'No use, Miss Marjorie,' said Neil. 'If he means ill by me he will give the alarm; it will be better for me to be landing while there iss still a chance. I'm not afraid if I only have him to deal with.'
He stood up once more, then turned to the others. 'Remember,' he said, 'whatever happens, my mother iss to be told that I haf left the island. Miss Marjorie, you promise?'
'I promise,' answered Marjorie; then Neil sprang on shore and vanished behind a mass of rock.
For a minute or two they remained looking up at the cliff, but nothing was to be seen of Andrew MacPeters; then they rowed slowly back to the place where the Craft had been moored.
'Well?' said Allan and Reggie, who met them half-way on the road to Ardnavoir.
The others gave a brief account of what had taken place.
'Bad luck,' said Allan when they had described the encounter with Andrew MacPeters. 'I'd back Neil against Andrew any day; he won't interfere with Neil himself, but then the fellow's quite capable of giving the alarm to the police.'
They wandered disconsolately a little farther.
'It seems horrid to have to give Mrs. Macdonnell that message,' said Marjorie; 'but it will have to be done, I suppose, since we promised.'
'Yes, Marjorie,' said Hamish, 'it will have to be done. It would be enough to kill her if she knew that Neil was in danger.'