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Page 35
"Look!" he cried.
The body of the dog lay at his feet.
It was pitiable to think that the fearless brute should have met
his death in such a fashion, and when I bent and examined him I
was glad to find traces of life.
"Drag him out. He is not dead," I said.
"And hurry," rapped Smith, peering about him right and left.
So we three hurried from that haunted place, dragging the dog with us.
We were not molested. No sound disturbed the now perfect stillness.
By the lawn edge we came upon Denby, half dressed;
and almost immediately Edwards the gardener also appeared.
The white faces of the house servants showed at one window,
and Miss Eltham called to me from her room:
"Is he dead?"
"No," I replied; "only stunned."
We carried the dog round to the yard, and I examined his head.
It had been struck by some heavy blunt instrument, but the skull
was not broken. It is hard to kill a mastiff.
"Will you attend to him, Doctor?" asked Eltham.
"We must see that the villain does not escape."
His face was grim and set. This was a different man from the diffident
clergyman we knew: this was "Parson Dan" again.
I accepted the care of the canine patient, and Eltham with
the others went off for more lights to search the shrubbery.
As I was washing a bad wound between the mastiff's ears,
Miss Eltham joined me. It was the sound of her voice,
I think, rather than my more scientific ministration,
which recalled Caesar to life. For, as she entered, his tail
wagged feebly, and a moment later he struggled to his feet--
one of which was injured.
Having provided for his immediate needs, I left him in
charge of his young mistress and joined the search party.
They had entered the shrubbery from four points and drawn blank.
"There is absolutely nothing there, and no one can possibly have left
the grounds," said Eltham amazedly.
We stood on the lawn looking at one another, Nayland Smith,
angry but thoughtful, tugging at the lobe of his left ear,
as was his habit in moments of perplexity.
CHAPTER IX
WITH the first coming of light, Eltham, Smith and I tested the electrical
contrivances from every point. They were in perfect order.
It became more and more incomprehensible how anyone could have entered
and quitted Redmoat during the night. The barbed-wire fencing was intact,
and bore no signs of having been tampered with.
Smith and I undertook an exhaustive examination of the shrubbery.
At the spot where we had found the dog, some five paces to the west
of the copper beech, the grass and weeds were trampled and the
surrounding laurels and rhododendrons bore evidence of a struggle,
but no human footprint could be found.
"The ground is dry," said Smith. "We cannot expect much."
"In my opinion," I said, "someone tried to get at Caesar;
his presence is dangerous. And in his rage he broke loose."
"I think so, too," agreed Smith. "But why did this person make
for here? And how, having mastered the dog, get out of Redmoat?
I am open to admit the possibility of someone's getting in during
the day whilst the gates are open, and hiding until dusk.
But how in the name of all that's wonderful does he GET OUT?
He must possess the attributes of a bird."
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