Grant Allen

“ Cliveden Reach is the most frequented stretch of water on the whole river; hundreds of holiday-makers pour down from London every day to Taplow or Maidenhead, so that the channel is alive with scullers and steam launches, for some five miles up stream, till a late hour in the evening. ”

“ He uses a Canadian canoe. He's right, of course; no boat is so noiseless; with none other can you see so well ahead exactly where you are going, and guide yourself so perfectly. You must have a Canadian canoe, pervade Cliveden Reach, and see whether any such outrage is attempted again."
"It will be attempted again, sir," Atkins said decisively; "you may count upon that. If the story's true, the fellow will have learned that he can induce a strong and vigorous man, a Member of Parliament, and a good sculler, to deliver up his purse by just presenting a loaded revolver at his head. ”

“ After dinner, about nine at night, on a fine early summer evening, he started in a Canadian canoe for Maidenhead. He was accustomed to manage a boat, and was a good sculler and paddler. Where the stream divides, he took the inner channel, under the Cliveden Woods; and there, just behind the island, he was surprised, as he passed, to see another canoe glide rapidly out in the gloom, and a man accost him threateningly.
"Fork out whatever you have in your purse! Quick; hand it over, this minute, or I shoot you!"
"What sort of man?" ”

“ Of course, a gentleman may give away money, and then desire to account for it; but Mr. Symington is not a very young gentleman, nor a very foolish one, and it's the young ones and the foolish ones that trump up stories of such adventures. My impression is, we might watch the Reach carefully from the bank for a week or two."
"Atkins," I said, "we will watch it, but not from the bank. You're the man to do it. You know the river well, and you can manage a boat. We must fight the fellow with his own weapons—if there is any fellow, which is far from certain. ”

“ I said; "he would have aroused the neighbourhood."
"I'm not so sure of that; it is lonely behind the islands, and the hour was late. I passed only one other boat all the way from Cookham. The river is crowded, I admit. Colonel, till eight or half-past, but as soon as it grows dark, not a soul is left on it."
"And you gave him your purse?"
"Well, it was cowardly of me, I own; but what would you have? He was covering me with his revolver—I was quite unarmed; and remember, too, in a Canadian canoe, which is not the sort of place one would choose for a tussle. The least thing upsets one. ”

“ I could gather he was somebody who knew the ground well, for, the moment the gate failed him, he rushed madly up the outhouse where the coal is kept, and then up the roof of the house, like a cat or a monkey. Charlie Wybrook, never pausing, followed him as quickly as he himself had mounted. ”

“ But Atkins said "No"; and Atkins's experience was worth much in such matters. The only reach where the fellow could be sure of catching somebody worth robbing, he said, was the most frequented piece of water. At Marlow or Bisham, after dark, he might wait for hours without seeing anyone; but on Cliveden Reach there was always a passer-by. Besides, he would need the cover of the reed beds. I agreed that Atkins was right, and made all arrangements for the canoe, as well as for a couple of policemen, with a double sculling skiff, to be in waiting close by whenever Atkins sprang his rattle. ”

“ This second outrage naturally roused a great deal of feeling on the river. Ladies had been accustomed to row about freely alone without fear of interruption, and the unpleasant discovery that they might be set upon and robbed caused a most disagree- able awakening for riverside households. Mr. Talbot Evatt himself offered a reward of five hundred pounds for whoever caught or exposed the robber, and the county added another five hundred. ”

“ She plays the part of chief almoner to the district, being both wealthy and benevolent, and is often entrusted with the charities of other people.
One rainy afternoon, about six o'clock, this lady was returning by boat from Bray, rowed by her two nieces, both excellent oars-women, when a curious episode happened. Mrs. Wybrook had called at Maidenhead on her way up from the Bray Hospital, where she had been visiting the inmates of that picturesque almshouse, and she had cashed a cheque at the bank for sixty pounds, as was her wont once a fortnight. ”

“ The girls told their story, and Atkins, with commendable speed, sprang his rattle and got his two policemen out from under shelter of the bank where they were waiting. Then he took one of the girls and a policeman down one side of the islands, while the other girl and the second policeman went down the other. In a quarter of an hour he had communicated with the lock-keepers above and below, and had gathered together half-a-dozen other men, with lights and boats, to make a cordon round the reed beds and the islands, while he and some few selected boatmen thoroughly searched them. ”