"My dear Mr. Croyden, I don"t wish to know. It was a mistake to refer to it. I should simply have forgot what I heard in Annapolis--I"ll forget now, if you will permit."
"By no means, Miss Carrington. You can"t forget, if you would--and I would not have you, if you could. Moreover, I inherited it along with Clarendon, and, as you were my guide to the place, it"s no more than right that you should know. I think I shall confide in you--no use to protest, it"s got to come!" he added.
"You are determined?--Very well, then, come over to the couch in the corner, where we can sit close and you can whisper."
He arose, with alacrity. She put out her hand and led him--and he suffered himself to be led.
"Now!" when they were seated, "you may begin. Once upon a time----" and laughed, softly. "I"ll take this, if you"ve no immediate use for it,"
she said, and released her hand from his.
"For the moment," he said. "I shall want it back, presently, however."
"Do you, by any chance, get all you want?" she inquired.
"Alas! no! Else I would have kept what I already had."
She put her hands behind her, and faced around.
"Begin, sir!" she said. "Begin! and try to be serious."
"Well,--once upon a time----" Then he stopped. "I"ll go over to the house and get the letter--it will tell you much better than I can. You will wait here, _right here_, until I return?"
She looked at him, with a tantalizing smile.
"Won"t it be enough, if I am here _when_ you return?" she asked.
When he came out on the piazza the rain had ceased, the clouds were gone, the temperature had fallen, and the stars were shining brightly in a winter sky.
He strode quickly down the walk to the street and crossed it diagonally to his own gates. As he pa.s.sed under the light, which hung near the entrance, a man walked from the shadow of the Clarendon grounds and accosted him.
"Mr. Croyden, I believe?" he said.
Croyden halted, abruptly, just out of distance.
"Croyden is my name?" he replied, interrogatingly.
"With your permission, I will accompany you to your house--to which I a.s.sume you are bound--for a few moments" private conversation."
"Concerning what?" Croyden demanded.
"Concerning a matter of business."
"My business or yours?"
"Both!" said the man, with a smile.
Croyden eyed him suspiciously. He was about thirty years of age, tall and slender, was well dressed, in dark clothes, a light weight top-coat, and a derby hat. His face was ordinary, however, and Croyden had no recollection of ever having seen it--certainly not in Hampton.
"I"m not in the habit of discussing business with strangers, at night, nor of taking them to my house," he answered, brusquely. "If you have anything to say to me, say it now, and be brief. I"ve no time to waste."
"Some one may hear us," the man objected.
"Let them--I"ve no objection."
"Pardon me, but I think, in this matter, you would have objection."
"You"ll say it quickly, and here, or not at all," snapped Croyden.
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"It"s scarcely a subject to be discussed on the street," he observed, "but, if I must, I must. Did you ever hear of Robert Parmenter? Oh! I see that you have! Well, the business concerns a certain letter--need I be more explicit?"
"If you wish to make your business intelligible."
The fellow shrugged his shoulders again.
"As you wish," he said, "though it only consumes time, and I was under the impression that you were in a hurry. However: To repeat--the business concerns a letter, which has to do with a certain treasure buried long ago, on Greenberry Point, by the said Robert Parmenter. Do I make myself plain, now, sir?"
"Your language is entirely intelligible--though I cannot answer for the facts recited."
The man smiled imperturbably, and went on:
"The letter in question having come into your possession recently, you, with two companions, spent three weeks encamped on Greenberry Point, ostensibly for your health, or the night air, or anything else that would deceive the Naval authorities. During which time, you dug up the entire Point, dragged the waters immediately adjoining--and then departed, very strangely choosing for it a time of storm and change of weather. My language is intelligible, thus far?"
Croyden nodded--rather amused. Evidently, the thieves had managed to communicate with a confederate, and this was a hold-up. They a.s.sumed he had been successful.
"Therefore, it is entirely reasonable to suppose that your search was not ineffectual. In plain words, you have recovered the treasure."
The man paused, waiting for an answer.
Croyden only smiled, and waited, too.
"Very good!--we will proceed," said the stranger. "The jewels were found on Government land. It makes no difference whether recovered on the Point or on the Bay--the law covering treasure trove, I am informed, doesn"t apply. The Government is ent.i.tled to the entire find, it being the owner in fee of the land."
"You talk like a lawyer!" said Croyden.
The stranger bowed. "I have devoted my spare moments to the study of the law----"
"And how to avoid it," Croyden interjected.
The other bowed again.
"And also how to prevent _others_ from avoiding it," he replied, suggestively. "Let us take up that phase, if it please you."
"And if it doesn"t please?" asked Croyden, suppressing an inclination to laugh.
"Then let us take it up, any way--unless you wish to forfeit your find to the Government."