began--more for my companion's sake than
+my own--to long for a glimpse of some outlet, a sight of the sunlit
+sea beyond, and for the murmur of the burn which I felt sure, ran
+rippling coast-wards beneath the fringes of this almost impassable
+thicket.
+
+And then at the end of quite half-an-hour's struggling, borne, I must
+say, by Miss Raven, with the truly sporting spirit which was a part of
+her general character, a sudden exclamation from her, as she pushed
+her way through a clump of wilding a little in advance of me, caused
+me to look ahead.
+
+"There's some building just in front of us!" she said. "See--grey
+stones--a ruin!"
+
+I looked in the direction she indicated, and through the interstices
+of the thickly-leaved branches, just then prodigal of their first
+spring foliage, saw, as she said, a grey wall, venerable and
+time-stained, rising in front. I could see the topmost stones, a sort
+of broken parapet, ivy clustering about it, and beneath the green of
+the ivy, a fragment of some ornamentation and the cavernous gloom of a
+window place from which glass and tracery had long since gone.
+
+"That's something to make for, anyway," I said. "Some old tower or
+other. Yet I don't remember anything of the sort, marked on the maps."
+
+We pushed forward, and came out on a little clearing. Immediately in
+front of us stood the masonry of which we had caught glimpses; a low,
+squat, square tower, some forty feet in height, ruinous as to the most
+part, but having the side facing us nearly perfect and still boasting
+a fine old doorway which I set down as of Norman architecture. North
+of this lay a mass of fallen masonry, a long line of grass-grown,
+weed-encumbered stone, which was evidently the ruin of a wall; here
+and there in the clearing were similar smaller masses. Rank weed,
+bramblebush, beds of nettles, encumbered the whole place; it was a
+scene of ruin and desolation. But a mere glance was sufficient to show
+me that we had come by accident on a once sacred spot.
+
+"Why this," said I, as we paused at the edge of the wood, "this is the
+ruin of some ancient church, or perhaps of a religious house! Look at
+the niche there above the arch of the door--there's been an image in
+that--and at the general run of the stone lying about. Certainly this
+is an old church! Why have we never heard of it?"
+
+"Utterly forgotten, I should think," said Miss Raven. "It must be a
+long time since there were people about here to come to it."
+
+"Probably a village down on the coast--now swept away," I remarked.
+"But we must look this place out in the local books. Meanwhile let's
+explore it."
+
+We began to look about the clearing. The tower was almost gone as to
+three sides of it; the fourth was fairly intact. A line of fallen
+masonry lay to the north and was continued a little on the east, where
+it rose into a higher, ivy-covered mass. Within this again was
+another, less obvious line, similar in plan, and also covered with
+unchecked growth: within that the uneven surface of the ground was
+thickly encumbered with rank weeds, beds of thistle, beds of nettle,
+and a plenitude of bramble and gorse; in one place towards the eastern
+mass of overgrown wall, a great clump of gorse had grown to such a
+height and thickness as to form an impenetrable screen. And, peering
+and prying about, suddenly we came, between this screen and the foot
+of the tower on signs of great slabs of stone, over the edges of which
+the coarse grass had grown, and whose surfaces were thickly
+encumbered with moss and lichen.
+
+"Gravestones!" said Miss Raven. "But--I suppose they're quite worn and
+illegible."
+
+I got down on my knees at one of the slabs less encumbered than the
+others and began to tear away the grass and weed. There was a rich,
+thick carpet of moss on it, and a fringe of grey, clinging lichen, but
+by the aid of a stout pocket-knife I forced it away, and laid bare a
+considerable surface of the upper half of the stone. And now that the
+moss, which had formed a sort of protecting cover, was removed, we saw
+lettering, worn and smoothed at its edges in common with the rest of
+the slab, but still to be made out with a little patience.
+
+There may be--probably is--a certain density in me, a slowness of
+intuition and perception, but it is the fact that at this time and for
+some minutes later, I had not the faintest suspicion that we had
+accidentally lighted upon something connected with the mystery of Salter
+Quick. All I thought of, I think, just then was that we had come across
+some old relic of antiquity--the church of some coast hamlet or village
+which had long been left to the ruinous work of time, and my only
+immediate interest was in endeavouring to decipher the half-worn-out
+inscription on the stone by which I was kneeling. While my companion stood
+by me, watching with eager attention, I scraped out the earth and moss and
+lichen from the lettering--fortunately, it had been deeply incised in the
+stone--a hard and durable sort--and much of it remained legible, once the
+rubbish had been cleared from it. Presently I made out at any rate
+several words and figures:
+
+    _Hic jacet dominus ...
+    Humfrey de Knaythville ...
+    quond' vicari huius ...
+    ecclie qui obeit ...
+    anno dei mccccxix .._.
+
+Beneath these lines were two or three others, presumably words of
+scripture, which had evidently become worn away before the moss spread
+its protecting carpet over the others. But we had learnt something.
+
+"There we are!" said I, regarding the result of my labours with proud
+satisfaction. "There it runs--'Here lies the lord, or master, Humphrey
+de Knaythville, sometime vicar of this church, who died in the year of
+our Lord one thousand four hundred and nineteen'--nearly six hundred
+years ago! A good find!"
+
+"Splendid!" exclaimed Miss Raven, already excited to enthusiasm by
+these antiquarian discoveries. "I wonder if there are inscriptions on
+the other tombs?"
+
+"No doubt," I assented, "and perhaps some, or things of interest, on
+this fallen masonry. This place is well worth careful examination, and
+I'm wondering how it is that I haven't come across any reference to it
+in the local books. But to be sure, I haven't read them very fully or
+carefully--Mr. Cazalette may know of it. We shall have something to
+tell him."
+
+We began to look round again. I wandered into the base of the tower;
+Miss Raven began to explore the weed-choked ground towards the east
+end. Suddenly I heard a sharp, startled exclamation from her. Turning,
+I saw her standing by the great clump of overgrown gorse of which I
+have already spoken. She glanced at me; then at something behind the
+gorse.
+
+"What is it?" I asked.
+
+Unconsciously, she lowered her voice, at the same time glancing,
+half-nervously, at the thick undergrowth of the wood.
+
+"Come here!" she said. "Come!"
+
+I went across the weed-grown surface to her side. She pointed behind
+the gorse-bush.
+
+"Look there!" she whispered.
+
+I knew as soon as I looked that we were not alone in that wild,
+solitary-seeming spot; that there were human ears listening, and human
+eyes watching; that we were probably in danger. There behind the
+yellow-starred clump of green was what at first sight appeared to be a
+newly-opened grave, but was in reality a freshly-dug excavation; a
+heap of soil and stone, just flung out, lay by it; on this some hand
+had flung down a mattock; near it rested a pick. And suddenly, as by a
+heaven-sent inspiration, I saw things. We had stumbled on the
+graveyard which Salter Quick had wished to find; de Knaythville and
+Netherfield were identical terms which had got mixed up in his
+uneducated mind; here the missing treasure was buried, and we had
+walked into this utterly deserted spot to interrupt--what, and who?
+
+Before I could say a word, I heard Miss Raven catch her breath; then
+another sharp exclamation came from her lips--stifled, but clear.
+
+"Oh, I say!" she cried. "Who--who are these--these men?"
+
+Her hand moved instinctively towards my arm as she spoke, and as I
+drew it within my grasp I felt that she was trembling a little. And in
+that same instant, turning quickly in the direction she indicated, I
+became aware of the presence of two men who had quietly stepped out
+from the shelter of the high undergrowth on the landward side of the
+clearing and stood silently watching us. They were attired in
+something of the fashion of seamen, in rough trousers and jerseys, but
+I saw at first glance that they were not common men. Indeed, I saw
+more, and realized with a sickening feeling of apprehension that our
+wandering into that place had brought us face to face with danger. One
+of the two, a tallish, slender-built, good-looking man, not at all
+unpleasant to look on if it had not been for a certain sinister and
+cold expression of eye and mouth, I recognized as a stranger whom I
+had noticed at the coroner's inquest on Salter Quick and had then
+taken for some gentleman of the neighbourhood. The other, I felt sure,
+was Netherfield Baxter. There was the golden-brown beard of which Fish
+had told me and Scarterfield; there, too, was the half-hidden scar on
+the left cheek. I had no doubt whatever that Miss Raven and myself
+were in the hands of the two men who had bought the _Blanchflower_
+from Jallanby, the ship-broker of Hull.
+
+The four of us stood steadily gazing at each other for what seemed to
+be a long and--to me--a painful minute. Then the man whom I took to be
+Baxter moved a little nearer to us; his companion, hands in pockets,
+but watchful enough, lounged after him.
+
+"Well, sir?" said Baxter, lifting his cap as he glanced at Miss Raven.
+"Don't think me too abrupt, nor intentionally rude, if I ask you what
+you and this young lady are doing here?"
+
+His voice was that of a man of education and even of refinement, and
+his tone polite enough; there was something of apology in it. But it
+was also sharp, business-like, compelling; I saw at once that this was
+a man whose character was essentially matter-of-fact, and who would
+not allow himself to stick at trifles, and I judged it best to be
+plain in my answer.
+
+"If you really want to know," I replied, "we are here by sheer
+accident. Exploring the wood for the mere fun of the thing, we chanced
+upon these ruins and have been examining them, that's all?"
+
+"You didn't come here with any set purpose?" he asked, looking from
+one to the other. "You weren't seeking this place?"
+
+"Certainly not!" said I. "We hadn't the faintest notion that such a
+place was to be found."
+
+"But here it is, anyway," he said. "And--there you are! In the
+possession of the knowledge of it. And so--you'll excuse me--I must
+ask a question. Who are you? Tourists? Or--do you live hereabouts?"
+
+The other man made a remark under his breath, in some foreign
+language, eyeing me the while. And Baxter spoke again watching me.
+
+"I think you, at any rate, are a resident?" he said. "My friend has
+seen you before in these parts."
+
+"I have seen him," I said unthinkingly. "I saw him amongst the people
+at Salter Quick's inquest."
+
+The faintest shadow of an understanding glance passed between the two
+men, and Baxter's face grew stern.
+
+"Just so!" he remarked. "That makes it all the more necessary to
+repeat my question. Who are you--both?"
+
+"My name is Middlebrook, if you must know," I answered. "And I am not
+a resident of these parts--I am visiting here. As for this lady, she
+is Miss Raven, the niece of Mr. Francis Raven, of Ravensdene Court.
+And really--"
+
+He waved his hand as if to deprecate any remonstrance or threat on my
+part, and bowed as politely to my companion as if I had just given him
+a formal introduction to her.
+
+"No harm shall come to you, Miss Raven," he said, with evidently
+honest assurance. "None whatever!"
+
+"Nor to Mr. Middlebrook, either, I should hope!" exclaimed Miss Raven,
+almost indignantly.
+
+He smiled, showing a set of very white, strong teeth.
+
+"That depends on Mr. Middlebrook," he said. "If Mr. Middlebrook
+behaves like a good and reasonable boy--Mr. Middlebrook," he went on,
+interrupting himself and turning on me with a direct look, "a plain
+question? Are you armed?"
+
+"Armed!" I retorted scornfully. "Do you think I carry a revolver on an
+innocent country stroll?"
+
+"We do!" he answered with another smile. "You see, we don't know with
+whom we may meet. It was a million to one--perhaps more--against our
+meeting anybody this afternoon, yet--we've met you."
+
+"We are sorry to have interrupted you," I said, not without a touch of
+satirical meaning. "We won't interrupt any longer if you will permit
+us to say good-day."
+
+I motioned to Miss Raven to follow me, and made to move. But Baxter
+laughed a little and shook his head.
+
+"I'm not sure that we can allow that, just yet," he said. "It is
+unfortunate--I offer a thousand apologies to Miss Raven, but business
+is business, and--"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that you intend to interfere with our
+movements, just because you chance to find us here?" I demanded. "If
+so--"
+
+"Don't let us quarrel or get excited," he said, with another wave of
+his hand. "I have said that no harm shall come to you--a little
+temporary inconvenience, perhaps, but--however, excuse me for a
+moment."
+
+He stepped back to his companion; together they began to whisper,
+occasionally glancing at us.
+
+"What does he mean?" murmured Miss Raven. "Do they want to keep
+us--here?"
+
+"I don't know what they intend," I said. "But--don't be afraid."
+
+"I'm not afraid," she answered. "Only--I've a pretty good idea of who
+it is that we've come across! And--so have you?"
+
+"Yes," I replied. "Unfortunately, I have. And--we're at their mercy.
+There's nothing for it but to obey, I think."
+
+Baxter suddenly turned back to us. It was clear that his mind was made
+up.
+
+"Miss Raven--Mr. Middlebrook," he said. "I'm sorry, but we can't let
+you go. The fact is, you've had the bad luck to light on a certain
+affair of ours about which we can't take any chances. We have a yacht
+lying outside here--you'll have to go with us on board and to remain
+there for a day or two. I assure you, no harm shall come to either of
+you. And as we want to get on with our work here--will you please to
+come, now?"
+
+We went--silently. There was nothing else to do. In a similar silence
+they led us through the rest of the wood, along the side of the stream
+which I had expected to find there, and to a small boat that lay
+hidden by the mouth of the creek. As they rowed us away in it, and
+rounded a spit of land, we saw the yacht, lying under a bluff of the
+cliffs. Ten minutes' stiff pulling brought us alongside--and for a
+moment, as I glanced up at her rail, I saw the yellow face of a
+Chinaman looking down on us. Then it vanished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE PLUM CAKE
+
+
+In the few moments which elapsed between my catching sight of that
+yellow face peering at us from the rail and our setting foot on the
+deck of what was virtually a temporary prison, I had time to arrive at
+a fairly conclusive estimate of our situation. Without doubt we were
+in the hands of Netherfield Baxter and his gang; without doubt this
+was the craft which they had bought from the Hull ship broker; without
+doubt the reason of its presence on this lonely stretch of the coast
+lay in the proceedings amongst the ruins beneath whose walls we had
+come face to face with our captors. I saw--or believed that I
+saw--through the whole thing. Baxter and his accomplices had bought
+the yawl, ostensibly for a trip to the Norwegian fjords, but in
+reality that they might sail it up the coast, in the capacity of
+private yachtsmen, recover the treasure which had been buried near the
+tombs of the de Knaythevilles, and then--go elsewhere. Miss Raven and
+I had broken in upon their operations, and we were to pay for the
+accident with our liberty. I was not concerned about myself--I fancied
+that I saw a certain amount of honesty in Baxter's assurances--but I
+was anxious about my companion, and about her uncle's anxiety. Miss
+Raven was not the sort of girl to be easily frightened, but the
+situation, after all, was far from pleasant--there we were,
+defenceless, amongst men who were engaged in a dark and desperate
+adventure, whose hands were probably far from clean in the matter of
+murder, and who, if need arose, would doubtless pay small regard to
+our well-being or safety. Yet--there was nothing else for it but to
+accept the situation.
+
+We went on deck. The vessel was at anchor; she lay, a thing of
+idleness, quiet and peaceful enough, in a sheltered cove, wherein, I
+saw at a glance, she was lost to sight from the open sea outside the
+bar at its entrance, and hid from all but the actual coastline of the
+land. And all was quiet on her clean, freshly-scoured decks--she
+looked, seen at close quarters, just what her possessors, of course,
+desired her to be taken for--a gentleman's pleasure yacht, the crew of
+which had nothing to do but keep her smart and bright. No one stepping
+aboard her would have suspected piracy or nefarious doings. And when
+we boarded her, there was nobody visible--the Chinaman whom I had seen
+looking over the side had disappeared, and from stem to stern there
+was not a sign of human life. But as Miss Raven and I stood side by
+side, glancing about us with curiosity, a homely-looking grey cat came
+rubbing its shoulder against the woodwork and from somewhere forward,
+where a wisp of blue smoke escaped from the chimney of the cook's
+galley, we caught a whiff of a familiar sort--somebody, somewhere, was
+toasting bread or tea-cakes.
+
+We stood idle, like prisoners awaiting orders, while our captors
+transferred from the boat to the yawl two biggish, iron-hooped
+chests, the wood of which was stained and discoloured with earth and
+clay. They were heavy chests, and they used tackle to get them aboard,
+setting them down close by where we stood. I looked at them with a
+good deal of interest; then, remembering that Miss Raven was fully
+conversant with all that Scarterfield had discovered at Blyth, I
+touched her elbow, directing her attention to the two bulky objects
+before us.
+
+"Those are the chests that disappeared from the bank at Blyth," I
+whispered. "Now you understand?"
+
+She gave me a quick, comprehending look.
+
+"Then we are in the hands of Netherfield Baxter?" she murmured. "That
+man--there."
+
+"Without a doubt," I answered. "And the thing is--show no fear."
+
+"I'm not a scrap afraid," she answered. "It's exciting! And--he's
+rather interesting, isn't he?"
+
+"Gentlemen of his kidney usually are, I believe," I replied. "All the
+same, I should much prefer his room to his company."
+
+Baxter just then came over to us, rubbing from his fingers the soil
+which had gathered on them from handling the chests. He smiled
+politely, with something of the air of a host who wants to apologise
+for the only accommodation he can offer.
+
+"Now, Miss Raven," he said, with an accent of almost benevolent
+indulgence, "as we shall be obliged to inflict our hospitality upon
+you for a day or two--I hope it won't be for longer, for your
+sake--let me show you what we can give you in the way of quarters to
+yourself. We can't offer you the services of a maid, but there is a
+good cabin, well fitted, in which you'll be comfortable, and you can
+regard it as your own domain while you're with us. Come this way."
+
+He led us down a short gangway, across a sort of small saloon
+evidently used as common-room by himself and his companion, and threw
+open the door of a neat though very small cabin.
+
+"Never been used," he said with another smile. "Fitted up by the
+previous owner of this craft, and all in order, as you see. Consider
+it as your own, Miss Raven, while you're our guest. One of my men
+shall see that you've whatever you need in the way of towels, hot
+water, and the like. If you'll step in and look round, I'll send him
+to you now. As he's a Chinaman, you'll find him as handy as a French
+maid. Give him any orders or instructions you like. And then come on
+deck again, if you please, and you shall have some tea."
+
+He beckoned me to follow him as Miss Raven walked into her quarters,
+and he gave me a reassuring look as we crossed the outer cabin.
+
+"She'll be perfectly safe and secluded in there," he said. "You can
+mount guard here if you like, Mr. Middlebrook--in fact, this is the
+only place I can offer you for quarters for yourself--I dare say you
+can manage to make a night's rest on one of these lounges, with the
+help of some rugs and cushions, and we've plenty of both."
+
+"I'm all right, thank you," said I. "Don't trouble about me. My only
+concern is about Miss Raven."
+
+"I'll take good care that Miss Raven is safe in everything," he
+answered. "As safe as if she were in her uncle's house. So don't
+bother your head on that score--I've given my word."
+
+"I don't doubt it," I said. "But as regards her uncle--I want to speak
+to you about him."
+
+"A moment," he replied. "Excuse me." We were on deck again, and he
+went forward, poked his head into an open hatchway, and gave some
+order to an unseen person. A moment later a Chinaman, the same whose
+face I had seen as we came aboard, shot out of the hatchway, glided
+past me as he crossed the deck with silent tread, and vanished into
+the cabin we had just left. Baxter came back to me, pulling out a
+cigarette case. "Yes?" he said, offering it. "About Mr. Raven?"
+
+"Mr. Raven," said I, "will be in great anxiety about his niece. She is
+the only relative he has, I believe, and he will be extremely anxious
+if she does not return this evening. He is a nervous, highly-strung
+man--"
+
+He interrupted me with a wave of his cigarette.
+
+"I've thought of all that," he said. "Mr. Raven shall not be kept in
+anxiety. As a matter of fact, my friend, whom you met with me up there
+at the ruins, is going ashore again in a few minutes. He will go
+straight to the nearest telegraph office, which is a mile or two
+inland, and there he will send a wire to Mr. Raven--from you. Mr.
+Raven will get it by, say, seven o'clock. The thing is--how will you
+word it?"
+
+We looked at each other. In that exchange of glances, I could see that
+he was a man who was quick at appreciating difficulties and that he
+saw the peculiar niceties of the present one.
+
+"That's a pretty stiff question!" said I.
+
+"Just so!" he agreed. "It is. So take my advice. Instead of having the
+wire sent from the nearest office, do this--my friend, as a matter of
+fact, is going on by rail to Berwick. Let him send a wire from there:
+it will only mean that Mr. Raven will get it an hour or so later. Say
+that you and Miss Raven find you cannot get home tonight, and that she
+is quite safe--word it in any reassuring way you like."
+
+I gave him a keen glance.
+
+"The thing is," said I. "Can we get home tomorrow?"
+
+"Well--possibly tomorrow night--late," he answered. "I will do my
+best. I may be--I hope to be--through with my business tomorrow
+afternoon. Then--"
+
+At that moment the other man appeared on deck, emerging from
+somewhere. He had changed his clothes--he now presented himself in a
+smart tweed suit, Homburg hat, polished shoes, gloves, walking cane.
+Baxter signed to him to wait, turning to me.
+
+"That's the wisest thing to do," he remarked. "Draft your wire."
+
+I wrote out a message which I hoped would allay Mr. Raven's anxieties
+and handed it to him. He read it over, nodded as if in approbation,
+and went across to the other man. For a moment or two they stood
+talking in low tones; then the other man went over the side, dropped
+into the boat which lay there, and pulled himself off shorewards.
+Baxter came back to me.
+
+"He'll send that from Berwick railway station as soon as he gets
+there, at six-thirty," he said. "It should be delivered at Ravensdene
+Court by eight. So there's no need to worry further, you can tell Miss
+Raven. And when all's said and done, Mr. Middlebrook, it wasn't my
+fault that you and she broke in upon very private doings up there in
+the old churchyard--nor, I suppose, yours either. Make the best of
+it!--it's only a temporary detention."
+
+I was watching him closely as he talked, and suddenly I made up my
+mind to speak out. It might be foolish, even dangerous, to do it, but
+I had an intuitive feeling that it would be neither.
+
+"I believe," I said, brusquely enough, "that I am speaking to Mr.
+Netherfield Baxter?"
+
+He returned me a sharp glance which was half-smiling. Certainly there
+was no astonishment in it.
+
+"Aye!" he answered. "I thought, somehow, that you might be thinking
+that! Well, and suppose I admit it, Mr. Middlebrook? What then? And
+what do you--a Londoner, I think you told me--know of Netherfield
+Baxter?"
+
+"You wish to know?" I asked. "Shall I be plain?"
+
+"As a pike-staff, if you like," he replied. "I prefer it."
+
+"Well," said I, "a good many things--recently discovered by accident.
+That you formerly lived at Blyth, and had some association with a
+certain temporary bank-manager there, about whose death--and the
+disappearance of some valuable portable property--there was a good
+deal of concern manifested about the time that you left Blyth. That
+you were never heard of again until recently, when a Blyth man
+recognized you in Hull, where you bought a yawl--this yawl, I
+believe--and said you were going to Norway in her. And that--but am I
+to be still more explicit?"
+
+"Why not?" said he with a laugh. "Forewarned is forearmed. You're
+giving me valuable information."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Baxter," I continued, determined to show him my cards.
+"There's a certain detective, one Scarterfield, a sharp man, who is
+very anxious to make your acquaintance. For if you want the plain
+truth, he believes you, or some of your accomplices, or you and they
+together, to have had a hand in the murders of Noah and Salter Quick.
+And he's on your track."
+
+I was watching him still more closely as I spoke the last sentence or
+two. He remained as calm and cool as ever, and I was somewhat taken
+aback by the collected fashion in which he not only replied to my
+glance, but answered my words.
+
+"Scarterfield--of whose doings I've heard a bit--has got hold of the
+wrong end of the stick there, Mr. Middlebrook," he said quietly. "I
+had no hand in murdering either Noah Quick or his brother Salter. Nor
+had my friend--the man who's just gone off with your telegram. I don't
+know who murdered those men. But I know that there have always been
+men who were ready to murder them if they got the chance, and I wasn't
+the least surprised to hear that they had been murdered. The wonder is
+that they escaped murder as long as they did! But beyond the fact that
+they were murdered, I know nothing--nor does anybody on board this
+craft. You and Miss Raven are amongst--well, you can call us pirates
+if you like, buccaneers, adventurers, anything!--but we're not
+murderers. We know nothing whatever about the murders of Noah and
+Salter Quick--except what we've read in the papers."
+
+I believed him. And I made haste to say so--out of a sheer relief to
+know that Miss Raven was not amongst men whose hands were stained with
+blood.
+
+"Thank you," he said, as coolly as ever. "I'm obliged to you. I've
+been anxious enough to know who did murder those two men. As I say, I
+felt no surprise when I heard of the murders."
+
+"You knew them--the Quicks?" I suggested.
+
+"Did I?" he answered with a cynical laugh. "Didn't I? They were a
+couple of rank bad 'uns! I have never professed sanctity, Mr.
+Middlebrook, but Noah and Salter Quick were of a brand that's far
+beyond me--they were bad men. I'll tell you more of 'em, later--here's
+Miss Raven."
+
+"I may as well tell you," I murmured hastily, "that Miss Raven knows
+as much as I do about all that I've just told you."
+
+"That so?" he said. "Um! And she looks a sensible sort of lass,
+too--well, I'll tell you both what I know--as I say, later. But
+now--some tea!"
+
+While he went forward to give his orders, I contrived to inform Miss
+Raven of the gist of our recent conversation, and to assert my own
+private belief in Baxter's innocence. I saw that she was already
+prejudiced in his favour.
+
+"I'm glad to know that," she said. "But in that case--the mystery's
+all the deeper. What is it, I wonder, that he can tell."
+
+"Wait till he speaks," said I. "We shall learn something."
+
+Baxter came back, presently followed by the little Chinaman whom I had
+seen before, who deftly set up a small table on deck, drew chairs
+round it, and a few minutes later spread out all the necessaries of a
+dainty afternoon tea. And in the centre of them was a plum cake. I saw
+Miss Raven glance at it; I glanced at her; I knew of what she was
+thinking. Her thoughts had flown to the plum cake at Lorrimore's, made
+by Wing, his Chinese servant.
+
+But whatever we thought, we said nothing. The situation was romantic,
+and not without some attraction, even in those curious circumstances.
+Here we were, prisoners, first-class prisoners, if you will, but still
+prisoners, and there was our gaoler; he and ourselves sat round a
+tea-table, munching toast, nibbling cakes and dainties, sipping
+fragrant tea, as if we had been in any lady's drawing-room. I think it
+speaks well for all of us that we realized the situation and made the
+most of it by affecting to ignore the actual reality. We chatted, as
+well-behaved people should under similar conditions, about anything
+but the prime fact of our imprisonment; Baxter, indeed, might have
+been our very polite and attentive host and we his willing guests. As
+for Miss Raven, she accepted the whole thing with hearty good humour
+and poured out the tea as if she had been familiar with our new
+quarters for many a long day; moreover, she adopted a friendly
+attitude towards our captors which did much towards smoothing any
+present difficulties.
+
+"You seem to be very well accommodated in the matter of servants, Mr.
+Baxter," she observed. "That little Chinaman, as you said, is as good
+as a French maid, and you certainly have a good cook--excellent
+pastry-cook, anyway."
+
+Baxter glanced lazily in the direction of the galley.
+
+"Another Chinaman," he answered. He looked significantly at me. "Mr.
+Middlebrook," he continued, "is aware that I bought this yawl from a
+ship-broker in Hull, for a special purpose--"
+
+"Not aware of the special purpose," I interrupted, with a purposely
+sly glance at him.
+
+"The special purpose is a run across the Atlantic, if you want to
+know," he answered carelessly. "Of course, when I'd got her, I wanted
+a small crew. Now, I've had great experience of Chinamen--best
+servants on earth, in my opinion--so I sailed her down to the Thames,
+went up to London Docks, and took in some Chinese chaps that I got in
+Limehouse. Two men and one cook--man cook, of course. He's good--I
+can't promise you a real and proper dinner tonight, but I can promise
+a very satisfactory substitute which we call supper."
+
+"And you're going across the Atlantic with a crew of three?" I asked.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he answered candidly, "there are six of us. The
+three Chinese; myself; my friend who was with me this afternoon, and
+who will join us again tomorrow, and another friend who will return
+with him, and who, like the crew, is a Chinaman. But he's a Chinaman
+of rank and position."
+
+"In other words, the Chinese gentleman who was with you and your
+French friend in Hull?" I suggested.
+
+"Just so--since we're to be frank," he answered. "The same." Then,
+with a laugh, he glanced at Miss Raven. "Mr. Middlebrook," he said,
+"considers me the most candid desperado he ever met!"
+
+"Your candour is certainly interesting," replied Miss Raven.
+"Especially if you really are a desperado. Perhaps--you'll give us
+more of it?"
+
+"I'll tell you a bit--later on," he said. "That Quick business, I
+mean."
+
+Suddenly, setting down his tea-cup, he got up and moved away towards
+the galley, into which he presently disappeared. Miss Raven turned
+sharply on me.
+
+"Did you eat a slice of that plum-cake?" she whispered. "You did?"
+
+"I know what you're thinking," I answered. "It reminds you of the cake
+that Lorrimore's man, Wing, makes."
+
+"Reminds!" she exclaimed. "There's no reminding about it! Do you know
+what I think? That man Wing is aboard this yacht! He made that cake!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BLACK MEMORIES
+
+
+There was so much of real importance, not only to us in our present
+situation, but to the trend of things in general, in Miss Raven's
+confident suggestion that her words immediately plunged me into a
+thoughtful silence. Rising from my chair at the tea-table, I walked
+across to the landward side of the yawl, and stood there, reflecting.
+But it needed little reflection to convince me that what my
+fellow-prisoner had just suggested was well within the bounds of
+possibility. I recalled all that we knew of the recent movements of
+Dr. Lorrimore's Chinese servant. Wing had gone to London, on the
+pretext of finding out something about that other problematical
+Chinese, Lo Chuh Fen. Since his departure, Lorrimore had had no
+tidings of him and his doings--in Lorrimore's opinion, he might be
+still in London, or he might have gone to Liverpool, or to Cardiff, to
+any port where his fellow-countrymen are to be found in England. Now
+it was well within probabilities that Wing, being in Limehouse or
+Poplar, and in touch with Chinese sailor-men, should, with others,
+have taken service with Baxter and his accomplice, and, at that very
+moment there, in that sheltered cove on the Northumbrian coast, be
+within a few yards of Miss Raven and myself, separated from us by a
+certain amount of deck-planking and a few bulkheads. But why? If he
+was there, in that yawl, in what capacity--real capacity--was he
+there? Ostensibly, as cook, no doubt--but that, I felt sure, would be
+a mere blind. Put plainly, if he was there, what game was that bland,
+suave, obsequious, soft-tongued Chinaman playing? Was this his way of
+finding out what all of us wanted to know? If it came to it, if there
+was occasion--such occasion as I dared not contemplate--could Miss
+Raven and myself count on Wing as a friend, or should we find him an
+adherent of the strange and curious gang, which, if the truth was to
+be faced, literally held not only our liberty, but our lives at its
+disposal? For we were in a tight place--of that there was no doubt. Up
+to that moment I was not unfavourably impressed by Netherfield Baxter,
+and, whether against my better judgment or not, I was rather more than
+inclined to believe him innocent of actual share or complicity in the
+murders of Noah and Salter Quick. But I could see that he was a queer
+mortal; odd, even to eccentricity; vain, candid and frank because of
+his very vanity; given, I thought, to talking a good deal about
+himself and his doings; probably a megalomaniac. He might treat us
+well so long as things went well with him, but supposing any situation
+to arise in which our presence, nay, our very existence, became a
+danger to him and his plans--what then? He had a laughing lip and a
+twinkle of sardonic humour in his eye, but I fancied that the lip
+could settle into ruthless resolve if need be and the eye become more
+stony than would be pleasant. And--we were at his mercy; the mercy of
+a man whose accomplice might be of a worse kidney than himself, and
+whose satellites were yellow-skinned slant-eyed Easterns, pirates to a
+man, and willing enough to slit a throat at the faintest sign from a
+master.
+
+As I stood there, leaning against the side, gloomily staring at the
+shore, which was so near, and yet so impossible of access, I reviewed
+a point which was of more importance to me than may be imagined--the
+point of our geographical situation. I have already said that the yawl
+lay at anchor in a sheltered cove. The position of that cove was
+peculiar. It was entered from seawards by an extremely narrow inlet,
+across the mouth of which stretched a bar--I could realize that much
+by watching the breakers rolling over it; it was plain to me, a
+landsman, that even a small vessel could only get in or out of the
+cove at high water. But once across the bar, and within the narrow
+entry, any vessel coming in from the open sea would find itself in a
+natural harbour of great advantages; the cove ran inland for a good
+mile and was quite another mile in width; its waters were deep, rising
+some fifteen to twenty feet over a clear, sandy bottom, and on all
+sides, right down to the bar at its entrance, it was sheltered by high
+cliffs, covered from the tops of their headlands to the thin, pebbly
+stretches of shore at their feet by thick wood, mostly oak and beech.
+That the cove was known to the folk of that neighbourhood it was
+impossible to doubt, but I felt sure that any strange craft passing
+along the sea in front would never suspect its existence, so carefully
+had Nature concealed the entrance on the landward side of the bar. And
+there were no signs within the cove itself that any of the shore folk
+ever used it. There was not a vestige of a human dwelling-place to be
+discovered anywhere along its thickly-wooded banks; no boat lay on its
+white beach; no fishing-net was stretched out there to dry in the sun
+and wind; the entire stretch was desolate. And I knew that an equal
+desolation lay all over the land immediately behind the cove and its
+sheltering woods. That was about the loneliest part of a lonely
+coast--by that time I had become well acquainted with it. For some
+miles, north and south of that exact spot, there were no coast
+villages--there was nothing, save an isolated farmstead, set in deep
+ravines at wide distances. The only link with busier things lay in the
+railway--that, as I also knew, lay about two or two-and-a-half miles
+inland; as far as I could recollect the map which lay in my pocket,
+but which I did not dare to pull out, there was a small wayside
+station on this line, immediately behind the woods through which Miss
+Raven and I had unthinkingly wandered to our fate; from it, doubtless,
+the Frenchman, Baxter's accomplice, had taken train for Berwick, some
+twenty miles northward. Everything considered, Miss Raven and I were
+as securely trapped and as much at our captor's mercy as if we had
+been immured in a twentieth-century Bastille.
+
+I went back, presently, to the tea-table and dropped into my
+deck-chair again. Baxter was still away from us; as far as I could
+see, there was no one about. I gave her a look which was intended to
+suggest caution, but I spoke in a purposely affected tone of
+carelessness.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if you are right in your suggestion," I said. "In
+that case, I think we should have a friend on board in case we need
+one."
+
+"But you don't anticipate any need?" she asked quickly.
+
+"I don't," said I. "So don't think I do."
+
+"What do you suppose is going to happen to us?" She asked, glancing
+over her shoulder at the open door of the galley into which Baxter had
+vanished.
+
+"I think they'll detain us until they're ready to depart, and then
+they'll release us," I answered. "Our host, or jailor, or whatever you
+like to call him, is a queer chap--he'll probably make us give him our
+word of honour that we'll keep close tongues."
+
+"He could have done that without bringing us here," she remarked.
+
+"Ah, but he wanted to make sure!" said I. "He's taking no risks.
+However, I'm sure he means no harm to us. Under other conditions, I
+shouldn't have objected to meeting him. He's--a character."
+
+"Interesting, certainly," she agreed. "Do you think he really is
+a--pirate?"
+
+"I don't think he'll have any objection to making that quite clear to
+us if he is," I replied, cynically. "I should say he'd be rather proud
+of it. But--I think we shall hear a good deal of him before we get our
+freedom."
+
+I was right there. Baxter seemed almost wistfully anxiously to talk
+with us--he behaved like a man who for a long time had small
+opportunity of conversation with the people he would like to converse
+with, and he kept us both talking as the afternoon faded into evening
+and the evening fell towards night. He was a good talker, too, and
+knew much of books and politics and of men, and could make shrewd
+remarks, tinged, it seemed to me, with a little cynicism that was more
+good-humoured than bitter. The time passed rapidly in this fashion;
+supper-time arrived; the meal, as good and substantial as any dinner,
+was served in the little saloon-like cabin by the soft-footed Chinaman
+who, other than Baxter, was the only living soul we had seen since the
+Frenchman went away in the boat; all through it Baxter kept up his
+ready flow of talk while punctiliously observing his duties as host.
+Until then, the topics had been of a general nature, such as one might
+have heard dealt with at any gentleman's table, but when supper was
+over and the Chinaman had left us alone, he turned on us with a queer,
+inquisitive smile.
+
+"You think me a strange fellow," he said. "Don't deny it!--I am, and I
+don't mind who thinks it. Or--who knows it."
+
+I made no reply beyond an acquiescent nod, but Miss Raven--who, all
+through this adventure, showed a coolness and resourcefulness which I
+can never sufficiently praise--looked steadily at him.
+
+"I think you must have seen and known some strange things," she said
+quietly.
+
+"Aye--and done some!" he answered, with a laugh that had more of
+harshness in it than was usual with him. Then he glanced at me. "Mr.
+Middlebrook, there, from what he told me this afternoon, knows a bit
+about me and my affairs," he said. "But not much. Sufficient to whet
+your curiosity, eh, Middlebrook?"
+
+"I confess I should like to know more," I replied. "I agree with Miss
+Raven--you must have seen a good deal of the queer side of life."
+
+There was some fine old claret on the table between us; he pushed the
+bottle over to me, motioning me to refill my glass. For a moment he
+sat, a cigar in the corner of his lips, his hands in the armholes of
+his waistcoat, silently reflecting.
+
+"What's really puzzling you this time," he said suddenly, "is that
+Quick affair--I know because I've not only read the newspapers, but
+I've picked up a good deal of local gossip--never mind how. I've heard
+a lot of your goings-on at Ravensdene Court, and the suspicions, and
+so on. And I knew the Quicks--no man better, at one time, and I'll
+tell you what I know. Not a nice story from any moral point of view,
+but though it's a story of rough men, there's nothing in it at all
+that need offend your ears, Miss Raven--nothing. It's just a story--an
+instance--of some of the things that happen to Ishmaels, outcasts,
+like me."
+
+We made no answer, and he refilled his own glass, took a mouthful of
+its contents, and glancing from one to the other of us, went on.
+
+"You're both aware of my youthful career at Blyth?" he said. "You,
+Middlebrook, are, anyway, from what you told me this afternoon, and I
+gather that you put Miss Raven in possession of the facts. Well, I'll
+start out from there--when I made the acquaintance of that temporary
+bank-manager chap. Mind you, I'd about come to the end of my tether at
+that time as regards money--I'd been pretty well fleeced by one or
+another, largely through carelessness, largely through sheer
+ignorance. I didn't lose all my money on the turf, Middlebrook, I can
+assure you--I was robbed by more than one worthy man of my native
+town--legally, of course, bless 'em! And it was that, I think, turned
+me into the Ishmael I've been ever since--as men had robbed me, I
+thought it a fair thing to get a bit of my own back. Now that
+bank-manager chap was one of those fellows who are born with predatory
+instincts--my impression of him, from what I recollect, is that he was
+a born thief. Anyway, he and I, getting pretty thick with each other,
+found out that we were just then actuated by similar ambitions--I from
+sheer necessity, he, as I tell you, from temperament. And to cut
+matters short, we determined to help ourselves out of certain things
+of value stored in that bank, and to clear out to far-off regions with
+what we got. We discovered that two chests deposited in the bank's
+vaults by old Lord Forestburne contained a quantity of simply
+invaluable monastic spoil, stolen by the good man's ancestors four
+centuries before: we determined to have that and to take it over to
+the United States, where we knew we could realize immense sums on it,
+from collectors, with no questions asked. There were other matters,
+too, which were handy--we carefully removed the lot, brought them
+along the coast to this very cove, and interred them in those ruins
+where we three foregathered this afternoon."
+
+"And whence, I take it, you have just removed them to the deck above
+our heads?" I suggested.
+
+"Right, Middlebrook, quite right--there they are!" he admitted with a
+laugh. "A grand collection, too--chalices, patens, reliquaries, all
+manner of splendid mediaeval craftsmanship--and certain other more
+modern things with them--all destined for the other side of the
+Atlantic--the market's sure and safe and ready--"
+
+"You think you'll get them there?" I asked.
+
+"I shall be more surprised than I ever was in my life if I don't," he
+answered readily, and with that note of dryness which one associates
+with certainty. "I'm a pretty cute hand at making and perfecting and
+carrying out a plan. Yes, sir, they'll be there, in good time--and
+they'd have been there long since if it hadn't been for an accident
+which I couldn't foresee--that bank-manager chap had the ill-luck to
+break his neck. Now that put me in a fix. I knew that the abstraction
+of these things would soon be discovered, and though I'd exercised
+great care in covering up all trace of my own share in the affair,
+there was always a bare possibility of something coming out. So,
+knowing the stuff was safely planted and very unlikely to be
+disturbed, I cleared out, and determined to wait a fitting opportunity
+of regaining possession of it. My notion at that time, I remember, was
+to get hold of some American millionaire collector who would give me
+facilities for taking up the stuff, to be handed over to him. But I
+didn't find one, and for the time being I had to keep quiet.
+Inquiries, of course, were set afoot about the missing property, but
+fortunately I was not suspected. And if I had been, I shouldn't have
+been found, for I know how to disappear as cleverly as any man who
+ever found that convenient."
+
+He threw away the stump of his cigar, deliberately lighted another,
+and leaned across the table towards me in a more confidential manner.
+
+"Now we're coming to the more immediately interesting part of the
+story," he said. "All that I've told you is, as it were, ancient
+history. We'll get to more modern times, affairs of yesterday, so to
+speak. After I cleared out of Blyth--with a certain amount of money in
+my pocket--I knocked about the world a good deal, doing one thing and
+another. I've been in every continent and in more sea-ports than I can
+remember. I've taken a share in all sorts of queer transactions from
+smuggling to slave-trading. I've been rolling in money in January and
+shivering in rags in June. All that was far away, in strange quarters
+of the world, for I never struck this country again until
+comparatively recently. I could tell you enough to fill a dozen fat
+volumes, but we'll cut all that out and get on to a certain time, now
+some years ago, whereat, in Hong-Kong, I and the man you saw with me
+this afternoon, who, if everybody had their own, is a genuine French
+nobleman, came across those two particularly precious villains, the
+brothers Noah and Salter Quick."
+
+"Was that the first time of your meeting with them?" I asked. Now that
+he was evidently bent on telling me his story, I, on my part, was bent
+on getting out of him all that I could. "You'd never met them
+before--anywhere?"
+
+"Never seen nor heard of them before," he answered. "We met in a
+certain house-of-call in Hong-Kong, much frequented by Englishmen and
+Americans; we became friendly with them; we soon found out that they,
+like ourselves, were adventurers, would-be pirates, buccaneers, ready
+for any game; we found out, too, that they had money, and could
+finance any desperate affair that was likely to pay handsomely. My
+friend and I, at that time, were also in funds--we had just had a very
+paying adventure in the Malay Archipelago, a bit of illicit trading,
+and we had got to Hong-Kong on the look-out for another opportunity.
+Once we had got thoroughly in with the Quicks, that was not long in
+coming. The Quicks were as sharp as their name--they knew the sort of
+men they wanted. And before long they took us into their confidence
+and told us what they were after and what they wanted us to do, in
+collaboration with them. They wanted to get hold of a ship, and to use
+it for certain nefarious trading purposes in the China seas--they had
+a plan by which the lot of us could have made a lot of money. Needless
+to say, we were ready enough to go in with them. Already they had a
+scheme of getting a ship such as they particularly needed. There was
+at that time lying at Hong-Kong a sort of tramp steamer, the
+_Elizabeth Robinson_, the skipper of which wanted a crew for a trip to
+Chemulpo, up the Yellow Sea. Salter Quick got himself into the
+confidence and graces of this skipper, and offered to man his ship for
+him, and he packed her as far as he could--with his own brother, Noah,
+myself, my French friend, and a certain Chinese cook of whom he knew
+and who could be trusted--trusted, that is, to fall in whatever we
+wanted."
+
+"Am I right in supposing the name of the Chinese cook to have been Lo
+Chuh Fen?" I asked.
+
+"Quite right--Lo Chuh Fen was the man," answered Baxter. "A very
+handy man for anything, as you'll admit, for you've already seen
+him--he's the man who attended on Miss Raven and who served our
+supper. I came across him again, in Limehouse, recently, and took him
+into my service once more. Very well--now you understand that there
+were five of us all in for the Quick's plan, and the notion was that
+when we'd once got safely out of Hong-Kong, Salter, who had a
+particularly greasy and insinuating tongue, should get round certain
+others of the crew by means of promises helped out by actual cash
+bribes. That done, we were going to put the skipper, his mates, and
+such of the men as wouldn't fall in with us, in a boat with provisions
+and let them find their way wherever they liked, while we went off
+with the steamer. That was the surface plan--my own belief is that if
+it had come to it, the two Quicks would have been quite ready to make
+skipper and men walk the plank, or to have settled them in any other
+way--both Noah and Salter, for all their respectable appearance, were
+born out of their due time--they were admirably qualified to have been
+lieutenants to Paul Jones or any other eighteenth-century pirate! But
+in this particular instance, their schemes went all wrong. Whether it
+was that the skipper of the _Elizabeth Robinson_, who was an American
+and cuter than we fancied, got wind of something, or whether somebody
+spilt to him, I don't know, but the fact is that one fine morning when
+we were in the Yellow Sea he and the rest of them set on the Quicks,
+my friend, myself, and the Chinaman, bundled us into a boat and landed
+us on a miserable island, to fend for ourselves. There we were, the
+five of us--a precious bad lot, to be sure--marooned!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE POSSIBLE REASON
+
+
+At that last word, spoken with an emphasis which showed that it awoke
+no very pleasant memories in the speaker, Miss Raven looked
+questioningly from one to the other of us.
+
+"Marooned?" she said. "What is that, exactly?"
+
+Baxter gave her an indulgent and me a knowing look.
+
+"I daresay Mr. Middlebrook can give you the exact etymological meaning
+of the word better than I can, Miss Raven," he answered. "But I can
+tell you what the thing means in actual practice! It means to put a
+man, or men, ashore, preferably on a desert island, leaving him, or
+them, to fend for himself, or themselves, as best he, or they, can! It
+may mean slow starvation--at best it means living on what you can pick
+up by your own ingenuity, on shell-fish and that sort of thing, even
+on edible sea-weed. Marooned? Yes! that was the only experience I ever
+had of that--it's all very well talking of it now, as we sit here on a
+comfortable little vessel, with a bottle of good wine before us, but
+at the time--ah!"
+
+"You'd a stiff time of it?" I suggested.
+
+"Worse than you'd believe," he answered. "That old Yankee skipper was
+a vindictive chap, with method in him. He'd purposely gone off the
+beaten track to land us on that island, and he played his game so
+cleverly that not even the Quicks--who were as subtle as snakes!--knew
+anything of his intentions until we were all marched over the side at
+the point of ugly-looking revolvers. If it hadn't been for that little
+Chinese whom you've just seen we would have starved, for the island
+was little more than a reef of rock, rising to a sort of peak in its
+centre--worn-out volcano, I imagine--and with nothing eatable on it in
+the way of flesh or fruit. But Chuh was a God-send! He was clever at
+fishing, and he showed us an edible sea-weed out of which he made good
+eating, and he discovered a spring of water--altogether he kept us
+alive. All of which," he suddenly added, with a darkening look, "made
+the conduct of these two Quicks not merely inexcusable, but devilish!"
+
+"What did they do?" I asked.
+
+"I'm coming to it," he said. "All in due order. We were on that island
+several weeks, and from the time we were flung unceremoniously upon
+its miserable shores to the day we left it we never saw a sail nor a
+wisp of smoke from a steamer. And it may be that this, and our
+privations, made us still more birds of a feather than we were.
+Anyway, you, Middlebrook, know how men, thrown together in that way,
+will talk--nay, must talk unless they'd go mad!--talk about themselves
+and their doings and so on. We all talked--we used to tell tales of
+our doubtful pasts as we huddled together under the rocks at nights,
+and some nice, lurid stores there were, I can assure you. The Quicks
+had seen about as much of the doubtful and seamy side of seafaring
+life as men could, and all of us could contribute something. Also,
+the Quicks had money, safely stowed away in banks here and there--they
+used to curse their fate, left there apparently to die, when they
+thought of it. And it was that, I think, that led me to tell, one
+night, about my adventure with the naughty bank-manager at Blyth, and
+of the chests of old monastic treasure which I'd planted up here on
+this Northumbrian coast."
+
+"Ah!" I exclaimed. "So you told Noah and Salter Quick that?"
+
+"I told Noah and Salter Quick that," he replied slowly. "Yes--and I
+can now explain to you what Salter was after when he appeared in these
+parts. I read the newspaper accounts, of the inquest and so on, and I
+saw through everything, and could have thrown a lot of light on
+things, only I wasn't going to. But it was this way--I told the Quicks
+all about the Blyth affair--the truth was, I didn't believe we should
+ever get away from that cursed island--but I told them in a fashion
+which, evidently, afterwards led to considerable puzzlement on their
+part. I told them that I buried the chests of old silver, wherein were
+the other valuables taken from the vaults of the bank, in a churchyard
+on this coast, close to the graves of my ancestors--I described the
+spot and the lie of the ruins pretty accurately. Now where the
+Quicks--Salter, at any rate--got puzzled and mixed was over my use of
+the word ancestors. What I meant--but never said--was that I had
+planted the stuff near the graves of my maternal ancestors, the old De
+Knaythevilles, who were once great folk in these parts, and of whose
+name my own Christan name, Netherfield, is, of course, a corruption.
+But Salter Quick, to be sure, thought the graves would bear the name
+Netherfield, and when he came along this coast, it was that name he
+was hunting for. Do you see?"
+
+"Then Salter Quick was after that treasure?" I said.
+
+"Of course he was!" replied Baxter. "The wonder to me is that he and
+Noah hadn't been after it before. But they were men who had a good
+many irons in the fire--too many and some of them far too hot, as it
+turned out--and I suppose they left this little affair until an
+opportune moment. Without a doubt, not so long after I'd told them the
+story, Salter Quick scratched inside the lid of his tobacco-box a
+rough diagram of the place I'd mentioned, with the latitude and
+longitude approximately indicated--that's the box there's been so much
+fuss about, I read in the papers, and I'll tell you more about it in
+due process. But now about that island and the Quicks, and how they
+and the rest of us got out of it. I told you that the centre of this
+island rose to a high peak, separating one coast from the other--well,
+one day, when we'd been marooned for several weary weeks and there
+didn't seem the least chance of rescue, I, my French friend, and the
+Chinaman crossed the shoulder of that peak and went along the other
+coast, prospecting--more out of sheer desperation than in the hope of
+finding anything. We spent the next night on the other side of the
+island, and it was not until late on the following afternoon that we
+returned to our camp, if you can call that a camp which was nothing
+but a hole in the rocks. And we got back to find Noah and Salter Quick
+gone--and we knew how they had gone when the Chinaman's sharp eyes
+made out a sail vanishing over the horizon. Some Chinese fishing-boat
+had made that island in our absence, and these two skunks had gone
+away in her and left us, their companions, to shift for ourselves.
+That's the sort the Quicks were!--those were the sort of tricks they'd
+play off on so-called friends! Do you wonder, either of you, that both
+Noah and Salter eventually got--what they got?"
+
+We made no answer to that beyond, perhaps, a shake of our heads. Then
+Miss Raven spoke.
+
+"But--you got away, in the end?" she suggested.
+
+"We got away in the end--some time later, when we were about done
+for," assented Baxter, "and in the same way--a Chinese fishing-boat
+that came within hail. It landed us on the Kiang-Su coast, and we had
+a pretty bad time of it before we made our way to Shanghai. From that
+port we worked our passage to Hong-Kong: I had an idea that we might
+strike the Quicks there, or get news of them. But we heard nothing of
+those two villains, at any rate. But we did hear that the _Elizabeth
+Robinson_ had never reached Chemulpo--she'd presumably gone down with
+all hands, and we were supposed, of course, to have gone down with
+her. We did nothing to disabuse anybody of the notion; both I and my
+friend had money in Hong Kong, and we took it up and went off to
+Singapore. As for our Chinaman, Chuh, he said farewell to us and
+vanished as soon as we got back to Hong-Kong, and we never set eyes on
+him again until very recently, when I ran across him in a Chinese
+eating-house in Poplar."
+
+"From that meeting, I suppose, the more recent chapters of your story
+begin?" I suggested. "Or do they begin somewhat earlier?"
+
+"A bit earlier," he said. "My friend and I came back to England a
+little before that--with money in our pockets--we'd been very lucky in
+the East--and with a friend of ours, a Chinese gentleman, mind you, we
+decided to go in for a little profitable work of another sort, and to
+start out by lifting my concealed belongings up here. So we bought
+this craft in Hull--then ran her down to the Thames--then, as I say, I
+came across Lo Chuh Fen and got his services and those of two other
+compatriots of his, then in London, and--here we are! You see how
+candid I am--do you know why?"
+
+"It would be interesting to know, Mr. Baxter," said Miss Raven.
+"Please tell us."
+
+"Well," he said, with a queer deliberation. "Some men in my position
+would have thought nothing about putting bullets through both of you
+when we met this afternoon--you hit on our secret. But I'm not that
+sort--I treat you as what you are, a gentlewoman and a gentleman, and
+no harm whatever shall come to you. Therefore, I feel certain that all
+I've said and am saying to you will be treated as it ought to be--by
+you. I daresay you think I'm an awful scoundrel, but I told you I was
+an Ishmael--and I certainly haven't got the slightest compunction
+about appropriating the stuff in those chests on deck--one of the
+Forestburnes stole it from the monks--why shouldn't I steal it from
+his successor? It's as much mine as his--perhaps more so, for one of
+my ancestors, a certain Geoffrey de Knaytheville, was at one time Lord
+Abbot of the very house that the Forestburnes stole that stuff from!
+I reckon I've a prior claim, Middlebrook?"
+
+"I should imagine," I answered, guardedly, "that it would be very
+difficult for anybody to substantiate a claim to ecclesiastical
+property--of that particular nature--which disappeared in the
+sixteenth century. What is certain, however, is that you've got it.
+Take my advice--hand it over to the authorities!"
+
+He looked at me in blank astonishment for a moment; then laughed as a
+man laughs who is suddenly confronted by a good joke.
+
+"Hah! hah! hah!" he let out at the top of his voice. "Good! you're a
+born humorist, friend Middlebrook!" He pushed the claret nearer. "Fill
+your glass again! Hand it over to the authorities? Why, that would
+merit a full-page cartoon in the next number of _Punch_. Good, good!
+but," he went on, suddenly becoming grave again, "we were talking of
+those scoundrelly Quicks. Of course we--that is, my French friend and
+I--have been, and are, suspected of murdering them?"
+
+"I think that is so," I answered.
+
+"Well, that's a very easy point to settle, if it should ever come to
+it," he replied. "And I'll settle it, for your edification, just now.
+Noah and Salter Quick were done to death, one near Saltash, in
+Cornwall, the other near Alnwick, in Northumberland, several hundreds
+of miles apart, about the same hour of the same evening. Now, my
+friend and I, so far from being anywhere near either Saltash or
+Alnwick on that particular evening and night, spent them together at
+the North Eastern Railway Hotel at York. I went there that afternoon
+from London; he joined me from Berwick. We met at the hotel about six
+o'clock; we dined in the hotel; we played billiards in the hotel; we
+slept in the hotel; we breakfasted in the hotel; the hotel folks will
+remember us well, and our particulars are duly registered in their
+books on the date in question. We had no hand whatever in the murders
+of Noah and Salter Quick, and I give you my word of honour--being under
+the firm impression that though I am a pirate, I am still a
+gentleman--that neither of us have the very slightest notion who had!"
+
+Miss Raven made an involuntary murmur of approval, and I was so much
+convinced of the man's good faith that I stretched out my hand to him.
+
+"Mr. Baxter!" said I, "I'm heartily glad to have that assurance from
+you! And whether I'm a humorist or not, I'll beg you once more to take
+my advice and give up that loot to the authorities--you can make a
+plausible excuse, and throw all the blame on that bank-manager fellow,
+and take my word for it, little will be said--and then you can devote
+your undoubtedly great and able talents to legitimate ventures!"
+
+"That would be as dull as ditch-water, Middlebrook," he retorted with
+a grin. "You're tempting me! But those Quicks--I'll tell you in what
+fashion there is a connection between their murder and ourselves, and
+one that would need some explanation. Bear in mind that I've kept
+myself posted in those murders through the newspapers, and also by
+collecting a certain amount of local gossip. Now--you've a certain
+somewhat fussy and garrulous old gentleman at Ravensdene Court--"
+
+"Mr. Cazalette!" exclaimed Miss Raven.
+
+"Mr. Cazalette is the name," said Baxter. "I have heard much of him,
+through the sources I've just referred to. Now, this Mr. Cazalette,
+going to or coming from a place where he bathed every morning, which
+place happened to be near the spot whereat Salter Quick was murdered,
+found a blood-stained handkerchief?"
+
+"He did," said I. "And a lot of mystery attaches to it."
+
+"That handkerchief belongs to my French friend," said Baxter. "I told
+you that he joined me at York from Berwick. As a matter of fact, for
+some little time just before the Salter Quick affair, he was down on
+this coast, posing as a tourist, but really just ascertaining if
+things were as I'd left them at the ruins in the wood above this cove
+and what would be our best method of getting the chests of stuff away.
+For a week or so, he lodged at an inn somewhere, I think, near
+Ravensdene Court, and he used sometimes to go down to the shore for a
+swim. One morning he cut his foot on the pebbles, and staunched the
+blood with his handkerchief, which he carelessly threw away--and your
+Mr. Cazalette evidently found it. That's the explanation of that
+little matter. And now for the tobacco-box."
+
+"A much more important point," said I.
+
+"Just so," agreed Baxter. "Now, my friend and I first heard of the murder
+while we were at York. In the newspapers that we read, there was an
+account of a conversation which took place in, I believe, Mr. Raven's
+coach-house, or some out-building, whither the dead man's body had been
+carried, between this old Mr. Cazalette and a police-inspector, regarding
+a certain metal tobacco-box found on Salter Quick's body. Now I give you
+my word that that news was the first intimation we had ever had that the
+Quicks were in England! Until then we hadn't the slightest idea that they
+were in England--but we knew what those mysterious scratches in the
+tobacco-box signified--Salter had made a rude plan of the place I had told
+him of, and was in Northumberland to search for it. Then, later, we read
+your evidence at the opening of the inquest, and heard what you had to
+tell about his quest of the Netherfield graves, and--just to satisfy
+ourselves--we determined to get hold of that tobacco-box, for, don't you
+see, as long as it was about, a possible clue, there was a danger of
+somebody discovering our buried chests of silver and valuables. So my
+friend came down again, in his tourist capacity; put up at the same
+quarters, strolled about, fished a bit, botanized a bit, attended the
+adjourned inquest as a casual spectator, and--abstracted the tobacco-box
+under the very noses of the police! It's in that locker now," continued
+Baxter, with a laugh, pointing to a corner of the cabin, "and with it are
+the handkerchief, your old friend Mr. Cazalette's pocket-book----"
+
+"Oh! your friend got that, too, did he?" I exclaimed. "I see!"
+
+"He abstracted that, too, easily enough, one morning when the old
+fellow was bathing," assented Baxter. "Naturally, we weren't going to
+take any chances about our hidden goods being brought to light. We're
+highly indebted to Mr. Cazalette for making so much fuss about the
+tobacco-box, and we're glad there was so much local gossip about it.
+Eh?"
+
+I remained silent awhile, reflecting.
+
+"It's a very fortunate thing for both of you that you could, if
+necessary, prove your presence at York on the night of the murder," I
+remarked at last. "Your doings about the tobacco-box and the other
+things might otherwise wear a very suspicious look. As it is, I'm
+afraid the police would probably say--granted that they knew what
+you've just told us so frankly--that even if you and your French
+friend didn't murder Salter Quick and his brother, you were probably
+accessory to both murders. That's how it strikes me, anyway."
+
+"I think you're right," he said calmly. "Probably they would. But the
+police would be wrong. We were not accessory, either before or since.
+We haven't the ghost of a notion as to the identity of the Quicks'
+murderers. But since we're discussing that, I'll tell you both of
+something that seems to have completely escaped the notice of the
+police, the detectives, and of you yourself, Middlebrook. You remember
+that in both cases the clothing of the murdered men had been literally
+ripped to pieces?"
+
+"Very well," said I. "It had--in Salter's, anyway, to my knowledge."
+
+"And so, they said, it had in Noah's," replied Baxter. "And the
+presumption, of course, was that the murderers were searching for
+something?"
+
+"Of course," I said. "What other presumption could there be?"
+
+Baxter gave us both a keen, knowing look, bent across the table, and
+tapped my arm as if to arrest my closer attention.
+
+"How do you know that the murderers didn't find what they were seeking
+for?" he asked in a low, forceful voice. "Come, now!"
+
+I stared at him; so, too, did Miss Raven. He laughed.
+
+"That, certainly, doesn't seem to have struck anybody," he said. "I'm
+sure, anyway, it hasn't struck you before. Does it now?"
+
+"I'd never thought of it," I admitted.
+
+"Exactly! Nor, according to the papers--and to my private
+information--had anybody," he answered. "Yet--it would have been the
+very first thought that would have occurred to me. I should have said
+to myself, seeing the ripped-up clothing, 'Whoever murdered these men
+was in search of something that one or other of the two had concealed
+on him, and the probability is, he's got it.' Of course!"
+
+"I'm sure nobody--police or detectives--ever did think of that," said
+I. "But--perhaps with your knowledge of the Quicks' antecedents and
+queer doings, you have some knowledge of what they might be likely to
+carry about them?"
+
+He laughed at that, and again leaned nearer to us.
+
+"Aye, well!" he replied. "As I've told you so much, I'll tell you
+something more. I do know of something that the two men had on them
+when they were on that miserable island and that they, of course,
+carried away with them when they escaped. Noah and Salter Quick were
+then in possession of two magnificent rubies--worth no end of money!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE CHINESE GENTLEMAN
+
+
+I could not repress an unconscious, involuntary start on hearing this
+remarkable declaration; it seemed to open, as widely as suddenly, an
+entirely new field of vision; it was as if some hand had abruptly torn
+aside a veil and shown me something that I had never dreamed of. And
+Baxter laughed, significantly.
+
+"That strikes you, Middlebrook?" he said.
+
+"Very forcibly, indeed!" said I. "If what you say is true--I mean, if
+one of those two men had such valuables on him, then there's a reason
+for the murder of both that none of us knew of. But--is it probable
+that the Quicks would still be in possession of jewels that you saw
+some years ago?"
+
+"Not so many years ago, when all's said and done," he answered. "And
+you couldn't dispose of things like those very readily, you know. You
+can take it from me, knowing what I did of them, that neither Noah nor
+Salter Quick would sell anything unless at its full value, or
+something like it. They weren't hard up for money, either of them;
+they could afford to wait, in the matter of a sale of anything, until
+they found somebody who would give their price."
+
+"You say these things--rubies, I think--were worth a lot of money?" I
+asked.
+
+"Heaps of money!" he affirmed. "Do you know anything about rubies? Not
+much?--well, the ruby, I daresay you do know, is the most precious of
+precious stones. The real true ruby, the Oriental one, is found in
+greatest quantity in Burma and Siam, and the best are those that come
+from Mogok, which is a district lying northward of Mandalay. These
+rubies that the Quicks had came from there--they were remarkably fine
+ones. And I know how and where those precious villains got them!"
+
+"Yes?" I said, feeling that another dark story lay behind this
+declaration. "Not honestly, I suppose?"
+
+"Far from it!" he replied, with a grim smile. "Those two rubies formed
+the eyes of some ugly god or other in a heathen temple in the
+Kwang-Tung province of Southern China where the Quicks carried on more
+nefarious practices than that. They gouged them out--according to
+their own story. Then, of course, they cleared off."
+
+"You saw the rubies?" I asked.
+
+"More than once--on that island in the Yellow Sea," he answered. "Noah
+and Salter would have bartered either, or both, for a ship at one
+period. But!" he added, with a sneering laugh, "you may lay your life
+that when they boarded that Chinese fishing-boat on which they made
+their escape they'd pay for their passage as meanly as possible.
+No--my belief is that they still had those rubies on them when they
+turned up in England again, and that, as likely as not, they were
+murdered for them. Take all the circumstances of the murder into
+consideration--in each case the dead man's clothing was ripped to
+pieces, the linings examined, even the padding at chest and shoulder
+torn out and scattered about. What were the murderers seeking for? Not
+for money--as far as I remember, each man had a good deal of money on
+him, and not a penny was touched. What was it, then? My own belief is
+that after Salter Quick joined Noah at Devonport, both brothers were
+steadily watched by men who knew what they had on them, and that when
+Salter came North he was followed, just as Noah was tracked down at
+Saltash. And I should say that whoever murdered them got the
+rubies--they may have been on Noah; they may have been on Salter; one
+may have been in Salter's possession; one in Noah's. But there--in the
+rubies--lies, in my belief, the secret of those murders."
+
+I felt that here, in this lonely cove, we were probably much nearer
+the solution of the mystery that had baffled Scarterfield, ourselves,
+the police, and everybody that we knew. And so, apparently, did Miss
+Raven, who suddenly turned on Baxter with a look that was half an
+appeal.
+
+"Mr. Baxter!" she said, colouring a little at her own temerity. "Why
+don't you follow Mr. Middlebrook's advice--give up the old silver and
+the rest of it to the authorities and help them to track down those
+murderers? Wouldn't that be better than--whatever it is that you're
+doing?"
+
+But Baxter laughed, flung away his cigar, and rose to his feet.
+
+"A deal better--from many standpoints, my dear young lady!" he
+exclaimed. "But too late for Netherfield Baxter. He's an Ishmael!--a
+pirate--a highwayman--and it's too late for him to do anything but
+gang his own gait. No!--I'm not going to help the police--not I! I've
+enough to do to keep out of their way."
+
+"You'll get caught, you know," I said, as good-humouredly as possible.
+"You'll never get this stuff that's upstairs across the Atlantic and
+into New York or Boston or any Yankee port without detection. As you
+are treating us well, your secret's safe enough with us--but think,
+man, of the difficulties of taking your loot across an ocean!--to say
+nothing of Customs officers on the other side."
+
+"I never said we were going to take it across the Atlantic," he
+answered coolly and with another of his cynical laughs. "I said we
+were going to sail this bit of a craft across there--so we are. But
+when we strike New York or New Orleans or Pernambuco or Buenos Ayres,
+Middlebrook, the stuff won't be there--the stuff, my lad, won't leave
+British waters! Deep, deep, is your queer acquaintance, Netherfield
+Baxter, and if he does run risks now and then, he always provides for
+'em."
+
+"Evidently you intend to tranship your precious cargo?" I suggested.
+
+"The door of its market is yawning for it, Middlebrook, and not far
+away," he answered. "If this craft drops in at Aberdeen, or at Thurso,
+or at Moville, and the Customs folks or any other such-like hawks and
+kites come aboard, they'll find nothing but three innocent gentlemen
+and their servants a-yachting it across the free seas. _Verbum
+sapienti_, Middlebrook, as we said in my Latin days--far off, now!
+But--wouldn't Miss Raven like to retire?--it's late. I'll send Chuh
+with hot water--if you want anything, Middlebrook, command him. As for
+me, I shan't see you again tonight--I must keep a watch for my pal
+coming aboard from his little mission ashore."
+
+Then, with curt politeness, he bade us both good night, and went off
+on deck, and we two captives looked at each other.
+
+"Strange man!" murmured Miss Raven. She gave me a direct glance that
+had a lot of meaning in it. "Mr. Middlebrook," she went on in a still
+lower voice, "let me tell you that I'm not afraid. I'm sure that man
+means no personal harm to us. But--is there anything you want to say
+to me before I go?"
+
+"Only this," I answered. "Do you sleep very soundly?"
+
+"Not so soundly that I shouldn't hear if you called me," she replied.
+
+"I'm going to mount guard here," I said. "I, too, believe in what
+Baxter says. But--if I should, for any reason, have occasion to call
+you during the night, do at once precisely what I tell you to do."
+
+"Of course," she said.
+
+The Chinaman who had been in evidence at intervals since our arrival
+came into the little saloon with a can of hot water and disappeared
+into the inner cabin which had been given up to Miss Raven. She softly
+said good-night to me, with a reassurance of her confidence that all
+would be well, and followed him. I heard her talking to this strange
+makeshift for a maid for a moment or two; then the man came out,
+grinning as if well-pleased with himself, and she closed and fastened
+the door on him. The Chinaman turned to me, asking in a soft voice if
+there was anything I pleased to need.
+
+"Nothing but the rugs and pillows that your master spoke of," I
+answered.
+
+He opened a locker on the floor of the place and producing a number of
+cushions and blankets from it made me up a very tolerable couch. Then,
+with a polite bow, he, too, departed, and I was left alone.
+
+Of one thing I was firmly determined--I was not going to allow myself
+to sleep. I firmly believed in Baxter's good intentions--in spite of
+his record, strange and shady by his own admission, there was
+something in him that won confidence; he was unprincipled, without
+doubt, and the sort of man who would be all the worse if resisted,
+being evidently naturally wayward, headstrong, and foolishly
+obstinate, but like all bad men, he had good points, and one of his
+seemed to be a certain pride in showing people like ourselves that he
+could behave himself like a gentleman. That pride--a species of
+vanity, of course--would, I felt sure, make him keep his word to us
+and especially to Miss Raven. But he was only one amongst a crowd. For
+anything I knew, his French friend might be as consummate a villain as
+ever walked, and the Chinese in the galley cut-throats of the best
+quality. And there, behind a mere partition, was a helpless girl--and
+I was unarmed. It was a highly serious and unpleasant situation, at
+the best of it, and the only thing I could do was to keep awake and
+remain on the alert until morning came.
+
+I took off coat and waistcoat, folded a blanket shawl-wise around my
+shoulders, wrapped another round my legs, and made myself fairly
+comfortable in the cushions which the Chinaman had deftly arranged in
+an angle of the cabin. I had directed him to settle my night's
+quarters in a corner close to Miss Raven's door, and immediately
+facing the half-dozen steps which led upwards to the deck. At the head
+of those steps was a door; I had bade him leave it open, so that I
+might have plenty of air; when he had gone I had extinguished the lamp
+which swung from the roof. And now, half-sitting, half-lying amongst
+my cushions and rugs, I faced the patch of sky framed in that open
+doorway and saw that the night was a clear one and that the heavens
+were full of glittering stars.
+
+I had just refilled and lighted my pipe before settling down to my
+vigils, and for a long time I lay there smoking and thinking. My
+thoughts were somewhat confused--confused, at any rate, to the extent
+that they ranged over a variety of subjects--our apprehension that
+afternoon; the queer, almost, if not wholly, eccentric character of
+Netherfield Baxter; his strange story of the events in the Yellow Sea;
+his frank avowal of his share in the theft of the monastic spoils; his
+theory about Noah and Salter Quick, and other matters arising out of
+these things. The whirl of it all in my anxious brain made me more
+than once feel disposed to sleep; I realized that in spite of
+everything, I should sleep unless I kept up a stern determination to
+remain awake. Everything on board that strange craft was as still as
+the skies above her decks; I heard no sound whatever save a very
+gentle lapping of the water against the vessel's timbers, and,
+occasionally, the far-off hooting of owls in the woods that overhung
+the cove; these sounds, of course, were provocative of slumber; I had
+to keep smoking to prevent myself from dropping into a doze. And
+perhaps two hours may have gone in this fashion, and it was, I should
+think, a little after midnight, when I heard, at first far away
+towards the land, then gradually coming nearer, the light, slow
+plashing of oars that gently and leisurely rose and fell.
+
+This, of course, was the Frenchman, coming back from his mission to
+Berwick--he would, I knew, have gone there from the little wayside
+station that lay beyond the woods at the back of the cove and have
+returned by a late train to the same place. Somehow--I could not well
+account for it--the mere fact of his coming back made me nervous and
+uneasy. I was not so certain about his innocence in the matter of
+Salter Quick's murder. On Baxter's own showing the Frenchman had been
+hanging about that coast for some little time, just when Salter Quick
+descended upon it. He, like Baxter, if Baxter's story were true, was
+aware that one or other of the Quicks carried those valuable rubies;
+even if, the York episode being taken for granted, he had not killed
+Salter Quick himself he might be privy to the doings of some
+accomplice who had. Anyway, he was a doubtful quantity, and the mere
+fact that he was back again on that yawl made me more resolved than
+ever to keep awake and preserve a sharp look-out.
+
+I heard the boat come alongside; I heard steps on the deck just
+outside my open door; then, Baxter's voice. Presently, too, I heard
+other voices--one that of the Frenchman, which I recognised from
+having heard him speak in the afternoon; the other a soft, gentle,
+laughing voice--without doubt that of an Eastern. This, of course,
+would be the Chinese gentleman of whom I had heard--the man who had
+been seen in company with Baxter and the Frenchman at Hull. So now the
+three principal actors in this affair were all gathered together,
+separated from me and Miss Raven by a few planks, and close by were
+three Chinese of whose qualities I knew nothing. Safe we might be--but
+we were certainly on the very edge of a hornet's nest.
+
+I heard the three men talking together in low, subdued tones for a few
+minutes; then they went along the deck above me and the sound of their
+steps ceased. But as I lay there in the darkness, two round discs of
+light suddenly appeared on a mirror which hung on the boarding of the
+cabin, immediately facing me, and turning my head sharply, I saw that
+in the bulkhead behind me there were two similar holes, pierced in
+what was probably a door, which would, no doubt, be sunk flush with
+the boarding and was possibly the entrance to some other cabin that
+could be entered from a further part of the deck. Behind that, under a
+newly-lighted lamp, the three men were now certainly gathered.
+
+I was desperately anxious to know what they were doing--anxious, to
+the point of nervousness, to know what they looked like, taken in
+bulk. I could hear them talking in there, still in very low tones, and
+I would have given much to hear even a few words of their
+conversation. And after a time of miserable indecision--for I was
+afraid of doing anything that would lead to suspicion or resentment on
+their part, and I was by no means sure that I might not be under
+observation of one of those silky-footed Chinese from the galley--I
+determined to look through the holes in the door and see whatever was
+to be seen.
+
+I got out of my wrappings and my corner so noiselessly that I don't
+believe anyone actually present in my cabin would have heard even a
+rustle, and tip-toeing in my stockinged feet across to the bulkhead
+which separated me from the three men, put an eye to one of the holes.
+To my great joy, I then found that I could see into the place to which
+Baxter and his companions had retreated. It was a sort of cabin,
+rougher in accommodation than that in which I stood, fitted with bunks
+on three sides and furnished with a table in the center over which
+swung a lamp. The three men stood round this table, examining some
+papers--the lamp-light fell full on all three. Baxter stood there in
+his shirt and trousers; the Frenchman also was half-dressed, as if
+preparing for rest. But the third man was still as he had come
+aboard--a little, yellow-faced, dapper, sleek Chinaman, whose smart,
+velvet-collared overcoat, thrown open, revealed an equally smart dark
+tweed suit beneath it, and an elegant gold watch-chain festooned
+across the waistcoat. He was smoking a cigar, just lighted; that it
+was of a fine brand I could tell by the aroma that floated to me. And
+on the table before the three stood a whisky bottle, a syphon of
+mineral water, and glasses, which had evidently just been filled.
+
+Baxter and the Frenchman stood elbow to elbow; the Frenchman held in
+his hands a number of sheets of paper, foolscap size, to the contents
+of which he was obviously drawing Baxter's attention. Presently they
+turned to a desk which stood in one corner of the place, and Baxter,
+lifting its lid, produced a big ledger-like book, over which they
+bent, evidently comparing certain entries in it with the papers in the
+Frenchman's hand. What book or papers might be, I of course, knew
+nothing, for all this was done in silence. But had I known anything,
+or heard anything, it would have seemed of no significance compared
+with what I just then saw--a thing that suddenly turned me almost sick
+with a nameless fear and set me trembling from toe to finger.
+
+The dapper and smug Chinaman, statuesque on one side of the table,
+immovable save for an occasional puff of his cigar, suddenly shot into
+silent activity as the two men turned their backs on him and bent,
+apparently absorbed, over the desk in the corner. Like a flash (it
+reminded me of the lightning-like movement of a viper) his long, thin
+fingers went into a waistcoat pocket; like a flash emerged, shot to
+the glasses on the table and into two of them dropped something small
+and white--some tabloid or pellet--that sank and dissolved as rapidly
+as it was put in. It was all over, all done, within, literally, the
+fraction of a second; when, a moment or two later, Baxter and the
+Frenchman turned round again, after throwing the ledger-like book and
+the papers into the desk, their companion was placidly smoking his
+cigar and sipping the contents of his glass between the whiffs.
+
+I was by that time desperately careless as to whether I might or might
+not be under observation from the open door and stairway of my own
+cabin. I remained where I was, my eye glued to that ventilation-hole,
+watching. For it seemed to me that the Chinaman was purposely drugging
+his companions, for some insidious purpose of his own--in that case,
+what of the personal safety of Miss Raven and myself? For one moment I
+was half-minded to rush round to the other cabin and tell Baxter of
+what I had just seen--but I reflected that I might possibly bring
+about there and then an affair of bloodshed and perhaps murder in
+which there would be four Chinese against three others, one of
+whom--my miserable self--was not only unarmed, but like enough to be
+useless in a scene of violence. No--the only thing was to wait, and
+wait I did, with a thumping heart and tingling nerves, watching.
+
+Nothing happened. Baxter gulped down his drink at a single draught;
+the Frenchman took his in two leisurely swallows; each flung himself
+on his bunk, pulled his blankets about him, and, as far as I could
+see, seemed to fall asleep instantly. But the Chinaman was more
+deliberate and punctilious. He took his time over his cigar and his
+whisky; he pulled out a suit-case from some nook or other and produced
+from it a truly gorgeous sleeping-suit of gaily-striped silk; it
+occupied him quite twenty minutes to get undressed and into this
+grandeur, and even then he lingered, fiddling about in carefully
+folding and arranging his garment. In the course of this, and in
+moving about the narrow cabin, he took apparently casual glances at
+Baxter and the Frenchman, and I saw from his satisfied, quiet smirk
+that each was sound and fast asleep. And then he thrust his feet into
+a pair of bedroom slippers, as loud in their colouring as his
+pyjamas, and suddenly turning down the lamp with a twist of his
+wicked-looking fingers, he glided out of the door into the darkness
+above. At that I, too, glided swiftly back to my blankets.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+RED DAWN
+
+
+I heard steps, soft as snowflakes, go along the deck above me; for an
+instant they paused by the open door at the head of my stairway; then
+they went on again and all was silent as before. But in that silence,
+above the gentle lapping of the water against the side of the yawl, I
+heard the furious thumping of my own heart--and I did not wonder at
+it, nor was I then, nor am I now ashamed of the fear that made it
+thump. Clearly, whatever else it might mean, if Baxter and the
+Frenchman were, as I surely believed them to be, soundly drugged, Miss
+Raven and I were at the positive mercy of a pack of Chinese
+adventurers who would probably stick at nothing.
+
+But my problem--one sufficient to wrack every fibre of my brain--was,
+what were they after? The Chinese gentleman in the flamboyant pyjamas
+had without doubt, repaired to his compatriots in the galley, forward:
+at that moment they were, of course, holding some unholy conference.
+Were they going to murder Baxter and the Frenchman for the sake of the
+swag now safely on board? It was possible: I had heard many a tale far
+less so. No doubt the supreme spirit was a man of subtlety and craft;
+so, too, most likely was our friend Lo Chuh Fen; the other two would
+not be wanting. And if, of these other two, Wing, as Miss Raven had
+confidently surmised and as I thought it possible, was one, then,
+indeed, there would be brains enough and to spare for the carrying out
+of any adventure. It seemed to me as I lay there, quaking and sweating
+in sheer fright--I, a defenceless, quiet, peace-loving gentleman of
+bookish tastes, who scarcely knew one end of a revolver from the
+other--that what was likely was that the Chinese were going to round
+on their English and French associates, collar the loot for
+themselves, and sail the yawl--Heaven alone knew where! But--in that
+case, what was going to become of me and my helpless companion? It was
+not likely that these Easterns would treat us with the consideration
+which we had received from the queer, eccentric, somewhat
+muddle-headed Netherfield Baxter, who--it struck me with odd
+inconsequence at that inopportune moment--was certainly a combination
+of Dick Turpin, Gil Blas, and Don Quixote.
+
+I suppose it was nearly an hour that passed: it may have been more; it
+may have been less; what I know is that it gave me some idea of what
+an accused man may feel who, waiting in a cell below, wonders what the
+foreman of a jury is going to say when he is called upstairs once more
+to the dock which he has vacated pending that jury's deliberations.
+Once or twice I thought of daring everything, rousing Miss Raven, and
+attempting an escape by means of the boat which no doubt lay at the
+side of the yawl. But reflection suggested that so desperate a deed
+would only mean getting a bullet through me, and perhaps through her
+as well. Then I speculated on my chances of making a sinuous way along
+the deck on my hands and knees, or on my stomach, snake-fashion, with
+the idea of listening at the hatch of the galley--reflection, again,
+warned me that such an adventure would as likely as not end up with a
+few inches of cold steel in my side or through my gullet. So there I
+lay, sweating with fear, rapidly disintegrating as to nerve-power,
+becoming a lump of moral rag-and-bone--and suddenly, unheralded by the
+slightest sound, I saw the figure of a man on my stairway, his outline
+silhouetted against the sky and the stars.
+
+It was not because of any bravery on my part--I am sure of that--but
+through sheer fright that, before I had the least idea of what I was
+doing, I had thrown myself clear of rugs and pillows, sprung to my
+feet, made one frenzied leap across the bit of intervening space and
+clutched my intruder by his arms before his softly-padded feet touched
+the floor of the cabin. My own breath was coming in gasps--but the
+response to my frenzy was quiet and cool as an autumnal afternoon.
+
+"Can you row a boat?"
+
+I shall never forget the mental douche which dashed itself over me in
+that clear, yet scarcely perceptible whisper, accompanied as it was by
+a ghost-like laugh of sheer amusement. I released my grip, staring in
+the starlight at my visitor. Lo Chuh Fen!
+
+"Yes!" I answered, steadying my voice and keeping it down to as low
+tones as his own. "Yes--I can!"
+
+He pointed to the door behind which lay Miss Raven.
+
+"Wake missie--as quietly as possible," he whispered. "Tell her get
+ready--come on deck--make no noise. All ready for you--then you go
+ashore and away, see? Not good for you to be here longer."
+
+"No danger to--her?" I asked him.
+
+"No danger to anybody, you do as I say," he answered. "All ready for
+you--nothing to do but come on deck, forward; get into the boat, be
+off. Now!"
+
+Without another word he glided up the stairway and disappeared. For a
+few seconds I stood irresolute. Was it a trick, a plant? Should we be
+safe on deck--or targets for Chinese bullets, or receptacles for
+Chinese knives? Maybe!--yet--
+
+I suddenly made up my mind. It was but one step to the door of the
+little inner cabin--I scraped on its panels. It opened instantly--a
+crack.
+
+"Yes?" whispered Miss Raven.
+
+I remembered then that if need arose she was to do unquestioningly
+anything I told her to do.
+
+"Dress at once and come out," I said. "Be quick!"
+
+"I've never been undressed," she answered. "I lay down in my clothes."
+
+"Then come, just now," I commanded. "Wait for nothing!"
+
+She was out of the room at once and by my side in the gloom. I laid a
+hand on her arm, giving its plump softness a reassuring pressure.
+
+"Don't be afraid!" I whispered. "Follow me on deck. We're going."
+
+"Going!" she said. "Leaving?"
+
+"Come along!" said I.
+
+I went before her up the stairway and out on the open deck. The night
+was particularly clear; the stars very bright; the patch of water
+between the yawl and the shore lay before us calm and dark; we could
+see the woods above the cove quite plainly, and at the edge of them a
+ribbon of white, the silver-sanded beach. And also, at the forward
+part of the vessel we were leaving I saw, or fancied I saw, shadowy
+forms--the Chinese were going to see us off.
+
+But one form was not shadowy, nor problematical. Chuh was there,
+awaiting us, his arms filled with rugs. Without a word he motioned us
+to follow, preceded us along the side of the yawl to the boat, went
+before us into it, helped us down, settled us, put the oars into my
+hands, climbed out again, and leaned his yellow face down at me.
+
+"You pull straight ahead," he murmured. "Good landing place straight
+before you: dry place on beach, too--morning come soon; you get away
+then through woods."
+
+"The boat?" I asked him.
+
+"You leave boat there--anywhere," he answered. "Boat not wanted
+again--we go, soon as high water over bar. Hope you get young missie
+safe home."
+
+"Bless you!" I said under my breath. Then, remembering that I had some
+money in my pocket--three or four loose sovereigns as luck would have
+it, I thrust a hand therein, pulled them out, forced them into the
+man's claw-like fingers. I heard him chuckle softly--then his head
+disappeared behind the rail of the yawl, and I shoved the boat off,
+and for the next few minutes bent to those oars as I had certainly
+never bent to any previous labour, mental or physical, in my life.
+And Miss Raven, seeing my earnestness, said nothing, but quietly took
+the tiller and steered us in a straight line for the spot which the
+Chinaman had indicated. Neither of us--strange as it may seem--spoke
+one single word until, at the end of half an hour's steady pull, the
+boat's nose ran on to the shingly beach, beneath a fringe of dwarf oak
+that came right down to the edge of the shore. I sprang out, with a
+feeling of thankfulness that it would be hard to describe--and for a
+good reason found my tongue once more.
+
+"Great Scott!" I exclaimed. "I've left my boots in that cabin!"
+
+Despite the strange situation in which we were still placed, Miss
+Raven's sense of humour asserted itself; she laughed.
+
+"Your boots!" she said. "Whatever will you do? These stones!--and the
+long walk home?"
+
+"There are things to be thought of before that," said I. "We're still
+in the middle of the night. But this boat--do you think you can help
+me to drag it up the beach?"
+
+Between us, the boat being a light one, we managed to pull it across
+the pebbles and under the low cliff beneath the overhanging fringe of
+the wood. In the uncertain light--for there was no moon and since our
+setting out from the yawl masses of cloud had come up from the
+south-east to obscure the stars--the wood looked impenetrably black.
+
+"We shall have to wait here until the dawn comes," I remarked. "We
+can't find our way through the wood in this darkness--I can't even
+recollect the path, if there was one, by which they brought us down
+here from the ruins. You had better sit in the boat and make yourself
+comfortable with those rugs. Considerate of them, at any rate, to
+provide us with those!"
+
+She got into the boat again and I wrapped one rug round her knees and
+placed another about her shoulders.
+
+"And you?" she asked.
+
+"I must do a bit of amateur boot-making," I answered. "I'm going to
+cut this third rug into strips and bind them about my feet--can't walk
+over stones and thorns and thistles, to say nothing of the moorland
+track, without some protection."
+
+I got out my pocket-knife and sitting on the side of the boat began my
+task; for a few minutes she watched me, in silence.
+
+"What does all this mean!" she said at last, suddenly. "Why have they
+let us go?"
+
+"No idea," I answered. "But--things have happened since Baxter said
+good-night to us. Listen!" And I went on to tell her of all that had
+taken place on the yawl since the return of the Frenchman and his
+Chinese companion. "What does it look like?" I concluded. "Doesn't it
+seem as if the Chinese intend foul play to those two?"
+
+"Do you mean--that they intend to--to murder them?" she asked in a
+half-frightened whisper. "Surely not that?"
+
+"I don't see that a man who has lived the life that Baxter has can
+expect anything but a violent end," I replied callously. "Yes, I
+suppose that's what I do mean. I think the Chinese mean to get rid of
+the two others and get away with the swag--cleverly enough, no doubt."
+
+"Horrible!" she murmured.
+
+"Inevitable!" said I. "To my mind, the whole atmosphere was one
+of--that sort of thing. We're most uncommonly lucky."
+
+She became silent again, and remained so for some time, while I went
+on at my task, binding the strips of rug about my feet and ankles, and
+fastening them, puttee fashion, around my legs.
+
+"I don't understand it!" she exclaimed, after several minutes had gone
+by. "Surely those men must know that we, once free of them, would be
+sure to give the alarm. We weren't under any promise to them, whatever
+we were to Baxter."
+
+"I don't understand anything," I said. "All I know is the surface of
+the situation. But that gentle villain who saw us off the yawl said
+that they were sailing at high water--only waiting until the tide was
+deep on the bar outside there. And they could get a long way, north or
+south or east, before we could set anybody on to them. Supposing they
+did get rid of Baxter and his Frenchman, what's to prevent them making
+off across the North Sea to, say, some port in the north of Russia?
+They've got stuff on board that would be saleable anywhere--no doubt
+they'll have melted it all into shapeless lumps before many hours are
+out."
+
+Once more she was silent, and when she spoke again it was in a note of
+decision.
+
+"No, I don't think that's it at all," she said emphatically. "They're
+dependent on wind and weather, and the seas aren't so wide, but that
+they'd be caught on our information. I'm sure that isn't it."
+
+"What is it, then?" I asked.
+
+"I've a sort of vague, misty idea," she answered, with a laugh that
+was plainly intended to be deprecatory of her own power. "Supposing
+these Chinese--you say they're awfully keen and astute--supposing
+they've got a plot amongst themselves for handing Baxter and the
+Frenchman over to the police--the authorities--with their plunder? Do
+you see?"
+
+I had just finished the manufacture of my novel foot-wear, and I
+jumped to my padded feet with an exclamation that--this time--did not
+come from unpleasant contact with the sharp stones.
+
+"By George!" I said. "There is an idea in that!--there may be
+something in it!"
+
+"We thought Wing was on board," she continued. "If so, I think I may
+be right in offering such a suggestion. Supposing that Wing came
+across these people when he went to London; took service with them in
+the hope of getting at their secret; supposing he's induced the other
+Chinese to secure Baxter and the Frenchman--that, in short, he's been
+playing the part of detective? Wouldn't that explain why they sent us
+away?"
+
+"Partly--yes, perhaps wholly," I said, struggling with this new idea.
+"But--where and when and how do they intend--if your theory's
+correct--to do the handing over?"
+
+"That's surely easy enough," she replied quickly. "There's nothing to
+do but sail the yawl into say Berwick harbour and call the police
+aboard. A very, very easy matter!"
+
+"I wonder if it is so?" I answered, musingly. "It might be--but if we
+stay here until it's light and the tide's up, we shall see which way
+the yawl goes."
+
+"It's high water between five and six o'clock," she remarked. "Anyway,
+it was between four and five yesterday morning at Ravensdene
+Court--which now seems to be far away, in some other world."
+
+"Hungry?" I asked.
+
+"Not a bit," she answered. "But--it's a long way since yesterday
+afternoon. We've seen things."
+
+"We've certainly seen Mr. Netherfield Baxter," I observed.
+
+"A fascinating man!" she said, with a laugh. "The sort of man--under
+other circumstances--one would like to have to dinner."
+
+"Um!" said I. "A ready and plausible tongue, to be sure. I dare say
+there are women who would fall in love with such a man."
+
+"Lots!" she answered, with ready assent. "As I said just now, he's a
+very fascinating person."
+
+"Ah!" said I, teasingly. "I had a suspicion last night that he was
+exciting your sympathetic interest."
+
+"I'm much more sympathetic about your lack of boots and shoes," she
+retorted. "But as you seem to have rigged up some sort of satisfactory
+substitute, don't you think we might be making our way homewards? Is
+there any need to go through the woods? Why should we not follow the
+coast?"
+
+"I'm doubtful about our ability to get round the south point of this
+cove," I answered. "I was looking at it yesterday afternoon from the
+deck of the yawl, and I saw that just there a sort of wall of rock
+runs right out into the sea. And if the tide's coming in--"
+
+"Then, the woods," she interrupted. "Surely we can make our way
+through them, somehow. And it will begin to get light in another hour
+or so."
+
+"If you like to try it," I answered. "But it's darker in there than
+you think for, and rougher going, too. However--"
+
+Just then, and before she had made up her mind, we were both switched
+off that line of action by something that broke out on another. Across
+the three-quarters of a mile of water which separated us from our
+recent prison came the sound, clear and unmistakable, of a revolver
+shot, followed almost instantly by another. Miss Raven, who had risen
+to her feet, suddenly sat down again. A third shot rang out--a
+fourth--a fifth; we saw the flashes of each; they came, without doubt,
+from the deck of the yawl.
+
+"Firing!" she murmured.
+
+"Fighting!" said I. "That's just--listen to that!"
+
+Half a dozen reports, sharp, insistent, rang out in quick succession;
+then two or three, all mingling together; the echoes followed from
+wood and cliff. Rapidly as the flashes pierced the gloom, the sounds
+died out--a heavy silence followed.
+
+"That's just what?" asked Miss Raven--calmly.
+
+"Well, if not just what I expected, it's at any rate partly what I
+expected," I said. "It had already struck me that if--well, supposing
+whatever it was that the Chinaman dropped into those glasses didn't
+act quite as soporifically as he intended it to, and Baxter and his
+companion woke up and found there was a conspiracy, a mutiny, going
+on, there'd be--eh?"
+
+"Fighting?" she suggested.
+
+"You're not a squeamish girl," I answered. "There'd be bloody murder!
+Their lives--or the others. And I should say that death's stalking
+through that unholy craft just now."
+
+She made no answer and we stood staring at the black bulk lying
+motionless on the grey water; stood for a long time, listening. I, to
+tell the truth, was straining my ears to catch the plash of oars: I
+thought it possible that some of those on board the yawl might take a
+violent desire to get ashore.
+
+But the silence continued. And now we said no more of setting out on
+our homeward journey: curiosity as to what had happened kept us there,
+whispering. The time passed--almost before we realized that night was
+passing, we were suddenly aware of a long line of faint yellow light
+that rose above the far horizon.
+
+"Dawn," I muttered. "Dawn!"
+
+And then, at that moment, we both heard something. Somewhere outside
+the bar, but close to the shore, a steam-propelled vessel was tearing
+along at a break-neck speed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE FOURTH CHINAMAN
+
+
+As we stood there, watching, the long line of yellow light on the
+eastern horizon suddenly changed in colour--first to a roseate flush,
+then to a warm crimson; the scenes around us, sky, sea and land
+brightened as if by magic. And with equal suddenness there shot round
+the edge of the southern extremity of the cove, outlining itself
+against the red sky in the distance the long, low-lying hulk of a
+vessel--a dark, sinister-looking thing which I recognised at once as a
+torpedo-destroyer. It was coming along, about half a mile outside the
+bar, at a rare turn of speed which would, I knew, quickly carry it
+beyond our field of vision. And I was wondering whether from its decks
+the inside of the cove and the yawl lying at anchor there was visible
+when it suddenly slackened in its headlong career, went about,
+seaward, and describing the greater part of a circle, came slowly in
+towards the bar, nosing about there beyond the line of white surf, for
+all the world like a terrier at the lip of some rat-hole.
+
+Up to that moment Miss Raven and I had kept silence, watching this
+unexpected arrival in our solitude; now, turning to look at her, I saw
+that the thought which had come into my mind had also occurred to
+hers.
+
+"Do you think that ship is looking for the yawl?" she asked. "It's a
+gunboat--or something of that sort, isn't it?"
+
+"Torpedo-destroyer--latest class, too," I answered.
+
+"Rakish, wicked-looking things, aren't they? And that's just what I,
+too, was wondering. It's possible, some news of the yawl may have got
+to the ears of the authorities, and this thing may have been sent from
+the nearest base to take a look along the coast. Perhaps they've
+spotted the yawl. But they can't get over that bar, yet."
+
+"The tide's rising fast, though," she remarked, pointing to the shore
+immediately before us. "It'll be up to this boat soon."
+
+I saw that she was right, and that presently the boat would be
+floating. We made it fast, and retreated further up the beach, amongst
+the overhanging trees, and there, from beneath the shelter of a group
+of dwarf oaks, looked seaward again. The destroyer lay supine outside
+the bar, watching. Suddenly, right behind her, far across the grey
+sea, the sun shot up above the horizon--her long dark hull cut across
+his ruddy face. And we were then able to make out shapes that moved
+here and there on her deck. There were live men there!--but on the
+yawl we saw no sign of life.
+
+Yet, even as we looked, life sprang up there again. Once more a shot
+rang out, followed by two others in sharp succession. And as we stared
+in that direction, wondering what this new affray could be, we saw a
+boat shoot out from beneath the bows, with a low, crouching figure in
+it which was evidently making frantic efforts to get away. Somebody on
+board the yawl was just as eager to prevent this escape; three or
+four shots sounded--following one of them, the figure in the boat fell
+forward with a sickening suddenness.
+
+"Got him!" I said involuntarily. "Poor devil!--whoever he is."
+
+"No!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "See!--he's up again."
+
+The figure was struggling to an erect position--even at that distance
+we could make out the effort. But the light of the newly-risen sun was
+so dazzling and confusing that we could not tell if the figure was
+that of an Englishman or a Chinaman--it was, at any rate, the figure
+of a tall man. And whoever he was, he managed to rise to his feet, and
+to lift an arm in the direction of the yawl, from which he was then
+some twenty yards away. Two more shots rang out--one from the yawl,
+another from the boat. It seemed to me that the man in the boat
+swayed--but a moment later he was again busy at his oars. No further
+shot came from the yawl, and the boat drew further and further away
+from it, in the direction of a spit of land some three or four hundred
+yards from where we stood. There were high rocks at the sea end of
+that spit--the boat disappeared behind them.
+
+"There's one villain loose, at any rate," I muttered, not too well
+pleased to think that he was within reach of ourselves. "I wonder
+which. But I'm sure he was winged--he fell in a heap, didn't he, at
+one of those shots? Of course, he'll take to these woods--and we've
+got to get through them."
+
+"Not yet!" said Miss Raven. "Look there!"
+
+She pointed across the cove and beyond the bar, and I saw then that a
+boat had been put off from the destroyer and was being pulled at a
+rapid rate towards the line of surf which, under the deepening tide,
+was now but a thin streak of white. It seemed to me that I could see
+the glint of arms above the flash of the oars--anyway there was a
+boat's crew of blue-jackets there.
+
+"They're going to board her!" I exclaimed. "I wonder what they'll
+find?"
+
+"Dead men!" answered Miss Raven, quietly.
+
+"What else? After all that shooting! I should think that man who's
+just got away was the last."
+
+"There was a man left on board who fired at him--and at whom he fired
+back," I pointed.
+
+"Yes--and who never fired again," she retorted. "They must all--oh!"
+
+She interrupted herself with a sharp exclamation, and turning from
+watching the blue-jackets and their boat I saw that she was staring at
+the yawl. From its forecastle a black column of smoke suddenly shot
+up, followed by a great lick of flame.
+
+"Good heavens!" I exclaimed. "The yawl's on fire!"
+
+I guessed then at what had probably happened. The man who had just
+disappeared with his boat behind the spit of land further along the
+cove had in all likelihood been one of two survivors of the fight
+which had taken place in the early hours of the morning. He had wished
+to get away by himself, had set fire to the yawl, and sneaked away in
+the only boat, exchanging shots with the man left behind and probably
+killing him with the last one. And now--there was smoke and flame
+above what was doubtless a shambles.
+
+But by that time the boat's crew from the destroyer had crossed the
+bar and entered the cove and the vigorously impelled oars were
+flashing fast in the sheltered waters. The boat disappeared behind the
+drifting smoke that poured out of the yawl--presently we saw figures
+hurrying hither and thither about her deck.
+
+"They may be in time to get the fire under," I said. "Better, perhaps,
+if they let the whole thing burn itself out. It would burn up a lot of
+villainy."
+
+"Here are people coming along the beach," remarked Miss Raven,
+suddenly. "Look! They must have seen the smoke rising."
+
+I turned in the direction in which she was looking, and saw, on the
+strip of land and pebble, beneath the woods, a group of figures,
+standing at that moment and staring in the direction of the burning
+ship, which had evidently just rounded the extreme point of the cove
+at its southern confines. There were several figures in the group, and
+two were mounted. Presently these moved forward in our direction, at a
+smart pace; before they had gone far, I recognized the riders.
+
+"A search party!" I exclaimed. "Look--that's Mr. Raven, in front, and
+surely that's Lorrimore, behind him. They're looking for us."
+
+She gazed at the approaching figures for a moment, shielding her eyes
+from the already strong glare of the mounting sun, then ran forward
+along the shingle to meet them; I followed as rapidly as my
+improvised foot-wear would permit. By the time I reached them, Mr.
+Raven and Lorrimore were off their horses, the other members of the
+party had come up, and my companion in tribulation was explaining the
+situation. I let her talk--she was summing it all up in more concise
+fashion than I could have done. Her uncle listened with simple,
+open-mouthed astonishment; Lorrimore, when it came to mention of the
+Chinese element, with an obvious growing concern that seemed to be not
+far away from suspicion. He turned to me as Miss Raven finished.
+
+"How many Chinese do you reckon were on board?" he asked.
+
+"Four--including the last arrival, described as a gentleman," I
+answered.
+
+"And two English?" he inquired.
+
+"One Englishman, and one Frenchman," said I. "My belief is that the
+Chinese have settled the other two--and then possibly settled
+themselves, among them. There's one man somewhere in these woods.
+Whether he's a Chinaman we can't say--we couldn't make out."
+
+He stared at me wonderingly for a moment; then turned and looked at
+the yawl. Evidently the blue-jackets had succeeded in checking the
+fire; the flame had died down, and the smoke now only hung about in
+wreaths; we could see figures running actively about the deck.
+
+"There may be men on there that need medical assistance," said
+Lorrimore. "Where's this boat you mentioned, Middlebrook? I'm going
+off to that vessel. Two of you men pull me across there."
+
+"I'll go with you," said I. "I left my boots in the cabin--I may find
+them--and a good deal else. The boat's just along here."
+
+The search party was a mixed lot--a couple of local policemen, some
+gamekeepers, two or three fishermen, one of Mr. Raven's men-servants.
+Two of the fishermen ran the boat into the water; Lorrimore and I
+sprang in.
+
+"This is the most extraordinary affair I ever heard of," he said as he
+sat down at my side in the stern.
+
+"You didn't see all these Chinamen? Miss Raven says that you actually
+suspected my man Wing to be on board!"
+
+"Lorrimore," said I, "in ten minutes you'll probably see and learn
+things that you'd never have dreamed of. Whether your man Wing is on
+board or not I don't know--but I know that that girl and I have had a
+marvellous escape from a nest of human devils! I can't say for myself,
+but--has my hair whitened?"
+
+"Your hair hasn't whitened," he said. "You were probably safer than
+you knew--safe enough, if Wing was there."
+
+"Well, I don't know," I retorted. "In future, let me avoid the sight
+of yellow cheeks and slit eyes--I've had enough. But tell me--how did
+you and your posse come this way? Didn't Mr. Raven get a wire last
+night?"
+
+"Mr. Raven did get a wire," he replied; "but before he got it, he'd
+become anxious, and had sent out some of his men folk along the moors
+and cliffs in search of you. One of them, very late in the evening,
+came across a man who had been cutting wood somewhere hereabouts and
+had seen you and Miss Raven passing through the woods near the shore
+in company with two strangers. Mr. Raven's man returned close on
+midnight, with this news, and the old gentleman was, of course, thrown
+into a great state of alarm. He roused the whole community round
+Ravensdene Court, got me up, and we set out, as you see. But--the
+whole thing's marvellous! I can't help thinking that Wing may have
+been on board this vessel, and that it was due to him you got away."
+
+"You've heard nothing of him--from London?" I suggested.
+
+"Nothing, from anywhere," he replied. "Which is precisely why I feel
+sure that when he went there he came in contact with these people and
+has been playing some deep game."
+
+"Deep, yes!" said I. "Deep indeed! But what game?"
+
+He made no answer; we were now close to the yawl, and he was staring
+expectantly at the figures on her deck. Suddenly two of these detached
+themselves from the rest, turned, came to the side, looked down on us.
+One was a grimy-faced, alert-looking young naval officer, very much
+alive to his job; the other, not quite so smoke-blackened, but
+eminently business-like, was--Scarterfield.
+
+"Good Heavens!" I muttered. "So--he's here!"
+
+Scarterfield, as we pulled up to the side of the yawl, was evidently
+telling the young officer who we were; he turned from him to us as we
+prepared to clamber aboard and addressed us without ceremony, as if we
+had been parted from him but a few minutes since our last meeting.
+
+"You'd better be prepared for some unpleasant sights, you two!" he
+said. "This is no place to bring an empty stomach to at this hour of
+the morning--and I fancy you've no liking for horrors, Mr.
+Middlebrook."
+
+"I've had plenty of them during this night, Scarterfield," said I. "I
+was a prisoner on board this vessel from yesterday afternoon until
+soon after midnight, and I've sat on yonder beach listening to a good
+many things that have gone on since I got away from her."
+
+He stared at me in astonishment for a moment; so did his companion,
+whose sharp eyes, running me over, settled their glance on my swathed
+feet.
+
+"Yes," I said, staring back at him. "Just so!--I was bundled off in
+such a hurry that I left my boots behind me. They're in the cabin--and
+if they aren't burned up I'll be glad of them."
+
+I was making a move in that direction, for I saw that the fire, now
+well under control, had been confined to the fore-part of the
+yawl--but Scarterfield stopped me. He was clearly as puzzled as
+anxious.
+
+"Middlebrook!" he said earnestly. "I don't understand it, at all. You
+say you were on this vessel--during the night? Then, in God's name,
+who else was on her--whom did you find here--what men?"
+
+"I left six men on her," I answered. "Netherfield Baxter--a
+Frenchman--a Chinese gentleman, so described--three Chinese as well.
+The Frenchman and the Chinese gentleman were those fellows we heard of
+at Hull, Scarterfield, and one, at any rate, of the other three Chinese
+was Lo Chuh Fen, of whom we've also heard."
+
+"And you got into their hands--how?" he asked.
+
+"Kidnapped--Miss Raven and myself--by Baxter and the Frenchman, in
+those woods, yesterday afternoon," I answered. "We came across them by
+accident, at the place where they'd just dug up that monastic
+silver--there it is, man!" I continued, pointing to the chests, which
+still stood where I had last seen them. "You've got it, at last."
+
+He threw an almost careless glance at the chests, shaking his head.
+
+"I want something beyond that," he muttered. "But--you say there were
+six men altogether--six?"
+
+"I've enumerated them." I replied. "Two Europeans--four Chinese."
+
+He turned a quick eye on the naval officer.
+
+"Then one of 'em's escaped--somehow!" he exclaimed. "There's only five
+here--and every man Jack is dead! Where's the other!"
+
+"One did escape," said I. I, too, looked at the lieutenant. "He got
+off in a boat just as you and your men were approaching the bar
+yonder--I thought you'd see him."
+
+"No," he answered, shaking his head. "We didn't see anybody leave. The
+yawl lay between us and him most likely. Where did he land?"
+
+"Behind that spit," I replied, pointing to the place. "He vanished,
+from where I stood, behind those black rocks. That was just as you
+crossed the bar. And he can't have gone far away, for he was certainly
+wounded as he left the yawl--a man fired at him from the bows. He
+fired back."
+
+"We heard those shots," said the lieutenant, "and we found a
+chap--Englishman--in the bows, dying, when we boarded her. He died
+just afterwards. They're all dead--the others were dead then."
+
+"Not a man alive!" I exclaimed.
+
+Scarterfield cast a glance astern--the glance of a man who draws back
+the curtain from a set stage.
+
+"Look for yourselves!" he muttered. "Too late for any of your work,
+doctor. But--that sixth man?"
+
+Lorrimore and I, giving no heed just then to the detective's
+questioning about the escaped man, went towards the after part of the
+deck. Busied with their labours in getting the fire under control, the
+blue-jackets had up to then left the dead men where they found
+them--with one exception. The man whom they had found in the bows had
+been carried aft and laid near the entrance to the little
+deck-house--some hand had thrown a sheet over him. Lorrimore lifted
+it--we looked down. Baxter!
+
+"That's the fellow we found right forward," said the lieutenant. "He's
+several slighter wounds on him, but he'd been shot through the
+chest--heart, perhaps--just before we boarded her. That would be the
+shot fired by the man in the boat, I suppose--a good marksman! Was
+this the skipper?"
+
+"Chief spirit," said I. "He was lively enough last night. But--the
+rest?"
+
+"They're all over the place," he answered. "They must have had a most
+desperate do of it. The vessel's more like a slaughter-house than a
+ship!"
+
+He was right there, and I was thankful that Miss Raven and I for
+whatever reason on the part of the Chinese, had been so
+unceremoniously sent ashore before the fight began. As Lorrimore went
+about, noting its evidences, I endeavoured to form some idea, more or
+less accurate, of the events which had led up to it. It seemed to me
+that either Baxter or the Frenchman, awaking from sleep sooner than
+the Chinese had expected, had discovered that treachery was afoot and
+that wholesale shooting had begun on all sides. Most of the slaughter
+had taken place immediately in front of the hatchway which led to the
+cabin in which I had seen Baxter and his two principal associates;
+some sort of a rough barricade had been hastily set up there; behind
+it the Frenchman lay dead, with a bullet through his brain; before it,
+here and there on the deck, lay three of the Chinese--their leader,
+still in his gaily-coloured sleeping suit, prominent amongst them; Lo
+Chuh Fen a little further away; the third man near the wheel, face
+downwards. He, like Chuh, was a small-made, wiry fellow. And there was
+blood everywhere.
+
+Scarterfield jogged my elbow as I stood staring at these unholy
+sights. He was keener of look than I had ever seen him.
+
+"That fourth Chinaman?" he said. "I must get him, dead or alive. The
+rest's nothing--I want him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE SILK CAP
+
+
+I glanced round; Lorrimore, after an inspection of the dead men, had
+walked aside with the lieutenant and was in close conversation with
+him. I, too, drew the detective away to the side of the yawl.
+
+"Scarterfield," I said in a whisper, "I've grounds for believing that
+the fourth Chinaman is--Lorrimore's servant--Wing."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed. "The man we saw at Ravensdene Court?"
+
+"Just so," said I, "and who went off to London, you remember, to see
+what he could do in the way of discovering the other Chinaman, Lo Chuh
+Fen."
+
+"Yes--I remember that," he answered.
+
+"There is Lo Chuh Fen," I said, pointing to one of the silent figures.
+"And I think that Wing not only discovered him, but came aboard this
+vessel with him, as part of a crew which Baxter and his French friend
+got together at Limehouse or Poplar. As I say, I've grounds for
+thinking it."
+
+Scarterfield looked round, glanced at the shore, shook his head.
+
+"I'm all in the dark--about some things," he said.
+
+"I got on the track of this craft--I'll tell you how, later--and found
+she'd come up this coast, and we got the authorities to send this
+destroyer after her--I came with her, hell for leather, I can tell
+you, from Harwich. But I don't know a lot that I want to know, Baxter,
+now--you're sure that man lying dead there is the Baxter we heard of
+at Blyth and traced to Hull?"
+
+"Certain!" said I. "Listen, and I'll give you a brief account of
+what's happened since yesterday, and of what I've learned since
+then--it will make things clear to you."
+
+Standing there, where the beauty of the fresh morning and the charm of
+sky and sea made a striking contrast to the horror of our immediate
+surroundings, I told him, as concisely as I could, of how Miss Raven
+and myself had fallen into the hands of Netherfield Baxter and the
+Frenchman, of what had happened to me on board, and, at somewhat
+greater length, of Baxter's story of his own career as it related to
+his share in the theft of the monastic treasure from the bank at
+Blyth, his connection with the _Elizabeth Robinson_ and his knowledge
+of the brothers Quick. Nor did I forget Baxter's theory about the
+rubies--and at that Scarterfield obviously pricked his ears.
+
+"Now there's something in that," he said, with a regretful glance at
+the place where Baxter's dead body lay under its sheet. "I wish that
+fellow had been alive, to tell more! For he's right about those
+rubies--quite right. The Quicks had 'em--two of 'em."
+
+"You know that?" I exclaimed.
+
+"I'll tell you," he answered. "After we parted, I was very busy,
+investigating matters still further in Devonport and in London.
+And--through the newspapers, of course--I got in touch with a man who
+told me a lot. He came to headquarters in London, asking for me--wouldn't
+tell any of our people there anything--it was a day or two before I got at
+close quarters with him, for when he called I was away at the time. He
+left an address, in Hatton Garden--a Mr. Isidore Baubenheimer, dealer, as
+you may conclude, in precious stones. Well, I drove off at once to see
+him. He told me a queer tale. He said that he'd only just come back from
+Amsterdam and Paris, or he'd have been in communication with me earlier.
+While he'd been away, he said, he'd read the English newspapers and seen a
+good deal about the two murders at Saltash and Ravensdene Court, and he
+believed that he could throw some light on them, for he felt sure that
+either Noah Quick or Salter Quick was identical with a man with whom he
+had not so long ago talked over the question of the value of certain
+stones which the man possessed. But I'll show you Baubenheimer's own
+words--I got him to make a clear statement of the whole thing and had it
+taken down in black and white, and I have a typed copy of it in my
+pocket-book--glance it over for yourself."
+
+He produced a sheet of paper, folded and endorsed and handed it to
+me--it ran thus:
+
+My place of business in Hatton Garden is a few doors away from the
+Hatton Garden entrance to the old Mitre Tavern, which lies between
+that street and Ely Place. On, as far as I can remember, the seventh
+or eighth of March last, I went into the Mitre about half-past eleven
+o'clock one morning, expecting to meet a friend of mine who was often
+there about that time. He hadn't come in--I sat down with a drink and
+a cigar to wait for him.
+
+In the little room where I sat there were three other men--two of them
+were men that I knew, men who dealt in diamonds in a smallish way. The
+other was a stranger, a thick-set, middle-aged, seafaring sort of man,
+hard-bitten, dressed in a blue-serge suit of nautical cut; I could
+tell from his hands and his general appearance that he'd knocked about
+the world in his time. Just then he was smoking a cigar and had a
+tumbler of rum and water before him, and he was watching, with a good
+deal of interest, the other two, who, close by, were showing each
+other a quantity of loose diamonds which, evidently to the seafaring
+man's amazement, they spread out openly, on their palms.
+
+After a bit they got up and went out, and the stranger glanced at me.
+Now I am, as you see, something of the nautical sort myself, bearded
+and bronzed and all that--I'm continually crossing the North Sea--and
+it may be he thought I was of his own occupation--anyway, he looked at
+me as if wanting to talk.
+
+"I reckon they think nothing of pulling out a fistful o' them things
+hereabouts, mister," he said. "No more to them than sovereigns and
+half-sovereigns and bank-notes is to bank clerks."
+
+"That's about it," said I. "You'll see them shown in the open street
+outside."
+
+"Trade of this part of London, isn't it?" he asked.
+
+"Just so," said I. "I'm in it myself." He gave me a sharp inquiring
+look at that.
+
+"Ah!" he remarked. "Then you'll be a gentleman as knows the vally of a
+thing o' that sort when you sees it?"
+
+"Well I think so," I answered. "I've been in the trade all my life.
+Have you got anything to dispose of? I see you're a seafaring man, and
+I've known sailors who brought something nice home now and then."
+
+"Same here," said he; "but I never known a man as brought anything
+half as good as what I have."
+
+"Ah!" said I. "Then you have something?"
+
+"That's what I come into this here neighbourhood for, this morning,"
+he answered. "I have something, and a friend o' mine, says he to me,
+'Hatton Garden,' he says, 'is the port for you--they eats and drinks
+and wallers in them sort o' things down that way,' he says.
+
+"So I steers for this here; only, I don't know no fish, d'ye see, as I
+could put the question to what I wants to ask."
+
+"Put it to me," said I, drawing out my card-case. "There's my card,
+and you can ask anybody within half a square mile if they don't know
+me for a trustworthy man. What is it you've got?" I went on, never
+dreaming that he'd got anything at all of any great value. "I'll give
+you an idea of its worth in two minutes."
+
+But he glanced round at the door and shook his head.
+
+"Not here, mister!" he said. "I wouldn't let the light o' day shine on
+what I got in a public place like this, not nohow. But," he added, "I
+see you've a office and all that. I ain't undisposed to go there with
+you, if you like--you seem a honest man."
+
+"Come on then," I said. "My office is just round the corner, and
+though I've clerks in it, we'll be private enough there."
+
+"Right you are, mister," he answered, and he drank off his rum and we
+went out and round to my office.
+
+I took him into my private room--I had a young lady clerk in there
+(she'd remember this man well enough) and he looked at her and then at
+me.
+
+"Send the girl away," he muttered. "There's a matter of
+undressing--d'ye see?--in getting at what I want to show you."
+
+I sent her out of the room, and sat down at my desk. He took off his
+overcoat, his coat, and his waistcoat, shoved his hand into some
+secret receptacle that seemed to be hidden in the band of his
+trousers, somewhere behind the small of his back, and after some
+acrobatic contortions and twistings, lugged out a sort of canvas
+parcel, the folds of which he unwrapped leisurely. And suddenly,
+coming close to me, he laid the canvas down on my blotting-pad and I
+found myself staring at some dozen or so of the most magnificent
+pearls I ever set eyes on and a couple of rubies which I knew to be
+priceless. I was never more astonished in my life, but he was as cool
+as a cucumber.
+
+"What d'ye think o' that lot, mister?" he asked. "I reckon you don't
+see a little lot o' that quality every day."
+
+"No, my friend," said I, "nor every year, either, nor every ten years.
+Where on earth did you get them--"
+
+"Away East," said he, "and I've had 'em some time, not being
+particular about selling 'em, but I've settled down in England now,
+and I think I will sell 'em and buy house-property with the money.
+What do you fix their vally at, now, mister--thereabouts, anyway?"
+
+"Good heavens, man!" I said. "They're worth a great deal of money--a
+great deal."
+
+"I'm very well aware o' that, mister," he answered. "Very well aware
+indeed--nobody better. I seen a deal o' things in my time, and I ain't
+no fool."
+
+"You really want to sell them?" I asked.
+
+"If I get the full price," said he. "And that, of course, would be a
+big 'un."
+
+"The thing to do," I said, "would be to find somebody who wants to
+complete a particularly fine set of pearls--some very rich woman who'd
+stick at nothing. The same remark applies to the rubies."
+
+"Maybe you could come across some customer?" he suggested.
+
+"No doubt, in a little time," I answered.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm going up North--I've a bit o' business that way,
+and I reckon I'll be back here in London in a week or so--I'll call in
+then, mister, and if you've found anybody that's likely to deal, I'll
+show 'em the goods with pleasure."
+
+"You'd better leave them with me, and let me show them to some
+possible buyers," I said. But he was already folding up his canvas
+wrapping again.
+
+"Guv'nor," he answered, "I can see as how you're a honest man, and I
+treats you as such, and so will, but I couldn't have them things out
+o' my possession for one minute until I sells 'em. I've a brother,
+mister," he added, "as owns a half-share in 'em--d'ye see?--and I
+holds myself responsible to him. But now that you've seen 'em guv'nor,
+find a buyer or buyers--I'll shove my bows round that door o' yours
+again this day week." And with that he restored his treasures to their
+hiding-place, assumed his garments once more, and remarking that he
+had a train to catch, hastened off, again assuring me that he would
+call in a week, on his return from the North.
+
+It was not until he had been gone several minutes that I remembered
+that I had forgotten to ask his name. I certainly expected him to be
+back at the end of the week--but he didn't come, and just then I had
+to go away. Now I take him to have been the man, Salter Quick, who was
+murdered on the Northumberland coast--no doubt for the sake of those
+jewels. As for their value, I estimated it, from my cursory
+examination of them, to have been certainly not less than eighty
+thousand pounds.
+
+I folded up the statement and restored it to Scarterfield.
+
+"What do you think of that?" he asked.
+
+"Salter Quick, without a doubt," I answered. "It corroborates Baxter's
+story of the rubies. He didn't mention any pearls. And I think now,
+Scarterfield, that Salter Quick's murder lies at the door of--one of
+those Chinamen who in their turn are lying dead before us!"
+
+"Well, and that's what I think," said he. "Though however a Chinaman
+could be about this coast without the local police learning something
+of it at the time they were inquiring into the murder beats me.
+However, there it is!--I feel sure of it. And I was going to tell
+you--I got wind of this yawl down Limehouse way--I found out that
+she'd been in the Thames, and that her owner had enlisted a small crew
+of Chinamen and gone away with them, and I found out further that
+she'd been seen off the Norfolk coast, going north, so then I pitched
+a hot and strong story to the authorities about piracy and all manner
+of things, and they sent this destroyer in search of Baxter, and me on
+her. If we'd only been twelve hours sooner!"
+
+Lorrimore and the lieutenant came up to us.
+
+"My men have the fire completely beaten," said the lieutenant glancing
+at Scarterfield. "If you want to look round----"
+
+We began a thorough examination of the yawl, in the endeavour to
+reconstruct the affair of the early morning. For there were all the
+elements of a strange mystery in that and curiosity about the whole
+thing was as strong in me as in Scarterfield. We knew now many things
+that we had not known twenty-four hours before--one was that the many
+affairs, dark and nefarious, of Netherfield Baxter, had nothing to do
+with the murders of Noah and Salter Quick; another that those murders
+without doubt arose from the brothers' possession of the pearls and
+rubies which Salter had shown to the Hatton Garden diamond merchant.
+All things considered it seemed to me that the explanation of the
+mystery rested in some such theory as this--the Chinaman, Lo Chuh Fen,
+doubtless knew as well as Baxter and his French friend that the
+Quicks were in possession of the rubies stolen from the heathen
+temple in Southern China; no doubt he had become acquainted with that
+fact when the marooned party from the _Elizabeth Robinson_ were on the
+intimate terms of men united by a common fate on the lonely island.
+Drifting eventually to England, Chuh had probably discovered the
+whereabouts of the two brothers, had somehow found that the rubies
+were still in their possession, might possibly have been in personal
+touch with Salter or with Noah, had taken others of his compatriots,
+discovered in the Chinese quarters of the East End into his
+confidence, and engineered a secret conspiracy for securing the
+valuables. He himself had probably tracked Salter to the lonely bit of
+shore near Ravensdene Court; associates of his had no doubt fallen
+upon Noah at Saltash. But how had all this led up to the attack of the
+Chinese on Baxter and the Frenchman?--and who was the man who, leaving
+every other member of the yawl's company dead or dying and who had
+exchanged those last shots with Netherfield Baxter, had escaped to the
+shore and was now, no doubt, endeavouring to make a final bid for
+liberty?
+
+Reckoning up everything we saw, it seemed to me, from my knowledge of
+the preceding incidents, that the drug which the Chinese gentleman, as
+Baxter had been pleased to style him, had not had the effects that he
+desired and anticipated, and that one or other of the two men to whom
+it had been administered had been aroused from sleep before any attack
+could be made on both. I figured things in this way--Baxter, or the
+Frenchman, or both, had awakened and missed the Chinaman. One or both
+had turned out to seek him; had discovered that Miss Raven and I were
+missing; had scented danger to themselves, found the Chinese up to
+some game, and opened fire on them. Evidently the first fighting--as I
+had gathered from the revolver shots--had been sharp and decisive; I
+formed the conclusion that when it was over there were only two men
+left alive, of whom one was Baxter and the other the man whom we had
+seen escaping in the boat. Baxter, I believed, had put up some sort of
+barricade and watched his enemy from it; that he himself was already
+seriously wounded I gathered from two facts--one that his body had
+several superficial wounds on arms and shoulders, and that in the
+cabin behind the hastily-constructed barricade, sheets had been torn
+into strips for bandages which we found on these wounds, where, as far
+as he could, he had roughly twisted them. Then, according to my
+thinking, he had eventually seen the other survivor, who was probably
+in like case with himself as regards superficial wounds, endeavouring
+to make off, and emerging from his shelter had fired on him from the
+side of the yawl, only to be killed himself by return fire. There was
+no mistaking the effect of that last shot--chance shot or
+well-directed aim it had done for Netherfield Baxter, and he had
+crumpled up and died where he dropped.
+
+A significant exclamation from Scarterfield called me to his side--he,
+aided by one of the blue-jackets, was examining the body of Lo Chuh
+Fen.
+
+"Look here!" he murmured as I went up to him. "This chap has been
+searched! After he was dead, I mean. There's a body-belt that he
+wore--it's been violently torn from him, his clothing ripped to get
+at it, and the belt itself hacked to pieces in the endeavour to
+find--something! Whose work has that been!"
+
+"The work of the man who got away in the boat," said I. "Of course!
+He's been after those rubies and pearls, Scarterfield."
+
+"We must be after him," he said. "You say you think he was wounded in
+getting away?"
+
+"He was certainly wounded," I affirmed. "I saw him fall headlong in
+the boat after the first shot; he recovered himself, fired the shot
+which no doubt finished Baxter, and must have been wounded again, for
+the two men again fired simultaneously, and the man in the boat swayed
+at that second shot. But once more he pulled himself together and
+rowed away."
+
+"Well, if he's wounded, he can't get far without attracting notice,"
+declared Scarterfield. "We'll organize a search for him presently. But
+first let's have a look into the quarters that these Chinamen
+occupied."
+
+The smoke of the fire--which seemed to have broken out in the
+forecastle and had been confined to it by the efforts of the sailors
+from the destroyer--had now almost cleared away, and we went forward
+to the galley. The fire had not spread to that, and after the scenes
+of blood and violence astern and in the cabin the place looked
+refreshingly spick and span; there was, indeed, an unusual air of
+neatness and cleanliness about it. The various pots and pans shone
+gaily in the sun's glittering lights; every utensil was in its place;
+evidently the galley's controlling spirit had been a meticulously
+careful person who hated disorder as heartily as dirt. And on a shelf
+near the stove was laid out what I took to be the things which the
+vanished cook, whoever he might be, had destined for breakfast--a
+tempting one of kidneys and bacon, soles, eggs, a curry. I gathered
+from this, and pointed my conclusion out to Scarterfield, that the
+presiding genius of the galley had had no idea of the mutiny into
+which he had been plunged soon after midnight.
+
+"Aye!" said Scarterfield. "Just so--I see your point. And--you think
+that man of Lorrimore's, Wing, was aboard, and if so, he's the man
+who's escaped?"
+
+"I've strong suspicions," said I. "Yet, they were based on a
+plum-cake."
+
+"Well, and I've known of worse clues," he rejoined. "But--I wonder?
+Now, if only we knew----"
+
+Just then Lorrimore came along, poking his head into the galley. He
+suddenly uttered a sharp exclamation and reached an arm to a black
+silk cap which hung from a peg on the boarding above the stove.
+
+"That's Wing's!" he said, in emphatic tones. "I saw him make that cap
+himself!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+CLEAR DECKS
+
+
+The bit of head-gear which Lorrimore had taken down assumed a new
+interest; Scarterfield and I gazed at it as if it might speak to us.
+Nevertheless the detective when he presently spoke showed some
+incredulity.
+
+"That's the sort of cap that any Chinaman wears," he remarked. "It may
+have belonged to any of them."
+
+"No!" answered Lorrimore, with emphatic assurance. "That's my man's. I
+saw him making it--he's as deft with his fingers, at that sort of
+thing, as he is at cooking. And since this cap is his, and as he's not
+amongst the lot there on deck, he's the man that you, Middlebrook, saw
+escaping in the boat. And since he is that man, I know where he'd be
+making."
+
+"Where, then?" demanded Scarterfield.
+
+"To my house!" answered Lorrimore.
+
+Scarterfield showed more doubt.
+
+"I don't think that's likely, doctor," he said. "Presumably, he's got
+those jewels on him, and I should say he'd get away from this with the
+notion of trusting to his own craft to get unobserved on a train and
+lose himself in Newcastle. A Chinaman with valuables on him worth
+eighty thousand pounds? Come!"
+
+"You don't know that he's any valuables of any sort on him," retorted
+Lorrimore. "That's all supposition. I say that if my man Wing was on
+this vessel--as I'm sure he was--he was on it for purposes of his own.
+He might be with this felonious lot, but he wouldn't be of them. I
+know him!--and I'm off to get on his track. Lay you anything you
+like--a thousand to one!--that I find Wing at my house!"
+
+"I'm not taking you, Lorrimore," said I. "I don't mind laying the
+same."
+
+Scarterfield looked curiously at the two of us. Apparently, his belief
+in Chinese virtue was not great.
+
+"Well," he said. "I'm on his track, anyhow, and I propose to get away
+to the beach. There's nothing more we can do here. These naval people
+have got this job in charge, now. Let's leave them to it. Yet," he
+added, as we left the galley, and with a significant glance at me,
+"there is one thing Middlebrook!--wouldn't you like to have a look
+inside those two chests that we've heard so much about?--you and I."
+
+"I certainly should!" I answered.
+
+"Then we will," he said. "I, too, have some curiosity that way. And if
+Master Wing has repaired to the doctor's house he's all right, and if
+he hasn't, he can't get very far away, being a Chinaman, in his native
+garments, and wounded."
+
+The chests which had come aboard the yawl with Miss Raven and myself
+the previous afternoon--it seemed as if ages had gone by since
+then!--still stood where they had been placed at the time; close to
+the gangway leading to the main cabin. Lorrimore, Scarterfield, the
+young naval officer and I gathered round while a couple of handy
+blue-jackets forced them open--no easy business, for whether the
+dishonest bank-manager and Netherfield Baxter had ever opened them or
+not, they were screwed up again in a fashion which showed
+business-like resolves that they should not easily be opened again.
+But at last the lids were off--to reveal inner shells of lead. And
+within these, gleaming dully in the fresh sunlight lay the monastic
+treasures of which Scarterfield and I had read in the hotel at Blyth.
+
+"Queer!" said the detective, as he stood staring meditatively at
+patens and chalices, reliquaries and pyxes. "All these, I reckon, are
+sacred things, consecrated and all that, and yet ever since that
+Reformation time, they've been mixed up with robbery, and now at last
+with wholesale murder! Odd, isn't it? However, there they are!--and
+here," he added, pulling the parchment schedules out of his pocket
+which he had discovered at Baxter's old lodgings in Blyth, and handing
+them to the lieutenant, "here is the list of what there ought to be;
+you'll take all this in charge, of course--I don't know if it comes
+within the law of treasure trove or not, but as the original owners
+are dust and ashes four hundred years ago, I should say it
+does--anyway, the Crown solicitors'll soon settle that point."
+
+We went off from the yawl, the three of us, in the boat which had
+brought Lorrimore and me aboard her. The group on shore saw us making
+for the point whereat the escaping figure had landed in the early
+morning, and followed us thither along the beach. They came up to us
+as we stepped ashore, and while Lorrimore began giving Mr. Raven an
+account of what we had found on the yawl I drew his niece aside.
+
+"You had better know the worst in a word," I said. "We were more than
+fortunate in getting away from the yawl as we did. Don't be
+upset--there isn't a man alive on that thing!"
+
+"Baxter?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I said--not one!" I answered. "Wholesale! Don't think about it--as
+for me, I wish I'd never seen it. But now it's a question of a living
+man--Wing."
+
+"Then it was as I thought?" she asked. "Wing was there?"
+
+"Lorrimore is sure of it--he found a cap of Wing's in the galley,"
+said I. "And as Wing isn't amongst the dead, he's the man who
+escaped."
+
+Scarterfield came up, the local policeman with him who had joined Mr.
+Raven's search-party as it came across country.
+
+"Whereabouts did this man land, Middlebrook?" he asked. "You saw him,
+you and Miss Raven, didn't you?"
+
+"We saw him round these rocks," I replied. "But then they hid him from
+us--we couldn't see exactly. Somewhere on the other side of them,
+anyway."
+
+We spread ourselves out along the shore, crossing the spit of sand,
+now encroached on considerably by the tide, and began to search
+amongst the black rocks that jutted out of it thereabouts. Presently
+we came across the boat, slightly rocking in the lapping water
+alongside a ledge--I took a hasty glance into it and drew Miss Raven
+away. For on the thwarts, and on the seat in the stern, and on one of
+the oars, thrown carelessly aside, there was blood.
+
+A sharp cry from one of the men who had gone a little ahead brought us
+all hurrying to his side. He had found, amongst the rocks, a sort of
+pool at the sides of which there was dry, sand-strewn rock; there were
+marks there as if a man had knelt in the sand, and there was more
+blood, and there were strips of clothing--linen, silk, as if the man
+had torn up some of his garments as temporary bandages.
+
+"He's been here," said Lorrimore in a low voice. "Probably washed his
+wounds here--salt is a styptic. Flesh wounds, most likely, but," he
+added, sinking his voice still lower, "judging from what we've seen of
+the blood he's lost, he must have been weakening by the time he got
+here. Still, he's a man of vast strength and physique, and--he'd push
+on. Look for marks of his footsteps."
+
+We eventually picked up a recently made track in the sand and followed
+it until it came to a point at the end of the overhanging woods, where
+they merged into open moorland running steeply downwards to the beach.
+There, in the short, wiry grass of the close-knitted turf, the marks
+vanished.
+
+"Just as I said," muttered Lorrimore, whom with Miss Raven and myself, was
+striding on a little in advance of the rest. "He's made for my place--as I
+knew he would. I knew enough of this country to know that there's a road
+at the head of these moors that runs parallel with the railway on one side
+and the coast on the other towards Ravensdene--he'd be making for that.
+He'd take up the side of this wood, as the nearest way to strike the
+road."
+
+That he was right in this we were not long in finding out. Twice, as
+our party climbed the steep side of the moorland we came across
+evidences of the fugitive. At two points we found places whereat a man
+had recently sat down on the bank beneath the trees, to rest. And at
+one of them we found more--a blood-soaked bandage.
+
+"No man can go far, losing blood in that way," whispered Lorrimore to
+me as we went onward. "He can't be far off."
+
+And suddenly we came across our quarry. Coming out on the top of the
+moorland, and rounding the corner of the woods, we hit the road of
+which Lorrimore had spoken--a long, white, hedgeless, wall-less ribbon
+of track that ran north and south through treeless country. There, a
+few yards away from us, stood an isolated cottage, some gamekeeper's
+or watcher's place, with a bit of unfenced garden before it. In that
+garden was a strange group, gathered about something that at first we
+did not see--Mr. Cazalette, obviously very busy, the police-inspector
+(a horse and trap, tethered to a post close by, showed how they had
+come) a woman, evidently the mistress of the cottage, a child,
+open-mouthed wide-eyed with astonishment at these strange happenings,
+a dog that moved uneasily around the two-legged folk, whimpering his
+concern. The bystanders moved as we hurried up, and then we caught
+glimpses of towels and water and hastily-improvised bandages and smelt
+brandy, and saw, in the midst of all this Wing, propped up against a
+bank of earth, his eyes closed, and over his yellow face a queer
+grey-white pallor. His left arm and shoulder were bare, save for the
+bandages which Cazalette was applying--there were discarded ones on
+the turf which were soaked with blood.
+
+Lorrimore darted forward with a hasty exclamation, and had Cazalette's
+job out of the old gentleman's hands and into his own before the rest
+of us could speak. He motioned the whole of us away except Cazalette
+and the woman, and the police-inspector turned to Mr. Raven and his
+niece, and to myself and Scarterfield.
+
+"I think we were just about in time," he said, laconically. "I don't
+know what it all means, but I reckon the man was about done for.
+Bleeding to death, I should say."
+
+"You found him?" I asked.
+
+"No," he answered. "Not at first anyway. The woman there says she was
+out here in her garden, feeding her fowls, when she saw him stagger
+round the corner of the wood there, and make for her. He fell across
+the bank where he's lying in a dead faint, and she ran for water. Just
+then we came along in the trap, saw what was happening and jumped out.
+Fortunately, when we set off, Mr. Cazalette insisted on bringing a big
+flask of neat brandy, and some food--he said you never knew what you
+mightn't want--and we gave him a stiff dose, and pulled him round
+sufficiently to be able to tell us where he was wounded. And he's got
+a skinful!--a bullet through the thick part of his left arm, another
+at the point of the same shoulder, and a third just underneath it. Mr.
+Cazalette says they're all flesh wounds--but I don't know: I know the
+man's fainted twice since we got to him. And look here!--just before
+he fainted the last time, he managed to fumble amongst his clothing
+with his right hand and he pulled something out and shoved it into my
+hand with a word or two. 'Give it Lorrimore,' he said, in a very weak
+voice. 'Tell him I found it all out--was going to trap all of
+them--but they were too quick for me last night--all dead now.' Then
+he fainted again. And--look at this!"
+
+He drew out a piece of canvas, twisted up anyhow, and opening it
+before our wondering eyes, revealed a heap of magnificent pearls and a
+couple of wonderful rubies that shone in the sunlight like fire.
+
+"That's what he gave me," said the inspector. "What is it? what's it
+mean?"
+
+"That's what Salter Quick was murdered for," said I. "And it means
+that Lorrimore's man ran down the murderer."
+
+And without waiting for any comment from him, and leaving Scarterfield
+to explain matters, I went across the little garden to see how the
+honest Chinaman was faring.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a strange, yet a plain story that Wing told his master and a
+select few of us a day or two later, when Lorrimore had patched him
+up. To anybody of a hum-drum life--such as mine had always been until
+these events--it was, indeed, a stirring story. The queer thing,
+however--at any rate, queer to me--was that the narrator, as calm and
+suave as ever in his telling of it--did not seem to regard it as
+anything strange at all--he might have been explaining to us some new
+way of making a good cake.
+
+At our request and suggestion, he had journeyed to London and plunged
+into those quarters of the East End wherein his fellow-countrymen are
+to be found. His knowledge of the district of which Limehouse Causeway
+forms a centre soon brought him in touch with Lo Chuh Fen, who, as he
+quickly discovered, had remained in London during the last two or
+three years, assisting in the management of a Chinese eating-house.
+Close by, in a lodging kept by a compatriot, Wing put himself up and
+cultivated Chuh's acquaintance. Ere many days had passed another
+Chinaman came on the scene--this was the man whom Baxter had described
+as a Chinese gentleman. He represented himself to Wing and Chuh as a
+countryman of theirs who had been engaged in highly successful trading
+operations in Europe, and was now, in company with two friends, an
+Englishman and a Frenchman, carrying out another which involved a trip
+in a small, but well-appointed yacht, across the Atlantic: he wanted
+these countrymen of his own to make up a crew. An introduction to
+Baxter and the Frenchman followed, and Wing and Chuh were taken into
+confidence as regards the treasure hidden on the Northumberland coast.
+A share of the proceeds was promised them: they secured a third,
+trustworthy Chinaman in the person of one Ah Wong, an associate of
+Chuh's, and the yawl, duly equipped, left the Thames and went
+northward. By this time, Wing had wormed himself completely into
+Chuh's confidence, and without even discovering whether Chuh was or
+was not the actual murderer of Salter Quick (he believed him to be
+and believed Wong to be the murderer of Noah, at Saltash) he had found
+out that Chuh was in possession of the pearls and rubies which--though
+Wing had no knowledge of that--Salter had exhibited to Baubenheimer.
+And as the yawl neared the scene of the next operations, Wing made his
+own plans. He had found out that its owners, after recovering the
+monastic treasures, were going to call at Leith, where they were to be
+met by the private yacht of some American, whose name Wing never
+heard. Accordingly, he made up his mind to escape from the yawl as
+soon as it got into Leith, to go straight to the police, and there
+give information as to the doings of the men he was with. But here his
+plans were frustrated. He was taken aback by the capture of Miss Raven
+and myself by Baxter and the Frenchman, and though he contrived to
+keep out of our way, he was greatly concerned lest we should see him
+and conclude that he had joined the gang and was privy to its past and
+present doings. But that very night a much more serious development
+materialized. The Chinese gentleman, arriving from London, and being
+met by the Frenchman at Berwick, had a scheme of his own, which, after
+he had attempted the drugging of his two principal associates, he
+unfolded to his fellow-countrymen. This was to get rid of Baxter and
+the Frenchman and seize the yawl and its contents for themselves,
+sailing with it to some port in North Russia. Wing had no option but
+to profess agreement--his only proviso was that Miss Raven and myself
+should be cleared out of the yawl. This proposition was readily
+assented to, and Chuh was charged with the job of sending us ashore.
+But almost immediately afterwards, everything went wrong with the
+conspirator's plans. The drug which had been administered to Baxter
+and the Frenchman failed to act; Baxter, waking suddenly to find the
+Chinamen advancing on the cabin with only too evident murderous
+intent, opened fire on them, and the situation rapidly resolved itself
+into a free fight, in the course of which Wing barricaded himself into
+the galley. Before long he saw that of all the men on board, only
+himself and Baxter remained alive--he saw, too, that Baxter was
+already wounded. Baxter, evidently afraid of Wing, also barricaded
+himself into the cabin; for some hours the two secretly awaited each
+other's onslaught. At last, Wing determined to make a bid for liberty,
+and cautiously worming his way to the cabin he looked in and as he
+thought, saw Baxter lying either dead or dying. He then hastily
+stripped Chuh of the belt in which he knew him to carry the precious
+stones, and taking to the boat which lay at the side of the yawl,
+pushed off, only to find Baxter after him with a revolver. In the
+exchange of shots which followed Wing was hit twice, but a lucky reply
+of his laid Baxter dead. At that he got away, weak and fainting,
+managed to make the shore, to bind up as much of his wounded body as
+he could get at, and set out as well as he was able for his master's
+house. The rest we knew.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So that was all over, and it only remained now for the police to clear
+things up, for Wing to be thoroughly whitewashed in the matter of the
+shooting of Netherfield Baxter, and for everybody in the countryside
+to talk of the affair for nine days--and perhaps a little more. Mr.
+Cazalette talked a great deal: as for Miss Raven and myself, as actors
+in the last act of the drama which ended in such a tragedy, we talked
+little: we had seen too much at close quarters. But on the first
+occasion on which she and I were alone again, I made a confession to
+her.
+
+"I don't want you--of all people--to get any mistaken impression about
+me," I said. "So, I'm going to tell you something. During the whole of
+the time you and I were on that yawl, I was in an absolute panic of
+fear!"
+
+"You were?" she exclaimed. "Really frightened?"
+
+"Quaking with fright!" I declared boldly. "Especially after you'd
+retired. I literally sweated with fear. There! Now it's out!"
+
+She looked at me not at all unkindly.
+
+"Um!" she said at last. "Then, all I have to say is that you concealed
+it admirably--when I was about, at any rate. And"--here she sunk her
+voice to a pleasing whisper--"I'm sure that if you were frightened, it
+was entirely on my account. So--"
+
+In that way we began a courtship which, proving highly satisfactory on
+both sides, is now about to come to an end--or a new beginning--in
+marriage.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+_THE MYSTERY STORIES OF_
+
+_J. S. FLETCHER_
+
+    "_We always feel as though we were really spreading happiness
+    when we can announce a genuinely satisfactory mystery story,
+    such as J. S. Fletcher's new one._"
+
+--N. P. D. in the New York Globe.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER [1918]
+
+    "Unquestionably, the detective story of the season and,
+    therefore, one which no lover of detective fiction should
+    miss."--_The Broadside._
+
+THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM [1920]
+
+    "A crackerjack mystery tale; the story of Linford Pratt, who
+    earnestly desired to get on in life, by hook or by
+    crook--with no objection whatever to crookedness, so long as
+    it could be performed in safety and secrecy."--_Knickerbocker
+    Press._
+
+THE PARADISE MYSTERY [1920]
+
+    "As a weaver of detective tales Mr. Fletcher is entitled to a
+    seat among the elect. His numerous followers will find his
+    latest book fully as absorbing as anything from his pen that
+    has previously appeared."--_New York Times._
+
+DEAD MEN'S MONEY [1920]
+
+    "The story is one that holds the reader with more than the
+    mere interest of sensational events; Mr. Fletcher writes in a
+    notable style."--_Newark Evening News._
+
+THE ORANGE-YELLOW DIAMOND [1921]
+
+    "... A rattling good yarn.... An uncommonly well written
+    tale."--_New York Times._
+
+THE CHESTERMARKE INSTINCT [1921]
+
+    "Mr. Fletcher is a master of plot.... To tell a story as well
+    as this is a literary achievement."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+THE BOROUGH TREASURER [1921]
+
+    "As mystifying a tale as even Mr. Fletcher himself has
+    written."--_New York Times._
+
+THE HERAPATH PROPERTY [1921]
+
+    Numerous complications lead from the murder of Jacob Herapath
+    and the search for his will.
+
+SCARHAVEN KEEP [1922]
+
+    The mystery of the disappearance of Bassett Oliver, famous
+    actor.
+
+RAVENSDENE COURT [1922]
+
+    Two men are struck down by an unseen hand, at the same time
+    in widely separated places--who killed them?
+
+_$2.00 net each at all booksellers or from the Publisher_
+
+ALFRED A. KNOPF, New York.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAVENSDENE COURT***
+
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