THE _NICOBAR_ BULLION CASE.
I.
The whole voyage was an unpleasant one, and Captain Mackrie, of theAnglo-Malay Company's steamship _Nicobar_, had at last some excuse forthe ill-temper that had made him notorious and unpopular in thecompany's marine staff. Although the fourth and fifth mates in theseclusion of their berth ventured deeper in their search for motives,and opined that the "old man" had made a deal less out of this voyagethan usual, the company having lately taken to providing its own stores;so that "makings" were gone clean and "cumshaw" (which means commissionin the trading lingo of the China seas) had shrunk small indeed. Inconfirmation they adduced the uncommonly long face of the steward (theonly man in the ship satisfied with the skipper), whom the newregulations hit with the same blow. But indeed the steward's dolor mightwell be credited to the short passenger list, and the unpromising aspectof the few passengers in the eyes of a man accustomed to gauge one'stip-yielding capacity a month in advance. For the steward it wasaltogether the wrong time of year, the wrong sort of voyage, andcertainly the wrong sort of passengers. So that doubtless theconfidential talk of the fourth and fifth officers was mere youthfulscandal. At any rate, the captain had prospect of a good deal in privatetrade home, for he had been taking curiosities and Japanese oddmentsaboard (plainly for sale in London) in a way that a third steward wouldhave been ashamed of, and which, for a captain, was a scandal and anignominy; and he had taken pains to insure well for the lot. Thesethings the fourth and fifth mates often spoke of, and more than oncemade a winking allusion to, in the presence of the third mate and thechief engineer, who laughed and winked too, and sometimes said as muchto the second mate, who winked without laughing; for of such is thetittle-tattle of shipboard.
The _Nicobar_ was bound home with few passengers, as I have said, asmall general cargo, and gold bullion to the value of L200,000--thebullion to be landed at Plymouth, as usual. The presence of this bullionwas a source of much conspicuous worry on the part of the secondofficer, who had charge of the bullion-room. For this was his firstvoyage on his promotion from third officer, and the charge of L200,000worth of gold bars was a thing he had not been accustomed to. The placidfirst officer pointed out to him that this wasn't the first shipment ofbullion the world had ever known, by a long way, nor the largest. Alsothat every usual precaution was taken, and the keys were in thecaptain's cabin; so that he might reasonably be as easy in his mind asthe few thousand other second officers who had had charge of hatches andspecial cargo since the world began. But this did not comfort Brasyer.He fidgeted about when off watch, considering and puzzling out thevarious means by which the bullion-room might be got at, and fidgetedmore when on watch, lest somebody might be at that moment putting intopractice the ingenious dodges he had thought of. And he didn't keep hisfears and speculations to himself. He bothered the first officer withthem, and when the first officer escaped he explained the whole thing atlength to the third officer.
"Can't think what the company's about," he said on one such occasion tothe first mate, "calling a tin-pot bunker like that a bullion-room."
"Skittles!" responded the first mate, and went on smoking.
"Oh, that's all very well for you who aren't responsible," Brasyer wenton, "but I'm pretty sure something will happen some day; if not on thisvoyage on some other. Talk about a strong room! Why, what's it made of?"
"Three-eighths boiler plate."
"Yes, three-eighths boiler plate--about as good as a sixpenny tin moneybox. Why, I'd get through that with my grandmother's scissors!"
"All right; borrow 'em and get through. _I_ would if I had agrandmother."
"There it is down below there out of sight and hearing, nice and handyfor anybody who likes to put in a quiet hour at plate cutting from thecoal bunker next door--always empty, because it's only a seven-tonbunker, not worth trimming. And the other side's against the steward'spantry. What's to prevent a man shipping as steward, getting quietlythrough while he's supposed to be bucketing about among his slops andhis crockery, and strolling away with the plunder at the next port? Andthen there's the carpenter. _He's_ always messing about somewhere below,with a bag full of tools. Nothing easier than for him to make a job in aquiet corner, and get through the plates."
"But then what's he to do with the stuff when he's got it? You can'ttake gold ashore by the hundredweight in your boots."
"Do with it. Why, dump it, of course. Dump it overboard in a quiet portand mark the spot. Come to that, he could desert clean at PortSaid--what easier place?--and take all he wanted. You know what PortSaid's like. Then there are the firemen--oh, _anybody_ can do it!" AndBrasyer moved off to take another peep under the hatchway.
The door of the bullion-room was fastened by one central patent lock andtwo padlocks, one above and one below the other lock. A day or two afterthe conversation recorded above, Brasyer was carefully examining andtrying the lower of the padlocks with a key, when a voice immediatelybehind him asked sharply, "Well, sir, and what are you up to with thatpadlock?"
Brasyer started violently and looked round. It was Captain Mackrie.
"There's--that is--I'm afraid these are the same sort of padlocks asthose in the carpenter's stores," the second mate replied, in a hurry ofexplanation. "I--I was just trying, that's all; I'm afraid the keysfit."
"Just you let the carpenter take care of his own stores, will you, Mr.Brasyer? There's a Chubb's lock there as well as the padlocks, and thekey of that's in my cabin, and I'll take care doesn't go out of itwithout my knowledge. So perhaps you'd best leave off experiments tillyou're asked to make 'em, for your own sake. That's enough now," thecaptain added, as Brasyer appeared to be ready to reply; and he turnedon his heel and made for the steward's quarters.
Brasyer stared after him ragefully. "Wonder what _you_ want down here,"he muttered under his breath. "Seems to me one doesn't often see askipper as thick with the steward as that." And he turned off growlingtowards the deck above.
"Hanged if I like that steward's pantry stuck against the side of thebullion-room," he said later in the day to the first officer. "And whatdoes a steward want with a lot of boiler-maker's tools aboard? You knowhe's got them."
"In the name of the prophet, rats!" answered the first mate, who was ofa less fussy disposition. "What a fatiguing creature you are, Brasyer!Don't you know the man's a boiler-maker by regular trade, and has onlytaken to stewardship for the last year or two? That sort of man doesn'tlike parting with his tools, and as he's a widower, with no home ashore,of course he has to carry all his traps aboard. Do shut up, and takeyour proper rest like a Christian. Here, I'll give you a cigar; it's allright--Burman; stick it in your mouth, and keep your jaw tight on it."
But there was no soothing the second officer. Still he prowled about theafter orlop deck, and talked at large of his anxiety for the contents ofthe bullion-room. Once again, a few days later, as he approached theiron door, he was startled by the appearance of the captain coming, thistime, _from_ the steward's pantry. He fancied he had heard tapping,Brasyer explained, and had come to investigate. But the captain turnedhim back with even less ceremony than before, swearing he would givecharge of the bullion-room to another officer if Brasyer persisted inhis eccentricities. On the first deck the second officer was met by thecarpenter, a quiet, sleek, soft-spoken man, who asked him for thepadlock and key he had borrowed from the stores during the week. ButBrasyer put him off, promising to send it back later. And the carpentertrotted away to a job he happened to have, singularly enough, in thehold, just under the after orlop deck, and below the floor of thebullion-room.
As I have said, the voyage was in no way a pleasant one. Everywhere theweather was at its worst, and scarce was Gibraltar passed before theLascars were shivering in their cotton trousers, and the Seedee boyswere buttoning tight such old tweed jackets as they might muster fromtheir scanty kits. It was January. In the Bay the weather wastremendous, and the _Nicobar_ banged and shook and pitched distractedlyacross in a howling world of thunderous green sea, wash
ed within andwithout, above and below. Then, in the Chops, as night fell, somethingwent, and there was no more steerage-way, nor, indeed, anything else butan aimless wallowing. The screw had broken.
The high sea had abated in some degree, but it was still bad. Such sailas the steamer carried, inadequate enough, was set, and shift was madesomehow to worry along to Plymouth--or to Falmouth if occasion betterserved--by that means. And so the _Nicobar_ beat across the Channel on arather better, though anything but smooth, sea, in a black night, madethicker by a storm of sleet, which turned gradually to snow as the hoursadvanced.
The ship laboured slowly ahead, through a universal blackness thatseemed to stifle. Nothing but a black void above, below, and around, andthe sound of wind and sea; so that one coming before a deck-light wasstartled by the quiet advent of the large snowflakes that came likemoths as it seemed from nowhere. At four bells--two in the morning--afoggy light appeared away on the starboard bow--it was the Eddystonelight--and an hour or two later, the exact whereabouts of the ship beinga thing of much uncertainty, it was judged best to lay her to tilldaylight. No order had yet been given, however, when suddenly there weredim lights over the port quarter, with a more solid blackness beneaththem. Then a shout and a thunderous crash, and the whole ship shuddered,and in ten seconds had belched up every living soul from below. The_Nicobar's_ voyage was over--it was a collision.
The stranger backed off into the dark, and the two vessels driftedapart, though not till some from the _Nicobar_ had jumped aboard theother. Captain Mackrie's presence of mind was wonderful, and never for amoment did he lose absolute command of every soul on board. The ship hadalready begun to settle down by the stern and list to port. Life-beltswere served out promptly. Fortunately there were but two women among thepassengers, and no children. The boats were lowered without a mishap,and presently two strange boats came as near as they dare from the ship(a large coasting steamer, it afterwards appeared) that had cut into the_Nicobar_. The last of the passengers were being got off safely, whenBrasyer, running anxiously to the captain, said:--
"Can't do anything with that bullion, can we, sir? Perhaps a box ortwo----"
"Oh, damn the bullion!" shouted Captain Mackrie. "Look after the boat,sir, and get the passengers off. The insurance companies can find thebullion for themselves."
But Brasyer had vanished at the skipper's first sentence. The skipperturned aside to the steward as the crew and engine-room staff made forthe remaining boats, and the two spoke quietly together. Presently thesteward turned away as if to execute an order, and the skipper continuedin a louder tone:--
"They're the likeliest stuff, and we can but drop 'em, at worst. But beslippy--she won't last ten minutes."
She lasted nearly a quarter of an hour. By that time, however, everybodywas clear of her, and the captain in the last boat was only just nearenough to see the last of her lights as she went down.
II.
The day broke in a sulky grey, and there lay the _Nicobar_, in tenfathoms, not a mile from the shore, her topmasts forlornly visible abovethe boisterous water. The sea was rough all that day, but the snow hadceased, and during the night the weather calmed considerably. Next dayLloyd's agent was steaming about in a launch from Plymouth, and soon asalvage company's tug came up and lay to by the emerging masts. Therewas every chance of raising the ship as far as could be seen, and adiver went down from the salvage tug to measure the breach made in the_Nicobar's_ side, in order that the necessary oak planking or sheetingmight be got ready for covering the hole, preparatory to pumping andraising. This was done in a very short time, and the necessary telegramshaving been sent, the tug remained in its place through the night, andprepared for the sending down of several divers on the morrow to getout the bullion as a commencement.
Just at this time Martin Hewitt happened to be engaged on a case of someimportance and delicacy on behalf of Lloyd's Committee, and was stayingfor a few days at Plymouth. He heard the story of the wreck, of course,and speaking casually with Lloyd's agent as to the salvage work justbeginning, he was told the name of the salvage company's representativeon the tug, Mr. Percy Merrick--a name he immediately recognised as thatof an old acquaintance of his own. So that on the day when the diverswere at work in the bullion-room of the sunken _Nicobar_, Hewitt gavehimself a holiday, and went aboard the tug about noon.
Here he found Merrick, a big, pleasant man of thirty-eight or so. He wasvery glad to see Hewitt, but was a great deal puzzled as to the resultsof the morning's work on the wreck. Two cases of gold bars were missing.
"There was L200,000 worth of bullion on board," he said, "that's plainand certain. It was packed in forty cases, each of L5,000 value. But nowthere are only thirty-eight cases! Two are gone clearly. I wonder what'shappened?"
"I suppose your men don't know anything about it?" asked Hewitt.
"No, they're all right. You see, it's impossible for them to bringanything up without its being observed, especially as they have to beunscrewed from their diving-dresses here on deck. Besides, bless you, Iwas down with them."
"Oh! Do you dive yourself, then?"
"Well, I put the dress on sometimes, you know, for any such specialoccasion as this. I went down this morning. There was no difficulty ingetting about on the vessel below, and I found the keys of thebullion-room just where the captain said I would, in his cabin. But thelocks were useless, of course, after being a couple of days in saltwater. So we just burgled the door with crowbars, and then we saw thatwe might have done it a bit more easily from outside. For thatcoasting-steamer cut clean into the bunker next the bullion-room, andripped open the sheet of boiler-plate dividing them."
"The two missing cases couldn't have dropped out that way, of course?"
"Oh, no. We looked, of course, but it would have been impossible. Thevessel has a list the other way--to starboard--and the piled casesdidn't reach as high as the torn part. Well, as I said, we burgled thedoor, and there they were, thirty-eight sealed bullion cases, neithermore nor less, and they're down below in the after-cabin at this moment.Come and see."
Thirty-eight they were; pine cases bound with hoop-iron and sealed atevery joint, each case about eighteen inches by a foot, and six inchesdeep. They were corded together, two and two, apparently for convenienceof transport.
"Did you cord them like this yourself?" asked Hewitt.
"No, that's how we found 'em. We just hooked 'em on a block and tackle,the pair at a time, and they hauled 'em up here aboard the tug."
"What have you done about the missing two--anything?"
"Wired off to headquarters, of course, at once. And I've sent forCaptain Mackrie--he's still in the neighbourhood, I believe--andBrasyer, the second officer, who had charge of the bullion-room. Theymay possibly know something. Anyway, _one_ thing's plain. There wereforty cases at the beginning of the voyage, and now there are onlythirty-eight."
There was a pause; and then Merrick added, "By the bye, Hewitt, this israther your line, isn't it? You ought to look up these two cases."
Hewitt laughed. "All right," he said; "I'll begin this minute if you'llcommission me."
"Well," Merrick replied slowly, "of course I can't do that withoutauthority from headquarters. But if you've nothing to do for an hour orso there is no harm in putting on your considering cap, is there?Although, of course, there's nothing to go upon as yet. But you mightlisten to what Mackrie and Brasyer have to say. Of course I don't know,but as it's a L10,000 question probably it might pay you, and if you_do_ see your way to anything I'd wire and get you commissioned atonce."
There was a tap at the door and Captain Mackrie entered. "Mr. Merrick?"he said interrogatively, looking from one to another.
"That's myself, sir," answered Merrick.
"I'm Captain Mackrie, of the _Nicobar_. You sent for me, I believe.Something wrong with the bullion I'm told, isn't it?"
Merrick explained matters fully. "I thought perhaps you might be able tohelp us, Captain Mackrie. Perhaps I have been wrongly informed as to the
number of cases that should have been there?"
"No; there were forty right enough. I think though--perhaps I might beable to give you a sort of hint."--and Captain Mackrie looked hard atHewitt.
"This is Mr. Hewitt, Captain Mackrie," Merrick interposed. "You mayspeak as freely as you please before him. In fact, he's sort of workingon the business, so to speak."
"Well," Mackrie said, "if that's so, speaking between ourselves, Ishould advise you to turn your attention to Brasyer. He was my secondofficer, you know, and had charge of the stuff."
"Do you mean," Hewitt asked, "that Mr. Brasyer might give us some usefulinformation?"
Mackrie gave an ugly grin. "Very likely he might," he said, "if he werefool enough. But I don't think you'd get much out of him direct. I meantyou might watch him."
"What, do you suppose he was concerned in any way with the disappearanceof this gold?"
"I should think--speaking, as I said before, in confidence and betweenourselves--that it's very likely indeed. I didn't like his manner allthrough the voyage."
"Why?"
"Well, he was so eternally cracking on about his responsibility, andpretending to suspect the stokers and the carpenter, and one person andanother, of trying to get at the bullion cases--that that alone wasalmost enough to make one suspicious. He protested so much, you see. Hewas so conscientious and diligent himself, and all the rest of it, andeverybody else was such a desperate thief, and he was so sure therewould be some of that bullion missing some day that--that--well, I don'tknow if I express his manner clearly, but I tell you I didn't like it abit. But there was something more than that. He was eternally smellingabout the place, and peeping in at the steward's pantry--which adjoinsthe bullion-room on one side, you know--and nosing about in the bunkeron the other side. And once I actually caught him fitting keys to thepadlocks--keys he'd borrowed from the carpenter's stores. And every timehis excuse was that he fancied he heard somebody else trying to get into the gold, or something of that sort; every time I caught him below onthe orlop deck that was his excuse--happened to have heard something orsuspected something or somebody every time. Whether or not I succeed inconveying my impressions to you, gentlemen, I can assure you that Iregarded his whole manner and actions as very suspicious throughout thevoyage, and I made up my mind I wouldn't forget it if by chance anything_did_ turn out wrong. Well, it has, and now I've told you what I'veobserved. It's for you to see if it will lead you anywhere."
"Just so," Hewitt answered. "But let me fully understand, CaptainMackrie. You say that Mr. Brasyer had charge of the bullion-room, butthat he was trying keys on it from the carpenter's stores. Where werethe legitimate keys then?"
"In my cabin. They were only handed out when I knew what they werewanted for. There was a Chubb's lock between the two padlocks, but aduplicate wouldn't have been hard for Brasyer to get. He could easilyhave taken a wax impression of my key when he used it at the port wherewe took the bullion aboard."
"Well, and suppose he had taken these boxes, where do you think he wouldkeep them?"
Mackrie shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Impossible to say," hereplied. "He might have hidden 'em somewhere on board, though I don'tthink that's likely. He'd have had a deuce of a job to land them atPlymouth, and would have had to leave them somewhere while he came on toLondon. Bullion is always landed at Plymouth, you know, and if any werefound to be missing, then the ship would be overhauled at once, everyinch of her; so that he'd have to get his plunder ashore somehow beforethe rest of the gold was unloaded--almost impossible. Of course, if he'sdone that it's somewhere below there now, but that isn't likely. He'd bemuch more likely to have 'dumped' it--dropped it overboard at somewell-known spot in a foreign port, where he could go later on and getit. So that you've a deal of scope for search, you see. Anywhere underwater from here to Yokohama;" and Captain Mackrie laughed.
Soon afterward he left, and as he was leaving a man knocked at the cabindoor and looked in to say that Mr. Brasyer was on board. "You'll be ableto have a go at him now," said the captain. "Good-day."
"There's the steward of the _Nicobar_ there too, sir," said the manafter the captain had gone, "and the carpenter."
"Very well, we'll see Mr. Brasyer first," said Merrick, and the manvanished. "It seems to have got about a bit," Merrick went on to Hewitt."I only sent for Brasyer, but as these others have come, perhaps they'vegot something to tell us."
Brasyer made his appearance, overflowing with information. He requiredlittle assurance to encourage him to speak openly before Hewitt, and hesaid again all he had so often said before on board the _Nicobar_. Thebullion-room was a mere tin box, the whole thing was as easy to get atas anything could be, he didn't wonder in the least at the loss--he hadprophesied it all along.
The men whose movements should be carefully watched, he said, were thecaptain and the steward. "Nobody ever heard of a captain and a stewardbeing so thick together before," he said. "The steward's pantry was nextagainst the bullion-room, you know, with nothing but that wretched bitof three-eighths boiler plate between. You wouldn't often expect to findthe captain down in the steward's pantry, would you, thick as they mightbe. Well, that's where I used to find him, time and again. And thesteward kept boiler-makers' tools there! That I can swear to. And he'sbeen a boiler-maker, so that, likely as not, he could open a jointsomewhere and patch it up again neatly so that it wouldn't be noticed.He was always messing about down there in his pantry, and once Idistinctly heard knocking there, and when I went down to see, whomshould I meet? Why, the skipper, coming away from the place himself, andhe bullyragged me for being there and sent me on deck. But before thathe bullyragged me because I had found out that there were other keysknocking about the place that fitted the padlocks on the bullion-roomdoor. Why should he slang and threaten me for looking after these thingsand keeping my eye on the bullion-room, as was my duty? But that was thevery thing that he didn't like. It was enough for him to see me anxiousabout the gold to make him furious. Of course his character for meannessand greed is known all through the company's service--he'll do anythingto make a bit."
"But have you any positive idea as to what has become of the gold?"
"Well," Brasyer replied, with a rather knowing air, "I don't thinkthey've dumped it."
"Do you mean you think it's still in the vessel--hidden somewhere?"
"No, I don't. I believe the captain and the steward took it ashore, onecase each, when we came off in the boats."
"But wouldn't that be noticed?"
"It needn't be, on a black night like that. You see, the parcels are notso big--look at them, a foot by a foot and a half by six inches or so,roughly. Easily slipped under a big coat or covered up with anything. Ofcourse they're a bit heavy--eighty or ninety pounds apiecealtogether--but that's not much for a strong man to carry--especially insuch a handy parcel, on a black night, with no end of confusion on. Nowyou just look here--I'll tell you something. The skipper went ashorelast in a boat that was sent out by the coasting steamer that ran intous. That ship's put into dock for repairs and her crew are mostly havingan easy time ashore. Now I haven't been asleep this last day or two, andI had a sort of notion there might be some game of this sort on, becausewhen I left the ship that night I thought we might save a little atleast of the stuff, but the skipper wouldn't let me go near thebullion-room, and that seemed odd. So I got hold of one of the boat'screw that fetched the skipper ashore, and questioned him quietly--pumpedhim, you know--and he assures me that the skipper _did_ have a rathersmall, heavy sort of parcel with him. What do you think of that? Ofcourse, in the circumstances, the man couldn't remember any verydistinct particulars, but he thought it was a sort of square wooden caseabout the size I've mentioned. But there's something more." Brasyerlifted his fore-finger and then brought it down on the table beforehim--"something more. I've made inquiries at the railway station and Ifind that two heavy parcels were sent off yesterday to London--dealboxes wrapped in brown paper, of just about the right size. And thepaper got torn before t
he things were sent off, and the clerk could seethat the boxes inside were fastened with hoop-iron--like those!" and thesecond officer pointed triumphantly to the boxes piled at one side ofthe cabin.
"Well done!" said Hewitt. "You're quite a smart detective. Did you findout who brought the parcels, and who they were addressed to?"
"No, I couldn't get quite as far as that. Of course the clerk didn'tknow the names of the senders, and not knowing me, wouldn't tell meexactly where the parcels were going. But I got quite chummy with himafter a bit, and I'm going to meet him presently--he has the afternoonoff, and we're going for a stroll. I'll find something more, I'll betyou!"
"Certainly," replied Hewitt, "find all you can--it may be veryimportant. If you get any valuable information you'll let us know atonce, of course. Anything else, now?"
"No, I don't think so; but I think what I've told you is pretty wellenough for the present, eh? I'll let you know some more soon."
Brasyer went, and Norton, the steward of the old ship, was brought intothe cabin. He was a sharp-eyed, rather cadaverous-looking man, and hespoke with sepulchral hollowness. He had heard, he said, that there wassomething wrong with the chests of bullion, and came on board to giveany information he could. It wasn't much, he went on to say, but thesmallest thing might help. If he might speak strictly confidentially hewould suggest that observation be kept on Wickens, the carpenter. He(Norton) didn't want to be uncharitable, but his pantry happened to benext the bullion-room, and he had heard Wickens at work for a very longtime just below--on the under side of the floor of the bullion-room, itseemed to him, although, of course, he _might_ have been mistaken.Still, it was very odd that the carpenter always seemed to have a jobjust at that spot. More, it had been said--and he (Norton) believed itto be true--that Wickens, the carpenter, had in his possession, and keptamong his stores, keys that fitted the padlocks on the bullion-roomdoor. That, it seemed to him, was a very suspicious circumstance. Hedidn't know anything more definite, but offered his ideas for what theywere worth, and if his suspicions proved unfounded nobody would be morepleased than himself. But--but--and the steward shook his headdoubtfully.
"Thank you, Mr. Norton," said Merrick, with a twinkle in his eye; "wewon't forget what you say. Of course, if the stuff is found inconsequence of any of your information, you won't lose by it."
The steward said he hoped not, and he wouldn't fail to keep his eye onthe carpenter. He had noticed Wickens was in the tug, and he trustedthat if they were going to question him they would do it cautiously, soas not to put him on his guard. Merrick promised they would.
"By the bye, Mr. Norton," asked Hewitt, "supposing your suspicions to bejustified, what do you suppose the carpenter would do with the bullion?"
"Well, sir," replied Norton, "I don't think he'd keep it on the ship.He'd probably dump it somewhere."
The steward left, and Merrick lay back in his chair and guffawed aloud."This grows farcical," he said, "simply farcical. What a happy familythey must have been aboard the _Nicobar_! And now here's the captainwatching the second officer, and the second officer watching the captainand the steward, and the steward watching the carpenter! It's immense.And now we're going to see the carpenter. Wonder whom _he_ suspects?"
Hewitt said nothing, but his eyes twinkled with intense merriment, andpresently the carpenter was brought into the cabin.
"Good-day to you, gentlemen," said the carpenter in a soft anddeferential voice, looking from one to the other. "Might I 'ave thehonour of addressin' the salvage gentlemen?"
"That's right," Merrick answered, motioning him to a seat. "This is thesalvage shop, Mr. Wickens. What can we do for you?"
The carpenter coughed gently behind his hand. "I took the liberty ofcomin', gentlemen, consekins o' 'earin' as there was some bullionmissin'. P'raps I'm wrong."
"Not at all. We haven't found as much as we expected, and I suppose bythis time nearly everybody knows it. There are two cases wanting. Youcan't tell us where they are, I suppose?"
"Well, sir, as to that--no. I fear I can't exactly go as far as that.But if I am able to give vallable information as may lead to recovery ofsame, I presoom I may without offence look for some reasonable smallrecognition of my services?"
"Oh, yes," answered Merrick, "that'll be all right, I promise you. Thecompany will do the handsome thing, of course, and no doubt so will theunderwriters."
"Presoomin' I may take that as a promise--among gentlemen"--this with anemphasis--"I'm willing to tell something."
"It's a promise, at any rate as far as the company's concerned,"returned Merrick. "I'll see it's made worth your while--of course,providing it leads to anything."
"Purvidin' that, sir, o' course. Well, gentlemen, my story ain't a longone. All I've to say was what I 'eard on board, just before she wentdown. The passengers was off, and the crew was gettin' into the otherboats when the skipper turns to the steward an' speaks to himquiet-like, not observin', gentlemen, as I was agin 'is elbow, so for tosay. ''Ere, Norton,' 'e sez, or words to that effeck, 'why shouldn't wetry gettin' them things ashore with us--you know, the cases--eh? I've anotion we're pretty close inshore,' 'e sez, 'and there's nothink of asea now. You take one, anyway, and I'll try the other,' 'e says, 'butdon't make a flourish.' Then he sez, louder, 'cos o' the steward goin'off, 'They're the likeliest stuff, and at worst we can but drop 'em. Butlook sharp,' 'e says. So then I gets into the nearest boat, and that'sall I 'eard."
"That was all?" asked Hewitt, watching the man's face sharply.
"All?" the carpenter answered with some surprise. "Yes, that was all;but I think it's pretty well enough, don't you? It's plain enough whatwas meant--him and the steward was to take two cases, one apiece, on thequiet, and they was the likeliest stuff aboard, as he said himself. Andnow there's two cases o' bullion missin'. Ain't that enough?"
The carpenter was not satisfied till an exact note had been made of thecaptain's words. Then after Merrick's promise on behalf of the companyhad been renewed, Wickens took himself off.
"Well," said Merrick, grinning across the table at Hewitt, "this is aqueer go, isn't it? What that man says makes the skipper's case lookpretty fishy, doesn't it? What he says, and what Brasyer says, takentogether, makes a pretty strong case--I should say makes the thing acertainty. But what a business! It's likely to be a bit serious for someone, but it's a rare joke in a way. Wonder if Brasyer will find outanything more? Pity the skipper and steward didn't agree as to whom theyshould pretend to suspect. _That's_ a mistake on their part."
"Not at all," Hewitt replied. "_If_ they are conspiring, and know whatthey're about, they will avoid seeming to be both in a tale. The bullionis in bars, I understand?"
"Yes, five bars in each case; weight, I believe, sixteen pounds to abar."
"Let me see," Hewitt went on, as he looked at his watch; "it is nownearly two o'clock. I must think over these things if I am to doanything in the case. In the meantime, if it could be managed, I shouldlike enormously to have a turn under water in a diving-dress. I havealways had a curiosity to see under the sea. Could it be managed now?"
"Well," Merrick responded, "there's not much fun in it, I can assureyou; and it's none the pleasanter in this weather. You'd better have atry later in the year if you really want to--unless you think you canlearn anything about this business by smelling about on the _Nicobar_down below?"
Hewitt raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
"I _might_ spot something," he said; "one never knows. And if I doanything in a case I always make it a rule to see and hear everythingthat can possibly be seen or heard, important or not. Clues lie whereleast expected. But beyond that, probably I may never have anotherchance of a little experience in a diving-dress. So if it can be managedI'd be glad."
"Very well, you shall go, if you say so. And since it's your firstventure, I'll come down with you myself. The men are all ashore, Ithink, or most of them. Come along."
Hewitt was put in woollens and then in india-rubbers. A leaden-soledboot of twenty pound
s' weight was strapped on each foot, and weightswere hung on his back and chest.
"That's the dress that Gullen usually has," Merrick remarked. "He's avery smart fellow; we usually send him first to make measurements andso on. An excellent man, but a bit too fond of the diver's lotion."
"What's that?" asked Hewitt.
"Oh, you shall try some if you like, afterwards. It's a bit too heavyfor me; rum and gin mixed, I think."
A red nightcap was placed on Martin Hewitt's head, and after that acopper helmet, secured by a short turn in the segmental screw joint atthe neck. In the end he felt a vast difficulty in moving at all. Merrickhad been meantime invested with a similar rig-out, and then each wasprovided with a communication cord and an incandescent electric lamp.Finally, the front window was screwed on each helmet, and all was ready.
Merrick went first over the ladder at the side, and Hewitt with muchdifficulty followed. As the water closed over his head, his sensationsaltered considerably. There was less weight to carry; his arms inparticular felt light, though slow in motion. Down, down they wentslowly, and all round about it was fairly light, but once on the sunkenvessel and among the lower decks, the electric lamps were necessaryenough. Once or twice Merrick spoke, laying his helmet against Hewitt'sfor the purpose, and instructing him to keep his air-pipe, life-line,and lamp connection from fouling something at every step. Here andthere shadowy swimming shapes came out of the gloom, attracted by theirlamps, to dart into obscurity again with a twist of the tail. The fisheswere exploring the _Nicobar_. The hatchway of the lower deck was open,and down this they passed to the orlop deck. A little way along thisthey came to a door standing open, with a broken lock hanging to it. Itwas the door of the bullion-room, which had been forced by the divers inthe morning.
Merrick indicated by signs how the cases had been found piled on thefloor. One of the sides of the room of thin steel was torn and thrust inthe length of its whole upper half, and when they backed out of the roomand passed the open door they stood in the great breach made by the bowof the strange coasting vessel. Steel, iron, wood, and everything stoodin rents and splinters, and through the great gap they looked out intothe immeasurable ocean. Hewitt put up his hand and felt the edge of thebullion-room partition where it had been torn. It was just such a tearas might have been made in cardboard.
They regained the upper deck, and Hewitt, placing his helmet against hiscompanion's, told him that he meant to have a short walk on the oceanbed. He took to the ladder again, where it lay over the side, andMerrick followed him.
The bottom was of that tough, slimy sort of clay-rock that is found inmany places about our coasts, and was dotted here and there with lumpsof harder rock and clumps of curious weed. The two divers turned at thebottom of the ladder, walked a few steps, and looked up at the greathole in the _Nicobar's_ side. Seen from here it was a fearful chasm,laying open hold, orlop, and lower deck.
Hewitt turned away, and began walking about. Once or twice he stood andlooked thoughtfully at the ground he stood on, which was fairly flat. Heturned over with his foot a whitish, clean-looking stone about as largeas a loaf. Then he wandered on slowly, once or twice stopping to examinethe rock beneath him, and presently stooped to look at another stonenearly as large as the other, weedy on one side only, standing on theedge of a cavity in the claystone. He pushed the stone into the hole,which it filled, and then he stood up.
Merrick put his helmet against Hewitt's, and shouted--
"Satisfied now? Seen enough of the bottom?"
"In a moment!" Hewitt shouted back; and he straightway began stridingout in the direction of the ship. Arrived at the bows, he turned back tothe point he started from, striding off again from there to the whitestone he had kicked over, and from there to the vessel's side again.Merrick watched him in intense amazement, and hurried, as well as hemight, after the light of Hewitt's lamp. Arrived for the second time atthe bows of the ship, Hewitt turned and made his way along the side tothe ladder, and forthwith ascended, followed by Merrick. There was nohalt at the deck this time, and the two made there way up and up intothe lighter water above, and so to the world of air.
On the tug, as the men were unscrewing them from there waterproofprisons, Merrick asked Hewitt--
"Will you try the 'lotion' now?"
"No," Hewitt replied, "I won't go quite so far as that. But I _will_have a little whisky, if you've any in the cabin. And give me a penciland a piece of paper."
These things were brought, and on the paper Martin Hewitt immediatelywrote a few figures and kept it in his hand.
"I might easily forget those figures," he observed.
Merrick wondered, but said nothing.
Once more comfortably in the cabin, and clad in his usual garments,Hewitt asked if Merrick could produce a chart of the parts thereabout.
"Here you are," was the reply, "coast and all. Big enough, isn't it?I've already marked the position of the wreck on it in pencil. She liespointing north by east as nearly exact as anything."
"As you've begun it," said Hewitt, "I shall take the liberty of making afew more pencil marks on this." And with that he spread out the crumplednote of figures, and began much ciphering and measuring. Presently hemarked certain points on a spare piece of paper, and drew through themtwo lines forming an angle. This angle he transferred to the chart, and,placing a ruler over one leg of the angle, lengthened it out till it metthe coast-line.
"There we are," he said musingly. "And the nearest village to that isLostella--indeed, the only coast village in that neighbourhood." Herose. "Bring me the sharpest-eyed person on board," he said; "that is,if he were here all day yesterday."
"But what's up? What's all this mathematical business over? Going tofind that bullion by rule of three?"
Hewitt laughed. "Yes, perhaps," he said, "but where's your sharplook-out? I want somebody who can tell me everything that was visiblefrom the deck of this tug all day yesterday."
"Well, really I believe the very sharpest chap is the boy. He's mostannoyingly observant sometimes. I'll send for him."
He came--a bright, snub-nosed, impudent-looking young ruffian.
"See here, my boy," said Merrick, "polish up your wits and tell thisgentleman what he asks."
"Yesterday," said Hewitt, "no doubt you saw various pieces of wreckagefloating about?"
"Yessir."
"What were they?"
"Hatch-gratings mostly--nothin' much else. There's some knockin' aboutnow."
"I saw them. Now, remember. Did you see a hatch-grating floatingyesterday that was different from the others? A painted one, forinstance--those out there now are not painted, you know."
"Yessir, I see a little white 'un painted, bobbin' about away beyond theforemast of the _Nicobar_."
"You're sure of that?"
"Certain sure, sir--it was the only painted thing floatin'. And to-dayit's washed away somewheres."
"So I noticed. You're a smart lad. Here's a shilling for you--keep youreyes open and perhaps you'll find a good many more shillings beforeyou're an old man. That's all."
The boy disappeared, and Hewitt turned to Merrick and said, "I think youmay as well send that wire you spoke of. If I get the commission I thinkI may recover that bullion. It may take some little time, or, on theother hand, it may not. If you'll write the telegram at once, I'll go inthe same boat as the messenger. I'm going to take a walk down toLostella now--it's only two or three miles along the coast, but it willsoon be getting dark."
"But what sort of a clue have you got? I didn't----"
"Never mind," replied Hewitt, with a chuckle. "Officially, you know,I've no right to a clue just yet--I'm not commissioned. When I am I'lltell you everything."
Hewitt was scarcely ashore when he was seized by the excited Brasyer."Here you are," he said. "I was coming aboard the tug again. I've gotmore news. You remember I said I was going out with that railway clerkthis afternoon, and meant pumping him? Well, I've done it and rushedaway--don't know what he'll think's up. As we were go
ing along we sawNorton, the steward, on the other side of the way, and the clerkrecognised him as one of the men who brought the cases to be sent off;the other was the skipper, I've no doubt, from his description. I playedhim artfully, you know, and then he let out that both the cases wereaddressed to Mackrie at his address in London! He looked up the entry,he said, after I left when I first questioned him, feeling curious.That's about enough, I think, eh? I'm off to London now--I believeMackrie's going to-night. I'll have him! Keep it dark!" And the zealoussecond officer dashed off without waiting for a reply. Hewitt lookedafter him with an amused smile, and turned off towards Lostella.
III.
It was about eleven the next morning when Merrick received the followingnote, brought by a boatman:--
"DEAR MERRICK,--Am I commissioned? If not, don't trouble, but if I am, be just outside Lostella, at the turning before you come to the Smack Inn, at two o'clock. Bring with you a light cart, a policeman--or two perhaps will be better--and a man with a spade. There will probably be a little cabbage-digging. Are you fond of the sport?--Yours, MARTIN HEWITT.
"P.S.--_Keep all your men aboard_; bring the spade artist from the town."
Merrick was off in a boat at once. His principals had replied to histelegram after Hewitt's departure the day before, giving him a free handto do whatever seemed best. With some little difficulty he got thepolicemen, and with none at all he got a light cart and a jobbing manwith a spade. Together they drove off to the meeting-place.
It was before the time, but Martin Hewitt was there, waiting. "You'requick," he said, "but the sooner the better. I gave you the earliestappointment I thought you could keep, considering what you had to do."
"Have you got the stuff, then?" Merrick asked anxiously.
"No, not exactly yet. But I've got this," and Hewitt held up the pointof his walking-stick. Protruding half an inch or so from it was thesharp end of a small gimlet, and in the groove thereof was a littlewhite wood, such as commonly remains after a gimlet has been used.
"Why, what's that?"
"Never mind. Let us move along--I'll walk. I think we're about at theend of the job--it's been a fairly lucky one, and quite simple. But I'llexplain after."
Just beyond the Smack Inn, Hewitt halted the cart, and all got down.They looped the horse's reins round a hedge-stake and proceeded thesmall remaining distance on foot, with the policemen behind, to avoid apremature scare. They turned up a lane behind a few small and ratherdirty cottages facing the sea, each with its patch of kitchen gardenbehind. Hewitt led the way to the second garden, pushed open the smallwicket gate and walked boldly in, followed by the others.
Cabbages covered most of the patch, and seemed pretty healthy in theirsituation, with the exception of half a dozen--singularly enough, alltogether in a group. These were drooping, yellow, and wilted, andtowards these Hewitt straightway walked. "Dig up those wilted cabbages,"he said to the jobbing man. "They're really useless now. You'll probablyfind something else six inches down or so."
The man struck his spade into the soft earth, wherein it stoppedsuddenly with a thud. But at this moment a gaunt, slatternly woman, witha black eye, a handkerchief over her head, and her skirt pinned up infront, observing the invasion from the back door of the cottage, rushedout like a maniac and attacked the party valiantly with a broom. Sheupset the jobbing man over his spade, knocked off one policeman'shelmet, lunged into the other's face with her broom, and was making hersecond attempt to hit Hewitt (who had dodged), when Merrick caught herfirmly by the elbows from behind, pressed them together, and held her.She screamed, and people came from other cottages and looked on. "Peter!Peter!" the woman screamed, "come 'ee, come'ee here! Davey! They'recome!"
A grimy child came to the cottage door, and seeing the woman thus held,and strangers in the garden, set up a piteous howl. Meantime the diggerhad uncovered two wooden boxes, each eighteen inches long or so, boundwith hoop-iron and sealed. One had been torn partly open at the top, andthe broken wood roughly replaced. When this was lifted, bars of yellowmetal were visible within.
The woman still screamed vehemently, and struggled. The grimy childretreated, and then there appeared at the door, staggering hazily andrubbing his eyes, a shaggy, unkempt man, in shirt and trousers. Helooked stupidly at the scene before him, and his jaw dropped.
"Take that man," cried Hewitt. "He's one!" And the policeman promptlytook him, so that he had handcuffs on his wrists before he had collectedhis faculties sufficiently to begin swearing.
Hewitt and the other policeman entered the cottage. In the lower tworooms there was nobody. They climbed the few narrow stairs, and in thefront room above they found another man, younger, and fast asleep. "He'sthe other," said Hewitt. "Take _him_." And this one was handcuffedbefore he woke.
Then the recovered gold was put into the cart, and with the help of thevillage constable, who brought his own handcuffs for the benefit andadornment of the lady with the broom, such a procession marched out ofLostella as had never been dreamed of by the oldest inhabitant in hisworst nightmare, nor recorded in the whole history of Cornwall.
"Now," said Hewitt, turning to Merrick, "we must have that fellow ofyours--what's his name--Gullen, isn't it? The one that went down tomeasure the hole in the ship. You've kept him aboard, of course?"
"What, Gullen?" exclaimed Merrick. "Gullen? Well, as a matter of fact hewent ashore last night and hasn't come back. But you don't mean tosay----"
"I _do_," replied Hewitt. "And now you've lost him."
IV.
"But tell me all about it now we've a little time to ourselves," askedMerrick an hour or two later, as they sat and smoked in the after-cabinof the salvage tug. "We've got the stuff, thanks to you, but I don't inthe 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 toldby the men from the _Nicobar_. They cancelled one another out, so tospeak, though it seemed likely that there might be something in them inone or two respects. Brasyer, I could see, tried to prove too much. Ifthe captain and the steward were conspiring to rob the bullion-room, whyshould the steward trouble to cut through the boiler-plate walls whenthe captain kept the keys in his cabin? And if the captain had beenstealing the bullion, why should he stop at two cases when he had allthe voyage to operate in and forty cases to help himself to? Of coursethe evidence of the carpenter gave some colour to the theory, but Ithink I can imagine a very reasonable explanation of that.
"You told me, of course, that you were down with the men yourself whenthey opened the bullion-room door and got out the cases, so that therecould be no suspicion of _them_. But at the same time you told me thatthe breach in the _Nicobar's_ side had laid open the bullion-roompartition, and that you might more easily have got the cases out thatway. You told me, of course, that the cases couldn't have _fallen_ outthat way because of the list of the vessel, the position of the rent inthe boiler-plate, and so on. But I reflected that the day before a diverhad been down alone--in fact, that his business had been with the veryhole that extended partly to the bullion-room: he had to measure it.That diver might easily have got at the cases through the breach. Butthen, as you told me, a diver can't bring things up from belowunobserved. This diver would know this, and might therefore hide thebooty below. So that I made up my mind to have a look under water beforeI 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 havebeen just as awkwardly placed in fetching them to the light of day thenas ever. Besides, he couldn't come diving here again in the company'sdress without some explanation. So what more likely than that he wouldmake some ingenious arrangement with an accomplice, whereby he mightmake the gold in some way accessible to him?
"We went under water. I kept my eyes open, and observed, among otherthings, that the vessel was one of those well-kept 'swell' ones on whichall 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 itshould be useful. When we went over the side and looked at the greatgap, I saw that it would have been quite easy to get at the brokenbullion-room partition from outside."
"Yes," remarked Merrick, "it would be no trouble at all. The ladder goesdown just by the side of the breach, and any one descending by thatmight just step off at one side on to the jagged plating at the level ofthe after orlop, and reach over into the bullion safe."
"Just so. Well, next I turned my attention to the sea-bed, which I wasextremely pleased to see was of soft, slimy claystone. I walked about alittle, 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. Doyou remember?"
"Yes."
"Well, that was noticeable. It was the only clean, bare stone to beseen. Every other was covered with a green growth, and to most clumps ofweed clung. The obvious explanation of this was that the stone was anew-comer--lately brought from dry land--from the shingle on thesea-shore, probably, since it was washed so clean. Such a stone couldnot have come a mile out to sea by itself. Somebody had brought it in aboat and thrown it over, and whoever did it didn't take all that troublefor 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'--themost convenient possible shape for attaching to a line and lowering. Butthe 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 hookon the end of that line. This, then, was a theory. Your man had gonedown alone to take his measurement, had stepped into the broken side, asyou have explained he could, reached into the bullion-room, and liftedthe two cases. Probably he unfastened the cord, and brought them out oneat a time for convenience in carrying. Then he carried the cases, oneat a time, as I have said, over to that white stone which lay there sunkwith the hook and line attached by previous arrangement with someconfederate. He detached the rope from the stone--it was probably fixedby an attached piece of cord, tightened round the stone with what youcall a timber-hitch, easily loosened--replaced the cord round the twocases, passed the hook under the cord, and left it to be pulled up fromabove. But then it could not have been pulled up there in broaddaylight, under your very noses. The confederates would wait till night.That meant that the other end of the rope was attached to some floatingobject, so that it might be readily recovered. The whole arrangement wasset 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 caseremoved meant another journey to and from the vessel, and you werewaiting above for his measurements. Then he was probably doubtful as toweight. Too much at once wouldn't easily be drawn up, and might upset asmall boat.
"Well, so much for the white stone. But there was more; close by thestone 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 thehole that would be made by the sharp impact of the square corner of aheavy box, if shod with iron, as the bullion cases are. This was oneimportant thing. It seemed to indicate that the boxes had not beenlifted directly up from the sea-bed, but had been dragged sideways--atall events at first--so that a sharp corner had turned over and dug intothe claystone! I walked a little farther and found moreindications--slight scratches, small stones displaced, and so on, thatconvinced me of this, and also pointed out the direction in which thecases had been dragged. I followed the direction, and presently arrivedat another stone, rather smaller than the clean one. The cases hadevidently caught against this, and it had been displaced by theirmomentum, and perhaps by a possible wrench from above. The green growthcovered the part which had been exposed to the water, and the rest ofthe stone fitted the hole beside it, from which it had been pulled.Clearly these things were done recently, or the sea would have wiped outall the traces in the soft claystone. The rest of what I did under waterof course you understood."
"I suppose so: you took the bearings of the two stones in relation tothe ship by pacing the distances."
"That is so. I kept the figures in my head till I could make a note ofthem, as you saw, on paper. The rest was mere calculation. What I judgedhad happened was this. Gullen had arranged with somebody, identityunknown, but certainly somebody with a boat at his disposal, to lay theline, and take it up the following night. Now anything larger than arowing 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 ofbeing seen. _But_ no rowing boat could have _dragged_ those casesforcibly along the bottom; they would act as an anchor to it. Thereforethis was what had happened. The thieves had come in a large boat--afishing smack, lugger, or something of that sort--with a small boat intow. The sailing boat had lain to at a convenient distance, _in thedirection in which it was afterwards to go_, so as to save time ifobserved, and a man had put off quietly in the small boat to pick up thefloat, whatever it was. There must have been a lot of slack line on thisfor the purpose, as also for the purpose of allowing the float to driftabout fairly freely, and not attract attention by remaining in oneplace. The man pulled off to the sailing boat, and took the float andline 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 theonly one that will explain the circumstances. A rapid grasp of the wholecircumstances and a perfect appreciation of each is more than half thebattle in such work as this. Well, you know I got the exact bearings ofthe wreck on the chart, worked out from that the lay of the two stoneswith the scratch marks between, and then it was obvious that a straightline 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 thatwas the only village for some few miles either way. The indication wasnot certain, but it was likely, and the only one available, therefore itmust 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 afloat something similar to the other wreckage in the vicinity, so as notto attract attention. Nothing would be more likely than a hatch-grating.But then, in small vessels, such as fishing-luggers and so on, fittingsare almost always painted--they can't afford to be such holystoningswells as those on the _Nicobar_. So I judged the grating might bepainted, and this would possibly have been noticed by some sharp person.I made the shot, and hit. The boy remembered the white grating, whichhad gone--'washed away,' as he thought. That was useful to me, as youshall see.
"I made off toward Lostella. The tide was low and it was getting duskwhen I arrived. A number of boats and smacks were lying anchored on thebeach, but there were few people to be seen. I began looking out forsmacks with white-painted fittings in them. There are not so many ofthese among fishing vessels--brown or red is more likely, or sheercolourless dirt over paint unrecognisable. There were only two that Isaw last night. The first _might_ have been the one I wanted, but therewas nothing to show it. The second _was_ the one. She was half-deckedand had a small white-painted hatch. I shifted the hatch and found along line, attached to the grating at one end and carrying a hook at theother! They had neglected to unfasten their apparatus--perhaps had anidea that there might be a chance of using it again in a few days. Iwent to the transom and read the inscription, '_Rebecca_. Peter andDavid Garthew, Lostella.' Then my business was to find the Garthews.
"I wandered about the village for some little time, and presently gothold of a boy. I made a simple excuse for asking about theGarthews--wanted to go for a sail to-morrow. The boy, with many grins,confided to me that both of the Ga
rthews were 'on the booze.' I shouldfind them at the Smack Inn, where they had been all day, drunk asfiddlers. This seemed a likely sort of thing after the haul they hadmade. I went to the Smack Inn, determined to claim old friendship withthe Garthews, although I didn't know Peter from David. There theywere--one sleepy drunk, and the other loving and crying drunk. I got asfriendly as possible with them under the circumstances, and at closingtime stood another gallon of beer and carried it home for them, whilethey carried each other. I took care to have a good look round in thecottage. I even helped Peter's 'old woman'--the lady with the broom--tocarry them up to bed. But nowhere could I see anything that looked likea bullion-case or a hiding-place for one. So I came away, determined torenew my acquaintance in the morning, and to carry it on as long asmight be necessary; also to look at the garden in the daylight for signsof burying. With that view I fixed that little gimlet in mywalking-stick, as you saw.
"This morning I was at Lostella before ten, and took a look at theGarthews' cabbages. It seemed odd that half a dozen, all in a clumptogether, looked withered and limp, as though they had been dug uphastily, the roots broken, perhaps, and then replanted. And altogetherthese particular cabbages had a dissipated, leaning-different-ways look,as though _they_ had been on the loose with the Garthews. So, seeing agrubby child near the back door of the cottage, I went towards him,walking rather unsteadily, so as, if I were observed, to favour thedelusion 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 plungedmy hand into my trousers' pocket and brought it out full of smallchange. Then, making a great business of selecting him a penny, Imanaged 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 driveit through the loose earth. As I had expected, there was a box below. SoI gouged away with my walking-stick while I collected my coppers, andfinally swaggered off, after a few civil words with the 'old woman,'carrying with me evident proof that it was white wood recently buriedthere. The rest you saw for yourself. I think you and I may congratulateeach other on having dodged that broom. It hit all the others."
"What I'm wild about," said Merrick, "is having let that scoundrelGullen get off. He's an artful chap, without a doubt. He saw us go overthe side, you know, and after you had gone he came into the cabin forsome 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 abit. He had no leave that night--he just pulled away on the quiet. Whydidn't you give me the tip to keep him?"
"That wouldn't have done. In the first place, there was no legalevidence to warrant his arrest, and ordering him to keep aboard wouldhave aroused his suspicions. I didn't know at the time how many days, orweeks, it would take me to find the bullion, if I ever found it, and inthat time Gullen might have communicated in some way with hisaccomplices, and so spoilt the whole thing. Yes, certainly he seems tohave been fairly smart in his way. He knew he would probably be sentdown first, as usual, alone to make measurements, and conceived his planand made his arrangements forthwith."
"But now what I want to know is what about all those _Nicobar_ peoplewatching and suspecting one another? More especially what about thecases the captain and the steward are said to have fetched ashore?"
Hewitt laughed. "Well," he said, "as to that, the presence of thebullion seems to have bred all sorts of mutual suspicion on board theship. Brasyer was over-fussy, and his continual chatter started itprobably, so that it spread like an infection. As to the captain and thesteward, of course I don't know anything but that their rescued caseswere not bullion cases. Probably they were doing a little privatetrading--it's generally the case when captain and steward seem undulyfriendly for their relative positions--and perhaps the cases containedsomething specially valuable: vases or bronzes from Japan, for instance;possibly the most valuable things of the size they had aboard. Then, ifthey had insured their things, Captain Mackrie (who has the reputationof a sharp and not very scrupulous man) might possibly think it rather astroke of business to get the goods and the insurance money too, whichwould lead him to keep his parcels as quiet as possible. But that's asit may be."
The case was much as Hewitt had surmised. The zealous Brasyer, postingto 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 andwent to Bond Street, with Brasyer in another cab behind them. The twoentered a shop, the window of which was set out with rare curiositiesand 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 packingcases opened before them, trying to sell--a couple of veryancient-looking Japanese bronze figures, of that curious old workmanshipand varied colour of metal that in genuine examples mean nowadays highmoney value.
Brasyer vanished: there was too much chaff for him to live through inthe British mercantile marine after this adventure. The fact was, thesteward had come across the bargain, but had not sufficient spare cashto buy, so he called in the aid of the captain, and they speculated inthe bronzes as partners. There was much anxious inspection of the prizeson 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 werecontinually dodging suspiciously about that bullion-room _did_ meanhaving a dash at the gold if there were a chance?" And Hewitt replies,"I wonder."