At four o'clock that day the Attorney-General and the Chief Constable
had returned to Government House and were sitting, on either side of
the Governor, with the jailer standing before them. Fenella stood by
the window, apparently gazing into the garden but listening intently.
"Come now," said the Governor, "tell us what you know of this matter."
The jailer knew nothing. Changing repeatedly the leg on which he was
standing and mopping his forehead with a coloured handkerchief, he
protested absolute ignorance.
"After Miss Stanley left the Castle a piece after ten o'clock I
locked the poor bogh in her cell...."
"Do you mean the prisoner?"
"Who else, your Excellency?"
"Then say the prisoner."
"Well, I locked the prisoner in her cell a piece after ten o'clock
last night and when I went back at five this morning to take her a
bite of breakfast...."
"Breakfast? Where was your female warder?"
"Mistress Mylrea? Sick of the heart since General Gaol. They're
telling me she died last night, Sir."
"Where was your turnkey then?"
"Willie Shimmin? He went out on lave for a couple of hours on Sunday
afternoon and didn't return on the night, Sir."
"Do you mean to tell me you were alone in the Castle on the night
before an execution?"
"Aw, yes, alone enough, Sir."
"Colonel Farrell!" said the Governor, turning sharply upon the Chief
Constable.
That gentleman, although embarrassed, had many excuses. He had not
been made aware of the situation, and if this blockhead had only
communicated with the police-station....
"Well, well, enough of that now. Let us have the facts," said the
Governor, and turning back to the jailer he said,
"Did anybody come to the Castle last night after Miss Stanley left
it?"
"No, Sir, no!"
"And your keys? Did they ever leave your possession?"
"Never, Sir."
"After you locked the prisoner in her cell, what did you do?"
"I went back to the guard-room and sat by the fire, Sir."
"And fell asleep, I suppose?"
"I'll give in I slept a wink or two, Sir."
"Where were your keys while you were asleep?"
"On the table beside me, Sir."
"And when you awoke where were they?"
"In the same place, your Excellency."
"Were the gates of the Castle locked last night?"
"Aw, 'deed they were, Sir."
"And were they locked this morning?"
"They were that, Sir."
The Attorney-General, who had been leaning forward, dropped back.
"Extraordinary!" he said. "The whole thing has the appearance of the
supernatural."
"Nonsense!" said the Governor. "Vondy, do you know Mr. Gell, the
Advocate?"
"I'm sorry to say, Sir...."
"Never mind about sorry--do you?"
"I do, Sir."
"When did you see him last?"
"At General Gaol, when he was out of himself, poor man, and we had to
lock him up for threatening the Dempster."
"Did he never come to the Castle afterwards to see the prisoner?"
"Never, Sir."
"Will you swear that he was not there last night?"
"I will--before God Almighty, Sir."
"Then, if the cell was locked all night and the Castle gates were
locked, how do you account for the escape of your prisoner?"
The jailer smoothed the hair over his forehead and then said,
"Bolts and bars are nothing to the Lord, Sir."
The Governor gasped.
"Do you mean to say that while you were asleep before the fire in the
guard-room an angel from heaven carried your prisoner through the
Castle walls?"
"Aw, well .... I wouldn't say no to that, Sir. We're reading of the
like in the Good Book anyway."
"Fenella," cried the Governor, "take this fool away and turn him out
of the house."
When Fenella, who had been quivering all over, had left the room,
followed by the jailer, the Governor turned to the Chief Constable.
"The woman was not on the morning steamer?"
"No, Sir."
"And What about Gell?"
"We broke open the door of his room in Athol Street and found he had
gone."
"Ah! Have you come upon any trace of him elsewhere?"
"Yes; he slept at the Railway Inn at Ballaugh on Saturday night and
took a ticket for St. John's by the first train on Sunday morning."
"Anything else?"
"The blacksmith at Ballasalla believes he saw him on Sunday evening
going in the fog in the direction of Derby Haven."
"Aha! Did any fishing boat leave Castletown last night?"
"The Manx boats do not go out on Sunday, Sir."
"Any trading steamers then?"
"I don't know, Sir."
"Inquire at once. If your constables do not find the fugitives in
the island we must send a 'Wanted' across the water."
"I'll draw one up, Sir."
"Got the necessary photographs?"
"One of the girl, which was found in the young man's rooms, Sir.
Also one of the young man which we found in the girl's cell, but it
is not of much use, being scratched and blurred as if it had been
lying in water."
"No matter! The Deemster is sure to have another. I'll write and
ask him to meet us here at eleven on Wednesday morning. He'll be
able to help you to your personal description and issue the warrant
at the same time."