Colonel Thorndyke's Secret

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XIX.

  The Essex was to sail at eleven o'clock. Half an hour before thattime Mark's hackney coach drew up at the wharf. Ten minutes later DickChetwynd, who had, like Mark, driven by a circuitous route, and had madeseveral stoppages, joined him, and as they shook hands slipped a parcelinto his hand, and this Mark at once pocketed, and buttoned his coat uptightly; then hailing a boat, they went on board together; they had senttheir luggage on the previous evening. On getting on board Mark saw thetwo prize fighters walking up and down the deck aft. They were quietlydressed, and save for their size would have attracted no attention,and would have been taken for two countrymen on their way to Holland onbusiness.

  The two detectives were seated forward, their appearance being that oftwo quiet business men, commercial travelers or small traders. The twofriends first went below, and saw to the cabin which they were to share,and found their luggage was all there. Then they returned on deck. Fouror five other passengers were standing watching the last bales of goodscoming on board. The tide was just on the turn, and a quarter of an hourlater the warps were thrown off, and some of the sails hoisted, and theEssex began to move through the water.

  "Look there, Dick!" Mark exclaimed. "Do you see that boat lying on itsoars in the middle of the stream? That man sitting in the stern is aforeigner, either from Southern Europe or from India."

  "He is certainly a dark man, Mark. Still, that may be only acoincidence."

  "It is rather a curious one," Mark said. "We are too far off to seehis features, but he is apparently watching us off. There, the oars aredipping into the water, now he sees that we are fairly under way."

  "Well, Mark, I shall begin to think that you are right. I am bound tosay that hitherto I thought that it was ridiculous to suppose thatyou could have been watched as you thought, and that you had got thesediamonds on your brain till you had really become fanciful. However, itcertainly looks as if you were right; but even if you were, how on earthcould they have found out that we were going by this ship?"

  "That is more than I can tell; if they have been watching me they musthave known that I was intimate with you; they have seen me come out ofCotter's Bank, and afterwards enter your lodgings; they would feel surethat I had heard that there would be danger connected with the diamonds,and might suppose that I should get some friend to take them from thebank, and may have followed your movements as well as mine. In that casethey would have found out that you also went to Cotter's Bank; may havefollowed you to Tower Street, and found out that you had taken a passagefor two to Amsterdam. They may again have seen you go to the bank thismorning and have guessed that you had the diamonds about you, and thenseeing us together on the wharf would feel pretty certain that it wasso. One of them may have hired that boat and watched the Essex to seethat neither of us went on shore again."

  "Now they see that we are off they will know that their game is up,"Chetwynd said.

  "I am not so sure of that, Dick; there are craft going every day toAntwerp and Flushing, and for anything we know some of them may be onboard a craft already dropping down like ourselves by this tide. Buteven if we had twelve hours' start, by landing, say at Flushing, theywould have time to cross by land to Amsterdam and get there before us."

  "Yes, I suppose they would; anyhow, it is pretty certain that we shallnot be troubled on the voyage."

  "Yes, I never thought there was much danger of that, because even ifthey were on board they would see that you and I, being always together,could not be got rid of without an alarm being given."

  Not until they were passing Greenwich did either of the detectives comenear Mark, then as he and Dick were standing by the bulwarks, lookingat the hospital, Chester strolled across the deck and, pointing to thebuilding as if asking him some question about it, said:

  "There is a colored man forward, dressed as a sailor."

  "Is that so?" Mark said. "I see no one aft here who looks suspicious,and I don't think they will try anything till we get to Amsterdam. Therewas a colored man in a boat watching us as we set sail."

  "I saw him, sir. Can he get to Amsterdam before us?"

  "Yes, I have no doubt he can; if he lands at Flushing or Antwerp, andtakes a post chaise or a diligence, I should say he could get theretwenty-four hours before us. Certainly he could do so if he landed atThe Hague, as we have to go a long way round to get into the Zuyder Zee.That is where the real danger will be; still you had better keep a sharplookout on the man forward."

  No more was said. Mark was not long in getting into conversation withthe other passengers aft, and later on strolled forward with Dick,asking the sailors some questions as to what sort of passage they werelikely to have, and how the wind suited. The men agreed that unless thewind shifted they would not be likely to make a quick passage.

  "The wind is northeasterly," one of them said. "We can only just layour course now, and it will be dead against us in some of the reaches.Still, I think we shall manage to make down to sea with only a tack ortwo, but when we are once fairly out of the river it will be a long legand a short one, and going up round the Texel it will be dead againstus. Except that it would be a bit worse if it had a little more eastin it, it is about as foul a wind as we could have, and I don't see anysign of a change, worse luck."

  Presently, moving about among them, he got next to Gibbons.

  "I don't think we shall have any trouble on board," he said; "if thereis any, it will be after we have landed. But you can keep an eye on thatforeign sailor standing alone there up in the bows."

  "All right, sir; if you like, I can manage to get into a quarrel withhim, and can warrant that he won't get out of his berth before it istime to go ashore."

  "No, I would leave him alone, Gibbons; as long as he is forward he cando no harm; but if you see him working his way aft, after it gets dark,it will do him no harm if you manage to stumble against him and give hima clout on the head."

  "All right, sir; if I hit him once he won't want another. The fellowseems quiet enough, and as far as strength goes he don't look strongerthan a girl."

  After chatting for some time longer Mark and Dick Chetwynd went aftagain. The Essex did not put into any intermediate port, and it was onlyon the sixth day after sailing that she approached Amsterdam. The voyagehad passed off without any incident except that at nine o'clock oneevening there had been a slight noise on deck and the sound of a fall.The friends went up at once. Several of the sailors had run aft, andGibbons was explaining matters to them.

  "I was walking up and down the deck," he said, "when I saw this chapstaring down through the skylight, and I said to him, 'I don't call itgood manners to be prying down into your betters' cabin.' He did notanswer or move, so I gave him a push, when he turned upon me like a wildcat, and drew his knife from his girdle. There it is, on the other sideof the deck. As I did not want daylight put into me, I just knocked himdown."

  "Served him right," one of the sailors said. "He had no right to comeaft at all, and if he drew his knife on you, you were quite right inlaying him out. But you must have hit him mighty hard, for you haveknocked the life pretty near out of him. Well, we may as well carry himforward and throw a bucket of water over him. That is the worst of theseforeign chaps; they are always so ready with their knives. However, Idon't think he will be likely to try his hand on an Englishman again."

  Mark and his friend went below again. In the morning Mark asked one ofthe sailors if the foreigner was much hurt.

  "Well, he is a good bit hurt, sir. That big chap looks as strong as abullock, and his blow has flattened the foreign chap's nose. He cannotsee out of his eyes this morning, and is keeping his bunk. They cannotstand a blow, those foreign chaps; but I don't suppose that any of uswould have stood such a blow as that, without feeling it pretty heavy.The man who hit him is quite sorry this morning that he hit him quite sohot, but, as he says, when a fellow draws a knife on you, you have notgot much time for thinking it over, and you have got to hit quick andhard. I told him he needn't be sorry about it. I
consider when a fellowdraws a knife that hanging aint too bad for him, whether he gets it intoa man or not."

  There was a growl of assent from two or three sailors standing round,for in those days the use of the knife was almost unknown in England,and was abhorrent to Englishmen, both as being cowardly and unfair, andas being a purely foreign crime.

  "It will be dark before we get alongside," Mark said to the twodetectives. "Do you two walk first; we will keep just behind you, andthe others shall follow as close as they can keep to us. If anyone islooking out for us they will see that we are a strong party, and that itwould be no good to attack us, for even if they were to stab me it wouldnot be possible to search me for the diamonds when I am with a partylike this."

  It was indeed quite dark when the brig brought up outside a tier ofvessels lying by the wharf. A few oil lamps burning by the quay showedthat there were a good many people still sauntering about. The partywaited until the rest of the passengers had landed. They learned fromone of those who knew the place that the hotel to which they were goingwas but three or four hundred yards away, and obtained directions how tofind it.

  "Now we will go," Mark said. "Gibbons, you had better keep a sharplookout on your own account. That fellow you knocked down may try to puta knife into you."

  "I will keep a sharp lookout, sir, never you fear."

  "I think, Tring, you had better watch Gibbons; he is more in danger thanI am. Have you seen the man go on shore?"

  "Yes, he was the very first to cross onto the next vessel," Tring said.

  The loungers on the quay had gathered together to watch the passengersas they left the ship, and by the dim light from one of the oil lamps itcould be seen that the majority of them were of the roughest class.As they were passing through them a man with a cry of rage sprang atGibbons with an uplifted knife. Tring's fist struck him under the ear ashe was in the act of striking, and he fell like a log. There was a cryof "Down with them!" and a rush of a score of men, most of whom werearmed with heavy bludgeons.

  The party was at once broken up, heavy blows were exchanged, the twopugilists rolling their assailants over like ninepins, but receivingseveral heavy blows from their assailants' clubs. A rush of five orsix men separated Mark from the others. Those in front of him he struckdown, but a moment later received a tremendous blow on the back of thehead which struck him to the ground unconscious. His companions were alltoo busy defending themselves against their assailants to notice whathad been done, and as the attack had taken place in the center of theroadway behind the quay, there was no lamp, and the fight was takingplace in almost total darkness.

  By this time many people had run up at the sound of the fray. A minutelater there was a cry that the watch were coming, and four or five menwith lanterns emerged from one of the streets leading down to the quays,and hurried towards the spot. The fight at once ceased, the men who hadattacked mingled with the crowd, and when the watch came up they foundthe five Englishmen clustered together and ten or twelve men lying onthe ground.

  The instant that the fight had ceased Dick Chetwynd asked, "Where is Mr.Thorndyke?"

  No answer was given. The other four men simultaneously utteredexclamations of alarm. The crowd was thinning fast as the watch came up.

  "What is all this about?" one of them asked in Dutch.

  "Do any of you speak English?" Dick asked.

  "I do," one of them said.

  "We landed five minutes ago from that craft," continued Dick, "and as wecame across we were attacked by a band of ruffians. An Englishman, oneof our party, is missing."

  "Whose bodies are these?" the watchman asked, raising his lantern andpointing to them.

  "Perhaps Mr. Thorndyke is among them," Dick Chetwynd said.

  The fallen figures were examined by the light of the lanterns. Mark wasnot among them. The watchmen uttered an exclamation of astonishment asthey looked at the men's faces.

  "What did you strike them with?" the one who spoke first asked.

  "Struck them with our fists, of course," Gibbons replied. "They will dowell enough; you need not bother about them, they will come round againpresently. The question is, Where is Mr. Thorndyke?"

  The whole of the lookers on had dispersed, each fearing that he might becharged with taking part in the outrage.

  "This is a very serious matter," Chetwynd said. "We have every reasonto believe that the attack was premeditated, for the gentleman who ismissing was known to have some valuables on him; all these fellows oughtto be taken and locked up and made to give an account of themselves. Weare going to the Hotel d'Hollande where you can find us at any time. Idare say some of these scoundrels are known to you, and that may giveyou a clew as to where Mr. Thorndyke is.

  "I have but little hope that he will be found alive; no doubt he hasbeen stabbed and his body carried off so that they can search hisclothes at their leisure. We came in a strong party to prevent the riskof an attack upon Mr. Thorndyke. Here is my card. It is of no use ourattempting to search by ourselves, but if you will get these fellowstaken to the watch house, and will call at the hotel, we will join yourparty and help you to search the places you think he has most likelybeen taken to."

  "I think, sir, you had better come with me to the watch house, and seethe Lieutenant, and tell him what has happened."

  "I will just take my friends to the hotel, and shall be back from therebefore you have got men to take these fellows away. If you go to one ofthose ships and borrow a bucket, empty it over each of them; you willfind that will bring them to!"

  As soon as they arrived at the hotel Dick ordered a private sitting roomand five bedrooms.

  "We have made a terrible mess of this, lads," he said gloomily. "I don'tsay that it is any of our faults, but it is a horrible affair. I havenot the least doubt that Mr. Thorndyke has been killed, and it is nosatisfaction to us that we have pretty nearly done for a dozen of thosescoundrels."

  "I would not have had it happen for a hundred pounds, nor a thousand,sir. If there had been daylight we could have licked a score of them inspite of their bludgeons, but they came with such a rush at us that wegot separated before we knew where we were. I don't think that it wasour fault. I feel as much ashamed as if I had thrown up the sponge inthe ring at the end of the first round. To think that we came over here,four of us, and yourself, sir, on purpose to take care of Mr. Thorndyke,all well save a few knocks with those sticks, and Mr. Thorndyke killedand carried off before we have been on shore five minutes. A betteryoung fellow I never put on the gloves with;" and Gibbons passed theback of his hand across his eyes.

  "Well, I must be off now," Chetwynd said. "I feel heartbroken over it.I have known him since we were boys together; and what makes it worseis that only three days ago he became engaged to be married. How we aregoing to take the news back God only knows!"

  As he hurried down the street towards the wharf he saw a number oflanterns coming towards him, and ten or twelve watchmen came alongescorting the prisoners, many of whose faces were covered with blood;then came four other watchmen carrying a body on a stretcher.

  "One of them is dead," the watchman who had before spoken said to Dick."A foreign seaman, a Lascar I should say, from his color; we found anopen knife by his side."

  "That is the man who began the fray," Chetwynd said. "He was on thepoint of stabbing one of my companions when another hit him under theear."

  "What!" the watchman said. "He must have been hit like the kick of ahorse. All these prisoners seem to have been struck but once; two ofthem cannot speak. I think their jaws are broken; four of them havebroken noses, and another has had all his front teeth knocked out, whilethe others are nearly as bad."

  "I see you have brought with you some of their bludgeons," Dick said,pointing to one of the watchmen carrying a great bundle of sticks overhis shoulder.

  "Yes, sir, twenty-three of them; it certainly seems to show that itwas a planned thing. Most of these fellows' faces are so bruised thatI cannot say who they are at present, but two or three are kn
own as theworst ruffians in the city, and I have no doubt we shall find that theyall belong to the same gang."

  By this time they had arrived at the watch house, a building ofconsiderable size; the prisoners were first lodged in a strong room withbarred windows and very heavy doors, and then the watchman went withChetwynd to the Lieutenant's room. The officer had just returned, havinghurried down with a reinforcement to the wharf as soon as he had heardof the fray, and tried to obtain some information from the people whohad gathered round, attracted by the lanterns of the watch. He hadalready learned from the watchmen all they knew about the affair. As hespoke English well, he at once addressed Dick:

  "This is a serious affair, sir."

  "A very serious affair, for, indeed, I am afraid that my dearest friendhas been murdered."

  "Will you kindly give me the particulars?" the officer said, sittingdown to the table with a pen in his hand.

  Dick Chetwynd told him the story of how Mr. Thorndyke, having some veryvaluable jewels that he wished to dispose of, and believing that hewould be attacked by a band of robbers, had asked him to accompany him,and had brought four detective officers and pugilists to protect himagainst any sudden attack.

  "Ah, that accounts for the terrible blows that these fellows received,"the officer said. "And your friend; was he a strong man?"

  "He was a man exceptionally strong, and a match for either of thepugilists that he brought over. I have no doubt that he was stabbed,though of course he might have been brought down by a blow from one ofthe bludgeons. He must have been completely insensible when carried off.

  "The watchman here tells me that three or four of these ruffians areknown, and perhaps if you will give orders for the blood to be washedoff the others' faces some more may be recognized and prove an aid inenabling you to form an idea where Mr. Thorndyke has been carried. Itrust that you will send out a party to search for him. I and the fourmen with me will gladly join them, and may be of use if any resistanceis offered."

  The Lieutenant at once gave orders to the watchman to go down and seethat the prisoners all washed their faces. As soon as he returned withthe report that this was done the officer went down with Dick Chetwyndto examine them. Three or four of the men with lanterns also went in.Eight out of eleven men were recognized; the other three, whose featureswere so swollen that they could not see out of their eyes, could not bemade out, but their companions, on being questioned, gave their names.

  "They all belong to a gang of wharf thieves and plunderers. They livein a slum near the water. I will have men posted in the lanes leadingto it, and will myself go with you to see that a search is made of everyhouse; but first I will try to find out from these fellows where he wasto be taken.

  "Now, my men," he said, "anyone of you who will tell me where one of theparty you attacked was to be taken to will find things made easy for himat his trial."

  None of the men spoke for a minute, and then one said:

  "We know nothing about it; how should we, when we were all knockedstupid?"

  "No, but you might know where he was to be taken."

  "I know nothing about that. We all got word to mind we were on the wharfwhen a brig, that was seen coming up, came alongside, and that we wereto have a hundred francs each for attacking some passengers as theylanded. Six of them came along together, and one said, 'These are themen.' A black sailor came up first and spoke to two or three men in someforeign language. I don't know who the men were; it was too dark to seetheir faces. It was one of them who gave the order. It seemed an easyjob enough when there were twenty-five of us with heavy sticks, but itdidn't turn out so. I only know that I hit one big fellow a blow thatought to have knocked him down, and the next moment there was a crash,and I don't know anything more about it until a lot of water was thrownover me and one of the watch helped me to my feet. I don't know whetherthe others know more than I do, but I don't think they do."

  All the others protested at once that they were equally ignorant. Theyhad gone to earn a hundred francs. They had been told that the money wasall right, but who found it or who were the men to be attacked they hadnot the least idea.

  "How was it that you all had these bludgeons--there were no knives foundon any of you?"

  The man who spoke before said:

  "The order was 'No knives,' and before we went down to the wharf eachof us was searched and a stick given to us. I suppose from that, thatwhoever paid for the job didn't want blood to be shed; it suited us wellenough, for it was a job there was sure to be a row over, and I don'tsuppose any of us wanted to put his head in a noose. I know that we allsaid to each other as we went out that it did not want such sticks as wehad to give a man a thrashing, but the man who hired us, whoever he was,knew his customers better than we did."

  The officer translated the man's words as they were spoken to Dick, andon hearing the last speech, the latter said:

  "Then there is still hope that Thorndyke may only have been stunned;that is a greater reason for our losing no time in looking for him, forI am afraid that they won't hesitate to kill him when they have got himhidden away."

  "I expect," the Lieutenant said, "they thought that if any of the watchcame upon them as they were carrying him off, they might be at oncearrested if it was found that they were carrying a dead man, whilst ifhe were only stunned they would say that it was a drunken comrade whohad fallen and knocked his head against something. I agree with you,sir; we had better start on our search at once."

  "Will you pass the Hotel d'Hollande? If not, I will run and bring mymen."

  "Yes, I will go that way; it will be no further."

  Dick walked on fast.

  "We have no news of him," he said, as he entered the room where the fourmen were anxiously awaiting him, "but we and the watch are now going tosearch the slums where the men who were taken prisoners all live; comedown now, and I will tell you what I have learned, before the otherscome up.

  "There is reason for believing that he was not stabbed," he went on, asthey reached the street, "for the men all say that they were armed onlywith clubs, and that the strictest orders were given that none were tocarry knives, therefore there is little doubt that he was at the timeonly stunned. But I am bound to say that this gives me very small groundfor hoping that we may find him alive. I fear they only stunned him, sothat they might carry him safely to their haunts, for if stoppedthey could say that it was a drunken comrade, who had fallen and hurthimself. I fear that when they get him into one of their dens they willmake short work of him, therefore it is clear that there is not a momentto be lost. Ah, here comes the watch."

  There were eight men with the Lieutenant.

  "I have already sent off ten others," he said as he joined Chetwynd, "towatch the lanes, and let no one go in or out. I thought it best not tolose a moment about that, for when the men see that we have learnedfrom the others where the gang came from, and have closed the avenuesof escape, they will hesitate about murdering their prisoner if he wasstill alive when my men got there."

  In a quarter of an hour they arrived at the end of a narrow lane, wheretwo watchmen were standing with lanterns.

  "You have seen nor heard nothing?" the Lieutenant asked him.

  "No, sir, we have not seen a man moving in the lane."

  "There is just one hope that we might be in time," the Lieutenant said,as he went on down the lane, "and that is, that the fellows when theygather will be so dismayed at finding that nearly half their number aremissing, and knowing that some of them are pretty sure to make a cleanbreast of it, they will hesitate to complete their crime. It is onething to rob a man in the streets, quite another to murder him in coldblood. There is likely to be a good deal of difference of opinion amongthem, some of the more desperate being in favor of carrying the thingthrough, but others are sure to be against it, and nothing may have beendone. You may be sure that the sight of my men at the end of the laneswill still further alarm them. I have no doubt the news that we havesurrounded the district has already been circulated
, and that if alivenow he is safe, for they will think it is better to suffer a year ortwo's imprisonment than to be tried for murder. We are sure to make somecaptures, for it is probable that several of the others will bear marksof the fight. Each man we take we will question separately; one or otherof them is pretty safe to be ready to say where your friend was taken toif I promise him that he shan't be prosecuted."

  Every house in the district was searched from top to bottom. Sixmen; with cut and bruised faces, were found shamming sleep, and wereseparately questioned closely; all declared that they knew nothingwhatever of anyone being carried there.

  "It is of no use your denying your share in the affair," the Lieutenantsaid. "Your comrades have confessed that there were twenty-five of youhired to carry out this, and that you received a hundred francs each.Now, if this gentleman is not found, it will be a hanging matter forsome of you, and you had better tell all you know. If you will tell uswhere he is, I will promise that you shan't be included in the list ofthose who will be prosecuted."

  The reply, although put in different words, was identical with that ofthe prisoners.

  "We had nothing to do with carrying him off; we were hired only toknock the men down who were pointed out to us; not a word was said aboutcarrying them off. He may have been carried off, that we cannot say, buthe has certainly not been brought here, and none of us had anything todo with it."

  Morning was breaking before the search was concluded. The detectives,accustomed as they were to visit the worst slums of London, werehorrified at the crowding, the squalor, and the misery of the placesthey entered.

  "My opinion. Mr. Chetwynd," Gibbons growled, "is that the best thing todo would be to put a score of soldiers at the end of all these lanes,and then to burn the whole place down, and make a clean sweep of it. Inever saw such a villainous looking crew in all my life. I have beenin hopes all along that some of them would resist; it would have been areal pleasure to have let fly at them."

  "They are a villainous set of wretches, Gibbons, but they may not be allcriminals."

  "Well; I don't know, sir; but I know that if I were on a jury, and anyof the lot were in the dock, I should not want to hear any evidenceagainst them; their faces are enough to hang them."

  At last the search was over, and they were glad indeed when they emergedfrom the lanes and breathed the pure air outside, for all the Englishmenfelt sick at the poisonous air of the dens they had entered. Theprisoners, as they were taken, had been sent off to the watch house.

  "I begin to think that the story these fellows tell is a true one, Mr.Chetwynd," the Lieutenant said, "and that they had nothing to do withcarrying your friend off. In the first place, they all tell the samestory: that in itself would not be much, as that might have been settledbeforehand; but it is hardly likely that one of the lot would not havebeen ready to purchase his life by turning on the others. There is verylittle honor among thieves; and as they know that we have taken theirmates--for no doubt we were watched as we marched them up the town--theywould make sure that someone would turn traitor, and would think theymight as well be beforehand. I fancy that the men, whoever they are,who hired this gang to attack you, carried out that part of the businessthemselves."

  "I am afraid that is so," Dick agreed; "and I fear in that case that heis in even worse hands than if these ruffians here had taken him."

  "Well, sir, can you furnish us with any clew?"

  "The only clew is that they were most probably dark men. That man whowas killed was undoubtedly one of them. I should say that they wouldprobably be got up as foreign sailors."

  "Well, that is something to go upon, at any rate. I will send round menat once to all the places by the quays where sailors board, and if threeor four of them have been together at any place we are sure to hear ofit, and the moment I have news I will send to your hotel."

  "Thank you; I don't see that we can be of any use at present, but youwill find us ready to turn out again the moment we hear that you havenews."

  When the party returned to the hotel they sat talking the matter overfor upwards of an hour. All were greatly discouraged, for they hadlittle hope indeed of ever learning what had become of Mark. As they hadstarted out Dick had told the night porter that he could not say whattime they might return, but that before the house closed he must have acouple of bottles of spirits and some tumblers sent up to their sittingroom, together with some bread and cold meat, for that they might notreturn until morning, and would need something before they went to bed,as they had had nothing since their dinner, at one o'clock.

  "It wants something to take the taste of that place out of one's mouth,"Tring said to Dick, as, directly they entered, he poured some spiritsinto the glasses. "I feel as queer as if I had been hocussed."

  All, indeed, were feeling the same, and it was not until they had eatentheir supper and considerably lowered the spirits in the two bottlesthat they began to talk. The two detectives were the principal speakers,and both of these were of opinion that the only shadow of hope remainingrested upon Mark himself.

  "Unless they finished him before he came round," Malcolm said, "theywould find him an awkward customer to deal with. Mr. Thorndyke has gothis head screwed on right, and if, as you say, they are Indians, Mr.Chetwynd, I should think that if he once comes fairly round, unless heis tied up, he will be a match for them, even with their knives. That isthe only chance I see. Even if the watch do find out that three or fourforeign sailors have been at one of the boarding houses and did not turnup last night, I don't think we shall be much nearer. They will probablyonly have carried him some distance along the wharf, got to some quietplace where there is a big pile of wood, or something of that sort, thenput a knife into him, searched for the diamonds, which you may be surethey would find easily enough wherever he had hidden them, and then makeoff, most likely for Rotterdam or The Hague; they could be at either ofthese places by this time, and will mostly likely divide the diamondsand get on board different craft, bound for London or Hull, or indeedany other port, and then ship for India. From what Mr. Thorndyke saidthey did not want the diamonds to sell, but only to carry back to sometemple from which they were stolen twenty years ago."

  Chester was of precisely the same opinion.

  "I am afraid, Mr. Chetwynd," he added, as they rose to go to their roomsfor two or three hours' sleep, "the only news that we shall get in themorning is that Mr. Thorndyke's body has been found."