Scarhaven Keep by J. S. Fletcher (best value ebook reader TXT) 📕

“I think I can see through all this,” he said. “Chatfield’s cryptic utterances were somewhat suggestive. ‘Robbed’⁠—‘maltreated’⁠—‘them as ought to have fallen in humble gratitude at his feet’⁠—‘vengeance’⁠—‘revenge’⁠—‘Marconi telegrams’⁠—‘ungrateful devils’⁠—ah, I see it! Chatfield had associates on the Pike⁠—probably the impostor himself and Andrius⁠—probably, too, he had property of his own, as you suggested to him, Copplestone. The whole gang was doubtless off with their loot to far quarters of the globe. Very good⁠—the other members have shelved Chatfield. They’ve done with him. But⁠—not if he knows it! That man will hunt the Pike and her people⁠—whoever they are⁠—relentlessly when he gets off this.”

“I wish we knew what it is that we’re on!” said Copplestone.

“Impossible till daybreak,” replied Vickers. “But I’ve an idea⁠—this is probably one of the seventy-odd islands of the Orkneys: I’ve sailed round here before. If I’m right, it’s most likely one of the outlying and uninhabited ones. Andrius⁠—or his controlling power⁠—has dropped us⁠—and Chatfield⁠—here, knowing that we may have to spend a few days on this island before we succeed in getting off. Those few days will mean a great deal to the Pike. She can be run into some safe harbourage on this coast, given a new coat of paint and a new name, and be off before we can do anything to stop her. I allow Chatfield to be right in this⁠—that my perhaps too hasty declaration to Andrius revealed to that gentleman how he could make off with other people’s property.”

“Nothing will make me believe that Andrius is the solely responsible person for this last development,” said Copplestone, moodily. “There were other people on board⁠—cleverly concealed. And what are we going to do?”

Audrey had stepped away from the circle of light made by the lantern and was gazing steadily in the direction which Chatfield had taken.

“Those are cliffs, surely,” she said presently. “Hadn’t we better go up the beach and see if we can’t find some shelter until morning? Fortunately we’re all warmly clad, and Andrius was considerate enough to throw rugs and things into the boat, as well as provisions. Come along!⁠—after all, we’re not so badly off. And we have the satisfaction of knowing that we can keep Chatfield under observation. Remember that!”

But in the morning, when the first gleam of light came across the sea, and Vickers, leaving his companions to prepare some breakfast from the store of provisions which had been sent ashore with them, set out to make a first examination of their surroundings, the agent was not to be seen. What was to be seen was a breach of rock, sand, shingle, not a mile in length, lying at the foot of high cliffs, and on the grey sea in front not a sign of a sail, nor a wisp of smoke from a passing steamer. The apparent solitude and isolation of the place was as profound as the silence which overhung everything.

Vickers made his way up the cliffs to their highest point and from its summit took a leisurely view of his surroundings. He saw at once that they were on an island, and that it was but one of many which lay spread out over the sea towards the north and the west. It was a wedge-shaped island this, and the cliffs on which he stood and the beach beneath formed the widest side of it; from thence its lines drew away to a point in the distance which he judged to be two miles off. Between him and that point lay a sloping expanse of rough land, never cultivated since creation, whereon there were vast masses of rock and boulder but no sign of human life. No curling column of smoke went up from hut or cottage; his ears caught neither the bleating of sheep nor the cry of shepherd⁠—all was still as only such places can be still. Nor could he perceive any signs of life on the adjacent islands⁠—which, to be sure, were not very near. From the sea mists which wrapped one of them he saw projecting the cap of a mountainous hill⁠—that hill he recognized as being on one of the principal islands of the group, and he then knew that he and his companions had been set down on one of the outlying islands which, from its position, was not in the immediate way of passing vessels nor likely to be visited by fishermen.

He was turning away from the top of the cliff after a long and careful inspection, when he caught sight of a man’s figure crossing the rocky slope between him and this far-off point. That, he said to himself, was Chatfield. Did Chatfield know of any place at that point visited by fishing craft from the other islands? Had Chatfield ever been in the Orkneys before? Was there any method in his wanderings? Or was he, too, merely examining his surroundings⁠—considering which was the likeliest part of the island from which to attract attention? In the midst of these speculation a sudden resolution came to him⁠—one or other of the three must keep an eye on Chatfield. Night or day, Chatfield must be watched. And having already seen that Copplestone and Audrey had an unmistakable liking for each other’s society and would certainly not object to being left together, he determined to watch Chatfield himself. Hurrying down the cliffs, he hastily explained the situation to his companions, took some food in his hands, and set out to follow the agent wherever he went.

Half an hour later, when Vickers regained the top of the cliff and once more looked across the island towards the far-off point, the figure which he had previously seen making for it had turned back, and was plodding steadily across the coarse grass and rock-strewn moorland in his own direction. Chatfield had evidently taken a bird’s eye view of the situation from the vantage point of the slope and had