‘But without you, I should never have had his aid,’ said Mr. Macrae: ‘Where is Lord Fastcastle?’ he asked.
‘In the friendly submarine,’ said Merton.
‘Oh, I think I can guess!’ said Mr. Macrae, smiling. ‘I shall ask no more questions. Let us join Lord Bude.’
If the reader is curious as to how the rescue was managed, it is enough to say that Logan was the cousin and intimate friend of Admiral Chirnside, that the Admiral was commanding a fleet engaged in naval manœuvres around the North coast, that he had a flotilla of submarines, and that the point of ocean where the pirates met the Flora Macdonald was not far west of the Orkneys.
On deck Bude asked Merton how Logan (for he knew that Logan was the guiding spirit) had guessed the secret of the submarine.
‘Do you remember,’ said Merton, ‘that when you came back from “The Seven Hunters,” you reported that the fishermen had a silly story of seeing a dragon flying above the empty sea?’
‘I remember, un dragon volant,’ said Bude.
‘And Logan asked you not to tell Mr. Macrae?’
‘Yes, but I don’t understand.’
‘A dragon is the Scotch word for a kite—not the bird—a boy’s kite. You did not know; I did not know, but Mr. Macrae would have known, being a