He had been gone a half-hour before the whistling cry of a curlew was
heard from the cliff side, and the two men in hiding lifted up their
heads and listened. A moment later it was repeated, more loudly and this
time not so successfully, for there was something less of the bird and
more of the schoolboy in it—a note of triumph that is missing from the
bird’s call.
“What is it?” the detective asked; and Maniwel replied with a similar
reproduction of the moorbird’s music.
“He’s fun what he’s after,” he replied. “We might as well get down.”
It was in a recess well above his head that Jagger had found the object
of his search. Behind a clump of yew that had secured root-hold in a
narrow crevice of the cliff and spread its foliage before a shallow
opening in the rock, his hand had encountered something softer than
stone or wood; something that proved to be a small leather bag.
It was heavy—eight or nine pounds he judged—and he had a little
difficulty in transferring it to his pocket, for the toes of his boots
had not much grip upon the inch-wide ledge of rock from which he was
stretching upwards, but by and by he found himself on the turf again
with the screes immediately below. He was so eager to be down that he
sent the loose stones clattering to the river bed like a miniature
avalanche, and his father could not forbear a warning cry.
“Steady, lad, steady! You’ll hurt yourself if you fall to t’ bottom!”
“No fear o’ that,” replied Jagger, who was already on the edge of the
lower cliff, making ready to descend. “By gen, father, we’ve dropped on
it this time. It’s a job for t’ police, right enough—a bag-full o’
brass.”
He was too excited to moderate his voice, and when the old man bade him
“Whisht!” he only laughed.
“I care for nobody,” he said. “He can come when he likes now. He’s a
deep beggar, is Inman, but, by gen, he’s let himself in for’t this time!
It’ll open Stalker’s eyes!”
“Don’t jaw so much!” an impatient and authoritative voice broke in, “but
get down and let us see what you’ve found. Time’s precious!”
Jagger nearly overbalanced himself in his surprise.
“Who’ve you got with you?” he inquired suspiciously as he began the
descent. For just a moment he thought it must be Inman himself, for the
voice was half familiar, but when the detective replied, “You’ll know me
when you see me. We’ve met before,” enlightenment came.
“It’s Mr. Harker!” he said. “This licks all!”
The bag was secured with string and Jagger struck a match whilst the
officer untied it. But the sight of the contents was not really
necessary to confirm what was already certain—that the missing gold was
in their hands; and Mr. Harker tied it up again and pushed it along the
table of rock towards Jagger.
“Now, listen to me,” he said. “You found the swag and you’ve got to deal
with it exactly as you would have done if we hadn’t been here. I want to
tell you what’ll happen. Stalker’ll arrest you and you’ll have to go
with him!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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