"_Abbey of Forestburne._--It is well known that the altar
vessels, plate, and jewels of this house were considerable
in number and in value, but were never handed over to the
custodians of the King's Treasury House in London. They were
duly inventoried by the receivers in these parts, and there
are letters extant recording their dispatch to London. But
they never reached their destination, and it is commonly
believed that like a great deal more of the monastic
property of the Northern districts these valuables were
appropriated by high-placed persons of the neighbourhood who
employed their underlings, marked and disguised, to waylay
and despoil the messengers entrusted to carry them
Southward. N. B.--These foregoing remarks apply to the plate
and jewels which appertained to the adjacent Priory of
Mellerton, which were also of great value."
"So," continued Mr. Cazalette, "there's no doubt, in my mind, anyway,
that the plate of which Middlebrook saw the inventories is just what
they describe it to be, and that it came, in course of time, into the
hands of the Lord Forestburne who deposited it in yon bank. And now,"
he went on, opening the biggest of his volumes, "here's the file of a
local paper which your respected predecessor, Mr. Raven, had the good
sense to keep, and I've turned up the account of the inquest that was
held at Blyth on yon dishonest bank-manager. And there's a bit of
evidence here that nobody seems to have drawn Scarterfield's attention
to. 'The deceased gentleman,' it reads, 'was very fond of the sea, and
frequently made excursions along our beautiful coast in a small yacht
which he hired from Messrs. Capsticks, the well-known boat-builders of
the town. It will be remembered that he had a particular liking for
night-sailing, and would often sail his yacht out of harbour late of
an evening in order, as he said, to enjoy the wonderful effects of
moonlight on sea and coast.' That, you'll bear in mind," concluded Mr.
Cazalette, with a more than usually sardonic grin, "was penned by some
fatuous reporter before they knew that the deceased gentleman had
robbed the bank. And no doubt it was on those night excursions that
he, and this man Baxter that we've heard of, carried away the stolen
valuables, and safely hid them in some quiet spot on this coast--and
there you'll see, they'll be found all in good time. And as sure as my
name is what it is, Dr. Lorrimore, it was that spot that Salter Quick
was after--only he wasn't exactly certain where it was, and had
somehow got mixed about the graves of the Netherfields. Man alive! yon
plate of the old monks is buried under some Netherfield headstone at
this minute!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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