All crowded into the hall, where Mr. Stewart was standing with an open telegram in his hand.
The laird was looking very grave.
'Most unfortunate,' he said. 'Neil has done a very foolish thing. He has broken out of the County Gaol and disappeared. I regret extremely that it should have happened. It will prejudice many people against him.'
Mrs. Stewart was looking extremely concerned; and the young people crowded together in speechless dismay.
'Puir Neil,' said Duncan in the background, 'he said he would not go to Edinburgh to pring disgrace on his family whateffer.'
'He would have done far better to have gone up for his trial,' said Mr. Stewart.—'Good morning, Dr. MacGregor'—for the doctor had come in to hear the news, having been summoned from a visit in the neighbourhood—'unfortunate affair this; it's a pity Neil couldn't have been more patient.'
The doctor read the telegram and looked extremely disappointed.
'Foolish fellow!' he exclaimed. 'If the lad was innocent he should have stayed to see the thing out; he has only made things a dozen times worse for himself by doing this.'
'But, Father,' said Marjorie, 'Neil couldn't have taken the letters; they are sure to find out that he is innocent.'
The doctor was looking angry.
'He has made it far more difficult for his friends to see him through,' he declared. 'Foolish, foolish lad; I have no patience with him;' and the doctor strode out of the hall and away to his gig with a disappointed expression of countenance.
Mrs. Stewart looked kindly at the dismayed faces of the young people.
'I am sure,' she said, 'that Neil did not realise what he was doing,' and here she looked at her husband; 'he was hurt and disappointed at finding that some of the people were able to believe that he could have done such a thing, and that made him think that he might not get justice. It is a great pity, but those who have known Neil all his life would never believe him capable of dishonesty.'
'Of course not,' said the laird kindly, 'and I only regret that Neil did not wait to see the thing out, as I am convinced that some evidence would have turned up which would have{74}enabled us to prove his innocence. As it is, he remains under a cloud, and it will be a great grief to his mother.'
The young people went out, feeling very much discouraged, and wandered down to the seashore, Laddie following with drooping ears and tail. Mechanically they seated themselves upon the beach to discuss the position of affairs, but no one seemed to have anything to suggest.
'Well,' said Marjorie at last, digging holes in the sand with a sharp-pointed shell; 'what are we to do now?'
Allan pushed his cap on to the back of his head, and Reggie looked thoughtful; but they did not reply.
It was a beautiful morning, and the distant hills showed the first flush of heather where the light fell upon them. Right in front the waves were glancing like silver, and beyond the ripples the island of the Den stood out invitingly clear.
Tricksy, who had been gazing wistfully across the water, suddenly melted into tears.
'All our fun spoilt,' she said, with the big drops rolling down her face; 'what a horrid, horrid summer we are going to have, and poor Neil——
'Buck up, Tricksy,' said Allan; 'the bottom hasn't tumbled out of the Universe yet.'
Laddie, who had been looking with a concerned expression at his young friends, rose up and thrust his nose under Tricksy's hand, wagging his tail in an encouraging manner.
'Good old dog, good Laddie,' said Allan, patting the dog's rough coat; 'he is telling us that we must not give in.'
Laddie pricked up his ears, and went from one to another of the group, endeavouring to rouse them from their despondency.
'Poor Laddie, good Laddie,' said Marjorie, caressing him and feeling a lump in her throat.
'Laddie, dear, don't lick me in the face—you're knocking me over, Laddie!' cried Tricksy, as her big pet became more demonstrative.
When Laddie had been induced to sit down, which he did with the expression of a dog convinced that his endeavours had been crowned with success, Allan resumed: 'Well, we must remember that we've made a compact, and we've got to stick to it and help Neil somehow, although it looks pretty difficult at present.'
A murmur of approval went round the group.
'Yes,' said Tricksy, sitting with knitted brows; 'but we don't seem to be doing anything.'
The others were silent.
'What would you have us do, Tricksy?' inquired Allan.
'Do? I'd do something.'
'Well?'
Tricksy's face puckered again.
'I'd catch some of the people.'
'Well, Tricksy, and how?'
'I'd dig holes for them to fall into.'
Reggie uttered a contemptuous 'humph.'
'You'd dig holes for them, would you, Tricksy, said Allan; 'how could you tell whether you had caught the right one?'
'I'd catch them all until I came to the right one. I'd make them tell me what they'd been doing, and then let the wrong one go.'
No one had any reply to make.
Tricksy looked extremely mortified.
'Well, anyhow,' said Allan, springing to his feet, 'we aren't doing Neil any good by sitting here; let's go to Rob MacLean's cottage and see whether he can help us.'
Rob MacLean was Neil's second cousin, and the proposition met with approval.
The short, black-haired Highlander was working in his garden, and came forward to greet his visitors with true Gaelic courtesy.
'How do you do, young ladies and gentlemen?' he said; 'it iss ferry proud to see you that I am. Come in, and it is ferry pleased that Mistress MacLean will pe.'
In the dark, smoky hut the party were accommodated with seats, and Mrs. MacLean went to fetch milk and oat-cakes according to Highland ideas of hospitality.
'You will pe out early,' said Rob MacLean. 'Ferry fine day this, and exercise iss good for the health.'
'Yes, Mr. MacLean,' said Allan abruptly; 'we came to speak to you about Neil.'
Instantly the Highlander's countenance underwent a change.
'You hev?' he said. 'Poor Neil, it iss a ferry bad business whateffer; a ferry bad business for the puir lad.'
'Yes,' replied Allan, 'of course we don't believe that Neil had anything to do with robbing the post-office.'
'That iss right, Master Allan; that is right,' said the Highlander. 'No, puir lad; no one who will pe knowing him will hev been pelieving that of him; and it wass ferry hard that efferything went against him at the trial, whateffer.'
'Well, Mr. MacLean, we came to see whether you could help us,' said Allan; 'we have made a compact, and promised not to rest until we have found out that Neil didn't really do it, and have him brought home again.'
'Proud to hear you say so, Mr. Allan;' broke out the Highlander; 'and hev you ahl made a compact, the young ladies too?'
'Yes,' replied Tricksy, dimpling; 'we are all in it; Marjorie and I, and even Laddie.—Down, Laddie; don't jump up on me,' as the collie, who had been sitting with an amiable expression in the centre of the group, sprang up and put one paw on her knee.
'Ferry proud indeed that you should hev done so,' repeated Mr. MacLean.—'My tear,' he added, turning to his wife, who had re-entered the cottage with a pitcher of milk; 'these young ladies and gentlemen will hev been making a compact that they will help Neil, and prove that he hass not committed the robbery.'
The woman, who knew very little English, replied in Gaelic, and the young folk took up that language, somewhat to the relief of MacLean, who prided himself on his knowledge of the Saxon tongue but found it easier to sustain a conversation in his own.
'That would be a great comfort to Neil, did he only know of it, and to his mother too,' he said. 'Poor lad, I wish we could send him a message.'
'Does any one know where he has gone?' inquired Reggie.
'Some one must know, Master Reggie, since he could hardly have got clear away without help; but we do not know how he managed his escape. Some say that he went away with the gipsies that left Inchkerra the day of the trial, for they put in at Stornwell harbour that same night; and others think that it was smugglers who helped him. He will no doubt try to escape to America; but the poor lad stands a thousand chances of being caught before he gets there.'
'Oh, I hope not,' cried the girls.
'I don't know, young ladies. If there was any chance of his being cleared, it might be better for him to stand his trial. It is a very strange thing indeed, how everything seemed to point to his being guilty.'
'Then do you think some one has been trying to make him appear so?'
'I don't know, Master Reggie. It is very mysterious indeed who can have done it. The police made an inspection of the gipsy camp, but there seemed to be no evidence against them. Well, we are all very pleased that you are so kindly disposed towards Neil, and we can only hope that you or some one else may be able to find out who really did it. If you must go, young ladies and gentlemen, will you not look in at Mrs. Macdonnell's cottage and tell her that you have resolved to help Neil? Poor soul, she is very sorrowful, and it might comfort her to know what true friends her son has.'
'Do you think she would care to be disturbed to-day?' said Marjorie, somewhat doubtfully.
'I think she would be very glad to see you, Miss Marjorie, when you come on such an errand.'
Mrs. MacLean said nothing; but she filled the young people's pockets with oat-cakes, and stood watching them as they walked soberly along the path.
'It's too late to go to Mrs. Macdonnell before dinner-time,' said Allan, who seemed to be glad of an excuse to postpone so trying an interview. 'You'd better come with us, Hamish and Marjorie; it's half-past twelve now; much too late for you to go home.'
Places were found for the MacGregors at the hospitable table of Ardnavoir; and after dinner, Tricksy drew her mother aside, while Marjorie lingered to hear what Mrs. Stewart would say.
'Mummie,' said Tricksy, 'Rob MacLean wants us to go and see Mrs. Macdonnell and tell her that we don't believe that Neil stole the letters. Do you think we can go?'
'Perhaps you might, as Rob wishes you to do so,' replied her mother. 'Don't stay long, and don't talk much, for, poor woman, this has been a terrible blow to her. Give her your message, and then say good-bye.'
'Do you think we need to go too?' said Allan, as the young people were discussing their intention.
'Of course we must all be there,' declared Marjorie; 'it will encourage her when she sees that we have all joined the compact.'
'Whatever are you doing that for?' asked Allan, when he saw his little sister gathering flowers in the garden.
'They are for Mrs. Macdonnell,' said Tricksy, looking up with her soft, dark eyes; 'I think she would be glad if we brought her some.'
Allan said nothing, and Reggie's dark face looked approving.
A walk of a mile or two brought the young folk to the heather-roofed cottage where Mrs. Macdonnell lived. A dog rushed out and barked, but wagged his tail when he saw who the visitors were.
'Neil's dog,' said Allan; 'look how he speaks to Laddie. Poor Jock; poor old fellow; come here.'
'Where's your master, Jock; where's Neil?' said Reggie in a low voice, as the dog came up to be petted.
They knocked at the outer door, but there was no answer. After a moment's hesitation, they pushed it open and knocked at the door of the kitchen.
'Come in,' said a faint voice; and they entered.
A woman was sitting by the peat fire, with her neglected spinning-wheel beside her. She was strikingly handsome, in spite of her mournful expression and dejected attitude. Her black hair, as yet only slightly touched with grey waved on either side of a broad low forehead, and she had a straight nose like Neil's and a beautifully shaped face; but the eyes which she raised at the children's entrance were full of sorrow.
The boys hung about the doorway, and Marjorie felt a lump in her throat; but Tricksy advanced courageously.
'How do you do, Mrs. Macdonnell?' she said, with a little gurgle in her voice, that expressed more than she had the power to say in words. 'Mother said we might come and see you; and we thought you might like some flowers.'
'Eh, Miss Tricksy, what a pretty posy! It wass ferry good of you to come. Tek a seat, Miss Marjorie. Will you be finding places, young gentlemen?'
'I hope you are pretty well, Mrs. Macdonnell?' said Marjorie, in a voice which she could not keep from trembling a little.
'Pretty fair, thank you, Miss Marjorie,' replied Mrs. Macdonnell, while Reggie and Hamish sat very stiffly upon their chairs, and Allan had much ado to keep from fidgeting.
'We thought you would like to know, Mrs. Macdonnell,' began Tricksy; 'Bob MacLean said we might tell you; we wanted to say—Allan does, and we all do—that weknowNeil couldn't have done such a thing, and we have made a compact, all of us—Marjorie and Hamish and Euan Macdonnell too—that we will never rest until we find out that he didn't do it, and bring him home again. I thought you would be glad, Mrs. Macdonnell; for Allan and Hamish are going to try very hard, and Euan will do his best to help us.'
Mrs. Macdonnell's eyes glistened.
'It iss ferry good of you ahl, I am sure,' she said; then after a pause she added, 'Indeed it is proud I am to know that my puir laddie——'
Her voice became husky and then failed; and feeling that the interview had lasted long enough, the girls kissed her and they all took leave, wondering whether they had done harm or good by their visit.
'One thing we might do,' said Allan, after they had trudged for awhile in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, 'we might take a look at Andrew MacPeters.'
'Yes, let's get something done,' said Reggie; 'where do you think we shall find him?'
'I heard that he was cutting peats on the hillside,' said Allan; 'isn't that a cart over there, and two men stacking peats?'
'Yes, that is Andrew MacPeters,' said Reggie, when they had advanced a little nearer; 'the red-headed man on this side.'
'Fine day, young ladies and gentlemen,' said the farther-away man; but Andrew only gave them a sidelong look out of his red-lidded eyes.
'Fine day,' replied Allan civilly; then they all stood still and looked at Andrew, who went on stolidly with his work.
'Let's come to the post-office now,' said Allan, and they all trudged away.
'Eh, young ladies and gentlemen, pleased to see you,' said Mrs. MacAlister in her lilting Gaelic; 'eh, but it's been a weary business since you were here last! Poor Neil, poor laddie!'
'Yes, Mrs. MacAlister,' said Marjorie; 'and of course we are all quite sure that Neil had nothing to do with it.'
'So are we all, Miss Marjorie; but the hard thing is to prove it. Things looked very black against him when the order came out of the poor lad's very letter, and he the only person who had been in the house that night. Wait a bit, young ladies and gentlemen, and I'll fetch my husband; he's been bad with the rheumatism but he's working in the garden now,' and the good woman departed, leaving the field clear for the young people.
'Look,' said Allan, 'there are the letters lying on the table. They've been taken out of the box, and they're waiting now until Mrs. MacAlister is ready to stamp them. The door's open, and any one can come in and out. It wouldn't be difficult to rob a post-office like this!'
Just then the door opened, and Andrew MacPeters came slouching in, looking very awkward when he saw who were in the shop. The visitors all watched him as he made his way clumsily across the room to fetch something that he wanted; and when he came near the table Reggie said suddenly, 'Been taking anything from here lately, Andrew?'
The man looked at him with a surly gleam in his eyes but did not answer. After a minute or two he went out, all eyes following him curiously.
'There,' said Reggie triumphantly, 'did you see what a bad conscience he has?' and they all looked at each other in silent assent.
Declining Mrs. MacAlister's invitation to stay to tea, they trooped out of the post-office.
'We'll watch that man,' said Reggie, and Tricksy began to walk on the tips of her toes in anticipation.
'Hulloa, young people, glad I've overtaken you,' said the doctor's voice behind them. 'It's just going to pour with rain, and you're due at my house to tea, I believe. It's lucky I have the closed carriage; jump in as many of you as it will hold, and the rest of you can sit on the box.'
By the time the doctor's house was reached the rain had stopped, and the sun was peeping out again. A scrap of white paper fluttering on the ruins attracted Reggie's attention, and he ran across the garden, climbed the wall, and captured it.
After looking at it he gave a violent start, then ran towards the house.
'It's a postal order,' he said, giving it to the doctor; 'what's the meaning of this?'
All clustered round, and the doctor took the piece of paper and examined it.
'Strange thing,' he exclaimed; 'this order bears the number of one of those that went missing on the night of the robbery. How did it come there? It's wet with the rain, but not very dirty; probably hasn't been there long. This ought to shed some fresh light upon the case. I'll have the police to make a thorough search of the ruins.'
'Reggie,' said Allan, 'there they are at last.'
Reggie slid down from the garden wall, looked towards the road, and said, 'Where?'
'They're behind that hill now. They'll be here in no time. You'd better call Tricksy, and tell her to be ready.'
Reggie went into the house, and called, standing at the foot of the staircase, 'Tricksy, it's Graham major and Graham minor with their Pater; and they're almost here.'
Tricksy came downstairs and waited in the hall, somewhat shyly, beside her brothers.
'Oh, I do hope they will be nice,' she whispered apprehensively to Reggie, as the dog-cart drew up at the door.
A tall pleasant-faced gentleman was beside the driver, and two boys were on the back seat wrapped in Inverness capes, and with caps drawn over their brows as a protection against the wind.
As Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were receiving their guests in the hall, Reggie and Tricksy had an opportunity of observing the boys. One was dark, about twelve years of age; thin, alert, with bright, restless hazel eyes; and the other was about as old as Reggie, with blue eyes and reddish-golden hair; almost too pretty to be a boy, Reggie thought; while Tricksy said to herself that he looked rather "nice."'
After greeting the grown-up folk, the new-comers turned to encounter Tricksy's solemn, dark eyes and Reggie's bright, twinkling ones. Tricksy shook hands very shyly, and Reggie a little stiffly; then the visitors were taken upstairs to prepare for lunch.
Tricksy turned to Reggie, whose countenance wore a non-committal expression; then she looked at Allan and heaved a little sigh.
'What do you think of them, Tricksy?' inquired Allan.
'Well, I think the little one looks rather nice, but the other is a little proud.'
'Do you think they'd care about our Pirates' Island, and all that?' asked Reggie doubtfully.
'Of course they would. They're no end of a good sort. Hush, they're coming downstairs again.'
'Are you tired after the steamer?' Allan asked his guest during lunch.
'A bit, not very,' replied the elder lad, whose name was Harry. 'Feel a bit as though the floor was rocking.'
'You'll feel like that until you've had a night's rest, anyway,' said Allan. 'Are you too tired to do anything this afternoon?'
'Not at all,' answered his friend. 'Gerald, you're game to do something after lunch, aren't you?'
His brother, who had been trying to make a conversation with Reggie, while Tricksy sat shyly on his other side, looked up with a smile.
'The steamer went close under some fine rocks, not far from the village,' he said; 'very high ones, with birds sitting in rows, all the way up, and making an awful screaming.'
'Yes,' said Allan, 'those are the Skegness Cliffs, a great nesting-place of the birds. We'll take you there after lunch, if it's not too far.'
The boys looked pleased, and as soon as freed from the restraint of their elders' presence they ran to fetch their caps and demanded to be taken to the rocks.
'We had better not go so soon, I think,' said Allan. 'We are expecting Hamish and Marjorie, our friends from Corranmore, and we'll ask them to go with us. There's a jolly burn that runs quite near the house; suppose we go and fish in it until they come.'
Fishing-tackle was found for the entire party, and they proceeded to the banks of the burn, which trickled down the hill-side and across a meadow, widening into little pools fringed with ragged-robin and queen o' the meadow; and finally falling in a little cascade down to the shore.
'What a fine dog this is of yours,' observed Gerald, caressing Laddie, who had been fawning upon the new-comers, and now ended by sitting down between Gerald and Tricksy.
Tricksy looked gratified.
'He's my dog,' she said. 'He likes you, I think.'
Gerald stroked Laddie's head and his white ruffle, and the dog made a little sound to express gratification.
'Tricksy, keep your dog quiet, he'll frighten away the trout,' sang out Allan warningly; and Tricksy requested Laddie to 'trust.'
The sun shone down upon green grass and brown pools, and drew out the perfume of the flowers and heather. Not far distant was the pleasant noise of the sea, and the calling of the gulls answered the plaintive cry of the plovers which fluttered about the moor and the meadows.
The day was too bright, and the trout which could be seen at the bottom of the pools refused to take. After a little while the strong fresh air and sun began to have a drowsy effect upon the anglers.
Gerald rubbed his eyes once or twice, and stifled a yawn; and Tricksy found that he was disinclined for conversation.
'Hulloa!' cried a voice from the top of a ridge; and Marjorie and Hamish came racing down. Laddie's welcoming bark roused Gerald, who jumped into a sitting posture, and looked about him in a surprised way.
'Hulloa, Marjorie,' said Allan; 'glad you've come. This is Harry Graham, and this is Gerald.'
Marjorie looked at the new-comers with approval, and Hamish shook hands good-naturedly.
'Are we going to fish all afternoon,' said Marjorie, 'or shall we take a scramble?'
'A scramble,' replied Reggie; 'they want to see the rocks.'
'If Gerald isn't too tired,' put in Tricksy considerately; 'he was asleep a minute ago.'
'No,' protested Gerald, flushing and looking very much vexed; 'I wasn't. I'm quite ready for a walk.'
'Suppose we take them to the Smugglers' Caves,' suggested Marjorie. 'They're the finest sight in the island, I think.'
At the mention of smugglers Harry's eyes began to sparkle, and Gerald's blue ones opened very wide.
'Are there—are there any smugglers there now?' asked Harry.
'Sometimes there are,' replied Marjorie, 'but I don't expect we shall meet any. Smuggling isn't what it used to be,' she added somewhat regretfully.
'What luck if we could only come across some,' said Harry. 'Let's go and see the caves anyhow.'
'It's a long walk, across moors and bogs, and steep hills,' said Marjorie; 'but if you're game, come along.'
Harry, walking beside Reggie, looked at the girl's slight, erect figure as she went in front with Gerald.
'Does she always do what you fellows do?' he inquired, rather doubtfully.
'Of course she does,' replied Reggie; 'she's fifteen years old, you know; a year older than Allan.'
Harry looked at her again, and considered.
'Bit of a tomboy, isn't she?' he inquired again.
'An awful tomboy. We've got her into the way of doing all kinds of things. She couldn't be much jollier if she was a boy.'
Harry took another look at her.
'Has she a bit of a temper?' he asked unexpectedly.
'A bit,' acknowledged Reggie, somewhat disconcerted, 'when she's roused, you know. She's fond of her own way; and she and Allan used to quarrel a good deal at one time; but they seem to have made it up now.'
Reggie added to himself that there was no time to quarrel, now that every one's thoughts were occupied with Neil.
Harry looked at Marjorie again.
'Does she ever quarrel with you?' he asked.
'N—no, not much,' he replied, his face darkening slightly.
Harry looked at Marjorie's tall young figure, and then at Reggie's smaller and slighter one, and arrived at the conclusion which particularly annoyed Reggie; that the girl disdained to quarrel with a boy so much younger than herself.
Marjorie turned her bright face towards them.
'Find it tiring, walking on the heather?' she said. 'It's very fatiguing when you're not accustomed to it. We might take a rest after we've climbed this hill; there's a beautiful view from the top.'
It was a steep climb, and when they reached the summit, all the young folk were glad to fling themselves down on the short, fragrant heather.
The breeze came laden with the scent of wild thyme and heather and salt from the sea; and the only live creatures save themselves were the mountain sheep and the crested plovers, and grey gulls which wheeled above the heads of the wayfarers.
Harry looked about him with brightening eyes.
'What an awfully jolly place this is of yours,' he said. 'I say, youdosee a lot from the top of this hill.'
He was right. The hill crest commanded a view of nearly the whole island, with green fields and moors, and the white roads stretching across them; houses and cottages in their little gardens; and the village with the pier jutting out into the sea. One or two larger islands were in the distance; brown rocks and skerries lying like dots upon the blue water; and away to the east the Highland hills rose among the clouds.
'It must be awfully jolly, having an island all to yourselves,' continued Harry.
'Yes,' replied Marjorie, perched on a boulder, 'and it's jollier still to have an island of your very own, where no one comes but ourselves, and we can do exactly as we like.'
'Where's that?' inquired Harry.
'I may tell them, mayn't I?' asked Marjorie of the others.
'Of course you may,' replied Allan; 'we must take them there some day soon.'
Marjorie slipped down from her perch.
'Do you see the little island over there?' she said, pointing southwards; 'a little black dot on the water, with some bright green in the middle of it? Well, that's ourownisland which we have all to ourselves, and we've made a place in it that we call our secret hiding-place or Pirates' Den. We must show it to you some day.'
The boys stood up and gazed out to sea, their eyes widening and brightening.
'I say, this is jolly,' they murmured, rather than said to any one in particular.
'Hamish,' said Allan, who had been looking at some object on the southern side of the island; 'is that your father's gig, that has just stopped before Mrs. Macdonnell's cottage?'
Hamish looked in the direction indicated.
'Yes, I believe it is,' he said. 'It must be true then, what we heard Duncan say, that Mrs. Macdonnell is very ill.'
Such a grieved silence fell upon the island young people that the Grahams looked at them inquiringly.
'They said that she would fall ill,' said Marjorie in a low voice, 'if—if she continued to fret so about——'
Allan pushed his cap to the back of his head, and Reggie looked hard in the direction of the cottage, where the black dot was still standing by the gate.
'Nothing else found in the ruins?' said Allan in an undertone.
'Nothing yet,' replied Hamish; 'the police are still trying to follow up the clue——'
Marjorie's eyes encountered those of the guests, and she looked at Allan and Reggie.
'Are you going to let them know about it?' she asked. 'Might as well, you know; for they are sure to hear of it before long.'
Allan put his hands in his pockets and reflected; then he consulted Reggie with a look, after which he turned to Hamish. 'Perhaps we might as well tell them,' he said, and the others consented.
'Well, Graham major and Graham minor,' he began, to the boys who were waiting expectantly; 'we are very much bothered about a friend of ours;' and he told them about the robbery of the post-office and Neil's flight, while the boys listened with wide-open mouths, throwing themselves about and uttering exclamations of interest.
'You say that you are quite sure he couldn't have taken the letters?' asked Harry, drawing himself into an upright position on the heather.
'Perfectly certain,' replied Allan. 'He would no more have done it than you or I. No one who knows him would believe such a thing of Neil.'
'Oh!' interposed Tricksy, in a shocked tone, 'I think Dr. MacGregor believed it.'
Hamish became very red and Marjorie's lips tightened.
'And he's so awfully, awfully jolly,' pursued Harry.
'One of the very jolliest people we know,' answered Marjorie. 'Father doesn't really believe it of him. He did everything for us, and was up to all kinds of inventions. We don't seem to have any fun at all without him.'
'It's a most extraordinary story,' said Harry, jerking himself into a fresh attitude; and both the new boys sat and pondered.
'What do you say to letting them both join the Compact?' suggested Reggie.
Marjorie's eyes said yes; and Hamish, whom Allan consulted with a look, gave a nod.
'What's that; a Compact?' inquired Harry eagerly.
'It's an agreement that we've all made,' said Allan, 'that we'll back Neil up, and show that he didn't commit the robbery.'
'Hooray, what fun,' said Harry; 'I'm game.'
'You might let Gerald join too,' cried Tricksy from where she sat beside her new friend; 'he's quite the right sort, and he only wants to learn a thing or two to be equal to any of us.'
Gerald wriggled, and blushed to the roots of his golden hair.
'Well, then, you must do all you can to help us,' said Allan, 'and see whether you can find out who really did it.'
'All right,' said Harry; 'I'll help you to catch the thief.'
'And you must sign an agreement like the rest of us, and you can each have a copy to carry about with you always, as we do. See, this is the principal copy, that I have to take care of.'
'You can write it out now, with Allan's new fountain pen,' cried Tricksy; 'this flat stone will do for a desk, and I've got some pieces of paper that I've been carrying in my pocket in case we might find any new people to join our Compact;' and she produced with great gravity some crumpled sheets of note-paper, much soiled at the edges.
'All right,' said Allan, 'this is the agreement; "We hereby promise never to rest until we show that Neil is innocent and have him brought home again."'
Reggie held the papers down to keep them from blowing away, while Allan made out fresh copies of the agreement; then all the documents received the signature of Harry, who wrote his name with much ceremony and handed the pen to Gerald.
'What an awful lark,' said Harry, who had clambered on to the boulder and sat swinging his legs; 'it will be fine fun tracking the thief.'
Allan began to whistle.
'We haven't found much to track yet,' he said; 'neither have the police, who have been at it nearly three weeks. The less you talk about it the better, except among ourselves, for it isn't a game, this.'
'Come along,' said Marjorie, springing up, as Harry looked somewhat crestfallen, 'we've dawdled long enough; let's run down the side of the hill, and then we shan't take long to get to the cliffs.'
'All right,' said Harry briskly, 'let's go to the Smugglers' Caves; oh, I say, what a jolly island this is!'
All started to run down the steep descent, bounding from one tuft of heather to the other, their speed increasing as they neared the bottom.
Allan, Marjorie, and Reggie reached level ground at about the same time; then they turned to look at Harry and Gerald, who arrived next, looking somewhat shaken, and Hamish, who had stopped to help Tricksy.
'Not far now to the caves,' said Marjorie encouragingly. 'Do you see that headland, stretching far out into the sea? They are on the side farthest away from us. Tired, Tricksy?'
'Not at all,' protested the child, stepping alone and trying to hide a little roll in her gait, although her small face was beginning to look pale.
Reggie glanced at her approvingly as Tricksy toiled along beside Hamish, hoping that no one observed that she was hanging on to big hand.
'Oh, what a height from the ground,' said Gerald in an awed tone of voice, as the moor ended abruptly and they found themselves gazing down from the crest of what seemed a sheer precipice, with long lines of breakers falling upon the strip of sand at the foot. 'What a disturbance the birds are making, and what strange noises there are.'
'It's the waves echoing among the rocks,' said Marjorie. 'You must come here some stormy day when the tide is up; the caves get flooded and the noise is just like thunder.'
'If you'll come a little further along,' said Allan, 'there's a break in the cliffs where we can get down pretty easily. The tide is out, so we have lots of time.'
'Can we really climb down there,' said Harry, as they came to where a chasm opened in the line of cliff, with rough steps and ledges of rock standing out in the riven walls. Not a bird was to be seen in the gloomy crevasse; although the skuas and black-backed gulls were flying about and clamouring before the face of the cliff.
'Come along,' said Allan on the first step. 'Are you a good climber, Harry?'
'Pretty fair,' replied Harry, with a rather wild look in his eyes. Gerald said nothing, but swung himself down with a serious countenance.
'If any one wants help, just sing out,' cried Allan, descending by the rocky steps. 'Don't look down, and you'll be all right.'
'Take my hand, Gerald,' said Tricksy graciously to Gerald, who hesitated at a perilous-looking gap.
Gerald flushed pink, and pretended not to have heard the offer of assistance; and the two strangers braced themselves to their unaccustomed feat.
The way led round the chasm and downward, sometimes approaching the face of the cliff, where the inquisitive eyes and red bills of the puffins peered out of the crevices, and whole rows of auks and kittiwakes were thrown into violent agitation by the sight of the intruders; and sometimes leading back to the dark interior of the chasm. The place was full of echoes; the hollow boom of the breakers, the swirling of water round half-submerged rocks, the hoarse cries of the gulls and the shrill scream of the smaller sea-birds joining in an uproar which made the air tremble. Many a time, during the descent, it cost the new-comers an effort to avoid being overcome by dizziness.
At last Allan reached the last ledge, and swung himself to the ground; Reggie and Marjorie followed; Tricksy came last, and the Grahams dropped down with an air of relief.
'Well done for you,' said Allan approvingly; 'it's your first climb of the kind, and you haven't shown an atom of funk.'
Gerald's cheeks became a little redder, and Harry bore himself with greater self-consciousness.
'Only Hamish now,' said Allan, looking up at the cliff; 'how cautiously the old fellow is coming down; he has the steadiest head of the lot of us although he is so slow.'
'"Sleepy Hamish,"' remarked Harry to Gerald in an aside, repeating a nickname which he had heard Allan use. Low as the words were spoken, Marjorie heard them, and turned upon the boy like a flash.
'Some people have more in them than they make a show of,' she said. 'Perhaps you don't understand that kind of thing, though.'
Harry did not chance to have a reply ready, but he observed to Reggie afterwards that it was a pity Marjorie seemed to be a quick-tempered kind of a girl.
'Here we are,' said Allan, pausing beneath a great overhanging archway, and speaking loudly so as to be heard above the din; for the waves and the clamouring of the birds made a noise which was almost deafening.
'Can we go in?' asked Gerald.
'Of course we can. There's no danger except in a westerly gale. It's dark after you get in a little way.'
The young people scrambled and slipped over the sea-weed at the mouth of the cave, and presently found themselves standing on a floor of light-coloured sand, strewn with shells and sea-drift. The sides of the cave were black and shiny with wet, and water dripped slowly from the roof.
'Is this where the smugglers used to come?' asked Gerald in an awed tone.
'Yes,' replied Allan; 'the schooners used to sail under the rocks on moonlight nights when the tide was high, and the cargo was stored in the caves until the people came secretly to take it away. It was very dangerous work sometimes, for if a storm comes from the west the caves are often flooded.'
The light which glimmered under the archway did not penetrate far, and the young people were soon in total darkness. The air was damp and chilly. Strange draughts crossed each other from unexpected quarters, and the water dripping from overhead, awoke weird echoes which seemed to be repeated among far-reaching clefts and passages.
'Strike a light, Hamish,' said Allan, 'and let them see what kind of a place they're in.'
The match spluttered and blazed, revealing dark rocks gleaming with wet and the black openings to what appeared to be a series of underground passages branching off from the main one.
'The caves are all connected with one another,' explained Allan, 'and have separate openings to the sea. Light up again, Hamish; strike two this time, and they'll get a better idea.'
Again there was a splutter, and the flare revealed strange shifting shadows among the rocks, and a circle of faces that looked unnaturally white in the surrounding darkness.
Reggie's eyes were the sharpest.
'Hullo!' he exclaimed, 'there's something in that passage. What can it be?'
All crowded to examine the mysterious object, and the light flickered upon a pile of kegs and bales lying half-concealed behind a corner of rock.
'Smugglers!' declared Marjorie.
'Looks like it,' said Allan, as Hamish struck fresh matches and the others crowded round, giving utterance to ohs! and ahs! of excitement.
'They're at their old trade again,' said Allan, examining the barrels; 'I wonder what Pater will say to this?'
'That's the last match, Allan,' said Hamish, as the light flickered out.
The darkness seemed to come down like a weight, and the young people found themselves groping for each other's hands.
'We had better make the best of our way out of this,' said Allan. 'Try to move quietly, for we don't know who might be about. Help Tricksy, Hamish; I think she's by you, and here, Tricksy, give me your other hand.'
They groped their way towards the entrance, and soon were in the strong sunshine at the mouth of the caves.
'Well,' said Allan, 'that was an adventure;' and they looked at one another with varying expressions.
'Do you think they may have had anything to do with the robbery?' said Marjorie.
'Shouldn't wonder,' replied Allan. 'Anyhow, we'll see what Pater says.'
'In the meanwhile,' said Marjorie, 'we had better be quick; the breakers are close under the rocks, and we're almost cut off already.'
A stream of foaming, angry-looking water was running up into a hollow on the shore, and the young folk could only escape by jumping on to a stone in the middle of the flood, and from thence to the other side.
'Jump, Tricksy,' cried Reggie half impatiently, as his little sister hesitated.
Tricksy, who was pale and overwrought, sprang, but fell short and plunged overhead in the water.
Instantly two or three were in the flood, trying to prevent her being swept out to sea.
Allan secured her; and gasping, struggling, with water running over her face, Tricksy was pulled on to dry land.
'It isn't so very bad, is it, Tricksy?' inquired Reggie, in a tone of somewhat forced cheerfulness; 'what a thing to do, to jump in when you're told to jump over!'
Tricksy tried to smile; a miserable attempt, for her teeth chattered and her lips were blue with the cold.
'Run to Rob MacLean's cottage, Reggie,' said Hamish, throwing off his coat and wrapping it round Tricksy; 'ask him to lend us his pony, and we'll take Tricksy to Corranmore; it's nearer than your house.'
With Hamish running by her side and holding her on to the pony, Tricksy was not long in reaching Corranmore, and when the others arrived she was already in bed, with Mrs. MacGregor beside her; the little girl drinking hot milk and trying to restrain the tears thatwouldroll down her cheeks, even when she forced herself to laugh.
'Feeling better, Tricksy?' asked Reggie apprehensively.
'She has had a nasty fall,' said Mrs. MacGregor somewhat reproachfully, 'and we may be thankful it is not any worse. She can't possibly go home to-night; you had better tell your parents that she is safe with us.'
A look of relief overspread Tricksy's tired features.
'Oh, youarea dear,' she exclaimed, springing up and throwing her arms round Mrs. MacGregor's neck, forgetting that the lady had once said that Tricksy Stewart was a spoilt little girl. 'Hooray, I'll sleep with Marjorie and we can talk about what we have seen to-day!'