I had been
conscious of all that, but supposing my brain had actually begun to whirl
half an hour sooner, before I had become conscious of it? Might I not
have imagined my whole mysterious adventure?
It was a nasty thought, for in that case what a superfluous fool I had
made of myself since! But I faced it manfully, and sternly asked myself
what the opinion of the average hard-headed, soberly reasoning man would
be, if he were given the facts and requested to pronounce his verdict on
them. What would be my own verdict if I were told such a yarn? Would I
swallow it without demur?
"Be hanged if I would!" I said candidly.
By the time I got back to the big house, I had very nearly ceased to
believe in the tale myself.
X
THE COAST PATROL
That evening we were all three sitting in the library (the same old-world
room into which I had first been shown), when a servant entered and gave
a message to Mr. Rendall. He rose and went out, leaving his daughter and
myself each apparently immersed in a book. She may genuinely have been,
but I was making the covers of mine a screen for inward debate. Had I
made a mere fool of myself and should I make a clean breast of everything
to my hosts? Or should I wait a little longer before deciding? I went on
thinking after the laird had left the room, and Miss Jean still kept her
eyes immovably on her page.
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