d I walked round the island all that night with
lanterns, and examined every nook and corner without seeing a trace
of my poor lost friend. The direction in which he had been running
terminated in a rugged line of jagged cliffs overhanging the sea. At one
place here the edge was somewhat crumbled, and there appeared marks upon
the turf which might have been left by human feet. We lay upon our faces
at this spot, and peered with our lanterns over the edge, looking down
on the boiling surge two hundred feet below. As we lay there, suddenly,
above the beating of the waves and the howling of the wind, there rose
a strange wild screech from the abyss below. The fishermen--a naturally
superstitious race--averred that it was the sound of a woman's laughter,
and I could hardly persuade them to continue the search. For my own part
I think it may have been the cry of some sea-fowl startled from its nest
by the flash of the lantern. However that may be, I never wish to hear
such a sound again.

And now I have come to the end of the painful duty which I have
undertaken. I have told as plainly and as accurately as I could the
story of the death of John Barrington Cowles, and the train of events
which preceded it. I am aware that to others the sad episode seemed
commonplace enough. Here is the prosaic account which appeared in the
Scotsman a couple of days afterwards:--

"Sad Occurrence on the Isle of May.--The Isle of May has been the scene
of a sad disaster. Mr. John Barrington Cowles, a gentleman well known
in University circles as a most distinguished student, and the present
holder of the Neil Arnott prize for physics, has been recruiting his
health in this quiet retreat. The night before last he suddenly left his
friend, Mr. Robert Armitage, and he has not since been heard of. It
is almost certain that he has met his death by falling over the cliffs
which surround the island. Mr. Cowles' health has been failing for some
time, partly from over study and partly from worry connected with family
affairs. By his death the University loses one of her most promising
alumni."

I have nothing more to add to my statement. I have unburdened my mind of
all that I know. I can well conceive that many, after weighing all
that I have said, will see no ground for an accusation against Miss
Northcott. They will say that, because a man of a naturally excitable
disposition says and does wild things, and even eventually commits
self-murder a