Chapter Seventeen
The Spiral Staircase
IT WAS NOT until some days had passed, and Dick had to a great extent recovered his strength and was able to sit up in a chair in a shady spot outside Forester's tent, that the doctor considered him sufficiently recovered to tell what had happened to him.
Forester was sitting beside him when Dick said suddenly, "I want to tell you about that night, Forester."
"Yes, Dick, tell me. But if you feel it tires your head or makes the pain return, stop at once."
"I will, Forester. Where shall I begin?"
"Begin at the beginning," said Norman Forester, laughing.
"So I will. Let me see, what day of the week was it?"
"Sunday night."
"Oh yes, Sunday night. My younger brother Billy was sleepy, and went early to bed. I came up last, for I stopped to talk to old Mister Norris, and they had such a fine fire that I didn't feel inclined to go up. It must have been nearly eleven when I went upstairs. I passed through Val's room, and he was asleep. Then I went to my own, and Billy was snoring too."
"Then I suppose you got undressed?" said Forester, as Dick stopped.
"No, I didn't. I'm trying to remember what came next. Oh, I know. I found a book on the dressing table that Billy had been reading, and I picked it up to see what it was, and it looked rather interesting, so I sat down and started reading it."
"Well," said Forester," and when did you go to bed?"
"I didn't. I went on reading for more than an hour. All was quiet. There wasn't a sound in the house. That stupid old clock seemed to be the only thing awake, and it made me jump whenever it struck. I turned sleepy at last, and had just settled to go to bed when I heard a noise. It was those footsteps again."
Norman Forester moved a pillow behind Dick to allow him to sit up slightly. "Go on," he said.
"I had not heard them for several nights. I put my ear to the turret and listened. Old Norris had declared that it was solid and there was nothing inside it whatever. But as I listened I felt sure that he was wrong. I was certain that there was a spiral staircase in the turret, just as there is in that one by the gate which leads up into the loft above. I could distinctly hear the footsteps, sometimes going up the staircase, sometimes going down.
"I sat and puzzled where the exit could be, and I could think of no place at the bottom where it could possibly come out, nor could I remember any place above to which this staircase could lead. I determined, however, that I wouldn't go to sleep until I found out.
"The others had laughed so much about my ghost, so now I was going to prove to them that I was right. I picked up a candle and matches and crept out of the room so as not to wake Billy. I stole like a thief through Val's room, but he never stirred. Then I crept quietly along the corridor. I knew that if any of them heard me they would not believe about the footsteps, and would not let me go out. The stairs creaked as I went down, and I felt sure Rupert would wake, but he didn't. I wish now that he had."
"Now, Dick, not another word until you've had some milk." Forester jumped up and brought it across.
"Now may I go on?"
"Yes, if you're not too tired."
"I'm all right, I think, and it's such a relief to tell somebody. Well, I went into the parlour and crept outside. Then I made my way to the tool house. You know where I mean, where Mr. Norris's grandmother once lived. Rupert had lost the key. He lost it before we came, so I knew I would be able to get in."
"It was horribly eerie and dark in there. I struck a match and lit the candle. I passed the bed place and tried to find out if anyone was hiding there, but I could see no one. Then I found my way to the steps going up into the loft. A fearful wind was blowing there, and it blew out my candle. I lit it again and went on. You know how that stone staircase winds around, and as I took each turn I didn't know what I was going to see.
"Well, at last I got to the top, and there was the loft. It looked weird, just lit up by my candle. There was that strange old bed, and the spinning-wheel, and everything looked exactly as usual. I picked my way among apples and onions, and it felt awfully cold, and I began to think I'd come on a fool's errand. There wasn't a sign of anybody. I think I would have gone back to bed if a gust of wind hadn't blown out my candle again. And then I saw a light."
"A light, Dick? Where?"
"Just a glimmer of light, and it seemed to come from the floor in the far corner of the loft. I went up to the place, and what do you think I saw?"
"I can't guess, Dick. Go on."
"Well, I saw that some of the boards in the floor had been taken up, and that there was a large hole."
"What sort of a hole?"
"Like a trap door, and just underneath it I saw steps."
"Stone steps?"
"Yes, stone steps, another winding staircase. And in a tiny niche in the stone wall close to the top was a small oil lamp. That was the light I had seen."
"What did you do next?"
"Why, I went down, of course. 'Someone must have lit that lamp,' I said to myself. 'I'm on the scent now, sure enough.' Well, I started down, and the steps wound round and round and round. I knew I was in the turret which old Norris thought was solid and which stands in the corner of our bedroom. I had lit my candle again, and could see the round wall of the inside of the tower. I guessed I must be passing the back of Billy's room, and I wondered if he'd hear me and think I was a ghost. I had just got as far as that, when what do you think I heard?"
"A real ghost?" asked Forester.
"I heard footsteps, coming down the steps behind me. There was no going back now without being seen, so I determined to go on. But I own, Forester, I wished then that I was on Billy's side of the wall."
"Now you're getting flushed, Dick. Stop a bit, and tell me after."
"I can't stop, Forester; I must tell you the rest. Do let me. Well, I heard my own footsteps going down and down, and I heard those other footsteps coming after me. As I wound round and round it seemed like a horrible dream. Where was I going, and what should I see at the bottom? It seemed a lifetime while I went down those steps, with those footsteps slowly but surely pursuing me.
"I concluded that I must be far below the level of the house, and entering some underground dungeon. The air felt damp and cold, and the steps were wet under my feet. The walls of the turret felt slimy, like the sides of a well. I would have given worlds at that moment to be safely in bed, but there was no possibility of retreat, for those footsteps were behind me. At last I saw in front of me a bright light.
"I turned the last corner of the winding stair and could see that it led into a small square chamber like a vault. On the floor lay a glittering mass of jewels, rings, gold chains, gold and silver cups and vases, beautifully carved images and crucifixes, besides piles of golden coins. Kneeling on the floor, with their backs turned to me, I saw two men hastily packing all these sparkling things into a large sack. They did not see me, but I could see them distinctly. They were Clegg and De Jersey."
"But you saw them leave Hildick in the coach for Llantrug," said Forester.
"They did, and made a great show of waving goodbye to everyone. It was all a pretence so no one would think any more about them. They must have returned secretly that night."
"I always told you they were up to mischief," said Forester. "I knew it. Now, Dick, do stop if it tires you."
"It doesn't tire me, Forester. I was just on the point of speaking to them and asking them what they were doing, when suddenly I was struck down from behind. I remember nothing more. Now, I can see that I must have fallen and cut my head badly. I was so stunned, either by the blow or by the fall or by both, that I must have been unconscious for a long time after that. I don't know what they did with me, or how I got out of that place. All I know is that I never walked up that winding staircase, so I suppose they must have carried me."
Norman Forester felt Dick's pulse, and when he found that he was not unduly exciting himself he allowed him to go on.
> "What do you remember next, Dick?"
"The next thing I remember was finding myself alone, out of doors somewhere, lying on my back. I could feel that I was lying on leaves or moss. I couldn't imagine how I'd got there, but I looked up and saw branches overhead and a bright star shining through them.
"Forester, I thought it was like God's eye watching me, and I asked Him to take care of me. I couldn't lift my head up. I put my hand to it and felt that it was bleeding, and I remember feeling awfully sick and dizzy. I wondered if those men had left me there to die.
"But at last I heard voices, and I knew that they were coming. They seemed to be coming slowly, and as they got near I found out that they were carrying something, for I heard them say it was an awful weight. Then they sat down under the tree close to me, and I kept my eyes tight shut so they wouldn't know I was listening. I didn't dare look at them, but I found out that there were three of them, Clegg, De Jersey and another."
"Daniel, I expect," said Forester.
"Yes, it was Daniel. I found that out afterwards, but I didn't know him then. I think I can remember all that they said, for I listened attentively. Clegg began by asking if the boat was down below, and the voice I didn't know answered that he had her ready, and that old Treverton would open his eyes wide in the morning when he came to look for her. Then Clegg gave his orders to the other two. They were to carry their load down to the boat and then come back for me. 'Take a look at him, Daniel,' he said. 'Has he got his eyes open?'
"Daniel took a long look, but I was prepared. 'Not yet. He's fair stunned like. That was a rattling blow I gave him on his skull, the prying young imp! I only wish I'd finished him off while I was about it!'
"'No, no, Daniel,' said Clegg, "we don't want to swing for it. Do what you like to him, but not that. Have you got the bottle?'
"'The chloroform bottle? Ay, I've got it. I had my suspicions he was prying after us. Now see what a good job it is I got hold of it. I had mighty hard work to get it. I tried at a lot of places, and they wouldn't let me have it, and then I got it just by luck, as you may say. My old mother's cousin has a chemist's shop, and I saw this 'ere bottle on a shelf last time I was over there. Says I, Daniel, that may come in useful to you one of these days. So I puts it in my pocket, and here it is. Now I'm going to give this 'ere spy a dose of it, that's what I'm a-going to do. Sleeping dogs can't tell no tales. That's what I say.' The next moment he threw a handkerchief over my head, and then I remember nothing more."
"Nothing more at all, Dick?"
"Oh yes, I do remember more, but not what happened next, or for a long time after that. I think now that they must have done as they proposed, carried the treasure down to the boat first, and then come back for me. They had evidently moored the boat somewhere below the wood. Then I feel sure they rowed us all round the headland to the cove beyond."
"You mean where Daniel's cottage is?"
"Yes, for when I became conscious again I found myself in that cottage, lying on a stone floor in some kind of outhouse. I could see a brush in one corner, and some pieces of wood and a little coal. The door of this back place was left ajar, and I could see a light in the room beyond. The three men were in there, and I think they were drinking, for I heard the clink of glasses and could smell whisky.
"Then I discovered that Clegg and De Jersey were going off almost immediately in a horse and trap which was waiting for them at the door. I think they were disguising themselves, for they were laughing at each other and Clegg told De Jersey that he made a first-rate old woman. I gathered that they were taking the treasure with them, but I also discovered that they were bringing more parcels from some hiding-place in the cottage.
"They had evidently been at work at the castle for some time, and had found the hidden treasure by degrees, and carried pieces as they found them to Daniel's cottage, making him give them a receipt for each bundle. I could hear them checking off these receipts, and counting everything in each parcel. They made a great row about a crucifix which was missing, and at last Daniel brought it from somewhere and said it had been found on the floor.
"After this, there was a great wrangling about money. Daniel wanted more than they had agreed on. He said it was a risky job, and he ought to be well paid, and at last they agreed to give him extra. But there was one thing that they insisted on, and that was that he would stop where he was, so as to give them time to get off abroad with their jewels. 'Some idiot may have seen us together,' said Clegg, 'and then they'll come straight down here. And if they find that young shaver lying in there, it'll be all up with our game. So you've got to stick here, Daniel, until tomorrow night, and let no one come in.'
"'I don't see the fun of that,' said Daniel. 'You two goes off with your riches, and then what will the castle folk do? Why, get the police down, and a warrant with them, and they'll walk in and search the place, and then it's me that's got to be made a convick of, and it's you that gets off scot free.'
"'Now look here,' said Clegg, 'you'll be all right if you'll only do as I tell you. We've turned old Treverton's boat bottom up and sent it out with the tide, and we've fastened this lad's tie on it. They'll find the boat, and they'll be so busy looking for his body that they won't have time to trouble you.'
"'Well,' he said at last, 'pay me some more and I'll stay.'
"They swore and they quarrelled for ever so long over that, but at last they gave in. They paid Daniel the extra money he demanded, and then they asked him what he was planning to do with me. You can fancy how I listened then, Forester. He told them he had his chloroform bottle, and he didn't need them to teach him -- he knew what to do.
"Soon after this I heard them drive away, and presently that wretch Daniel came to get coal, and he kicked me on the head with his boot as he passed by. I was awfully sick, and my head was terribly bad, and soon after I became unconscious again. I can't remember anything of that day or the next. You are sure it was Tuesday night when you found me outside your tent?"
"Quite sure, Dick. Wednesday morning rather, for it was two o'clock."
"I fancy he must have kept me under the influence of chloroform more or less the whole time, and that he gave me a good dose of it just before he left. Whether he stopped as long as he promised them, I don't know. When I came to myself it was dark and all was still. I didn't dare to move for a long time. I was afraid Daniel might be asleep in the next room, and it would wake him. But as time went on I thought I'd go to the cottage door and peep in. But I could see nothing, for there was not a ray of light. I felt so faint I thought I would fall, but I steadied myself against the doorpost. Then I felt for my pocket, for I knew I had a box of matches there. But I found that my coat was gone, and that I had nothing on but an old shirt.
"Then I guessed that when he left, Daniel had taken away my clothes while I was unconscious from the chloroform. I wasn't so frightened then, but made my way to a chair and sat down until I felt better and less faint. Then I felt about on the table, and to my great joy found a box of matches. I struck one or two, and by their light I found his old trousers which he had left on the couch. I put them on, horrid dirty old things."
"I've had great pleasure in making a bonfire of them," said Forester.
"Well, his boots were there too, and I put my feet in them. But they were much too heavy for me, so I settled to come barefoot. The man had evidently taken my boots as well as my clothes."
"Well, Dick, what did you do then?"
"Set out for home, but I never thought I'd get there alive. I fainted several times, and my feet were sore and bleeding. I felt worse than I've ever felt in my life. When I got to the heather I lay a long time in a dead faint, and then when I came to myself I prayed to God to help me to get just as far as your tent."
"And He did help you, Dick."
"Yes, He did. And, oh, Forester, you have been good to me."
"Not at all, Dick, not at all. Now that's the last word I'm going to allow you to speak. Here's your brother Val coming with your beef tea. Now,
what you've got to do is to forget all about what you've told me, and try to get well as soon as you can. Look, your young sister Joyce is coming with the dogs. Now I'm leaving her and Val in charge of you, and going for a walk to clear my head."