The forenoon Rollo spent in "pottering around" the village and harbour with his easel and palette, simply to sustain his rôle of a painter. At the same time he kept a sharp look-out for the Fairy's new owner, but in this direction he was disappointed.
After the midday meal, Vyse and his assistant got to work. They were on the right track this time. Three hours' strenuous toil resulted in the removal of a couple of large stones set in very hard cement. Through the small aperture thus formed, they could discern a cavern of generous proportions.
It had taken Silas Porthoustoc half a day to build up the mouth of the cave, working single-handed. Eight hours intermittent toil on the part of Rollo and Primmer resulted in a hole big enough for them to crawl through.
Armed with a torch, Rollo led the way. It was a matter of about a three-feet drop to the floor of the cave, the natural mouth of which was of oval section, seven feet in height and four in width. In length it went back nearly eighty yards, the width and height increasing at ten feet or so from the entrance.
There was the booty, packed as it was when it was transhipped from the Alerte to the Fairy, with the exception of one or two sacks which had been opened by Old Silas, either for present use purposes or else to enable him to satisfy himself of the nature of their contents.
Working at high pressure, Vyse and his companion removed all the booty from the cave and stored it in one of the rooms. They then proceeded to wall up the cave, carefully discolouring the cement in order to impart the appearance of age.
At the same time, the new owner and master of the lugger Fairy was composing an anonymous letter to the chief officer of the Water Guard at Penzance.
Rollo had another disturbed night. With an automatic pistol ready to hand, he slept on a camp-bed by the side of the large pile of booty; but although he kept waking and tiptoeing to the window, somewhat to his surprise there were no signs of the intruder of the previous evening. As soon as the post office opened, a telegram was dispatched to Devonport asking for a van to be sent to remove the "furniture"; while to allay suspicion on the part of his neighbours, Primmer spread the yarn that his recently-acquired cottage was haunted, that his wife refused to remain there another night, and that he had arranged to clear out that very clay.
Just before noon a motor pantechnicon bearing the name of a well-known firm of furniture removers, but driven by a naval artificer in mufti and accompanied by four stalwart marines in civilian clothes (unfortunately their soldierly bearing discounted their rôle of furniture-packers), arrived at the late Porthoustoc's former abode.
Primmer's goods and chattels, together with the carefully-covered boxes and sacks of bullion and specie, were stowed in the van. His wife had previously gone on to Penzance station. Vyse and the ex-bo'sun were taking a final look round before locking up the cottage when a policeman walked up to the door.