His harmlessness had been absolutely guaranteed, provided always that no
restraints were put upon him and that any little innocent fancy was
indulged. Thus he wandered all over the island and at all hours,
sometimes even wandering out at night when the foolish fancy took him,
until this was accepted as the normal thing for harmless Jock. Another
innocent whim he had of making a collection of rubbishy odds and ends and
keeping them in a box in the barn. He had even repeated "Lock! Lock!" and
stamped his harmless foot till they good-naturedly provided him with a
lock and key for this treasure chest. And thus long before August, 1914,
Jock was provided with a character that rendered his habits above
suspicion, and a strong box which nobody would ever dream of examining.
Two or three times the same polite tourist paid a visit to the island to
see how the poor demented young man was being looked after, and on these
occasions he would take Jock out for quite a long walk, and afterwards
assure the family that their guest's health was benefiting greatly. But
this gentleman had not visited the island since the war, it seemed.
This was the Scollays' story and I think we all believed that in the main
it was true. In fact, since then it has stood the test of all the
evidence that could be got to check it.
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