THE MISSING THOLE-PINS
"I HAD no idea it was so late," exclaimed the Scoutmaster, consulting
his watch. "There is not enough time for us to explore the
south-western portion of the Island. There is something very
interesting to be seen there, but as I want to give you fellows a
little surprise I won't say what it is. Perhaps tomorrow we will find
time to complete the circuit of the Island."
Hungry as hunters the Scouts returned to camp, where Mayne and
Coventry senior had a sumptuous tea awaiting them.
"Anything to report?" asked the Scoutmaster.
"Yes, sir," replied Mayne. "Mr Trebarwith, of Polkerwyck Farm, has
been here. He brought three dozen eggs and several pounds of Cornish
cream as a present. He wouldn't hear of payment when I suggested that
you would square up with him. He also invites us to visit his farm
to-morrow at half-past nine."
"What did you say to that?"
"I thanked him, sir, and said you would let him know this evening."
"Very good. After tea you might take a message for me. Now, lads, set
to, for if you are all as hungry as I am we will make short work of
this provender."
"No one else landed on the Island, I suppose?" asked Atherton.
"No, Peter Varco rowed Mr Trebarwith over, and he remained in the
boat. Why do you ask?" questioned Coventry major.
"Because we came across the spoor of a recent visitor in the Tea
Caves," replied Atherton, and at Mr Trematon's suggestion the lad
gave his companions of the "Wolves" and the two former guardians of
the camp a detailed report of what had occurred.
After tea, the Scoutmaster wrote a letter to the genial farmer,
accepting his invitation, and stating that he hoped to bring the
Scouts to Polkerwyck Farm to-morrow at nine-thirty. Mayne and Baker
were despatched to take the missive to Mr Trebarwith, while the
others were free to amuse themselves at camp games till half-past
seven, when the camp fire was lighted for the customary evening
palaver.
Just before sunset Mr Trematon called the Leaders and Seconds of both
patrols aside.
"Atherton and Simpson, I want you to take charge of the camp till I
return," he said. "Phillips and Neale will no doubt feel up to an
evening stroll. I have reason to revisit the cliff immediately above
the ledge leading to the Tea Caves."
As the Scoutmaster and the two Seconds passed by the ruined oratory,
Neale called attention to the wild yet beautiful sunset tints. There
were streaks of deep purple, orange, pale yellow and indigo in the
western sky, while rugged, dark grey clouds, tipped with
copper-coloured points, gave every indication that the bad weather
was at hand.
"Yes," assented Mr Trematon, "the colours are remarkable. What do you
say to a little experiment?"
"An experiment, sir?" asked Neale. "How?"
"Stand here, both of you, side by side," said the Scoutmaster. "Backs
to the sunset: that's right. Now stretch your legs wide apart, place
the palms of your hands together and bend forward till your
fingertips touch the ground."
The two Scouts promptly obeyed, wondering what was the reason for
this exaggerated "leap-frog" posture.
"Now look at the sunset," continued Mr Trematon.
"The colours are ever so much brighter," exclaimed both lads, who,
heads downwards, were observing the western sky between their
outstretched legs. "They look too bright to be real."
"All the same they are natural colours. Stand up now, or the
circulation of the blood towards your head will be obstructed. Yes,
it has a peculiar effect. An artist friend of mine gave me the tip.
By so doing one can see the vividness of an Italian sky in the
corresponding misty atmosphere of our native land. But we must be
moving."
Arriving at the edge of the cliff, Mr Trematon produced from his
pocket a reel of black cotton. Cutting three or four twigs from a
neighbouring bush, he set these in the ground so that they projected
four inches from the surface. Their exposed ends he connected up by a
length of cotton.
"If anybody comes here, the broken thread will give us proof,"
exclaimed the Scoutmaster. "I do not suggest that anyone will come,
but if they do this is the best means of detecting their presence
without giving them cause of suspicion."
"But the cotton only stretches for a distance of about ten feet,
sir," remarked Phillips. "If anyone descended to the ledge from a
point farther along the cliffs, this arrangement would not give any
warning."
"I am afraid, Phillips, you didn't use your eyes sufficiently this
afternoon. If you had you would have noticed that at all other places
except this the cliffs overhang the ledge, and anyone being lowered
would drop clear of the path leading to the caves. Hence it is
reasonable to conclude that anybody knowing of the existence of the
caves would naturally know the easiest means of gaining the ledge. Do
you follow?"
"Yes, sir," answered the Second.
"Now let us be off, back to the camp. Those fellows are enjoying
themselves to be sure. You can hear them quite plainly at this
distance--it is another sign that stormy weather is near when sound
travels clearly over a long distance."
Ten minutes after "Lights out" the camp at Seal Island was wrapped in
slumber. Dead tired with their exertions and aided by the
health-giving fresh air, the Scouts were soon lost to the world, till
a blaze of red in the eastern sky betokened the dawn of another day.
Before réveillé, Atherton was up and about. His mind was full of
the tracks that had been discovered in the Tea Caves. It was not
presentiment that influenced his thoughts. His deductions were based
upon actual facts that were certainly suspicious. On the other hand
the mysterious visitor might have gone to the cave for a perfectly
legitimate purpose. In that case the following up of the clues would
result in nothing more or less than a little practice.
Something more than curiosity prompted him to run across the Island
to the edge of the cliffs by the caves. Phillips had told him of the
harmless and effective booby-trap that the Scoutmaster had prepared.
The cotton had been snapped.
Atherton knelt down and examined the ground, but the dew lay thick
upon the long grass, and no sign of human footprints was visible.
Upon his return to the camp, the Scout found Mr Trematon clad in a
long overcoat, for the morning air was chilly.
"The cotton has been broken, sir," announced Atherton.
"I am not surprised," replied the Scoutmaster. "As a matter of fact I
expected that it would be, for by a stupid blunder on my part I tied
the thread without making allowance for its shrinking through the
moisture of the night air. But apart from that, Atherton, I have made
a discovery. Two of the thole-pins have been taken out of one of the
boats."
"Perhaps Mayne and Baker brought them ashore when they returned from
the mainland last night, sir?"
"Oh, no: I went down to the landing-place last night to see that the
boats were properly secured. The thole-pins were in their proper
places then."
"One of the fishermen, perhaps----"
"They are honest men, and it is against their primitive yet effective
code of honour to trifle with the gear of anybody's boat. Still,
although there is a faint possibility that such might have taken
place, and we have an explanation for the broken thread, the double
occurrences seem to suggest very forcibly that some one has landed on
Seal Island during the night and has paid a visit to the Tea Caves."
"Are we going to explore the caves again to-day, sir?"
"If time permits. Our morning and afternoon are pretty full up: we
may make an opportunity after tea. But turn those fellows out,
Atherton; it's time, and there's a lot to be done before we pay a
visit to Farmer Trebarwith."
As soon as the meal was over and the camp tidied up, the two patrols
prepared for their trip to Polkerwyck Farm. The weather still
remained calm and bright, and there was little or no wind. All the
same the ground-swell was troublesome, as the "Wolves" learnt to
their cost, for upon landing, a heavy roller threw their boat
broadside on to the beach, and drenched the lads to the skin.
"It's salt water; it won't hurt," shouted Leader Simpson to his
patrol. "Our clothes will be dry by the time we get to the farm."
Meanwhile Atherton had landed and was quietly and unostentatiously
examining the other boats hauled up on shore or else lying within the
shelter of the land-locked harbour. Presently he went up to Mr
Trematon.
"There are our thole-pins, sir: I found them in that double-ended
boat," he announced, pointing to a whaler lying just inside the old
stone pier.
"One of Peter Varco's boats," observed the Scoutmaster. "Perhaps,
after all, he had occasion to land on Seal Island last night. He
might have gone to look at his boat in Dollar Cove. We'll ask him."
The old Cornish fisherman was discovered sitting in the sun and
mending his nets by the side of his cottage.
"No, sir. Sure I hadn't no call tu go over tu t'Island last night.
Now you comes tu mention it, sir, I did notice as 'ow some one 'ad
a-meddled wi' my boat, the _Pride o' Polkerwyck_. Says I tu myself,
'Tis they young gen'lmen over up-along, wot come ashore last night."
"How did you know that one of your mates hadn't used her, Peter?"
asked Mr Trematon.
"Sure, none o' they wud a-made fast the painter wi' a granny, sir."
"And none of my Scouts would have done so: that I feel sure," added
the Scoutmaster with conviction. "No, Peter, it's not any of our
lads. Some one, I believe, is in the habit of paying night visits to
Seal Island."
"Better not let Roger Penwith, Sir Silas' bailiff, catch 'em," said
the old fisherman with conviction. "All as goes tu Seal Island after
sunset without permission be liable tu be taken up for poachin',
sir."
Returning to the harbour Atherton and the Scoutmaster made a careful
examination of the boat in question. The thwarts and bottom-boards
were scratched and almost destitute of paint or varnish, but in
addition to the innumerable traces of old Peter's iron-heeled boots,
Atherton made the discovery that some one wearing indiarubber shoes
had recently been in the boat.
"Size ten," he added, after measuring one of the footprints with his
finger joint. "And seven bars across the soles."
"Pity we did not know of this before we left the Island, Atherton,"
said Mr Trematon. "However, we must keep a sharp look-out for a spoor
up the road."
The two patrols formed up and began their two-mile march to the farm.
The traces of the person wearing indiarubber shoes were at first
fairly well defined. In spite of the large size the wearer had taken
comparatively short steps, a circumstance that coincided with the
discovery made in the Tea Caves. But half way up the hill the spoor
broke away to the left. Here the short, sun-dried grass effectually
baffled all farther traces.
The Scouts were, for the time being, baulked. There was nothing left
but to continue their way to the farm.