Mrs. May sat out on the lawn before the rose-garlanded windows of hersitting room. A Japanese umbrella was over her dainty head, a scentedcigarette between her lips. For some time she had been long andearnestly sweeping the sea with a pair of binoculars.
She rose at length and made her way down the garden. There was a ruggedpath at the bottom, terminating in a thicket that overhung the cliffs.
Here it would be possible for a dozen men to hide without the slightestchance of being discovered. Nobody ever went there by any chance. Shadedfrom the house, Mrs. May paused.
A softened whistle came from her lips, and then there came from theground the dusky form of the man who called himself Ben Heer. Hesalaamed profoundly.
"Well!" the woman demanded impatiently. "Well?"
"Well, indeed, my mistress," the sham Ben Heer replied calmly. "It fellout as you arranged. Behold a puff of wind carried away the masts, andbehold the oars came into fragments. Then the boat began to fill and nowlies bottom upward at the foot of the cliff."
"But he might have been a powerful swimmer."
"He was no swimmer at all. I saw everything."
"It was not possible for him to be picked up?"
"Not possible, my mistress. There was no boat, no sail to be seen. Theboat foundered and there was an end of it. I waited for some time and Isaw no more."
Mrs. May nodded carelessly. She might have been receiving theintelligence of the drowning of a refractory puppy. She betrayed neitherregret nor satisfaction.
"Of course, they will guess," she said. "When they come to examine theboat and the oars they will see at once that there has been foul play.Once more they will know that the enemy has struck a blow."
"My mistress is all powerful," Ben Heer murmured.
"They will try to trace us once more, Ben Heer."
The sham Asiatic shrugged his shoulders carelessly.
"And they will fail," he said. "They know not the powers arrayed againstthem; the dogs know not my gracious mistress. Meanwhile thy slave cansee through the bushes that somebody awaits your presence."
Mrs. May glanced in the direction indicated by Ben Heer. On the lawnRupert Ravenspur was standing. The woman smiled. There was the head ofthe hated house actually seeking out the foe.
"Your eyes are sharper than mine," she said. "Well, you have need ofthem. Meanwhile you had better discreetly disappear for the time."
Mrs. May advanced to greet her guest. He bowed with his old-fashionedgrace.
"This is an unexpected honor," the woman said.
"I can claim nothing on the score of politeness or gallantry," RupertRavenspur replied. He was quiet and polished as usual, but there was alook of deep distress on his face. "I came here not to see you, but inthe faint hope of finding my nephew Geoffrey. I have ascertained that hecame to see you sometimes."
"He has been so good," Mrs. May murmured. "I assure you I appreciate thecompany of a gentleman in this deserted spot."
"Then he has not been here to-day?"
"I have not had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Geoffrey to-day."
Ravenspur groaned. He turned his face away ashamed that a woman shouldsee him in a moment of weakness. Out of the corner of her eye sheregarded him. There was not a drop of pity in her heart for him.
"I hope you don't anticipate anything wrong," she said. "Mr. Geoffrey isnot a boy that he cannot----"
"Oh, you do not understand! It is not that at all. In ordinarycircumstances I could trust Geoffrey to the end of the world. He is agood fellow, and capable of taking care of himself and upholding thefamily honor. But others as strong and more cunning have fallen beforethe dreaded foe, until all confidence has left us. I fear much that harmhas come to Geoffrey."
"But surely in the broad daylight----"
"Daylight or darkness, it is the same. You know nothing of the boy?"
"Nothing, save that he was going fishing to-day."
Ravenspur started.
"Oh," he cried. "Then I shall soon know the worst. I am sorry to havetroubled you; I will go down to the beach. The others are searching inall directions. Nobody will return to the house until we know the lad'sfate."
Ravenspur bowed and was gone. Mrs. May smiled after him. So the castlewas going to be left for the time being.
"This is a chance not to be lost," she murmured. "The full run of thecastle! Fate is playing into my hands with a vengeance."
Full of the wildest apprehensions, Ravenspur made his way to the beach.It was no easy task for a man of his years, but he made light of it, ashe used to half a century ago. Two fishermen coming up touched theirhats.
"Have you been out to the west of Gull Point to-day?" Ravenspur asked.
"No, sir," was the reply. "Not one of us. The mackerel came in from theeast, and there were so many we had every bottom afloat. I did hear asMr. Geoffrey had gone out in the West Bay, but I can't say for sure."
Again Ravenspur groaned; no longer had he the least doubt about whathad happened. There had been more foul play, and Geoffrey had gone downunder the dark waters. The old man's heart was full to bursting, but hisgrief was for Vera more than for himself.
"I am afraid there has been another of those tragedies that are somournfully identified with our name," he said. "Wass and Watkins, willyou come with me?"
The fishermen dropped the brown tangled nets upon their shoulders andfollowed. They were all tenants, vassals almost, of the Ravenspurs andready to do their bidding. The foe would have had a hard time did hefall into the clutches of these veterans.
"I am going down to search the beach," Ravenspur explained. "I know thatmy nephew went out fishing this afternoon. I shall know his fate soon."
It was some time before anything was found. Wass came stumbling over therocks, and there in a clear pool he saw the boat bottom upward. At thecry of dismay that came from him, Watkins hurried up.
"Give a hand with the painter, Bill," Wass said hoarsely. "There's theboat right enough with a good round hole under the gunwale."
Ravenspur watched in silence. He saw the boat beached; he saw the holein her side. Wass pointed to the mast where it had been sawn off.
"Poor young gentleman," he exclaimed with a hearty outburst of grief."And to think that we shall never see him again. Look at this, sir."
"The mast seems to have been sawn off," said Ravenspur.
"Almost off, sir," said Watkins. "Enough to give if a puff of wind came.And that hole has been plugged with soft glue or something of the kind.If I could only lay a hand on 'em!"
He shook his fist in the air in impotent rage; tears filled his eyes.Ravenspur stood motionless. He was trying to bring the force of thetragedy home to himself, trying to shape words to tell Vera withoutcutting her to the heart. He was long past the more violent emotions.
He turned to Wass like a man in a dream.
"Go up to the castle," he said. "See my son Gordon and bid him comehere. They must all come down, all aid in the search. Not a word more;please go."