i read don escoban’s narrative over and over again, till i had thoroughly mastered every detail of it; then i studied the key of the number cipher till i had it by heart. i had an instinct that memory on this subject would be a help and a safety to me now or hereafter. for now new doubts had begun to assail me. what i had learned was in reality a state secret and had possible consequences or eventualities which, despite the lapse of three centuries, might prove far-reaching and dangerous. the treasure in question was so vast, its purpose so definite, and its guardianship so jealously protected against time and accident, that there was but little chance of forgetfulness regarding it. i was not assailed by moral scruples in any way. the treasure had been amassed and dedicated to the undoing of england; and for those who had gathered it and sent it forth i had no concern. that it had been hidden in britain by britain’s enemies during time of war surely deprived them of all right to recover by legal means. what the law might be on the subject i did not know, and till i knew i cared little. it was a case of “finders keepers,” and if i could find it first i held myself justified in using it to my own purposes. all the same i made up my mind to look up the law of treasure trove, which i had a hazy idea was in a pretty uncertain condition. at first none of these issues troubled me. they were indeed side[123] issues till the treasure should be found; when they would become of prime importance. i had felt that my first step to winning the hand of marjory anita was to read the cipher. this i had done; and in the doing had made discovery of a secret of such a nature that it might place me beyond the dreams of avarice, and in a position to ask any girl in the world to marry me. i believe that i regarded the treasure as already my own; as much as though i had already recovered it from the bowels of the earth.
early in the morning i took my way to whinnyfold, bringing with me a pocket compass so that i could locate the exact spot where the mouth of the cave had been closed. i knew of course that even granite rocks cannot withstand untouched the beating of three centuries of stormy sea, the waste of three hundred summers and winters, and the thousands of nights of bitter frost and days of burning sun which had come to pass since the entrance of the cave had been so rudely shaken down. but i was, i confess, not prepared for the utter annihilation which had come to every trace of its whereabouts. time after time the sea had bitten into the land; and falling rocks, and creeping verdure, and drifting sand had changed the sea-front beyond all recognition.
i did what i could, however, to take the bearings of the place as laid down by don de escoban by walking along the top of the cliff, beginning at the very edge of witsennan point till i reached a spot where the south end of the outer rock of the skares stood out.
then to my surprise i found that it was as near as possible in the direction of my own house. in fact when i looked at the plan which the local surveyor had made of my house i found that the northern wall made a bee line for the south end of the main rock of the skares. as it was manifest that what had originally[124] been the front of the cave had fallen in and been partly worn and worked away, my remaining hope was that the cave itself lay under part of my ground if not under the house itself. this gave a new feature to the whole affair. if my surmise were correct i need not hurry at all; the safest thing i could do would be to quietly make an opening from my house into the cave, and explore at leisure. all seemed clear for this proceeding. the workmen who had done the building were gone, and the coming of the decorators had not yet been fixed. i could therefore have the house to myself. as i went back to the hotel, i planned out in my mind how i should get from glasgow or aberdeen proper implements for digging and cutting through the rock into the house; these would be sent in cases, so that no one would suspect what i was undertaking. the work would have to be done by myself if i wished to preserve secrecy. i had now so much to tell marjory when we should meet that i felt i should hardly know where to begin, and the business side of my mind began to plan and arrange so that all things might come in due order and to the best effect.
when i got to the hotel i found awaiting me a letter from marjory which had come by the last post. i took it away to my room and locked the door before opening it. it had neither address nor date, and was decidedly characteristic:
“my dear sir: mrs. jack asks me to write for her to say that we shall be leaving braemar on tuesday. we shall be staying at the fife arms hotel, and she will be very happy if you will breakfast with us at nine o’clock a. m. room no. 16. this is all of course in case you care to ride down to aberdeen. we are breakfasting so early as the ride is long, sixty miles, and mrs. jack[125] thinks that i should have a rest at least twice on the way. as i believe you know the road, she will be glad if you will kindly arrange our stopping places. mrs. jack will leave braemar at about three o’clock and drive down to ballater to catch the half-past five train. she asks me to say that she hopes you will pardon her for the trouble she is giving you, and to impress on you that in case you would rather not come, or should anything occur to prevent you, she will quite understand a telegram with the single word ‘regret.’ by the way she will be obliged if you will kindly not mention her name—either her surname or her christian name—before any of the people—strangers or hotel people, at braemar or during the journey—or indeed during the day. believe me,
yours very truly,
“marjory anita.”
“p.s.—how about the cipher; have you reduced the biliteral, or got any clue yet?
“p.p.s.—i don’t suppose that anything, unless it be really serious, will prevent your coming. mrs. jack is so looking forward to my having that bicycle ride.
“p.p.p.s.—have you second-sighted any ships yet? or any more white flowers—for the dead?”
for long i sat with the letter in my hand after i had read it over and over again many many times. each time i read it its purpose seemed more luminous. it may have been that my old habit of a year ago of finding secret meanings in everything was creeping back to me. i thought and thought; and the introspective habit made me reason out causes even in the midst of imaginative flights. “might not” i thought “it be possible that there be minor forms of second sight; day dreams based on some great effort of truth. in the real world there are manifestations of life in lower as well as higher forms;[126] and yet all alike are instinct with some of that higher principle which divides the quick and the dead. the secret voices of the brain need not always speak in thunder; the dream-painter within us need not always have a full canvas for the exercise of his craft.”
on tuesday morning when at nine o’clock to the minute i went to the fife arms at braemar, i found marjory alone. she came forward with a bright, frank smile and shook hands. “it’s real good to see you” was all she said. presently she added:
“mrs. jack will be here in a minute or two. before she comes, it is understood that between this and aberdeen and indeed for to-day, you and i are only to be comrades.”
“yes!” said i, and then added: “without prejudice!” she showed her pearly teeth in a smile as she answered:
“all right. without prejudice! be it so!” then mrs. jack came in, and having greeted me warmly, we sat down to breakfast. when this was over, marjory cut a good packet of sandwiches and tied them up herself. these she handed to me saying:
“you will not mind carrying these. it will be nicer having our lunch out than going to a hotel; don’t you think so?” needless to say i cordially acquiesced. both our bicycles were ready at the door, and we lost no time in getting under weigh. indeed my companion showed some anxiety to be off quickly, as though she wished to avoid observation.
the day was glorious. there was bright sunshine; and a sky of turquoise with here and there a flock of fleecy clouds. the smart easterly breeze swept us along as though we were under sail. the air was cool and the road smooth as asphalt, but with the springiness of well-packed gravel. with the least effort of pedalling we simply[127] seemed to fly. i could see the exhilaration on my companion’s face as clearly as i could feel it in my own nature. all was buoyancy, above, below, around us; and i doubt if in all the wide circle of the sun’s rays there were two such glad hearts as marjory’s and my own.
as we flew along, the lovely scenery on either hand seemed like an endless panorama. of high mountains patched with heather which here and there, early in the year as it was, broke out in delicate patches of pink; of overarching woods whose creaking branches swaying in the wind threw kaleidoscopic patterns of light along our way; of a brown river fed by endless streams rushing over a bed of stones which here and there lifted their dark heads through the foam of the brown-white water; of green fields stretching away on either side of the river or rising steeply from our feet to the fringes of high-lying pines or the black mountains which rose just beyond; of endless aisles of forest where, through the dark shade of the brown trunks, rose from the brown mass of long-fallen pine needles which spread the ground below, and where patches of sunlight fell in places with a seemingly intolerable glare! then out into the open again where the sunlight seemed all natural and even the idea of shade unreal. down steep hills where the ground seemed to slide back underneath our flying wheels, and up lesser hills, swept without effort by the wind behind us and the swift impetus of our pace.
after a while the mountains before us, which at first had seemed like an unbroken line of frowning giants barring our course, seemed to open a way to us. round and round we swept, curve after curve yielding and falling back and opening new vistas; till at the last we passed into the open gap between the hills around ballater. here in the face of possible danger we began to crawl cautiously down the steep hill to the town. mrs. jack[128] had proposed that we should make our first halt at ballater. as, however, we put on pace again at the foot of the hill marjory said:
“oh do not let us stop in a town. i could not bear it just after that lovely ride through the mountains.”
“agreed!” i said “let us push on! that twenty miles seems like nothing. beyond cambus-o-may there is a lake on the northern side; we can ride round it and come back to the road again at dinnet. if you like we can have our lunch in the shelter of a lovely wood at the far side of it.”
“that will be enchanting!” she said, and the happy girlish freshness of her voice was like a strain of music which suited well the scene. when we had passed ballater and climbed the hill up to the railway bridge we stopped to look back; and in sheer delight she caught hold of my arm and stood close to me. and no wonder she was moved, for in the world there can be few places of equal beauty of a similar kind. right above us to the right, and again across the valley, towered mountains of rich brown with patches of purple and lines of green; and in front of us in the centre of the amphitheatre, two round hills, looming large in a delicate mist, served as portals to the valley which trended upward between the hills beyond. the road to braemar seemed like a veritable road of mystery, guarded by an enchanted gate. with a sigh we turned our backs on all this beauty, and skirting the river, ran by cambus-o-may and between woods of pine in an opening vista of new loveliness. eastward before us lay a mighty sweep of hill and moor, backed on every side by great mountains which fell away one behind the other into misty distance of delicate blue. at our feet far below, lay two spreading lakes of sapphire hue, fringed here and there with woods, and dotted with little islands whose trees bent down to the water’s[129] edge. marjory stood rapt for awhile, her breast heaving and her face glowing. at last she turned to me with a sigh; her beautiful eyes were bright with unshed tears as she said:
“oh, was there ever in the world anything so beautiful as this country! and was there ever so exquisite a ride as ours to-day!”
does ever a man love a woman more than when she shows herself susceptible to beauty, and is moved to the fulness and simplicity of emotion which is denied to his own sex? i thought not, as marjory and i swept down the steep road and skirted by the crystal lakes of ceander and davan to the wood in which we were to have our al fresco lunch. here, sheltered from the wind, the sunshine seemed too strong to make sitting in the open pleasant; and we were glad to have the shade of the trees. as we sat down and i began to unpack the luncheon, marjory said:
“and now tell me how you have been getting on with the cipher.” i stood still for so long that she raised her head and took a sharp glance of surprise at me.
in the charm of her presence i had absolutely forgotten all about the cipher and what might grow from it.