When it was done, he looked up into the sky.
Presently he sighed.
“One has much to be thankful for,” he said. And then, “Let’s hope they let her walk on ‘the pretty terrace, where flowers blow.’ ”
Hanbury and I said nothing, for, indeed, there was nothing to be said.
Presently Mansel spoke again.
“One thing stands out—any chance of a snap division, which we may have thought we had, can be written right off. If they thought we were still at Villach, it would be different: when your enemy’s that far away, you’re apt to be careless about keeping the door he can’t enter and watching the wall he can’t scale. But to rush a position like this when it’s properly manned is quite impossible. Very well. There’s only one thing to do, and that is to go on playacting.
“If Chandos was not seen on the spur—and I think it unlikely that he was—Rose Noble has a right to infer that when we came to the crossroads we didn’t know which way to go. Well, he hasn’t much use for inferences, and so I propose to prove to his satisfaction that this inference is a fact. We’re going to forget about Gath, and we’re going to scour the country for miles around. We shall take up our quarters at Lass, come to the crossroads at dawn and spend the whole of the day visiting villages and farms and combing the countryside. While we are doing this we shall take care to study Gath from every side. That’ll be easy enough. And tomorrow, to round the picture, we shall discover the castle and drive up and ring the bell. I don’t imagine Rose Noble will answer the door, but I’m sure that he’ll be within earshot and I’d like him to hear what I say.
“And, if all goes well, two or three days later we’ll call again. But this time we’ll come by night, and I think we’ll let the bell go.”
For a little we lay there silent, digesting his words.
Then—
“At the moment,” said I, “they’ve lost us. Doesn’t it seem a pity to let them find us again?”
“Yes,” said Mansel, “it does. But no man can have it both ways. So long as he’s out of touch, Rose Noble won’t close an eye: and so long as his eyes are open, we shall never get into Gath. So far as I can see, one sentry is more than enough to watch those walls. Very well. Would you omit that precaution, when the last time you’d seen the enemy he was two miles away?”
Hanbury fingered his chin.
“How did Rose Noble get there?” he said. “I mean, it’s a private house.”
Mansel shrugged his shoulders.
“I imagine he’s bought the caretakers. It’s often been done in London—in the good old days. And there it was dangerous: but here there’s next to no risk. No neighbours to raise their eyebrows: seven miles from the nearest town: ownership in dispute, and no visitors allowed. Once he had found the place, it was too easy.”
“I agree,” said Hanbury. “And the greatest of these is ‘ownership in dispute.’ Supposing the disputants heard that the Castle of Gath was taking in paying guests.”
“What then?” said Mansel.
“Well, wouldn’t they take some action?”
“Of course they would,” said Mansel. “But what action would they take?”
“I don’t know,” said Hanbury. “But—”
“Neither do I,” said Mansel, “and there’s the rub. If they’d let me take the action, well and good. But they’d never do that. If I pitched it in pretty strong, they’d probably come along with a couple of local police and a lawyer’s clerk. … And don’t forget—whatever action was taken, Rose Noble would know whom to thank. He’d know that I was behind it, and I’m frankly afraid to think what his answer would be. You see, ‘the goods are perishable.’ Because of that, we must never let him see that the game is up. It’s got to be up, before he sees that it’s up … before he has time to hit back. …”
Half an hour later we were at the crossroads.
It was now eleven o’clock, and within a quarter of an hour our plans were laid.
For five miles about we were to prove the country, making no attempt at concealment and courting the observation of anyone watching from Gath: in this way, whilst appearing to search, we should gain such a knowledge of the district as might any moment be of the greatest use. In the course of our movements we were to visit two points from each of which it seemed likely that a man could look full upon Gath: these particular visits were, of course, to be surreptitiously made, and we hoped that they would help us to discover whether an endeavour to climb to the castle by the cliffs could possibly succeed.
Mansel and I would take one car, and Hanbury and Bell the other: each patrol was to go its own way, returning to the crossroads at sundown, en route for Lass.
Carson and Rowley, meanwhile, were to lie close in a wood and take their rest, “for tonight,” said Mansel, “you two must drive to Poganec and take Captain Pleydell our news.”
“How much shall you tell him?” said I, as we took to the car.
“Only where he can find me and that we know where she is.”
Yet when the time came to send it, the note was longer than that.
It was half past three when Mansel and I began to ascend a mountain which we thought must command the castle and be commanded in turn. Its sides and peak were wooded, so we had little to fear. The Rolls we had left with Tester by the side of the way, and each of us carried a binocular of a considerable power.
At last we came to the summit, and almost at once we saw Gath, not directly opposed, but lying a little to the left, so that we could observe the whole of its south and east sides.
I could dwell upon
