CHAPTER IX.
THE MYSTERY OF SHOLTO.
We discussed our discovery pretty thoroughly on the way back to thehouse, and both agreed that it left no doubt upon one aspect of thisstrange affair--the man who stole Sholto was no ordinary thief.
The General was standing on the verandah, looking about for us, as wecame up the beach path. I told him of Garnesk's deductions and theirinteresting result, and the old man was greatly affected.
"I never dreamt I should live to see the old place abused in thisshocking manner," he grunted. "'Pon me soul, it's--it's begaddisgraceful. I've lived here all my life, on and off, and I've neverbeen troubled with anything like this, scarcely so much as a trampeven. I hope to God it'll soon be over, that's all."
"Thanks to Mr. Garnesk, we're moving along in the right direction," Itried to reassure him. "And we have the satisfaction, in one way, ofbeing able to tell Myra that Sholto is still alive, even if we don'tknow where he is."
"Seems to me, Ronald," said the General, "you don't know that, oranything about the poor beast, except that he has been stolen, andprobably taken away in a boat. Judging by Mr. Garnesk's theory, theyprobably threw him overboard in deep water."
"No one who intended destroying a dog would take the trouble to wrenchthe name-plate off his collar," I pointed out. "The dog is alive, andnot unconscious. They need his collar to keep him in hand, but theyare afraid the plate might give them away. Mr. Garnesk is right, I'msure, and if we find the thief we find the cause for Myra's terriblemisfortune."
"Where do you imagine they can have taken him to then? Seems to mewe're getting some pretty queer neighbours."
"That is just what we have to find out," said Garnesk, "and I for onewill not rest until I do."
"'Pon my soul, my dear chap," said the old man warmly, "it's very goodof you to take so much interest in the affairs of total strangers. Itis, indeed, thundering good of you."
"Not at all, General," laughed the visitor. "If you spent your lifetrying to cure fussy ladies of imaginary eye trouble, without puttingit to them that their livers are out of order, you'd welcome this as avery appetising antidote."
"Talking about appetites," his host suggested, "who says breakfast?"
"I fancy we both do," I answered, and we turned indoors.
During breakfast Garnesk announced his determination to devote as muchof the day as necessary to an examination of Myra, and then catch theevening train from Mallaig, but the girl herself rose in rebellion atthis immediately.
"You mustn't do anything of the sort," she declared emphatically."Daddy, tell him he's not to. The idea of coming up here, and lookingat me, and then going away again! It's ridiculous!"
"I assure you, it is ample reward," declared the oculist gallantly,and everybody laughed at the frank compliment.
"But you must fish the river, have a day on the loch. Ron must takeyou in the motor-boat up to Kinlochbourn. Then you've simply got tosee Scavaig and Coruisk--oh! and a hundred other things besides."
Garnesk insisted that, much as he would like to stay, he felt bound toleave at once, but Myra was equally obstinate; and, as was natural,being a woman, she won on a compromise. Garnesk agreed to stay overthe week-end. I was very glad that Myra liked my new friend. She hadbeen very shy of Olvery, but she took an immediate fancy to theGlasgow specialist. She liked his voice, she told me afterwards, andon the second day of his visit she asked him if his sister was verymuch younger than he. Garnesk looked up in surprise.
"One of them is," he replied, "nearly twenty years. What made youask?"
"I guessed it by the way you talk to me," Myra declared confidently.
"The detective instinct seems to be in the air," I laughed.
So when I borrowed Angus's ramshackle old cycle, and went into Glenelgalong a road which is more noteworthy for its picturesqueness than itsnavigable qualities, I left Garnesk to his examination with theknowledge that he would do his utmost, and that she would help him allshe could.
I wired to Dennis: "I can meet you at Mallaig Monday morning. Wirereply.--RONALD." Then I sent a couple of picture postcards to Tommyand Jack, wishing them luck, and explaining that I had not returned tojoin them because Myra was ill. I was sure Dennis would appreciate theurgency of my message, but I worded it carefully, deliberately makingit appear to be the answer to an inquiry, for the reason that it isalways wise to do as little as you can to stimulate local gossip.Anything like "Come at once; most urgent," despatched by one who wasknown to be a visitor at the lodge, would have set the entirecountry-side talking. So I jumped on to Angus's collection of oldmetal, and jolted back again as fast as I could. Garnesk was stillengaged with Myra, and I took the opportunity of a chat with herfather.
"Would you care to see the discoveries we made this morning?" I asked,when I found him in the library.
"Yes, I should indeed, my boy," he responded eagerly, and I think hewas glad of the diversion. "I'll come with you now."
"There is one thing I want to say, sir, before we go any farther."
"What is it?" he asked, looking rather anxiously at me.
"I want to tell you," I said, "that in the event of Myra not regainingher sight I should like your permission to marry her as soon as sheherself wishes it. As you know, I have a small private income, whichis sufficient for my needs in London, and would be more than I shouldrequire up here. If Myra is to be blind, I should like to marry her inorder that I may always be able to take care of her, and I shouldpropose to settle down somewhere near you. I dabble in contributoryjournalism, and I could extend that as far as possible, and I mighteven do pretty well at it. Both she and you would know then that, inthe event of anything happening to you, she would be cared for bysomeone she loves."
"My dear Ronald," exclaimed the old man, affectionately laying a handon my shoulder, "I'm very glad to hear you say that. As a matter offact, whatever happens, I don't care how soon you marry my dear girl.She wants it with all her heart, and I have always been fond of youmyself. The only thing that has held me back up to now is the questionof money, and, possibly, a little selfishness. I'm not a rich man, asyou know, and if it were not for my pension I couldn't even live inmy father's house. But now my one desire is to see my poor little girlhappy, and we'll scrape together a shilling or two somehow. Shakehands, my boy."
We both of us forgot all about the terrible war, and, naturallyenough, the mysterious trouble which faced us then was sufficient forthe moment. Having settled that question at last, I conducted the oldman to the small cove where we had made our first discovery, but webegan by visiting the coach-house. I daresay that to the trained eyethere may have been valuable evidence lying under our very noses, butthe only confused marks which we found on the surrounding groundconveyed nothing to either of us. Later, on our way back to the house,from what we now called "the embarking-point," we came upon a spotwhere the heather had been cut off in fairly large quantities. The oldman stood, and contemplated the shorn stumps for a moment, and shookhis head solemnly. It was not that he had any sentimental regret forthe heather which grew on almost every inch of ground for hundreds ofmiles round, but he objected to the sign of visitors, or, as he wouldhave said, "trippers."
"Who would want to cut heather here?" I asked, for I could not see theslightest reason for gathering anything which could be obtained atyour door wherever you lived in the Highlands.
"Holiday-makers," he said ruefully. "They take rooms in the village,and get it into their heads that the heather in one spot is betterthan anything else for miles round, so they walk out to that spot, andcut some to take away with them when they go back home. I wish they'dalways go back home and stop there."
When I showed the General the keel-marks in the cove and explained tohim in detail how Garnesk had arrived at his conclusions, the old manwas quite awed.
"'Pon me soul, he must be thundering clever, thundering clever," hemuttered. "But it's not healthy, you know, Ronald; in fact, it's begadunhealthy. I've always been a bit scared of these people who
seethings that are not there. Still, I suppose it's the modern way;reading all these detective yarns and so on does it, no doubt."
He was still marvelling at this new mystery when we got back to thehouse to find Myra sitting on the verandah with the specialist, whowas keeping her in fits of laughter with anecdotes of some of hiswealthy women patients.
He sprang up as he saw us approaching, and ran down to meet us.
"I'm certain of one thing," he said excitedly, as he walked betweenus, and answered the General's question. "We have got to solve themystery, and she will see again. This is something new, but it has avery simple solution, which we must find out by hook or by crook.When I know how Miss McLeod lost her sight I shall very likely be ableto find out how to restore it, and I shall also know something thatperhaps no other oculist has ever dreamed of. There isn't theslightest sign of any organic disease, which probably means thatNature will assert herself, and she will eventually regain her sightnaturally. But we mustn't wait for that. We've got to be up and doing.I tell you, sir, I wouldn't have missed this for anything. Have youbeen exploring?"
"We've been having a look at those marks which meant so much to youand conveyed nothing whatever to me, although I was once consideredsomething of a scout," the General admitted.
"Did you find anything fresh?"
"No, only some trippers, as the General calls them, had been cuttingheather," I replied.
"That's not likely to help us much," the oculist agreed, "unless theywere not trippers at all, and were cutting the heather as a blind.What were they like?"
"Oh, we didn't see them. We only saw the results of their iconoclasm.The heather was recently, but not freshly, cut," I replied, and theold man glanced at me with some slight suspicion, as if he feared I,too, was about to take up the deduction business.
"Recent, but not fresh?" muttered Garnesk.
"Now, why should a man who wanted----Good heavens! I've got it."
"What _are_ you dear people getting so excited about?" Myra asked, forby this time we had almost reached the verandah.
"We'll tell you in a minute, dear," I called, and waited for Garneskto explain.
"Of course," he continued, as if thinking aloud, "it's obvious. Theman came ashore in a small boat, picked some heather, and carried itin his arms. Anyone who noticed him would have noticed his load ofheather. Then he stole Sholto, concealed him under the heather, andwas still apparently only carrying a bundle of innocent heath. Why!they seem to have thought of everything, and made no mistake."
"Except that the man was wandering about the country-side, gatheringwild flowers, in his stockinged soles," I pointed out.
"Still, it was almost dark, and he chanced that," said Garnesk.
"What I don't understand about it is this," the General joined in:"Where did he come from to gather this heather? A man must know thatif he is seen to come ashore and pick heather and get into his boatagain he is doing a very curious thing. That boat can only have comefrom Knoydart or Skye at the farthest, and everybody knows youwouldn't take heather there."
"Yes, I'm afraid you're right, General," Garnesk admitted, with asigh of regret, and I was compelled to agree with him.
"I know where he came from, then."
It was said so quietly that it startled us all, though it was Myra whospoke.
"Where, then?" we all asked together.
"He must have come from a yacht."