[[Listen]]
“That shaded half-circle,” Saxe went on, “with a period in the concavity, over the second measure of the second half of the gold song, is a hold—a hold—a hold, Billy! Don’t you understand? Isn’t it plain? That marks the spot where the gold is—I know it does. That’s the place where we pause, where we hang on!”
“Of course!” Billy Walker’s voice had a tone of complete satisfaction. “You’ve done splendidly, Saxe. With much training, I believe I might be able to make something out of your intellect. The chart will show just what part of the shore is indicated by this hold. The gold will be at that point—probably, close to the bank, but certainly under the water, for the first lesson read, ‘The Bed of the Lake.’ We shall find it without Roy’s divining-rod, after all.”
CHAPTER XVII
MASTERS AGAIN
IN THE hour preceding dawn, Roy gave over his fight against an unaccustomed nervousness that had kept him awake, rose, took a sponge bath, shaved, and dressed himself for the day. He stole from the room, and quietly let himself out of the house, in confident expectation that the outdoors charm of dawn would soothe the unrest of his spirit. A slight noise arrested his attention as he went toward the north end of the cottage. He was wearing tennis shoes, of which the rubber soles made no sound on the ground, and he went forward with caution, his curiosity aroused, for he was certain that he caught a sibilant whisper. Already, there was a rosy grayness stealing on the air, so that he could see, though dimly. As he came to the corner of the house, he halted, and peered covertly forward. He could distinguish a shadow that moved a little. As his eyes grew accustomed to the twilight, he made out that there were two forms there, one much the larger. Again, his ears detected a faint whispering, too indistinct to be understood. Then, one softly spoken phrase came clearly:
“Come away—they’ll hear us.” It was the voice of the engineer.
Roy’s muscles tensed for the leap forward. But he remembered the fact that as yet there was nothing in the way of direct evidence against Masters. He and his friends believed in the man’s guilt, but there was no proof. Now something might be said that would serve to convict the engineer of his crimes. Roy determined to listen, to learn what he might. The two who had met thus mysteriously moved toward the north-east, going swiftly toward the shore of the lake. At a safe distance behind them, Roy followed.