“Oh, rather; that’s settled. I say,” added Fairbairn, “I’d give anything to get at the bottom of it. I saw the boats locked up last night, and I was there when they were taken out this morning. I can’t imagine how it was done.”
“It seemed a clean cut, didn’t it?”
“Yes; about three-quarters of the way through. Whoever did it must have been up to his business, for he only touched the right cord on which all the strain comes at the corner.”
“It must have been done between five o’clock yesterday and this morning,” said Riddell. “If the cut had been there yesterday the line would have given at the corner to a certainty.”
“Oh, yes; it must have been done in the night.”
“Doesn’t the boatman know anything about it?”
“No; I asked him. He says no one opened the door after the boats had gone in except himself and the boat-boy.”
“It’s horribly mysterious,” said Riddell. “But, I say, hadn’t we better offer the new race at once?”
“All serene.”
“Had we better write?” asked Riddell.