"Yes, he is the man I suspect, George. I heard this evening that he had been hit tremendously hard on the turf at Goodwood. He would think that if he could force Miss Greendale to marry him it would retrieve his fortune, and would, moreover, satisfy his vindictive spirit for the manner in which she had rejected him, and in addition give him another triumph over me." "That is it, sir. I have no doubt that that is it. But his yacht is not here--at least I have not seen her." "No, I am sure that she is not here; but I believe, for all that, that Miss Greendale must have been taken on board a yacht. They never would have dared to land her in Cowes. Of course, I made inquiries as a matter of form at the landing places, but as she knew the way to Dr. Maddison's, and as the streets were full of people at the time she landed, they could never have attempted to use violence, especially as she had her maid with her. On the other hand, it would have been comparatively easy to manage it in the case of a yacht. They had but to row alongside, to seize and gag them before they had time to utter a cry, and then to carry them below. The Phantom is not here--at any rate, was not here this afternoon, but there is no reason why Carthew should not have chartered a yacht for the purpose. Ask the skipper to come aft." "Captain," he said, when Hawkins came aft, "what men went ashore this afternoon?" "Harris and Williams and Marvel, sir. They went ashore in the dinghy, and Harris went to the doctor's for that medicine." "Ask them to come here." "Did anyone speak to you, Harris," he went on, as the three men came aft, "while you were ashore today?--I mean anyone that you did not know." "No, sir," the man said, promptly. "Leastwise, the only chap that spoke to me was a gent as was standing on the steps by the watch house as I went down to the boat, and he only says to me, 'I noticed you go in to Dr. Maddison's, my man. There is nothing the matter with my friend, Major Mallett, I hope.' "'No, sir,' says I, 'he is all right. I was just getting a bottle of medicine for an old lady on board.' "That was all that passed between us." "Thank you, Harris. That is just what I wanted to know." After the men had gone forward again, he said to the captain: "I have a strong conviction, Hawkins, indeed I am almost certain, that Miss Greendale has been carried off to one of the yachts here, but whether it is a large one or a small one I have not the slightest idea. The question is, what is to be done? It is past eleven now, and it is impossible to go round the fleet and make enquiries. Besides, the craft may have made off already. They would have been sure to have placed her in the outside tier, so as to get up anchor as soon as they had Miss Greendale on board." "We might get out the boats, sir, and lie off and see if any yachts set sail," the skipper suggested.