It was thoroughly believed that the treasure was planted somewhere on the course we had taken during the chase, and many fishermen dragged the sea on that line in the hope of reward. But nothing came of it, and a year passed.
The time came for the doctor and his pal to get out, for the law which cut the prison term to one-half for good behavior was now in force. I watched the papers, and tried to keep posted, but nothing was printed about the convicts.
One day the doctor and his partner came aboard just as we were leaving, and spoke pleasantly to me. They had taken second class and return to New York. It was pure nerve, I thought, but the regulations allowed them the privilege, as they might not, under the "undesirable-citizen" act, be allowed to land in the States.
They took no pains at all to hide their identity, and greeted me most cordially when I met them on deck the first day out. I asked them about their sojourn in Dartmoor, and they talked freely, telling of the rigors of prison life.
"But it is all over now," said the doctor. "We will live our lives as we always have, clean, honest, without fear and without reproach. We were innocent, as you know."
"Perhaps so—but what became of the gold?" I asked cynically.
"Ah, yes, the gold," murmured the doctor. "To be sure there was some doubt about the—what shall I call it?—the disposition of the treasure that the robbers worked so hard for. That will always be a mystery."
I thought differently. I had by the process of elimination long ago come to the conclusion that the gold never left the ship in Europe.
The strange way they had taken their baggage ashore, their ostentatious manner of taking out the heavy trunk and lowering it over the side in full view of all was evidently meant for a purpose.
Why had they taken so much trouble to let all see its weight? Why had they dragged it with them when, after all, it contained apparently nothing but old iron? That it was to cover up the real effort of disposition was growing more and more plain to me, but, then, where could they have planted the heavy weight of gold?