XV--VARIOUS CLUES
John Tuckerman and David and Mr. Perkins went up on the porch, where Benintroduced them to Roderick Fitzhugh. Fitzhugh, after shaking handscordially with each of them, bowed toward his house-guests. "Myfriends," said he, "we have the pleasure of welcoming the worthy ChiefCounsellor of Camp Amoussock, and Mr. Tuckerman, who is the owner offamous Cotterell Hall on Cotterell's Island in the harbor of Barmouth,and Mr. David Norton--, er, Ben, what is the best way to describe yourgood-looking friend?"
"The best batter in New England," piped up Lanky Larry. "I ought toknow. He knocked me out of the box."
"Thank you," said Fitzhugh in his amusingly formal manner. "Mr. DavidNorton, the famous Yankee slugger." He turned to the three new arrivals."Gentlemen, let me present you to my friends," and he called out thenames, beginning with Maid Rosalind and the other ladies and ending withSir Marmaduke Midchester.
Tuckerman laughed. "I'd no idea Ben mixed in such high-sounding company.What is he?--Sir Marmaduke's squire?"
"He's the apprentice to an armorer," said Fitzhugh. "Incidentally he wasmistaken this evening for a robber."
Then Fitzhugh told the story of the robbery, including the adventure ofTom and Larry with the men from the cove.
"Those men must be the three that belonged to the fishing-smack," saidDavid. "I thought there was something crooked going on. That'sit--they're a gang of thieves."
David related his adventure, and then Mr. Perkins told how he andTuckerman and the boys from the camp hunted for the three missingfellows. "We drove in here on the chance that you might know somethingabout them," he said to Fitzhugh. "We came straight up the road from thecove, but we didn't see any men answering the description of thethieves."
"Well," said Fitzhugh, "we'll get the police on their track, and I'lltelephone down to Gosport to have the people there keep an eye out forthat fishing-boat. And now won't you come in and let me offer you somerefreshments? Master Ben will want to change his clothes before he setsout in his racing-car."
While the others were in the dining-room Ben exchanged his doublet andhose for his everyday garb. Then he went to the garage and got out thelittle car he had borrowed from his uncle in Barmouth. It clattered upto the front door and a few minutes later Fitzhugh was saying good-nightto Tuckerman, Perkins and the boys.
David got into Ben's car. The car from Camp Amoussock moved off alongthe driveway. Roderick Fitzhugh came up to Ben, who was starting hisengine. "I regret that Mr. Joseph Hastings wasn't at home," he said, "sothat you could have learned whether he did lose a silver snuff-box onCotterell's Island. I'll ask him when I see him."
Ben grinned. "I'd almost forgotten about the snuff-box," he answered,"but I think you'll find when you ask Mr. Hastings that he did lose itthere."
"You're a bright fellow, Master Sully."
Fitzhugh gave a wink. "Don't tell all you know. And if you're in theneighborhood any time come in and see Joseph Hastings."
The little car rattled away, following the tail-light of the otherautomobile.
"Who is that man?" asked David, as they turned into the highroad.
"Do you mean Mr. Roderick Fitzhugh?" inquired Ben innocently.
"Chuck it, Benjie. That isn't his real name."
"Why isn't it, smartie?"
"Roderick Fitzhugh! Marmaduke Midchester!" David repeated the names ofsome of the other people he had met at the Gables. "Stuff and nonsense,Benjie! They made them up."
Ben said nothing, and after a few minutes David began again.
"Where'd they get those clothes?"
"Where do people usually get their clothes? Tailors and dressmakers madethem, I suppose."
"What are they? A crowd of actors?"
Ben smiled. "They're not professional actors. They're doing a play thatMr. Fitzhugh wrote for the moving-pictures, and they like their costumesso much they keep them on most of the time. I'm in the pictures," headded in a tone of pride.
The car clattered loudly over a rough stretch of road. Then Davidresumed his questions. "How in thunder did you happen to get mixed upwith them?"
"I was driving along this morning and I met Mr. Fitzhugh and hesuggested that we go on a hunt for hooked-rugs."
"Hooked-rugs!" exploded David.
"Yes. They don't grow on trees. They're to be found in the cottagesaround here. We caught some fine specimens."
David put his hand on Ben's knee. "It was time we rescued you from thatfellow, my boy," he said. "I don't know anything about hooked-rugs, butI think your Mr. Fitzhugh has bats in his belfry."
The car driven by Mr. Perkins had stopped, and Ben brought his own noisyequipage to a standstill at the side of the road. "We're going to haveanother look at the cove," said Tuckerman. "We can't drive in throughthe woods."
But the cove, when they reached it by the path through the woods, was asdeserted as it had been when the boys from Camp Amoussock explored itearlier in the evening. Lanky and Tom pointed out the dory, stillbeached on the shingle, in which the three men had come ashore, and theshack in which they had kept the costumes. "I think the dory is prettygood proof that they didn't come back here," said Tom. "I guess theymust have made off toward Gosport, to join the fishing-smack somewherein that neighborhood."
They returned to the two cars and drove on to Camp Amoussock. There Tomand John Tuckerman embarked in the _Argo_ to sail back to Cotterell'sIsland, while Ben and David continued their clattering ride to Barmouth.
At Barmouth, Ben restored the car to his uncle, and the two boys wentdown to the harbor and launched the canoe. Over the placid water theypaddled easily, for they were old hands at handling a canoe together.And presently they landed at the island, and found the other two sittingon the pier.
There was much to talk over, and none of them were sleepy. They sat onthe bank above the beach and swapped adventures. "I've been wondering,"said Tom, "whether there was any connection between the men who stolethose things at Mr. Fitzhugh's house and the men I saw here on theisland last night."
"And the gigantic footprints," said David. "I've been thinking aboutthat, too. But how would you explain the lady's handkerchief, with theinitials A. S. L.?"
They argued about that for some time before they went to bed. Ben,however, took little part in the discussion. He was trying to find areason for the discovery of the silver snuff-box that Joseph Hastingshad bought in Barmouth in the chest hidden in the cliff.
Next morning Ben went with Tuckerman to Cotterell Hall. "What do youmake of it, Ben?" said Tuckerman. "We don't seem to be any nearer tofinding the treasure than we were when we first came here. I know you'vegot some theory in that wise head of yours."
Ben walked up and down the living-room. "Well," he answered slowly, "Ithink somebody has mixed up the trails. Let's see how the matter stands.We know that your Uncle Christopher thought there was a secret. We foundthat out from the note in the frame of the picture."
"Uncle Christopher knew there was a secret," agreed Tuckerman. "I thinkthat's very clear."
Ben nodded. "What did we find next? Those jottings your uncle made inhis notebook." Ben stopped at the secretary, took out the notebook,turned to the marked page, and read aloud. "'As regards the saying thatthe hiding-place is just beyond the three pines that stand between tworocks where the sun goes down, I have scoured and scoured the island,and come to the opinion that the extreme southwestern point must be theplace intended, although to-day there are only two pines there. I havedug at this place, but found only sand.' That's what your uncle wrote.But he didn't find the treasure at the southwestern point."
Tuckerman smiled. "So far so good."
Ben ran his eye down the page. "Now we come to this. 'Find themahogany-hued man with the long, skinny legs and look in his breastpocket. That's a saying my father handed down. What can it mean?' Well,it seems to me that's where the trails begin to get mixed."
"Why, I thought we decided that referred to the mahogany secretary,"said Tuckerman.
"So we
did," answered Ben. "But were we right? Let's see. We looked inthe secretary and found a piece of parchment with half a message on it.We couldn't make out much from that. Then I read this in the notebook."He turned again to the page, "'I've heard that the old clipper ship gotsome of the cargo that the mahogany man carried. But if she did, whatuse is that to us now? She sailed out of Barmouth Harbor during theRevolution.'"
"I've always thought you were mighty clever in finding that model of theclipper ship up in the attic," said Tuckerman.
"Well," agreed Ben, "I'm not denying that I was pretty well pleased withthat myself. But what did we learn? That James Sampson took a box to thenorth cliff, meaning to put it on a boat, but found that there were somepeople off shore in another boat and so hid the box in the rocks, andthat the rocks were marked like a cross. Very good. We found the placeand we found a box there. But there wasn't anything very valuable in thebox when we found it."
"That's so," Tuckerman assented. "But I don't see any other clue to thetreasure."
Ben was staring through the window at the trees glistening in thesunlight. "I think that box was hidden in the cliff since we've been onthe island," he said reflectively, "and I don't believe that any of thethings in it ever came from Cotterell Hall."
"You don't!" exclaimed Tuckerman.
"And that means," continued Ben, who was following the line of his ownthoughts, "that somebody was trying to set us on a wrong trail by hidingthose two pieces of parchment in this house."
"But what object would anyone have in doing that?" Tuckerman asked. "Ican't see any good reason for their taking so much trouble." Heconsidered this idea for several minutes, while Ben continued his studyof the trees and the glimpse of blue water that was to be seen from thewindow.
"And we thought we'd kept the problem of the Cotterell treasure prettymuch a secret," Tuckerman said presently.
"Gigantic footprints, lady's handkerchief, men prowling about the housein the dark." Ben chuckled softly. "That doesn't look as if we had theisland much to ourselves, does it?"
"No," Tuckerman admitted. "We haven't kept up the Cotterell traditionfor exclusiveness."
"Well," said Ben, "if somebody has been trying to set us on a wrongtrail, the question is was it the giant, the lady, or thenight-prowlers? Or did the three belong to one party."
"The lady is a stumbling-block," nodded Tuckerman.
"If there were two parties," said Ben, turning around, "my own opinionis that it's the giant and the lady who've been making game of us."
"Benjamin, what are you driving at?"
For answer Ben laughed. "Never mind, Professor. If I should tell youwhat's in my mind, and it shouldn't prove to be true, think how flat I'dfeel. And now I think it's time we went back to camp if we're going inswimming before dinner."
Just before sunset that afternoon the chug of a motor-boat broke thestillness of the water around the island. The boat stole up to thelanding-stage and two men got out. They went up the walk towardCotterell Hall. "A beautiful mansion, Marmaduke," said the man in thewhite flannel suit to the one in brown jacket and knickerbockers.
"I agree with you, Roderick," said the other. "I suppose you would liketo pick it up and carry it off to the Gables."
"Not at all. But what is to prevent us from making use of it here? SirPeter Cotterell defying the people of Barmouth." Roderick Fitzhughpointed in this direction and that, talking eagerly, until his companioninterrupted him with a whispered, "They're coming up in their sailboat."
The _Argo_ touched the landing-stage, and Fitzhugh and his friend wentout on the pier. "Hello, lads," cried Fitzhugh. "We came out to take alook at the famous island Ben told us about."
"Did you learn anything about the thieves?" Tom called from the _Argo_.
"No, not yet. But we've got the local police scouring the country. Idon't expect much from them," added Fitzhugh. "What I hope is that therascals will make us another call."
"We've been fishing," said Ben. "Hope you'll stay to supper."
"Well," said Fitzhugh, "I've got my guests at the Gables."
"You wouldn't take any excuse from me yesterday," Ben retorted. "Turnabout's fair play. You've never tasted Dave's fried flounder."
"That's so, we haven't," said Marmaduke Midchester. "I vote to stay."
They had supper on the beach, and afterwards Ben urged Midchester tosing the song he had written.
"Oh, Master Ben," Fitzhugh protested, "why break in on the eveningcalm?"
"Go ahead," said Tom. "We'd all like some music."
"Music?" echoed Fitzhugh. "Who said anything about music? Well, ifyou're determined to have him commit the crime, on your own heads beit!"
Midchester, who was a big man, stood up and sang in a deep bass, a songabout a knight who loved a lady but who rode off to the wars. It had aspirited chorus, with many gestures, such as drawing a sword, waving ahand, and shaking a knight's banner. By the time that Midchester sangthe second chorus all the others were up, singing loudly and imitatinghis motions. It ended in a final loud cheer that could be heard at leasta mile away.
"That's better than I expected," said Fitzhugh. "See, it scared thegeese."
He pointed to the western sky, across which a distant triangle of wildgeese were flying.
"Now," said Tuckerman, "I will give you a song of the sea as sung in theprairie schooners of the west."
He had a good voice, and his song was so popular that he had to give anencore. Afterwards Fitzhugh said that he must take Midchester away or hewould break out again.
Good-nights were exchanged on the pier and the motor-boat headed south.
"Well," said Tuckerman, "they're a good pair of scouts. I don't supposethis island has heard so much noise since old Sir Peter's day. I likeguests myself. And as there doesn't seem any likelihood of finding theCotterell treasure, I don't see why we shouldn't keep open house."
"Oh, we haven't given up hope of finding it, have we?" asked Tom.
"Benjie hasn't," said David.
They all looked at the black-haired boy.
"Why, of course, I haven't," he answered calmly. "And the more peoplewho come out here to look for it, the more chance we have of finding it,I think. You don't suppose Fitzhugh and Midchester came here just to seeus, do you?"
"I bet they did," said Tom.
"I bet they didn't," said Ben. "They took us in as a side-show on theirway to the big tent."