Part 15 (1/2)

A LOW line of sandhills, pink and fawn in the setting sun, at one end of thee huddled round the base of a , the eastern of 15th October We had decided to -place; and since it possesses no harbour, and is hedged by atide till the yacht grounded, in order to save ourselves as e to and fro of the heavy water-breakers and oil-cans which we had to replenish In faint outline three miles to the south of us was the flat plain of Friesland, broken only by some trees, a windmill or two, and a church spire Between, the shallow expanse of sea was already beginning to shrink away into lagoons, chief ae by which we had approached from the east This continued its course west, directly parallel to the island, and in it, at a distance of half a alliots lay at anchor

Before supper was over the yacht was high and dry, and e had eaten, Davies loaded hi my share, but he induced me to stay aboard; for I was dead tired after an unusually long and trying day, which had begun at 2 a a precious instale of the sands from the Elbe to the Jade It was a barely possible feat for a boat of our low speed to perforh we just succeeded, it was only by dint of tireless vigilance and severe physical strain

'Lay out the anchor when you've had a sht; it's uide back'

He lowered himself, and I heard the scrunch of his sea-boots as he disappeared in the darkness It was a fine starry night, with a touch of frost in the air I lit a cigar, and stretched ar soon languished and dropped, and I dozed uneasily, for the riding-light was on h the half-raised skylight, saw it burning steadily, and lay down again The cabin la down to a red-hot wick, but I was too drowsy to attend to it, and it went out I litIt was the first ti; yet so used had we grown to freedom from interference that this would not have disturbed me in the least were it not for a sudden presentie of our labours so would happen All at once I heard a sound outside, a splashi+ng footstep as of ain a puddle I ide awake in an instant, but never thought of shouting 'Is that you, Davies?' for I knew in a flash that it was not he It was the slip of a stealthy man Presently I heard another footstep--the pad of a boot on the sand--this time close to my ear, just outside the hull; then soently rose and peered aft through the skylight A gli over theto do with the riding-light, which hung on the forestay My prowler, I understood, had struck athe name on the stern How much farther would his curiosity carry hiain Then a strong, guttural voice called in German, 'Yacht ahoy!' I kept silence 'Yacht ahoy!' a little louder this time A pause, and then a vibration of the hull as boots scraped on it and hands grasped the gunwale My visitor was on deck I bobbed down, sat on the sofa, and I heard hi the deck, quickly and confidently, first forward to the bohere he stopped, then back to the companion amidshi+ps Inside the cabin it was pitch dark, but I heard his boots on the ladder, feeling for the steps In anotherhis second match Surely it was darker than before? There had been a little glow froht, but it had disappeared I looked up, realized, and made a fool of myself In a few seconds more I should have seen my visitor face to face, perhaps had an interview: but I was new to this sort of work and lost ht of was Davies's last words, and saw hiuide hi, and a heavy load I started up involuntarily, bu

A long step and a grab at the ladder, but just too late! I grasped so, and I was left clasping a big sea-boot, whose owner I heard jump on to the sand and run I scrambled out, vaulted overboard, and followed blindly by the sound He had doubled round the bows of the yacht, and I did the sa the bobstay, and fell violently on my head, with all the wind knocked out of th and bulk was one of the glories of the 'Dulcibella' I struggled on as soon as I got some breath, but my invisible quarry was far ahead I pulled off s, pro my foot on some cockle-shells Pursuit was hopeless, and a final stuony inback, I decided that I had ained nothing, and lost a great deal of breath and skin, and did not even know for certain where I was The yacht's light was extinguished, and, even angeroog Lighthouse to guide me, I found it no easy matter to find her She had no anchor out, if the tide rose And hoas Davies to find her? Afterflat at intervals in the hopes of seeing her silhouetted against the starry sky This plan succeeded at last, and with relief and huht, and carried off the kedge anchor The strange boot lay at the foot of the ladder, but it told no tales when I examined it

It was eleven o'clock, past loater Davies was cutting it fine if he was to get aboard without the dinghy's help But eventually he reappeared in the most prosaic way, exhausted with his heavy load, but full of talk about his visit ashore He began while ere still on deck

'Look here, we ought to have settled more about e're to say e're asked questions I chose a quiet-looking shop, but it turned out to be a sort of inn, where they were drinking pink gin--all very friendly, as usual, and I found myself under a fire of questions I said ere on our way back to England There was the usual rot about the smallness of the boat, etc It struckso slow and stopping to explore, so I had to bring in the ducks, though goodness knoe don't want to waste time over _them_ The subject wasn't quite a success They said it was too early--jealous, I suppose; but then two fellows spoke up, and asked to be taken on to help Said they would bring their punt; without local help we should do no good All true enough, no doubt, but what a nuisance they'd be I got out of it--'

'It's just as well you did,' I interposed 'We shall never be able to leave the boat by herself I believe we're watched,' and I related my experience

'H'm! It's a pity you didn't see who it was Confound that bob-stay!'

(his tactful way of reflecting on uely into the west 'Not towards the island? I wonder if it's soalliots There are three anchored in the channel over there; you can see their lights You didn't hear a boat pulling off?'

I explained that I had been a miserable failure as a detective

'You've done jolly well, I think,' said Davies 'If you had shouted when you first heard hiot a boot, which et below'

We s softly round the 'Dulcibella', raised her without a jar

Of course, I argued, there ht have been a co bait Davies scouted this possibility from the first

'They're not like that in Ger And I don't like that turning out of the lantern to gain time, if ere away'

Nor did I In spite ofin details, I welcomed the incident as the first concrete proof that the object of our quest was no mare's nest The next point as the visitor's object? If to search, ould he have found?

'The charts, of course, with all our corrections and notes, and the log They'd give us away,' was Davies's instant conclusion Not having his faith in the channel theory, I was lukewar nothing wrong, as you've often said yourself,' I said

Still, as a true index to our s on board that could possibly cofor sport (witness the duck guns) and pleasure We had two sets of charts, Gerlish The forether with the log, if occasion demanded My diary, I resolved, should never leave my person Then there were the naval books Davies scanned them with a look I kneell

'There are toothe fate of superfluous kittens 'Let's throw them overboard They're very old anyhow, and I know them by heart'

'Well, not here!' I protested, for he was laying greedy hands on the shelf; 'they'll be found at loater In fact, I should leave them as they are You had them when you were here before, and Dollmann knows you had them If you return without thelish charts, being relatively useless, though lish yachts proofs of our innocence It was all delightfully casual, I could not help thinking A seven-ton yacht does not abound in (dry) hiding-places, and ere helpless against a drastic search If there _were_ secrets on this coast to guard, and ere suspected as spies, there was nothing to prevent an official visit and warning

There need be no prowlers scuttling off when alarht wisest to let well alone, if ere_ harmless, and not to arouse suspicions where there were none Here we lost ourselves in conjecture Whose agent was the prowler? If Dollmann's, did Dollmann kno that the 'Dulcibella' was safe, and back in the region he had expelled her from? If so, was he likely to return to the policy of violence? We found ourselves both glancing at the duck guns strung up under the racks, and then we both laughed and looked foolish 'A war of wits, and not of duck guns,' I opined 'Let's look at the chart'

[Illustration: Map B of East Friesland]

The reader is already faion, and I need only remind him that the mainland is that district of Prussia which is known as East Friesland It is a _[See Map B]_ short, flat-topped peninsula, bounded on the west by the Ems estuary and beyond that by Holland, and on the east by the Jade estuary; a low-lying country, containing great tracts of marsh and heath, and fens of any size; on the north side none Seven islands lie off the coast All, except Borkuhtly crescent-shaped, rarely th averaging about six miles, from Norderney and Juist, which are seven and nine respectively, to little Baltrum, which is only two and a half