Lord Towyn meant what he said, and the captain comprehended the fact. He saw that Craven Black had been caught in a trap, and with the usual instinct of villainy, he resolved to save himself from the general ruin.
“You swear that I shall be protected if I tell the truth?” he asked.
“I do.”
“I suppose it’s penal servitude for abducting a young lady,” said the captain. “Jack said so last night. Blamed if I haven’t been sick of the job, anyhow. I don’t mind a mutiny at sea, when there’s cause, but I can’t relish making war on a helpless girl, and I haven’t from the first.”
“Come to the point. Where is Miss Wynde?”
“At a place up in the mountains owned by Mr. Black, and called the Wilderness.”
“Miss Wynde is there, and Mrs. Craven Black?”
“Yes; and the servants, and Mrs. Artress.”
“How far from here is the Wilderness?”
“About twenty miles, if you could go direct, which you can’t. It’s forty miles by water. You know Cromarty Frith, up in Ross—and—Cromarty?”