IT was not until some days had passed, and Dick had, to a great extent, recovered his strength, and was able to sit up in a chair in a shady spot outside Forester’s tent, that the doctor considered him sufficiently recovered to tell what had happened to him. Forester was sitting beside him when Dick said suddenly—
‘I want to tell you about that night, Forester.’
‘Yes, Dick, tell me; but if you feel it tires your head or makes the pain return, stop at once.’
‘I will, Forester. Where shall I begin?’
‘Begin at the beginning,’ said the doctor, laughing.
‘So I will. Let me see; what day of the week was it?’
‘Sunday night.’
‘Oh yes, Sunday night. Billy was sleepy, and went early to bed. I came up last, for I stopped to talk to old Norris, and they had such a jolly fire that I did not feel inclined to go up. It must have been nearly eleven when I went upstairs. I passed through Val’s room, and he was asleep; then I went to my own, and Billy was snoring too.’
‘Then I suppose you got undressed?’ said Forester, as he stopped.
‘No, I didn’t. I was trying to remember what came next. Oh, I know, I found a book on the dressing table that Billy had been reading, and I took it up to see what it was, and it looked rather interesting, so I sat down and started reading it.’
‘Well,’ said Forester, ‘and when did you go to bed?’
‘I didn’t go to bed. I went on reading for more than an hour. All was quite still; there wasn’t a sound in the house. That stupid old clock seemed the only thing awake, and it made me jump whenever it struck. I turned sleepy at last, and had just settled to go to bed when I heard a noise. It was those footsteps again. I had not heard them for several nights. I put my ear to the turret and listened. Old Norris had declared that it was solid, that there was nothing inside it whatever; but as I listened, I felt sure that he was wrong. I was certain that there was a spiral staircase in this turret, just as there is in that one by the gate which leads you up into the loft above. I could distinctly hear the footsteps, sometimes going up this staircase, sometimes going down.
I sat and puzzled where the exit could be, and I could think of no place at the bottom where it could possibly come out, nor could I remember any place above to which this staircase could lead. I determined, however, that I would not go to sleep until I found out.
The others had laughed so much about my ghost; now I would prove to them that I was right. I crept out of the room, so that I might not wake Billy; I stole like a thief through Val’s room, but he never stirred. Then I crept very quietly along the corridor. I knew that if any of them heard me they would not believe about the footsteps, and would not let me go. The stairs did creak as I went down, and I felt sure Rupert would wake; but he did not. I’m sure I wish he had.’
‘Now, Dick, not another word till you’ve had some milk.’
Forester jumped up and brought it from the tent.
‘Now may I go on?’
‘Yes, if you’re not too tired.’
‘No, I’m all right, and it’s such a relief to tell somebody. Well, I went into the parlor and crept out of the window. Then I made my way to the tool-house; you know where I mean, where Mr. Norris’s grandmother lived. Rupert had lost the key; he lost it before we came, so I knew I should be able to get in.
‘It was horribly creepy and dark in there; I lied brought a candle with me and I struck a match and lighted it, but I could see no one about. I passed the bed-place and tried to find out if anyone was hiding there; but I could see no one. Then I found my way to the steps going up into the loft. A fearful wind was blowing there, and it blew out my candle; but I lighted it again and went on. You know how that stone staircase winds, and, as I took each turn, I didn’t know what I might see.
‘Well, at last I got to the top, and there was the loft. It looked very weird, just lighted up by my candle. There was that queer old bed, and the spinning wheel, and all looked just as usual. I picked my way amongst apples and onions, and it felt awfully cold up there, and I began to think I had come on a fool’s errand. There wasn’t a sign of anybody. I think I should have gone back to bed then, if a gust of wind hadn’t blown out my candle again. And then I saw a light.’
‘A light, Dick?’
‘Yes, just a glimmer of light, which seemed to come from the floor in one corner of the loft. I went up to the place, and what do you think I saw?’
‘I can’t guess, Dick; go on.’
‘Well, I saw that some of the boards in the floor had been taken up, and that there was a large hole.’
‘What sort of a hole?’
‘Like a trap door, Forester, and just underneath if I saw steps.’
‘Stone steps?’
‘Yes, stone steps, another winding stair. And, in a tiny niche in the stone wall close to the top, a small oil-lamp was standing. That was the light I had seen!’
‘What did you do next?’
‘Why, I went down, of course. “Someone must have lighted that lamp,” I said to myself; “I’m on the scent now, sure enough.” Well, I started, and the steps wound round and round and round. I knew where I was then, in the turret which old Norris thought was solid, and which stands in the corner of our bedroom. I had lighted my candle again, and could see the round wall of the inside of the tower. I said to myself, “I must be passing through Billy’s room; I wonder if he’ll hear me, and think I am a ghost.” I had just got as far as that, when what do you think I heard?’
‘A real ghost?’ asked Forester.
‘I heard footsteps, coming down the steps behind me. There was no going back now without being, seen, so I determined to go on. But I own, Forester, I wished then that I was on Billy’s side of the wall.’
‘Now you’re getting flushed, Dick. Stop a bit, and tell me after.’
‘I can’t stop, Forester; I must tell you the rest. Do let me. Well, I heard my own footsteps going down and down, and I heard those other footsteps coming after me. As I wound round and round. those steps wound round and round too. It seemed like a horrible dream. Where was I going, and what should I see at the bottom? It seemed a lifetime whilst I went down those steps, with those footsteps of someone, I knew not of whom, slowly but surely pursuing me.
‘I concluded at last that I must be far below the level of the house, and must be entering some dungeon underground. The air felt damp and cold, the steps were wet under my feet. The walls of the turret were slimy, like the sides of a well. I would have given worlds then not to have come, but there was no possibility of retreat, for those steps were behind me. At last I saw in front of me a bright light; I turned the last corner of the winding stair, and saw that it led into a small square chamber like a vault. On the floor was a glittering mass of, jewels, rings, gold chains, gold and silver cups and vases, beautifully carved images and crucifixes, besides piles of golden coins. Kneeling on the floor, with their backs turned to me, were two men, hastily packing all these sparkling things in a large sack. They did not see me, but I could see them distinctly. They were Clegg and De Jersey.’
‘I always told you they were up to mischief,’ said Forester. ‘I knew it. Now, Dick, do stop if it tires you.’
‘It doesn’t tire me. Well, I remember I was just on the point of speaking to them and asking them what they were doing, when suddenly I was struck down from behind. Those footsteps had come up to me, I suppose. I remember nothing more. Now, I know I must have fallen and cut my head open. I was so stunned, either by the blow or by the fall or by both, that I must have been unconscious for a long time after that. I cannot tell you what happened next. I do not know what they did with me, or how I got out of that place. All I know is that I never walked up that winding staircase; so I suppose they must have carried me up.’
The doctor felt Dick’s pulse, and when he found that he was not unduly exciting himself he allowed him to go on.
‘What do you remember next, Dick?’
‘I think the next thing I remember was finding myself quite alone, out of doors somewhere, lying on my back. I could feel, when I put out my hand, that I was lying on leaves or moss. I could not imagine how I had got there, but I looked up, and saw branches overhead, and a bright star shining through them.
‘Forester, I thought it was like God’s eye watching me, and I asked Him to take care of me. I could not lift my head up; I put my hand to it, and felt that it was bleeding, and I remember feeling awfully sick and dizzy. It took me a long time to remember what had happened, and when it came back to me I wondered if they had left me there to die.
‘But at last I heard voices, and I knew that they were coming. They seemed to be coming very slowly, and as they got near I found out that they were carrying something, for I heard them say it was an awful weight, and they wished that they had it there. Then they sat down under the tree close to me, and I kept my eyes tight shut, that they might not know I was listening, and that I might find out what they were up to. I did not dare to look at them, but I found out that there were three of them, Clegg, De Jersey, and another.’
‘Dan, I expect,’ said Forester.
‘Yes, it was Dan. I found that out afterwards, but I had never heard his voice, and therefore did not know him then. I think I can remember all that they said, for I listened very attentively. Clegg began by asking if the boat was down below, and the voice I did not know answered that he had her ready, and that old Treverton would open his eyes wide in the morning when he came to look for her. Then Clegg gave his orders to the other two. They were to carry their load down to the boat and then come back for me.
‘“Look at him, Dan,” he said; “has he got his eyes open?”
‘“Not yet; he’s fair stunned like. That was a rattling blow I gave him on his skull, the prying young imp! I only wish I’d finished him off while I was about it!”
‘“No, no, Dan,” said Clegg; “we don’t want to swing for it, mind you! I settled that with you before. Do what you like to him, but not that. Have you got the bottle?”
‘“The chloroform bottle? Ay! I’ve got it. It’s a mercy I brought it with me tonight. I had my suspicions he was prying after us. Now see what a good job it is I got hold of it. I had mighty hard work to get it too; I tried at a lot of places, and they wouldn’t let me have it, and then I got it just by luck, as you may say. My old mother’s cousin has a chemist’s shop, and I saw this ‘ere bottle on a shelf last time I was over there. Says I, ‘Dan, that may come in useful to you one of these days.’ So I puts it in my pocket, and here it is. Now I’m going to give this ‘ere spy a dose of it; that’s what I’m a-going to do. Sleeping dogs can’t tell no tales; that’s what I say.”
‘The next moment he threw a handkerchief over my head, Forester, and then I remember nothing more.’
‘Nothing more at all, Dick?’
‘Oh yes, I do remember more; but not what happened next, or for a long time after that. I think now that they must have done as they proposed, carried the treasure down to the boat first, and they come back for me. They had evidently moored the boat somewhere below the wood. Then I feel sure they rowed all round the promontory to the cove beyond.’
‘You mean where Dan’s cottage is?’
‘Yes, for when I became conscious again I found myself in that cottage.’
‘Were you in bed there?’
‘No, lying on a stone floor, in some kind of outhouse. I could see a brush in one corner, and some pieces of wood and a little coal. The door of this back place was left ajar, and I could see a light in the room beyond. The three men were in there, and I think they were drinking, for I heard the clink of glasses and smelt whisky.
‘Then I discovered that Clegg and De Jersey were going off almost immediately, that a trap was waiting for them at the door. I think they were disguising themselves, for they were laughing at each other, and Clegg told De Jersey that he made a first-rate old woman. I gathered that they were taking the jewels I had seen with them; but I also discovered that, from some hiding place in the cottage, numbers of other parcels were being brought out.
‘They had evidently been at work at the Castle for some time, and had found the hidden jewels by degrees, and then had carried them as they found them to Dan’s cottage, making him give them a receipt for each bundle. I could hear them checking off these receipts, and counting everything in each parcel. They made a great row about a crucifix which was missing, and at last Dan brought it from somewhere, and said it had been found on the floor after they had gone.
‘After this there was a great wrangling about money. Dan wanted more than they had bargained with him For. He said it was a risky job, and he ought to be well paid, and at last they agreed to give him fifty pounds extra. But there was one thing that they insisted upon, and that was that he should stop where he was till Tuesday night, so as to give them time to get off abroad with their jewels.
‘“Some idiot may have seen us together,” said Clegg, “and then they’ll come straight down here; and if they find that young shaver lying in there, it’ll be all up with our game. So you’ve got to stick here, Dan, till tomorrow night, and let no one come in. They won’t offer to, if you keep on guard.”
‘“I don’t see the fun of that,” said Dan. “You two goes off with your jewels, and then what will the Castle folks do? Why, get the bobbies down, and a warrant with them, and they’ll walk in and search the place, and then it’s me that’s got to be made a convick of, and it’s you that gets off scot free.”
‘“Now look here,” said Clegg, “you’ll be all right, if you’ll only do as I tell you. We’ve turned old Treverton’s boat bottom up, and sent it out with the tide, and we’ve fastened this lad’s tie on it. They’ll find the boat, and they’ll be so busy looking for his body that they won’t have time to trouble you. Do you see?”
‘“Well,” he said at last, “make it another fifty pounds, and I’ll stay.”
‘They swore and they quarreled for ever so long over that, but at last they gave in. They paid him his money, and then they asked him what he should do with me. You can fancy how I listened then, Forester. He told them he had got his chloroform bottle, and he didn’t want them to teach him; he knew what to do.
‘Soon after this I heard them drive away, and presently that wretch Dan came to get coal, and kicked the on the head with his boot as he passed by. I was awfully sick, and my head was terribly bad, and soon after I became unconscious again; I must have done, because I can’t remember anything of that day or the next. You are sure it was Tuesday night that you found me outside your tent?’
‘Quite sure, Dick; Wednesday morning rather, for it was two o’clock.’
‘I fancy he must have kept me under the influence of chloroform more or less the whole time, and that he gave me a good dose of it just before he started. Whether he stopped as long as he promised them, I don’t know; when I came to myself it was quite Clark and all was very still. I did not dare to move for a long time; I was afraid Dan might be asleep in the next room, and it would wake him. But, as time went on, I thought I would venture to creep to the door and peep in; but I could see nothing, for there was not a ray of light. I felt so faint I thought I should fall, but I steadied myself against the doorpost, and then I felt for my pocket, for I knew I had a box of matches there. But I found, Forester, that my coat was gone, and that I had nothing on but an old shirt.
‘Then I guessed that Dan was gone also, and that he had taken away my clothes whilst I was unconscious from chloroform. I was not so frightened then, but made my way to a chair, and sat down for a time, till I was better and less faint. Then I felt about on the table, and to my great joy found a box of matches. I struck one or two, and by their light I found his old trousers, which he had left on the couch. I put them on, horrid dirty old things.’
‘I’ve had great pleasure in making a bonfire of them, Dick,’ said the doctor.
‘Well, his boots were there too, and I put my feet in them, but they were much too heavy for me, so I settled to come barefoot. The rascal had evidently taken my boots as well as my clothes; I’m sure I don’t know how he got them on, but they always tell me I’ve got rather big feet.’
‘Well, Dick, what did you do then?’
‘Set out for home; but I never thought I should get there alive. I fainted several times, and my feet were sore and bleeding, and I felt worse than I’ve ever felt in my life. When I got to the heather I lay a long time in a dead faint, and then when I came to myself I prayed God to help me to get just as far as your tent.’
‘And He did help you, Dick!’
‘Yes, He did help me; and oh! Forester, you have been good to me.’
‘Not at all, dear old man, not at all. Now that’s the very last word I shall allow you to speak! Here’s Val coming with your beef-tea; and remember what you have got to do is to forget all about what you’ve told me, and try to get well as soon as you can. Look! Joyce is coming too with the dogs. Now I will leave her and Val in charge of you, and go for a run.’