Blind Corner by Dornford Yates

Author:Dornford Yates
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Blind Corner
ISBN: 9780755127085
Publisher: House of Stratus
Published: 2013-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

“What do you know?” said Rose Noble.

I was sitting up on the ground, with my back to the near fore wheel of the closed car. The hub-cap was hurting abominably, but about this I could do nothing, because I was lashed to the spokes and could not move. Rose Noble was sitting on a box a few feet away, and, immediately opposite me, Ellis was leaning against the jamb of a doorway, framed by a high stone wall, with a cigar in his mouth. For a moment or two I could not make out where I was; then I saw that the car had been moved to the farther side of the byre, which now stood between me and the combe, and wholly concealed it from anyone North of the track.

I must have lain unconscious a long time, for the sun had just gone down.

“What do you know?” said Rose Noble.

“I refuse to talk,” said I, “until you loosen this cord. I expect to be tied up, but this hub-cap is breaking my back.”

Ellis laughed and spat, but Rose Noble only regarded me, rubbing his nose. Then, to my surprise, he rose and, coming behind me, began to loosen my bonds. Ellis’ surprise was plainly greater than mine, for, when he saw Rose Noble’s purpose, he started forward with an oath, and dropped his cigar.

“What the devil are you doing?” he cried.

The other told him not to be a fool.

When the strain was gone, I thanked him, and he made fast the cords.

“And now,” he said, resuming his seat in the box, “what do you know?”

“I believe,” said I, “there’s a chamber at the bottom of that well.”

“How far down?” said Rose Noble.

“Most of the way,” said I. “I can’t tell you for certain, because there was still too much water when I last went down; but I think it lies pretty low.”

“Were you the last to go down?”

“I was.”

“Can you speak German?” said Rose Noble.

“Not a word.”

I knew what was in his mind, and was glad to make a true answer, for to lie when your statement cannot be checked is one thing, but to give a reply which another captive may instantly show to be false is another matter.

“When you say ‘chamber,’” said Rose Noble, “what do you mean?”

I told him of the well-digger’s statement, only omitting to speak any word of the shaft.

“Then the treasure’s under water?” he said.

“It must be,” said I. “In some recess in the wall.”

“How far down did you get?”

“About forty feet below high-water mark.”

“That tells me nothing,” said Rose Noble. “How close did you get to the bottom of the well?”

“Within twenty-five feet.”

The man’s bearing was curiously soft; he was certainly examining me, but his manner was not unpleasant, though something abrupt; all the time he kept his eyes on my face, tilting his chin a little and blinking musingly.

“And now,” he said, looking away, “what are your plans?”

“At the present moment,” said I, “we have no plans.”

For a moment Rose Noble did not move.

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