IV.

"But tell me all about it now we've a little time to ourselves," asked

Merrick an hour or two later, as they sat and smoked in the after-cabin

of the salvage tug. "We've got the stuff, thanks to you, but I don't in

the least see how _they_ got it, nor how you found it out."

"Well, there didn't seem to be a great deal either way in the tales told

by the men from the _Nicobar_. They cancelled one another out, so to

speak, though it seemed likely that there might be something in them in

one or two respects. Brasyer, I could see, tried to prove too much. If

the captain and the steward were conspiring to rob the bullion-room, why

should the steward trouble to cut through the boiler-plate walls when

the captain kept the keys in his cabin? And if the captain had been

stealing the bullion, why should he stop at two cases when he had all

the voyage to operate in and forty cases to help himself to? Of course

the evidence of the carpenter gave some colour to the theory, but I

think I can imagine a very reasonable explanation of that.

"You told me, of course, that you were down with the men yourself when

they opened the bullion-room door and got out the cases, so that there

could be no suspicion of _them_. But at the same time you told me that

the breach in the _Nicobar's_ side had laid open the bullion-room

partition, and that you might more easily have got the cases out that

way. You told me, of course, that the cases couldn't have _fallen_ out

that way because of the list of the vessel, the position of the rent in

the boiler-plate, and so on. But I reflected that the day before a diver

had been down alone--in fact, that his business had been with the very

hole that extended partly to the bullion-room: he had to measure it.

That diver might easily have got at the cases through the breach. But

then, as you told me, a diver can't bring things up from below

unobserved. This diver would know this, and might therefore hide the

booty below. So that I made up my mind to have a look under water before

I jumped to any conclusion.

"I didn't think it likely that he had hidden the cases, mind you.

Because he would have had to dive again to get them, and would have

been just as awkwardly placed in fetching them to the light of day then

as ever. Besides, he couldn't come diving here again in the company's

dress without some explanation. So what more likely than that he would

make some ingenious arrangement with an accomplice, whereby he might

make the gold in some way accessible to him?

"We went under water. I kept my eyes open, and observed, among other

things, that the vessel was one of those well-kept 'swell' ones on which

all the hatch gratings and so on are in plain oak or teak, kept

holystoned. This (with the other things) I put by in my mind in case it

should be useful. When we went over the side and looked at the great

gap, I saw that it would have been quite easy to get at the broken

bullion-room partition from outside."

"Yes," remarked Merrick, "it would be no trouble at all. The ladder goes

down just by the side of the breach, and any one descending by that

might just step off at one side on to the jagged plating at the level of

the after orlop, and reach over into the bullion safe."

"Just so. Well, next I turned my attention to the sea-bed, which I was

extremely pleased to see was of soft, slimy claystone. I walked about a

little, getting farther and farther away from the vessel as I went,

till I came across that clean stone which I turned over with my foot. Do

you remember?"

"Yes."

"Well, that was noticeable. It was the only clean, bare stone to be

seen. Every other was covered with a green growth, and to most clumps of

weed clung. The obvious explanation of this was that the stone was a

new-comer--lately brought from dry land--from the shingle on the

sea-shore, probably, since it was washed so clean. Such a stone could

not have come a mile out to sea by itself. Somebody had brought it in a

boat and thrown it over, and whoever did it didn't take all that trouble

for nothing. Then its shape told a tale; it was something of the form,

rather exaggerated, of a loaf--the sort that is called a 'cottage'--the

most convenient possible shape for attaching to a line and lowering. But

the line had gone, so somebody must have been down there to detach it.

Also it wasn't unreasonable to suppose that there might have been a hook

on the end of that line. This, then, was a theory. Your man had gone

down alone to take his measurement, had stepped into the broken side, as

you have explained he could, reached into the bullion-room, and lifted

the two cases. Probably he unfastened the cord, and brought them out one

at a time for convenience in carrying. Then he carried the cases, one

at a time, as I have said, over to that white stone which lay there sunk

with the hook and line attached by previous arrangement with some

confederate. He detached the rope from the stone--it was probably fixed

by an attached piece of cord, tightened round the stone with what you

call a timber-hitch, easily loosened--replaced the cord round the two

cases, passed the hook under the cord, and left it to be pulled up from

above. But then it could not have been pulled up there in broad

daylight, under your very noses. The confederates would wait till night.

That meant that the other end of the rope was attached to some floating

object, so that it might be readily recovered. The whole arrangement was

set one night to be carried away the next."

"But why didn't Gullen take more than two cases?"

"He couldn't afford to waste the time, in the first place. Each case

removed meant another journey to and from the vessel, and you were

waiting above for his measurements. Then he was probably doubtful as to

weight. Too much at once wouldn't easily be drawn up, and might upset a

small boat.

"Well, so much for the white stone. But there was more; close by the

stone I noticed (although I think you didn't) a mark in the claystone.

It was a triangular depression or pit, sharp at the bottom--just the

hole that would be made by the sharp impact of the square corner of a

heavy box, if shod with iron, as the bullion cases are. This was one

important thing. It seemed to indicate that the boxes had not been

lifted directly up from the sea-bed, but had been dragged sideways--at

all events at first--so that a sharp corner had turned over and dug into

the claystone! I walked a little farther and found more

indications--slight scratches, small stones displaced, and so on, that

convinced me of this, and also pointed out the direction in which the

cases had been dragged. I followed the direction, and presently arrived

at another stone, rather smaller than the clean one. The cases had

evidently caught against this, and it had been displaced by their

momentum, and perhaps by a possible wrench from above. The green growth

covered the part which had been exposed to the water, and the rest of

the stone fitted the hole beside it, from which it had been pulled.

Clearly these things were done recently, or the sea would have wiped out

all the traces in the soft claystone. The rest of what I did under water

of course you understood."

"I suppose so: you took the bearings of the two stones in relation to

the ship by pacing the distances."

"That is so. I kept the figures in my head till I could make a note of

them, as you saw, on paper. The rest was mere calculation. What I judged

had happened was this. Gullen had arranged with somebody, identity

unknown, but certainly somebody with a boat at his disposal, to lay the

line, and take it up the following night. Now anything larger than a

rowing boat could not have got up quite so close to you in the night

(although your tug was at the other end of the wreck) without a risk of

being seen. _But_ no rowing boat could have _dragged_ those cases

forcibly along the bottom; they would act as an anchor to it. Therefore

this was what had happened. The thieves had come in a large boat--a

fishing smack, lugger, or something of that sort--with a small boat in

tow. The sailing boat had lain to at a convenient distance, _in the

direction in which it was afterwards to go_, so as to save time if

observed, and a man had put off quietly in the small boat to pick up the

float, whatever it was. There must have been a lot of slack line on this

for the purpose, as also for the purpose of allowing the float to drift

about fairly freely, and not attract attention by remaining in one

place. The man pulled off to the sailing boat, and took the float and

line aboard. Then the sailing boat swung off in the direction of home,

and the line was hauled in with the plunder at the end of it."

"One would think you had seen it all--or done it," Merrick remarked,

with a laugh.

"Nothing else could have happened, you see. That chain of events is the

only one that will explain the circumstances. A rapid grasp of the whole

circumstances and a perfect appreciation of each is more than half the

battle in such work as this. Well, you know I got the exact bearings of

the wreck on the chart, worked out from that the lay of the two stones

with the scratch marks between, and then it was obvious that a straight

line drawn through these and carried ahead would indicate,

approximately, at any rate, the direction the thieves' vessel had taken.

The line fell on the coast close by the village of Lostella--indeed that

was the only village for some few miles either way. The indication was

not certain, but it was likely, and the only one available, therefore it

must be followed up."

"And what about the painted hatch? How did you guess that?"

"Well, I saw there were hatch-gratings belonging to the _Nicobar_

floating about, and it seemed probable that the thieves would use for a

float something similar to the other wreckage in the vicinity, so as not

to attract attention. Nothing would be more likely than a hatch-grating.

But then, in small vessels, such as fishing-luggers and so on, fittings

are almost always painted--they can't afford to be such holystoning

swells as those on the _Nicobar_. So I judged the grating might be

painted, and this would possibly have been noticed by some sharp person.

I made the shot, and hit. The boy remembered the white grating, which

had gone--'washed away,' as he thought. That was useful to me, as you

shall see.

"I made off toward Lostella. The tide was low and it was getting dusk

when I arrived. A number of boats and smacks were lying anchored on the

beach, but there were few people to be seen. I began looking out for

smacks with white-painted fittings in them. There are not so many of

these among fishing vessels--brown or red is more likely, or sheer

colourless dirt over paint unrecognisable. There were only two that I

saw last night. The first _might_ have been the one I wanted, but there

was nothing to show it. The second _was_ the one. She was half-decked

and had a small white-painted hatch. I shifted the hatch and found a

long line, attached to the grating at one end and carrying a hook at the

other! They had neglected to unfasten their apparatus--perhaps had an

idea that there might be a chance of using it again in a few days. I

went to the transom and read the inscription, '_Rebecca_. Peter and

David Garthew, Lostella.' Then my business was to find the Garthews.

"I wandered about the village for some little time, and presently got

hold of a boy. I made a simple excuse for asking about the

Garthews--wanted to go for a sail to-morrow. The boy, with many grins,

confided to me that both of the Garthews were 'on the booze.' I should

find them at the Smack Inn, where they had been all day, drunk as

fiddlers. This seemed a likely sort of thing after the haul they had

made. I went to the Smack Inn, determined to claim old friendship with

the Garthews, although I didn't know Peter from David. There they

were--one sleepy drunk, and the other loving and crying drunk. I got as

friendly as possible with them under the circumstances, and at closing

time stood another gallon of beer and carried it home for them, while

they carried each other. I took care to have a good look round in the

cottage. I even helped Peter's 'old woman'--the lady with the broom--to

carry them up to bed. But nowhere could I see anything that looked like

a bullion-case or a hiding-place for one. So I came away, determined to

renew my acquaintance in the morning, and to carry it on as long as

might be necessary; also to look at the garden in the daylight for signs

of burying. With that view I fixed that little gimlet in my

walking-stick, as you saw.

"This morning I was at Lostella before ten, and took a look at the

Garthews' cabbages. It seemed odd that half a dozen, all in a clump

together, looked withered and limp, as though they had been dug up

hastily, the roots broken, perhaps, and then replanted. And altogether

these particular cabbages had a dissipated, leaning-different-ways look,

as though _they_ had been on the loose with the Garthews. So, seeing a

grubby child near the back door of the cottage, I went towards him,

walking rather unsteadily, so as, if I were observed, to favour the

delusion that I was not yet quite got over last night's diversions.

'Hullo, my b-boy,' I said, 'hullo, li'l b-boy, look here,' and I plunged

my hand into my trousers' pocket and brought it out full of small

change. Then, making a great business of selecting him a penny, I

managed to spill it all over the dissipated cabbages. It was easy then,

in stooping to pick up the change, to lean heavily on my stick and drive

it through the loose earth. As I had expected, there was a box below. So

I gouged away with my walking-stick while I collected my coppers, and

finally swaggered off, after a few civil words with the 'old woman,'

carrying with me evident proof that it was white wood recently buried

there. The rest you saw for yourself. I think you and I may congratulate

each other on having dodged that broom. It hit all the others."

"What I'm wild about," said Merrick, "is having let that scoundrel

Gullen get off. He's an artful chap, without a doubt. He saw us go over

the side, you know, and after you had gone he came into the cabin for

some instructions. Your pencil notes and the chart were on the table,

and no doubt he put two and two together (which was more than I could,

not knowing what had happened), and concluded to make himself safe for a

bit. He had no leave that night--he just pulled away on the quiet. Why

didn't you give me the tip to keep him?"

"That wouldn't have done. In the first place, there was no legal

evidence to warrant his arrest, and ordering him to keep aboard would

have aroused his suspicions. I didn't know at the time how many days, or

weeks, it would take me to find the bullion, if I ever found it, and in

that time Gullen might have communicated in some way with his

accomplices, and so spoilt the whole thing. Yes, certainly he seems to

have been fairly smart in his way. He knew he would probably be sent

down first, as usual, alone to make measurements, and conceived his plan

and made his arrangements forthwith."

"But now what I want to know is what about all those _Nicobar_ people

watching and suspecting one another? More especially what about the

cases the captain and the steward are said to have fetched ashore?"

Hewitt laughed. "Well," he said, "as to that, the presence of the

bullion seems to have bred all sorts of mutual suspicion on board the

ship. Brasyer was over-fussy, and his continual chatter started it

probably, so that it spread like an infection. As to the captain and the

steward, of course I don't know anything but that their rescued cases

were not bullion cases. Probably they were doing a little private

trading--it's generally the case when captain and steward seem unduly

friendly for their relative positions--and perhaps the cases contained

something specially valuable: vases or bronzes from Japan, for instance;

possibly the most valuable things of the size they had aboard. Then, if

they had insured their things, Captain Mackrie (who has the reputation

of a sharp and not very scrupulous man) might possibly think it rather a

stroke of business to get the goods and the insurance money too, which

would lead him to keep his parcels as quiet as possible. But that's as

it may be."

The case was much as Hewitt had surmised. The zealous Brasyer, posting

to London in hot haste after Mackrie, spent some days in watching him.

At last the captain and the steward with their two boxes took a cab and

went to Bond Street, with Brasyer in another cab behind them. The two

entered a shop, the window of which was set out with rare curiosities

and much old silver and gold. Brasyer could restrain himself no longer.

He grabbed a passing policeman, and rushed with him into the shop.

There they found the captain and the steward with two small packing

cases opened before them, trying to sell--a couple of very

ancient-looking Japanese bronze figures, of that curious old workmanship

and varied colour of metal that in genuine examples mean nowadays high

money value.

Brasyer vanished: there was too much chaff for him to live through in

the British mercantile marine after this adventure. The fact was, the

steward had come across the bargain, but had not sufficient spare cash

to buy, so he called in the aid of the captain, and they speculated in

the bronzes as partners. There was much anxious inspection of the prizes

on the way home, and much discussion as to the proper price to ask.

Finally, it was said, they got three hundred pounds for the pair.

Now and again Hewitt meets Merrick still. Sometimes Merrick says, "Now,

I wonder after all whether or not some of those _Nicobar_ men who were

continually dodging suspiciously about that bullion-room _did_ mean

having a dash at the gold if there were a chance?" And Hewitt replies,

"I wonder."