"Unless I'm greatly mistaken," he exclaimed, "he has already taken—or been given—his medicine. That looks to me like a yachtsman's cap down there on the beach. You said he was dressed in yachting costume."
The two men hurried forward. When they reached the cap, which was weighted down with a shell, the detective picked it up and found a note pinned to the top of it. Captain Ichabod glanced about him with apprehension at thought of the tragedy that might have occurred here.
Just beyond where they were standing there was a sort of false inlet. It does not show as an inlet upon the map. Nevertheless, at times it allows the water to cut clear across the Core Banks. Except at high tide, it is shallow. But it is not safe for fording by those who do not know the way, for the bed of it abounds in treacherous quicksands. It was indeed at this point that Captain Jones had feared lest Garnet, a stranger, might meet with disaster. Now, it seemed likely that he had.
Van Dusen unpinned the note, opened it, and read aloud:
"To the World:
"I hope to cross this unknown channel in safety, for the sake of the young woman, Ethel Marion, who is pure and innocent. I have spent my energies in order that the world might be benefited. But in zeal to win the fame for myself while helping others, I resorted to drugs to give me a capacity for strength beyond that apportioned to me by my Creator. Let my guilt serve as a warning to every professional man who desires to be of service to his fellows. There can be no gain to humanity from a folly that must cost him his own soul.
"Gifford Garnet."
