"d.a.m.n Mr. Bolton! The fellow botched the whole business. He lost the scent while it was still warm, and now it"s as cold as mutton and one has to begin all over again! I wanted badly to have a yarn with you about it, Roger. You may have some ideas. Bolton had none and I have none."
"Are you allowed to tell me exactly what has been seen?"
"I am not allowed, but I can tell you, if you won"t repeat anything."
And so I may not go into particulars in this narrative. However, that makes no difference, for beyond indicating that the northwest end, out by the Scollays" farm, and the barren uninhabited tip of the island beyond, was the danger zone, these particulars gave no clue and suggested no fresh idea. Of course they naturally suggested people living in that vicinity, and yet this was far from inevitable because that coast was the best for the enemy"s purpose, and his friend or friends on sh.o.r.e might come some considerable distance to get in touch with him. In fact, it would be a pretty obvious precaution to live as far from the scene of actual operations as possible; though equally obviously it would be a less convenient arrangement.
As for the precautions which Whiteclett was able to take, all that I am permitted to say about them is that, instead of the amateur coast patrol arrangement in vogue when I was there, a few men from a certain unit were put on to the job instead. But my cousin had no control over this, and as he alone realised--in fact, could realise--the peculiar danger on this particular island. The number of men spared for Ransay was very small (you could count them on one hand with something over) and they were but ordinary honest members of this unit at that--not experts at the game.
Consequently he was a little doubtful whether the safeguard was any better than before.
Well, we talked the whole thing over and over again, and I honestly could suggest nothing to add to what I had told him before. And then I asked him,
"Have you yourself seen no cause whatever to suspect any one? Nothing happened--even a very little thing?"
He began to shake his head, and then said,
"Well, there was just one thing that made me suspicious for a moment, but then I came to the conclusion that my suspicious wouldn"t hold water. A short time ago Dr. Rendall came in to see me and begged for leave to keep another drunk--what he called an alcoholic patient. He said he had heard of a man whose friends wanted to send him up to him, and offered to give me all sorts of guarantees of his honesty, et cetera, et cetera. I gathered that the doctor must be pretty hard up and this patient would make all the difference to him. In fact he practically told me so."
"Of course you said no?"
"I was sympathetic but told him I was afraid it was no good. I didn"t want to seem too sharp with him, just in case he might be a wrong "un and would be the better of a little show of guilelessness. Of course I let him know later he couldn"t have the fellow. But honestly, Roger, I can"t think there was really anything suspicious in his request. In the first place the trouble is going on without his inebriate. In the second place, the request would be too bareface if he meant mischief."
"Still," I said, "it shows the man is hard up. Suppose he has been tempted?"
"In that case we must also suppose he has fallen and pocketed a bribe; and then he wouldn"t be hard up any more."
"One doesn"t know his difficulties. He might require a lot to cover them, and be in need of a fresh cheque now. And there"s one thing, Jack, that has made me wonder sometimes. He is a cut above the ordinary local doctor in such a place. What"s he doing there?"
"Well," said my cousin after a moment"s thought, "the problem in my mind always comes back to this, that we are never likely to get much forrader until we can station a spy of our own in the place to watch what"s going on. And how can one possibly manage that without giving away who the watcher is? If they know who he is, he will find out nothing, and probably have his throat cut. That"s the difficulty."
I said nothing for a moment. A brilliant idea was beginning to dawn upon my mind.
"Nothing to suggest?" he asked.
"I suppose," I said, thinking hard, "that if you had wanted to, you could have let Dr. Rendall have that man?"
My cousin stared at me.
"I shouldn"t take the responsibility myself, but I daresay if I were lunatic enough to back him up, the powers that be might agree."
"Jack!" I exclaimed, "I"ll be the alcoholic patient!"
For a moment I thought my cousin"s eyes were going to start out of his head. Then they subsided and a grin began to steal over his face instead.
"By Gad!" he murmured.
"I"m the very man for the job! I"ve actually spoken to at least one of the gang in that island, apart from the old chap with spectacles. I know the ropes, so far as they are knowable. In fact I"ve a kind of prescriptive right to the job."
He nodded.
"I quite admit that you have; also that I"d sooner have you there than anyone else. Looking back, I think you had a most sporting try last time, and I must say it seems to me that only some devilish bit of bad luck prevented you from bringing it off. Though what actually the bit of bad luck was has often puzzled me. But then," he added, "you aren"t the fellow he wants."
"One drunk is as good as another so long as he pays the fee."
"But supposing, for the sake of argument, he had some reason for wanting this other man. Would he take you in that case?"
"He must or he"d give himself away!"
"True for you, Roger. But how are we going to open negotiations without arousing suspicion? One might as well face all the difficulties."
"Oh, we can easily fix that up," said I. "My guardians will write and say they have heard of his excellent system, et cetera, and have hopes of making arrangements with the naval authorities, and so on. There will be no difficulty at all so far as that part goes."
"But, my dear chap, when you"d got there they"d spot you."
"With this beard--dyed black?" I cried, as inspiration trod on inspiration"s heels. "And a pair of gold-rimmed gla.s.ses, and this limp--which will hide even my walk, and a complete change of clothes; who will spot me? Remember I was only there for a very few days six months ago."
"Your voice?"
"I only spoke in my natural voice to the two Rendalls; never to the doctor; in fact I"ve only met him once."
"But his cousins saw a good deal of you."
"I haven"t been on the stage for nothing," I a.s.sured him. "I"ll change my voice very little, not enough to make it difficult to keep up--throw in a lisp or something of that kind. You can trust me to do the thing thoroughly, Jack."
My cousin looked at me carefully.
"Yes," he admitted, "I think you are changed enough already to puzzle "em; and with your beard dyed black--by the way, don"t forget to dye your hair too, old chap!--and gla.s.ses, et cetera, by jingo I do believe you"ll pa.s.s!"
"Now the thing is how to get permission: first, leave for me, and second, leave to land an alcoholic on the island. What about Uncle Francis--could he pull any strings for us? And will he if he can?"
"The very man!" said Jack, "if he really will take the thing up. He"s in it with the best kind of big-wig for our purpose. And I rather think the idea might appeal to his sense of humour. Anyhow, I"ll see him to-night when I get back to town, and failing him I"ll try some one else."
And that was the abrupt end of those restful days, dozing in a deck chair listening to the cawing rooks at Winterdean Hall Convalescent Hospital.
II
A LITTLE DINNER
On the Tuesday evening, just four days later, I hobbled up the steps of my Uncle"s club and put the same question I had so often put before to the same sleek benignant hall porter.
"Sir Francis Merton?"
He was as benignant as ever, but he handed me over to an attractive war worker with a detached air that showed he was quite unconscious of ever having seen me before. For an instant I was chilled, and then I realised the happiness of the omen. If my beard alone so changed me, there would be no fear of recognition when art had reinforced nature.
The only other guest had already arrived:--Commander John Whiteclett. My uncle was talking to him confidentially before the fire, and at the sight of that familiar upstanding figure with the dominating nose above the determined mouth and the fresh complexion and snow-white hair and genial eyes, all just the same as ever, I felt a sudden sense of confidence in the issue of my adventure. With such an ally at my back, the chances of failure seemed almost negligible.