Sammy took one oar and I the other, and very soon the keel ran into the mud bank of the island, and the grey, dismal old castle, with its “hanging stone,” towered above us. In an instant all four of us sprang ashore, the boat was moored, and we started off in the direction of the great ruin. Fortunately the sun was now shining brightly, and there, sure enough, lay the long, straight shadow across the wet grass in our direction.
I looked at my watch and found it a quarter-past three. In fifteen minutes we should be able to follow accurately the directions.
Suddenly, to our dismay, we saw, as we approached the point where the shadow ended, that a great hole had been dug in the immediate vicinity. We rushed forward with one accord, and in an instant the truth was plain—investigations had already been made!
The hole was a deep one, disclosing a flight of spiral stone steps which led to a subterranean chamber, the dungeon, perhaps, of some building long since effaced. At any rate, it showed that the excavators had hit upon some underground construction, the nature of which we knew not. The tools had been left there unheeded, as though the trio had departed hurriedly.
“That’s curious!” Wyman cried to me. “Read old Godfrey’s instructions aloud to us.”
I took out of my pocket a book in which I had made a note of the exact wording, and read to my companions as follows:
“DIRECTIONS FOR RECOVERING THE CASKET.
“Go unto the castle at 3:30, when the sun shines, on September 6th, and follow the shadow of the east angle of the keep, forty-three paces from the inner edge of the moat.”
Sammy then measured the paces, and found they were, as specified, forty-three.
I again glanced at my watch. It was just half-past three.