And Mr. Michael Gowrie had to do what he was told.
"But ye'll gang tae the Pit of Tophet for this," said Mr. Gowrie viciously.
[CHAPTER XXII]
ANOTHER MYSTERY
As guessed by Captain Kyles, Herries' visit to Pierside had been unproductive of result. On arriving there, he found that the yacht had left for an unknown destination, and returned to Tarhaven quite certain that Señora Guzman, and the buccaneer had left England for good. This was a great disappointment to the young man, as he did not see how the mystery of Sir Simon's death was to be explained without getting the evidence of the Mexican lady. He came back to tell Browne and to consult with Sweetlips Kind.
The doctor recommended patience, and a visit to the "Marsh Inn," so as to see what Gowrie was doing. Browne quite believed that the pair connected with the "Tarabacca" knew much; but he felt certain that Gowrie knew more than he chose to tell. Herries and Browne argued over the matter until a late hour, and resumed their talk, when they met at breakfast. Then Browne departed to see his patients and Herries went to look for Kind.
But the Cheap-jack was not at the humble little place where he and his wife had put up during the trial since they had left the caravan at Anderfield in Buckinghamshire, and Herries thought that they also had gone, leaving him to his own devices. Perhaps they thought that they had done enough in return for his saving of Mrs. Kind's life, and he could not blame them for looking after their own affairs. For some time Herries contemplated walking to the "Moated Hall," and see what Maud had to say, but, on reflection, he decided to wait for the return of Gowrie from the inn. It might be that something important was transpiring there.
Elspeth met him at the door of the doctor's house when he came back to luncheon, having practically wasted a morning.
"Angus," she said eagerly, "here are two letters,--one is in papa's writing and the other has been written by Sweetlips."
Herries went into the drawing-room and opened the letters. The one from Kind was merely a short intimation that he had met Captain Kyles early that very morning, and from certain facts which he had learned from him, he had gone to London on business. "I'll be back in a couple of days," ended the note, "and then will call and tell you all about it."