A WEIRD VOICE OF THE NIGHT.
It is not necessary to give in detail here the record of Nick Carter’s
trip, accompanied as he was by Maxwell Kane, to Washington; and of his
interview with the President very little need be said, save that the
detective’s prophecy was fully fulfilled.
The _Dolphin_ was placed at their disposal at once, and there was no time
lost in sailing. Moreover, the state and navy departments were set in
motion, and information concerning the pirate was despatched all over the
world, so there could be little doubt that he could exist for a long time
on the high seas without being captured.
The Château Cadillac was readily found when the detective and his friend
arrived in the neighborhood.
It was an extremely old building, founded, no doubt, in the Middle Ages.
It bore evidence that time after time it had sunk into ruins, only to
be again reclaimed. No doubt it had been stormed and torn almost from
its foundations early in its history; but now it looked merely what it
was—a historic old pile of graystone, moss-grown and ivy-wreathed, with a
huge, square tower at one end of it, which clung to the edge of an abrupt
precipice jutting out over the sea, so that it seemed as if it must
topple and fall into the rock-bound and turbulent waters.
But it had stood there through many ages, defiant of storm and time
alike; and it stood there now, as the two men approached it, grim,
uninviting, repellant, gloomy, almost terrible.
Nor was the approach to it more inviting than its appearance. It was
situated at the apex of a neck of land which jutted out into the sea, and
thus formed a treacherous-looking harbor on one side of it, while the
endless water tossed and fumed, and threw spray hundreds of feet into the
air on the other.
From the foundation of the old castle to the water below was a fall of a
sheer hundred feet, and if you add to this ninety feet more, which was
approximately the height of the tower itself, you will get some idea of
its appearance.
Small, oblong windows appeared at intervals along the height of the
tower. Their position was irregular, almost as if they were there
merely to give light upon winding stairs, which ascended inside. Back
of the tower was a huge building, irregular in shape, and representing
several periods in the history of the country. Behind all this, the land
stretched away, narrowing as it extended inland, until part of it which
adjoined the mainland was little more than a causeway.
The _Dolphin_ had approached from the sea, early that morning, and the
detective, from her deck, had taken a thorough view of the harbor and all
the surrounding territory.
No sign whatever of the _Shadow_ had been discovered, and after standing
on and off awhile, the _Dolphin_ had sailed away again, and disappeared
from view from the château, if, indeed, she had been seen from there at
all.
But, nevertheless, the _Dolphin_ had not gone far.
Three miles away a place had been discovered where the detective and his
friend could be put ashore, and they had left the despatch-boat—really
a vessel of war under that name—and embarked for the balance of their
adventure on foot.
But the _Dolphin_ was not to desert them. She was to stand on and off
until she was signaled from the shore; and there was a code of signals
arranged between her commander and the detective which made it possible
for them to communicate in the night, as well as during the day.
As the two approached the causeway together, it was impossible to tell
whether the castle was deserted or not. There certainly was no outward
sign of life about the building, and already each of them had decided in
his own mind that their search here would probably be fruitless.
However, the _Dolphin_ had paused long enough before she arrived off the
Château Cadillac for Nick to go ashore and communicate with the American
ambassador in Paris, and by that means he had discovered that nothing
whatever had been heard of Miss Harlan, or of her daring abductor, or,
indeed, of the vessel in which she had been stolen away.
“I am afraid we are on the wrong scent, Nick,” said Kane, as they crossed
the causeway together.
“Wrong or right, we will know one thing or the other for a certainty
before we search elsewhere,” replied the detective. “I cannot disabuse
my mind of the idea that he would bring Bessie here. Cadillac was no
fool. He would know that the navies of the world would be after him since
his exploit in capturing her. He would realize that you would report the
matter at Washington, and that the cables would be kept hot about him. He
could not hope to escape with the _Shadow_. Pirates cannot rove the seas
now as they used to do, old man.”
“I know that.”
“Then you can bank upon it that he has brought Bessie here. You can make
up your mind that the _Shadow_ is somewhere at the bottom of that little
harbor, waiting until Cadillac has further need of her. Remember that he
can sink her at will. Remember that those steel masts of hers are nothing
more or less than means by which she can be approached and her pumps set
to work to raise her after she has been immersed and abandoned for a long
time. I do not know, but I have no doubt that he could leave her there
for the better part of a year and then raise her again at will.”
“And what shall we do now, Nick?”
“Do? Why go to the castle.”
“But how are we to get inside?”
“I do not know that—yet.”
“The thing doesn’t look as if we could ever get inside of it, if those
who are already there should choose to keep us out.”
“Max, I never saw a house in my life which I could not find a way to
enter, if I started out to do it.”
“Great Scott! You don’t call that thing a house, do you?”
“Well, it’s a house, all right, so far as my remark goes. I’ll find a way
to get inside.”
“There is one thing in our favor.”
“What is that?”
“If there happens to be anybody there, on the watch, they won’t be apt to
see our approach. These rocks along here shelter us, you know.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Better keep out of sight as much as
possible.”
The time was late in the afternoon. It was now approaching dark, in fact.
The day had been a cloudy one, and now a drizzling rain was falling.
Taken all in all, the time for their descent upon the castle could not
have been a more propitious one.
The two strode on silently, side by side, for some distance, when Kane
spoke again.
“Are you going to tackle the front door and demand admittance?” he asked,
while he paused a moment for breath.
“Not on your life!” was the reply.
“Eh? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get inside the place secretly, if possible.”
“But——”
“Look here, Max. We have got to work on the principle that Bessie is a
prisoner inside that old pile of stones, haven’t we?”
“Yes.”
“Very well. We will start out on the proposition that that is a fact.
Now, if Cadillac is there, he probably considers himself more or less
safe, for a time at least. He does not suppose that we would have tracked
him here quite so suddenly. You see, he will have argued that we have
considered him as having returned to the pirate business for good, and
will, therefore, search the seas, and, perhaps, a few islands in the
seas, for him.”
“Well?”
“In the meantime he has come here with the _Shadow_. He has sunk her
under water somewhere inside that harbor, where, by the way, she will
be a good deal safer than she would on top of it, for it looks like a
treacherous spot to me.”
“And what then?”
“Why, then he has taken his captive ashore. He has had her conducted to
the castle. He has fastened her away in some great room, probably in the
tower, given her servants to wait upon her, and, in fact, done everything
on earth for her comfort, save the one thing of giving her back her
liberty.”
“Humph!” said Kane. “I’m not half so sure of that as I pretended to be
when we were discussing it in the presence of my wife and her mother.”
“Never mind. That is my idea, just the same. And, anyhow, if she is
there, and if he is there, you can rest assured that if we went to the
door of the place and demanded admittance, it would doubtless be granted
us, but, all the same, we would see no sign of the people we are looking
for, and we would be told that the count is in America.”
“And all the time the count would be nicely hidden somewhere in the old
building. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.”
“So you propose to make the search without anybody being put wise to the
fact that you are doing it, eh?”
“Exactly. You see, I have started on the proposition that the count will
consider himself safe here, at least for a time; on the proposition that
he has not yet begun to keep very strict watch along this causeway we
have just crossed.”
“But he has probably watched the sea, Nick,” interrupted Kane.
“I presume so.”
“Then he saw the _Dolphin_ this morning.”
“Well, suppose he did so? There is nothing strange in seeing a vessel
approach the coast and sail away again, is there? She showed no flag; and
you don’t suppose he would know the _Dolphin_ by sight, do you?”
“He is a sailor, and a good one. He would know that she was American.”
“He might at that. But, even so, he would still be watching the sea for
her return, and not paying much attention to the land approach. There,
Kane; let us stop here. It will be dark now in a quarter of an hour, and
then we can approach without any danger of being discovered.”
“Can you find your way, Nick, among all these rocks and pools, and along
this slippery cliff, in the dark?”
“Indeed I can. I have taken all my bearings, Max. And now, there is
nothing to prevent us from enjoying a smoke while we wait.”
They found a shelter under a shelving rock, where they were protected
from the storm, and there they seated themselves, lighted their cigars,
and disposed themselves to such comfort as they could find while they
awaited the time to advance.
“Under ordinary circumstances, Max,” said the detective, “I should prefer
to undertake this business to-night alone. I don’t suppose you care to be
left outside, do you?”
“Not in a thousand years, Nick! No, no! I’m in this thing to a finish.
And, besides, it is more than likely that you will run into some sort of
a scrap inside that old rookery. If you should, you will need help, and I
want to be on hand.”
“All right. Now, see if you can refrain from talking for about five
minutes, while I do a little thinking. After that it will be time for us
to start on.”
“Midnight would be about the proper time for burglarious enterprises,
wouldn’t it?”
The detective did not reply, and Kane also lapsed into silence. So the
moments passed, until, at last, suddenly the detective rose to his feet,
stretched himself, yawned, threw away the stump of his cigar, and said:
“Come on, Max.”
“Going?”
“Yes.”
“I’m right behind you, old chap, and I’ll continue right behind you
until the end of the chapter, if anybody should ask you.”
The walls of the castle loomed in front of them as they advanced, like
the outlines of some great, historic beast. The night was much too dark
for them to see anything distinctly, but their eyes had not been blinded
by exposure to light of any kind, and so, in effect, they were enabled to
see quite clearly as they advanced.
Once the detective paused and seemed for a moment to hesitate.
“I only wish,” he said presently, “that it were possible for us to make a
circuit of the old pile.”
“Why?” asked Kane.
“There must be a light in one or more of the windows, somewhere. Say,
Max, I think I can get around the thing if I try. Will you wait here for
me if I promise faithfully to return to this spot after you before I
attempt to enter the building?”
“What are you going to try to do? Go around it, looking for lights?”
“Yes.”
“Then what is the matter with me going one way while you go the other? We
would meet at the other side, you know.”
“All right. You go that way,” and Nick pointed with his finger in the
direction he wished Kane to take. “Do you remember,” he added, “the long,
low, galleylike building we noticed from the deck of the _Dolphin_? The
one which stretches out like a two-story stone bowling-alley, from that
wing of the castle to the edge of the cliff?”
“Yes.”
“I hardly think you will be able to get past that. Wait for me there.”
“Well, if I can’t get past it, you can’t. How are we going to get
together?”
“Leave that to me. Will you wait for me there?”
“Yes.”
“Then skip along. If you discover a window with a light in it, make a
mark on your memory so that you can locate it later.”
“Sure.”
“Keep a sharp eye out for everything that might be important.”
“I’ll do that; but suppose I run against a man, or a dog, or anything of
that kind; eh?”
“You will have to decide what to do when the emergency arises. I would
much rather you would not kill anybody, or be obliged, even, to shoot
your gun; but all the same, don’t take any chances. So long. I’ll meet
you where I said.”
The route which the detective selected for himself was, of course, the
one which he regarded as the most dangerous one.
He had, during the day, both from the deck of the _Dolphin_ and also from
the land, later, studied the outward appearance of the castle with great
care.
From the sea it had seemed to him that it was impossible to skirt the
base of the tower without falling from the cliff into the sea; but from
the land side, as they approached the building, before they reached the
causeway, he had decided differently.
Nevertheless, he knew that a path around there would be narrow and
dangerous, and he preferred to take the risk himself rather than have
Kane attempt it. As he made his way forward now, he steadily approached
nearer and nearer to the walls of the huge building—that is, the main
building; that part of it which extended backward away from the tower and
along the neck of land.
The walls rose beside him, grim, silent, forbidding.
He hurried along close to them, and on his left he could hear the roar of
the sea, where it dashed against the rocks a hundred feet below him. The
edge of that precipice, he knew, was not more than ten feet from him, and
the darkness had now become so intense under the walls of the castle that
he could barely discern the ground on which he trod.
Suddenly he came to an abrupt stop, face to face with a second wall,
which seemed for a moment to bar his further progress; but he quickly
discovered that it was merely a buttress of the castle, and he speedily
made his way around it, although in doing so he was compelled to approach
so near to the edge of the cliff that the slightest misstep would have
precipitated him into the abyss below.
Then on again, however, without accident.
At last, after he had passed two more such buttresses, and each with more
danger of falling than the last, he arrived at the tower.
There he paused a moment; and then, as he was on the point of starting
forward again, he was suddenly held spellbound in his tracks by the sound
of a voice which seemed to be calling to him from among the clouds; and
he was amazed and almost unbelieving when he recognized in the words that
were uttered his own name.
“Nick Carter! Nick Carter!”
Twice he heard it, and then all was silent again, save for the pounding
of the waves against the rocks below.