CHAPTER XXIX
THE MONUMENT
For the remainder of that night, whether rushing home on my bicycle,preparing for rest, lying awake, or even in my sleep, I thought overthe mystery of the disappearance of the speakers in the old chapel.Certainly I went to sleep on the thought, and woke with it. It neverleft me even after breakfast as I rode out towards Crom. It was manifestthat there must be some secret vault or hiding place in the chapel; orit might be that there was some subterranean passage. If the latter,where did it lead to? Where else, unless to the castle; such would bethe natural inference. The very thought made my blood run cold; it wasno wonder that it overspread my mind to the exclusion of all else. Insuch case Marjory's enemies were indeed dangerous, since they held asecret way to her at all times; once within the castle it would not behard to work evil to her.
I thought that this morning I would do a little prospecting on my ownaccount. Accordingly I left my bicycle in the wood and went a longcircuit, keeping in the shadow of the woods where possible, andelsewhere stealing behind the hedgerows, till I got to the far side ofthe hill or spur which came nearest to the old chapel. This was one ofthe hills up whose base the trees ran in flame-shaped patches. Half wayup, the woods ceased, and there was a belt of barrenness--outcroppingrock fringed with green grass. The top, like most of the hills ormounds around the castle, was covered with woods, close-growing massesof pine which made a dusk even in the noonday.
I took my way up the back of the hill and stole through the wood,carefully keeping a watchful look out all round me, for I feared thepresence of either of the sets of spies. At the very top I came upon agood sized circle of masonry, low but heavily built of massive stonescompletely covered with rich green lichen. The circle was some fifteenfeet diameter, and the top was slightly arched as though forming aroof. Leaning over it I could hear a faint trickle of water; this wasevidently the source of the castle supply.
I walked round it, examining it carefully; anything which had any directcommunication with the castle was at present of possibly the supremestimportance. There was no flaw or opening anywhere; and from the unbrokencovering of the stones by the lichen, it was apparent that there hadbeen no disturbance for years.
I sat down on the edge of the stonework and for a long time thought overmatters of probability. If underneath me, as was almost to be takenfor granted, lay the reservoir of the castle, it must have been madecoevally with Crom itself, or even with the older castle on whoseruins it was built. It must be fed by springs in the rock which formedthe base of the hill and cropped out all over it; and if it was notapproachable from without, there must be some way of reaching the waterfrom within. It might be that the chamber which contained the reservoirhad some other entrance from the hill top, or from some lower level.Accordingly I made as I conceived a bee line for the castle, till Icame to the very base of the hill, for I knew that in matters of waterconduit the direct way is always chosen where work has to be done. AsI went, I conned the ground carefully; not merely the surface for thatwas an uniform thick coating of brown pine needles, but the generalconformation. Where a trench has been made, there is ever after sometrace of it to be found. Even if the workmen level the trench mostcarefully there and then, the percolation of rain through the softerbroken earth will make discovery of the change by shrinkage. Here,however, there was no such sign; the ground, so far as one could judge,had never been opened. The trees grew irregularly, and there was no gapsuch as would be, had one ever been removed. Here and there particles ofrock cropped out amongst the pine needles just as anywhere else. If anyopening existed it was not on the direct line between the reservoir andthe castle.
Back again I went to the reservoir, and, using it as a base, began tocast around for some opening or sign. I made circles in all directions,just as a retriever does when looking for a fallen partridge in a drystubble when the scent is killed by heat.
At last I came upon something, though whether or no it might have anypoint of contact with my purpose, I could not at once decide. It was arude monument of some kind, a boulder placed endwise on a slab of rockroughly hewn to form a sort of square plinth. This again was surroundedon the outside, for the whole monument was on the very edge of asteeply-dipping crag, by a few tiers of rough masonry. The stones wereroughly cut and laid together without mortar; or if mortar or cementthere had ever been, time and weather had washed it away. In one respectthis structure was in contrast to that above the reservoir, there wasnot a sign of moss or lichen about it. The trees of the wood came closeup behind it; in front it was shut out from view below by the branchesof a few pine trees which grew crookedly from a precarious footholdamongst the ledges of rock beneath. As I stood in front of it, I couldsee nothing immediately below me; however, when I had scrambled to aledge a few feet lower down, the back wall of the old chapel becamevisible, though partly obscured by trunks and branches of interveningtrees. I searched all over the monument for some inscription, but couldsee none. Then I stood on the plinth to see if there might be anyinscription on the top of the boulder. As I stood, looking over the topof it from the bank, I could just see through a natural alleyway amongstthe tree tops, the top of one corner of the castle, that on the side of,and farthest from the old chapel. As I looked, a bright thought struckme. Here was a place from which one might correspond with the castle,unseen by any one save at the one spot. I determined then and there,that Marjory and I should arrange some method of signalling to oneanother.
Somehow this place impressed me, possibly because it was the only thing,except the reservoir, which seemed to have a purpose in the whole schemeof the hill top. Where there was labour and manifest purpose, there mustsurely be some connection. I examined all round the place minutely,scrambling down the rocks below and on either side, but always keepinga bright look out in case of spies. The only thing I noticed was thatthere seemed a trace of some kind of a pathway through the wood here.It was not sufficiently marked to allow one to accept it with certaintyas a pathway; but there is something about a place which is evenoccasionally trodden, which marks it from its surroundings virgin offootsteps. I could not find where the path ended or where it began. Itseemed to grow from the monument, but here underfoot was stone and hardgravel; and the wind coming over the steep slope swept the fallen pineneedles back amongst the shelter of the trees. After a few hundred yardsany suggestion of a pathway disappeared, lost in the aisles of the pinetrees spreading round on every side. There was no need of a pathway herewhere all was open. Once or twice as I searched the thought came to methat there might be some opening here to a secret way or hiding place;but look how I would, I could not find the faintest trace or suggestionof any opening. In the end I had to take it that the erection was merelya monument or mark of some kind, whose original purpose was probablylost in time.
At last, as the day was well on, I made my way back to where my bicyclewas hidden, always taking care to keep from observation. Then emergingon the road, I went as usual through the old ruined gateway and the longwinding avenue to the castle.
Marjory met me with an anxious look, and hung on to my arm lovingly asshe said:
"Oh, you are late! I have been quite nervous all the morning lestanything should have happened to you!" Mrs. Jack, after we had greeted,discreetly left us alone; and I told my wife of all that I had thoughtsince we had parted, and of what I had seen on the hill top. She wasdelighted at the idea of a means of signalling; and insisted on mycoming at once to the roof to make further arrangements and discoveries.
We found the spot which I had indicated admirably adapted for ourpurpose. One could sit on the stone roof, well back from the wall, andthrough one of the openings in the castellation see the top of themonument amongst the tree tops; and could yet be unobserved oneself fromany other spot around. The angles of the castellation of the variouswalls shut out the tops of the other hills or mounds on every side.As the signs of our code were already complete we had only to fix onsome means of signalling 'A' and 'B'. This we did by deciding that bydaylight
A should be signified by red and B by white and at night A byred and B by green. Thus by daylight two pocket handkerchiefs of redand white or two flowers of white and red; or a piece of paper anda red leaf or flower would suffice. We fixed on colour as the bestrepresentative, as the distance made simplicity necessary. By night anordinary bicycle lamp with the lens covered could be used; the ordinaryred and green side lights could be shown as required. Then and there wearranged that that very afternoon when I had left the castle I shouldsteal back to the monument and we should make a trial of our signalling.
Then we talked of other things. Alone there on the roof we could talkfreely; and the moments flew swiftly by in a sweet companionship. Evenif the subjects which we had to discuss were grim ones of danger andintrigue; of secret passages and malignant enemies; of spies andpossibilities of harm to one or both of us, still mutuality of ourtroubles and dangers made their existence to us sweet. That we sharedin common even such matters was dear to us both. I could not but beconscious of Marjory's growing love for me; and if I had to restrainmyself now and again from throwing my arms round her and pressing herbeautiful body close to me and sweeping her face with kisses, I wasrepaid when, as we descended she put both her hands in mine and said:
"Oh Archie! you are good to me! and--and--I love you so!" Then she sankinto my arms and our mouths met in a long, loving kiss.
We decided that as there must be some hidden opening in the old chapel,we should make search for it the next day. I was to come soon aftersunrise, for this we judged would be the time when the spies of bothkinds would least expect movement from the castle. I was to come by thegrass path between the trees into the old chapel where she would meetme and we should make our investigations together.
After tea I came away. Marjory came out on the steps with me to see meoff. As we bade each other good-bye she said aloud in case any one mightbe listening:
"Remember, you are to come to tea to-morrow and to bring me the book. Iam quite anxious to know how it ends. It is too bad of the librarian notto send us all the volumes at once!"
When I got to the road I hid my bicycle in the old place, and tookmy way secretly to the monument. Marjory had been much struck by thesuggestion of the footpath, and, woman-like, had made up her mind on thesubject. She had suggested that we should test whether any one came orwent by it, and to this end gave me a spool of the finest thread so thatI might lay a trap. Before I should leave the place I was to stretchthreads across it here and there between the tree trunks. If on the nextvisit I should find them broken, we might take it that some one had beenthere.
From the top of the boulder I made signal and was immediately answered.My own signal was simply the expression of my heart's feeling:
"I love you, my wife!" The answer came quickly back filling me with joy:
"I love you, my husband! Don't forget me! Think of me!"
CHAPTER XXX
THE SECRET PASSAGE
That night was one of rest. I was physically tired out, and after I hadposted a few letters to merchants in Aberdeen, giving orders for variousgoods to be sent at once to Whinnyfold, I went to bed and slept till theearly morning. I got up at daylight, and after my morning swim rode offto Crom. Again I left my bicycle in the wood and took my way round tothe back of the hill and up through the wood to the monument beyond thereservoir. It was still early morning, as it is counted in the cities,though the sun was well up. I went with extra caution, stealing fromtree to tree; for I knew nothing of the locality of the watchers atthis hour. I saw no sign of anyone; and coming at last to where therudimentary pathway lay, examined carefully where I had placed the firstthread. As I did so I straightened myself quickly and looked round withapprehension. The thread was broken across, though the two ends weretied where I had placed them!
With a beating heart I examined all the others in turn, with the sameresult. It was quite evident that some one, or some thing had passedalong the track. In spite of my concern I rejoiced, for something hadbeen found. It was at least probable that there was a regular routesomewhere at hand. Accordingly I prepared my traps afresh, this timeplacing them in various directions, and at irregular distances along thepath and all round the monument. I might thus be able to trace theexact route of anyone who might disturb them. This done, and it tooksome time, I went back to the wood, and thence rode to the castle.
Marjory was eager for news, but it thrilled me to see that her eagernesswas not all from this cause; hour by hour I found myself growing in heraffection. When I told her of the broken threads, she clapped her handswith delight; the hunter spirit hereditary in her was pleased. She gaveher opinion that on the next morning I should be able to locate theentrance to the passage, if one there was. In the midst of her speakingthus she stopped; a bright, keen light came into her eyes, and her browsknitted.
"Why," she said, "how stupid I am. I never once thought of doing thesame at my end. Yesterday, after you left, I spent an hour in the oldchapel and went over every inch of it; but it never occurred to me to dothere what you had gone to do at the monument. If I had done so, I mightthis morning have been able to discover the secret of the disappearanceof the kidnappers. I shall take good care to do it this evening."