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CHAPTER XXIX

THE MONUMENT

For the re ho awake, or even in ht overthe mystery of the disappearance of the speakers in the old chapelCertainly I went to sleep on the thought, and ith it It neverleft me even after breakfast as I rode out towards Crom It wasplace in the chapel; orit e If the latter,where did it lead to? Where else, unless to the castle; such would bethe natural inference The very thought made my blood run cold; it wasno wonder that it overspread my mind to the exclusion of all else Insuch case Marjory's eneerous, since they held asecret way to her at all times; once within the castle it would not behard to work evil to her

I thought that thison ly I leftin the shadow of the woods where possible, andelsewhere stealing behind the hedgerows, till I got to the far side ofthe hill or spur which came nearest to the old chapel This was one ofthe hills up whose base the trees ran in flame-shaped patches Half wayup, the woods ceased, and there was a belt of barrenness--outcroppingrock fringed with green grass The top, like most of the hills orrowing massesof pine which made a dusk even in the noonday

I took h the wood,carefully keeping a watchful look out all round me, for I feared thepresence of either of the sets of spies At the very top I caood sized circle of masonry, low but heavily built of reen lichen The circle was sohtly arched as though for over it I could hear a faint trickle of water; this wasevidently the source of the castle supply

I walked round it, exa which had any directcommunication with the castle was at present of possibly the supre anywhere; and fro of the stones by the lichen, it was apparent that there hadbeen no disturbance for years

I sat down on the edge of the stonework and for a long tiht overmatters of probability If underneath ranted, lay the reservoir of the castle, it must have been madecoevally with Crom itself, or even with the older castle on whoseruins it was built It s in the rock which formedthe base of the hill and cropped out all over it; and if it was notapproachable fro the waterfroht be that the chamber which contained the reservoirhad some other entrance froly I made as I conceived a bee line for the castle, till Icame to the very base of the hill, for I knew that in matters of waterconduit the direct way is always chosen where work has to be done AsI went, I conned the ground carefully; notof brown pine needles, but the generalconformation Where a trench has been made, there is ever after sometrace of it to be found Even if the workmen level the trench h the softerbroken earth will e Here,however, there was no such sign; the ground, so far as one could judge,had never been opened The trees grew irregularly, and there was no gapsuch as would be, had one ever been rest the pine needles just as anywhere else If anyopening existed it was not on the direct line between the reservoir andthe castle

Back again I went to the reservoir, and, using it as a base, began tocast around for son I made circles in all directions,just as a retriever does when looking for a fallen partridge in a drystubble when the scent is killed by heat

At last I caht have anypoint of contact with my purpose, I could not at once decide It was arude monument of sohly hewn to forain was surroundedon the outside, for the whole , by a few tiers of rough ether without mortar; or if mortar or cementthere had ever been, time and weather had washed it away In one respectthis structure was in contrast to that above the reservoir, there wasnot a sign of moss or lichen about it The trees of the wood came closeup behind it; in front it was shut out frorew crookedly froes of rock beneath As I stood in front of it, I couldsee nothing ie a few feet lower down, the back wall of the old chapel becah partly obscured by trunks and branches of interveningtrees I searched all over the monument for some inscription, but couldsee none Then I stood on the plinth to see if there ht be anyinscription on the top of the boulder As I stood, looking over the topof it frostthe tree tops, the top of one corner of the castle, that on the side of,and farthest froht struckht correspond with the castle,unseen by any one save at the one spot I detere so to oneanother

Somehow this place i,except the reservoir, which seemed to have a purpose in the whole schemeof the hill top Where there was labour and manifest purpose, there mustsurely be some connection I exa down the rocks below and on either side, but always keepinga bright look out in case of spies The only thing I noticed was thatthere seeh the wood hereIt was not sufficiently marked to allow one to accept it with certaintyas a pathway; but there is so about a place which is evenoccasionally trodden, which in offootsteps I could not find where the path ended or where it began Itseerow froravel; and the wind co over the steep slope swept the fallen pineneedles back ast the shelter of the trees After a few hundred yardsany suggestion of a pathway disappeared, lost in the aisles of the pinetrees spreading round on every side There was no need of a pathway herewhere all was open Once or twice as I searched the thought ca here to a secret way or hiding place;but look hoould, I could not find the faintest trace or suggestionof any opening In the end I had to take it that the erection was inal purpose was probablylost in time

At last, as the day ell on, Icare to keep froon the road, I went as usual through the old ruined gateway and the longwinding avenue to the castle

Marjory ly asshe said:

"Oh, you are late! I have been quite nervous all theshould have happened to you!" Mrs Jack, after we had greeted,discreetly left us alone; and I told htsince we had parted, and of what I had seen on the hill top She wasdelighted at the idea of aat once to the roof to ements and discoveries

We found the spot which I had indicated admirably adapted for ourpurpose One could sit on the stone roof, well back fros in the castellation see the top of thest the tree tops; and could yet be unobserved oneself froles of the castellation of the variouswalls shut out the tops of the other hills or ns of our code were already co 'A' and 'B' This we did by deciding that bydaylight

A should be signified by red and B by white and at night A byred and B by green Thus by daylight two pocket handkerchiefs of redand white or two flowers of white and red; or a piece of paper anda red leaf or floould suffice We fixed on colour as the bestrepresentative, as the distance ht anordinary bicycle lareen side lights could be shown as required Then and there wearranged that that very afternoon when I had left the castle I shouldsteal back to the