“Iamallright,“hedeclared。“Let’slookafterhim。“
Theygropedtheirwaytowardstheunconsciousman,Geraldstillgrippingthedressing-casewithbothhands。Therewerenosignsofanychangeinhiscondition,buthewasstillbreathingheavily。
Thentheyheardashoutbehind,almostintheirears。Theporterstaggeredtohisfeet。
“It’sallrightnow,sir!“heexclaimed。“They’vebroughtblanketsandastretcherandbrandy。Here’sadoctor,sir。“
Apowerful-lookingman,hatless,andwrappedinagreatulster,movedtowardsthem。
“Howmanyarethereofyou?“heasked,ashebentoverMr。Dunster。
“Onlywetwo,“Geraldreplied。“Ismyfriendbadlyhurt?“
“Concussion,“thedoctorannounced。“We’lltakehimtothevillage。
Whataboutyou,youngman?Yourfaceisbleeding,Isee。“
“Justacut,“Geraldfaltered;“nothingelse。“
“Luckychap,“thedoctorremarked。“Let’sgethimtoshelterofsomesort。Comealong。There’saninnatthecornerofthelanethere。“
Theyallstaggeredalong,Geraldstillclutchingthedressing-case,andsupportedontheothersidebyanexcitedandsomewhatincoherentvillager。
“Suchastormasneverwas,“thelattervolunteered。“Thetelegraphwiresarealldownformilesandmiles。Therewon’tbenotrainsrunningalongthislinecomemanyaweek,andasfortrees-why,it’sasthoughsomeonehadbeenplayingninepinsinSquireFellowes’spark。Whenthemorningdocome,forsuretherewillbethingstobeseen。Thisway,sir。Becarefulofthegate。“
Theystaggeredalongdownthelane,climbingonceoveratreewhichlayacrossthelaneandfarintotheadjoiningfield。Soontheywerejoinedbymoreofthevillagers,rousedfromtheirbedsbyrumoursofterriblehappenings。Thelittle,single-storey,ivy-coveredinnwasalllitupandthedoorheldfirmlyopen。Theypassedthroughthenarrowentranceandintothestone-flaggedbarroom,wherethemenlaiddowntheirstretcher。Asmanyofthevillagersascouldcrowdinfilledthepassage。Geraldsankintoachair。Thesuddenabsenceofwindwasalmostdisconcerting。Hefelthimselfoncemoreindangeroffainting。Hewasonlyvaguelyconsciousofdrinkinghotmilk,pouredfromajugbyared-facedandsympatheticwoman。Itsrestorativeeffect,however,wasimmediateandwonderful。Themistclearedfrombeforehiseyes,hisbrainbegantowork。Alwaysinthebackgroundthehorrorandtheshamewerethere,theshamewhichkepthishandpressedwithunnaturalstrengthuponthebrokenlockofthatdressing-case。
Hesatalittleapartfromtheothersandlistened。Abovetheconfusedmurmurofvoiceshecouldhearthedoctor’scommentandbrieforders,asherosetohisfeetafterexaminingtheunconsciousman。
“Anordinaryconcussion,“hedeclared。“Imustgetroundandseetheengine-drivernow。Theyhavegothiminashedbytheembankment。
I’llcallinagainlateron。Let’shaveonemorelookatyou,youngman。“
HeglancedatthecutonGerald’sforehead,notedtheaccessofcolourinhischeeks,andnodded。
“Borntobehanged,youwere,“hepronounced。“You’vehadamarvellousescape。I’llbeinagainpresently。Noneedtoworryaboutyourfriend。Helooksasthoughhe’dgotamightyconstitution。
Lightmylantern,Brown。Twoofyouhadbettercomewithmetotheshed。It’snonightforamantobewanderingaboutalone。“
Hedeparted,andmanyofthevillagerswithhim。Thelandladysatdownandbegantoweep。
“Suchanight!Suchanight!“sheexclaimed,wringingherhands。
“Andthere’sthedoctortalksaboutputtingthepoorgentlemantobed!Why,theroof’soffthebackpartofthehouse,andnotabedroomintheplacebutmineandJohn’s,andtheraincominginthereintorrents。Suchanight!It’sthejudgmentoftheLorduponus!That’swhatitis-thejudgmentoftheLord!“
“Judgmentofthefiddlesticks!“herhusbandgrowled。“Can’tyoulightthefire,woman?What’sthegoodofsittingtherewhining?“
“Lightthefire,“sherepeatedbitterly,“andthechimneylyingoutintheroad!Doyouwanttosuffocateusall,oristhebeerstillinyourhead?It’syourevildoings,RichardBudden,andotherslikeyou,thathavebroughtthisuponus。IfMr。Wembleywouldbutcomeinandpray!“
Herhusbandscoffed。Hewasdressedonlyinhisshirtandtrousers,hishairrough,hisbraceshangingdownbehind。
“Comeinandpray!“herepeated。“Nothe!NotMr。Wembley!He’ssafetuckedupinhisbed,shiveringwithfear,I’llbetyou。He’snotgettinghisfeetwettosaveabodyorlendahandhere。Soulsarehisjob。Youletthepreacheralone,mother,andtelluswhatwe’regoingtodowiththisgentleman。“
“TheLordonlyknows!“shecried,wringingherhands。
“CanIhireamotor-carfromanywherenear?“Geraldasked。
“There’smotor-cars,rightenough,“theinnkeeperreplied,“butnotmanyaswouldbefoolsenoughtotakeoneout。Youcouldn’tseetheroad,andIdoubtifoneofthemplagueythingswouldstirinthisstorm。“
“Suchnonsenseasyoutalk,RichardBudden!“hiswifeexclaimedsharply。“It’stwentyminutespastthreeoftheclock,andthere’slightcomingonusfast。Ifsobeastheyounggentlemanknowsfolksroundabouthere,orhappenstolivenigh,whyshouldn’thetakeoneofthemmotor-carsandgetawaytosomedecentplace?
It’llbebetterforthepoorgentlemanthanlyinghereinahousesmittenbytheLord。“
Geraldrosestifflytohisfeet。Anideawasforminginhisbrain。
Hiseyeswerebright。HelookedatthebodyofJohnDunsteruponthefloor,andfeltoncemoreinhispocket。
“Howfaroffisthegarage?“heasked。
“It’srightacrosstheway,“theinnkeeperreplied,aspeculationofNeighbourMartin’s,andafoolishoneitdoseemtome。He’stwocarsthere,andoneheletstotheGovernmentfordeliveringthemails。“
Geraldfeltinhispocketandproducedasovereign。
“Givethis,“hesaid,“toanymanyoucanfindwhowillgoacrossthereandbringmeacar-themostpowerfulthey’vegot,ifthere’sanydifference。TellthemI’llpaywell。This-myfriendwillbemuchbetterathomewithmethaninastrangeplacewhenhecomestohissenses。“
“It’ssoundcommonsense,“thewomandeclared。“Beoffwithyou,Richard。“
Themanwaslookingatthecoincovetously,buthiswifepushedhimaway。
“It’snotasovereignyou’llbetakingfromthegentlemanforalittleerrandlikethat,“sheinsistedsharply。“Heshallpayusforwhathe’shadwhenhegoes,andwelcome,andifsobethathe’swillingtomakeitasovereign,toincludethemilkandthebrandyandtheconfusionwe’vebeenputtothisnight,wellandgood。It’saheavyreckoning,maybe,butthenightcallsforit。We’llseeaboutthatafterwards。Getalongwithyou,Isay,Richard。“
“I’llbewetthrough,“themanmuttered。
“Andserveyouright!“thewomanexclaimed。“Ifthere’samaninthisvillageto-nightwhoseclothesaredry,it’sathingforhimtobeashamedof。“
Theinnkeeperreluctantlydeparted。Theyheardtheroarofthewindasthedoorwasopenedandclosed。ThewomanpouredoutanotherglassofmilkandbroughtittoGerald。
“Agodlessman,mine,“shesaidgrimly。“IfsohappenasMr。Wembleyhadcometothesepartsyearsago,I’dhaveseenmyselfinmygravebeforeI’dhavemarriedapublican。Butit’stoolatenow。We’remostlytoolateaboutthethingsthatcountinthisworld。Soit’syourfriendthat’sbeenstrickendown,youngman。Awell-livingman,Ihope?“
Geraldshiveredeversoslightly。Hedrankthemilk,however。Hefeltthathemightneedhisstrength。
“Whattrainmightyouhavebeenonthewomancontinued。“There’snonedueonthislinethatweknewof。DavidBass,thestation-master,washerebuttwohoursagoandsaidhe’dfinishedforthenight,andpraisedtheLordforthat。ThegoodstrainshadallbeenstoppedatIpswich,andthefirstpassengertrainwasnotduetillsixo’clock。“
Geraldshookhisheadwithanaffectationofweariness。
“Idon’tknow,“hereplied。“Idon’trememberanythingaboutit。
Wewerehourslate,Ithink。“
Thewomanwaslookingdownattheunconsciousman。Geraldroseslowlytohisfeetandstoodbyherside。ThefaceofMr。JohnP。
Dunster,eveninunconsciousness,hadsomethinginitofstrengthandpurpose。Theshapeofhishead,thesquarenessofhisjaws,thestraightnessofhisthicklips,allseemedtospeakofahardandinflexibledisposition。Hishairwascoalblack,coarse,andwithouttheslightestsprinklingofgrey。Hehadtheneckandthroatofafighter。Butforthatsingle,livid,bluemarkacrosshisforehead,hecarriedwithhimnosignsofhisaccident。Hewasalittleinclinedtobestout。Therewasaheavygoldchainstretchedacrosshiswaist-coat。Fromwherehelay,theshininghandleofhisrevolverprotrudedfromhiship,pocket。