The seventeenth day of September--the day upon which the sun would lead
us to the discovery of the buried casket--dawned grey and overcast.
The instant I awoke I rushed to my window and looked out upon a sunless
scene. Dark rain-clouds were everywhere, and my heart sank within me at
the prospect of a wet and dismal day. The previous day we had spent in
making careful inquiries in the neighbourhood regarding the reappearance
of our enemies, whom we expected might try and take us by surprise. The
only fact we could fathom was that Grierson, the ironmonger, had sent
the tools to Kelton Mains, and been paid for them by a money order
posted at Dumfries; but the farmer at Kelton knew nothing of them, it
seemed, but had received them expecting someone sent by the laird to
call for them. We had written a line to Sammy Waldron, at Crailloch,
overnight, and expected him to cycle over during the morning. He would,
of course, be excited over what was occurring, for he knew nothing
except that Fred, his host, was away on some mysterious errand.
When I came down, rain was falling, and the greyness of the morning was
certainly mirrored in the faces of all three of us.
"`Rain before seven, shine before eleven,'" remarked Walter, trying to
cheer us; but we ate our meal almost in silence, until Sammy, hot and
covered with mud, burst in upon us.
"What in the name of fortune does all this mean?" he cried, surprised to
find Walter and myself. "I thought you two fellows had returned to
town. The whole house is on tenter-hooks regarding Fred's whereabouts.
I got your note at seven-thirty, and slipped away without any breakfast
and without a word to anyone except Connie."
"Look here, Sammy!" exclaimed Fred, "we're going this afternoon to do a
bit of secret digging--after a buried treasure."
"Buried treasure!" he echoed, and he burst out laughing. "Sounds well,
at any rate. I'm always open to receive a bit of treasure from any
source."
"Well, we want you to help us to dig. It is believed to be over at
Threave."
"What! the old ruin we went to the other day?" Sammy exclaimed.
"Better buy a new pair of oars, old chap, if you don't want the whole
crowd of us shipwrecked."
The suggestion was a good one; and, although the weather was so much
against it, Sammy presently went forth, purchased a pair of heavy
secondhand oars, and stowed them away in the bottom of a light wagonette
which we had hired at the hotel to take us to Kelton later in the day.
Sammy was just as excited as we were, and entered as keenly into the
spirit of the thing. Like Fred, he never did anything by halves. He
was a man with muscles like iron, and possessed the courage of a lion,
as proved by the many tight corners he had been in during the Indian
frontier wars of the past fifteen years or so. As a shot, Sammy Waldron
was only equalled by his host, Fred Fenwicke; but, while the latter's
form showed best among the grouse, Sammy was pre-eminently a hunter of
big game, who sent presents of bears and tigers to his friends, instead
of pheasants and grouse.
The morning wore on. A long council of war was held, but the rain did
not abate.
Not indeed until we sat down to luncheon at twelve did the weather
clear, and with it our spirits rose again. At half-past one the clouds
broke and the sun came forth fitfully. Then all four of us, eager to
investigate, and not knowing what difficulties were before us, mounted
into the wagonette and drove out along the winding road to Kelton Mains.
On descending, a surprise awaited us, for when we asked for the tools
sent there from Grierson's the farmer told us that three gentlemen, one
a deformed man, had arrived there the day before, claimed the picks and
spades, and had crossed to the island and been occupied in digging until
it was dark.
The trio of investigators might still be on the island for aught we
knew.
This was certainly disconcerting, and we walked through the fields to
the water's edge full of expectancy. We, however, found the old boat
moored in its usual place, which showed that the party had returned to
shore. Therefore we embarked, eager to take observations and follow the
directions laid down, even if we were not that day able to make
investigation.
Sammy took one oar and I the other, and very soon the keel ran into the
mud bank of the island, and the grey, dismal old castle, with its
"hanging stone," towered above us. In an instant all four of us sprang
ashore, the boat was moored, and we started off in the direction of the
great ruin. Fortunately the sun was now shining brightly, and there,
sure enough, lay the long, straight shadow across the wet grass in our
direction.
I looked at my watch and found it a quarter past three. In fifteen
minutes we should be able to follow accurately the directions.
Suddenly, to our dismay, we saw, as we approached the point where the
shadow ended, that a great hole had been dug in the immediate vicinity.
We rushed forward with one accord, and in an instant the truth was
plain--investigations had already been made!
The hole was a deep one, disclosing a flight of spiral stone steps which
led to a subterranean chamber, the dungeon, perhaps, of some building
long since effaced. At any rate, it showed that the excavators had hit
upon some underground construction, the nature of which we knew not.
The tools had been left there unheeded, as though the trio had departed
hurriedly.
"That's curious!" Wyman cried to me. "Read old Godfrey's instructions
aloud to us."
I took out of my pocket a book in which I had made a note of the exact
wording, and read to my companions as follows:
"DIRECTIONS FOR RECOVERING THE CASKET.
"Go unto the castle at 3:30, when the sun shines, on September 6th, and
follow the shadow of the east angle of the keep, forty-three paces from
the inner edge of the moat."
Sammy then measured the paces, and found they were, as specified,
forty-three.