ivion.

Growing very cold, he went back to the fire, but he offered no
explanation of his absence. Lisle was still asleep or unconscious, but
the natural color in his face was reassuring.

"I've heard nothing about your part in the water," Nasmyth said to
Batley.

"There's not much to tell. It isn't astonishing that my memory's by no
means clear. Anyhow, I wasn't far from Gladwyne, who was swimming well,
when he was swept away from me and in among the lower boulders by the
swirl of an eddy. I suppose it didn't quite reach me, but the next moment
I was sucked into a rush of broken water and went down-stream, below the
surface part of the time, because I was surprised when I found I could
breathe and look about again. By good luck, I'd got into the smoothest,
deepest flow, which swept me straight through. After a little, I saw
somebody washing down in a slack and got hold of him. I didn't know
whether it was Gladwyne or Lisle; but I held on and a side-swing of the
current brought us both ashore. Gladwyne, of course, must have gone under
after being badly damaged among the rocks."

"There's only one place where he could have landed and I searched it
while you were away," Crestwick said gravely.

"Why did you go in after him?" Nasmyth asked Batley. "You must have seen
that you couldn't save him."

"That," Batley answered with a curious smile, "is more than I can clearly
tell you; and I might suggest that Lisle's venture is even harder to
understand. I don't honestly think I owe Gladwyne anything; but, after
all, we passed for friends, and I used to be fond of swimming. Of course,
there's a more obvious explanation--I'd lent him a good deal of money and
from what I've learned since, I may have some difficulty in enforcing my
claim on the estate. It was natural that I should make an effort to
recover the debt."

Nasmyth did not think that the man had been most strongly influenced by
that desire, but he addressed Crestwick:

"Hadn't you better gather some more branches or driftwood for the fire,
Jim?"

Crestwick disappeared, and Nasmyth filled his pipe before he turned to
Batley.

"Now," he said, "I don't want to be offensive; but there are two people
connected with this affair who must be spared any unnecessary suffering.
That's a fact you had better recognize."

"I hardly think you do me justice," returned Batley, looking amused.
"It's perfectly plain that there's a mystery behind these recent events;
one that