“Sakesalive!。“thewomanmuttered,asshelookeddown。“Whatdoeshecarryathinglikethatfor-inapeacefulcountry,too!“
“Itwasjustanideaofhis,“Geraldanswered。“Weweregoingabroadinadayortwo。Hewasalwaysnervous。Ifyoulike,I’lltakeitaway。“
Hestoopeddownandwithdrewitfromtheunconsciousman’spocket。
Hestartedashediscoveredthatitwasloadedineverychamber。
“Ican’tbearthesightofthemthings,“thewomandeclared。“It’sthemenofevilways,who’venotrustintheLord,whoneedthatsortofprotection。“
Theyheardthedoorpushedopen,thehowlofwinddownthepassage,andthebeatingofrainuponthestoneflags。Thenitwassoftlyclosedagain。Thelandlordstaggeredintotheroom,followedbyayoungman。
“This’ereisMr。Martin’schaffer,“heannounced。“Youcantellhimwhatyouwantyerself。“
Geraldturnedalmosteagerlytowardsthenewcomer。
“IwanttogototheothersideofHolt,“hesaid,“andgetmyfriend-getthisgentlemanawayfromhere-gethimhome,ifpossible。Canyoutakeme?“
Thechauffeurlookeddoubtful。
“I’mafraidoftheroads,sir,“hereplied。“There’stalkaboutmanybridgesdown,andtrees,andthere’sfloodsouteverywhere。
There’shalfafootofwater,even,acrossthevillagestreetnow。
I’mafraidweshouldn’tgetveryfar。“
“Lookhere,“Geraldbeggedeagerly,“let’smakeashotatit。I’llpayyoudoublethehireofthecar,andI’llberesponsibleforanydamage。Iwanttogetoutofthisbeastlyplace。Let’sgetsomewhere,atanyrate,towardsacivilisedcountry。I’llseeyoudon’tloseanything。I’llgiveyouafivepoundnoteforyourselfifwegetasfarasHolt。“
“I’mon,“theyoungmanagreedshortly。“It’sanopencar,youknow。“
“Itdoesn’tmatter,“Geraldreplied。“Icanstickitinfrontwithyou,andwecancover-himupinthetonneau。“
“You’llwaituntilthedoctorcomesback?“thelandlordasked。
“Andwhyshouldthey?“hiswifeinterposedsharply。“Themdoctorsareallthesame。He’lltryandkeepthepoorgentlemanhereforthesakeofafewextraguineas,andamiserableplaceforhimtoopenhiseyesupon,eveniftherestoftheroofholds,whichformypartI’mbeginningtodoubt。They’dhavetomovehimfromherewiththedaylight,anyhow。Hecan’tlieinthebarparlourallday,canhe?“
“Itdon’tseemright,somehow,“themancomplaineddoggedly。“Thedoctordidn’tsayanythingabouthavinghimmoved。“
“Yougetthecar,“Geraldorderedtheyoungman。“I’lltakethewholeresponsibility。“
Thechauffeursilentlylefttheroom。Geraldputacoupleofsovereignsuponthemantelpiece。
“Myfriendisamanofsomewhatpeculiartemperament,“hesaidquietly。“Ifhefindshimselfathomeinacomfortableroomwhenhecomestohissenses,Iamquitesurethathewillhaveabetterchanceofrecovery。Hecannotpossiblybemadecomfortablehere,andhewillfeeltheshockofwhathashappenedallthemoreifhefindshimselfstillintheneighbourhoodwhenheopenshiseyes。
Ifthereisanychangeinhiscondition,wecaneasilystopsomewhereontheway。“
Thewomanpocketedthetwosovereigns。
“That’scommonsense,sir,“sheagreedheartily,“andI’msureweareverymuchobligedtoyou。Ifwehadadecentroom,andaroofaboveit,you’dbeheartilywelcome,butasitis,thisisnoplaceforasickman,andthosethatsaydifferentdon’tknowwhattheyaretalkingabout。That’sarealcarefulyoungmanwho’sgoingtotakeyoualonginthemotor-car。He’llgetyoutheresafe,ifanyonewill。“
“WhatIsayis,“herhusbandprotestedsullenly,“thatweoughttowaitforthedoctor’sorders。I’magainstseeingapoorbodylikethatjoltedacrossthecountryinanopenmotor-car,inhisstate。
I’mnotsurethatit’sforhisgood。“
“Andwhatbusinessisitofyours,Ishouldliketoknow?“thewomandemandedsharply。“Yougetup-stairsandbeginmovingthefurniturefromwheretherainscomingsoppingin。Andifsobeyoucanrememberwhileyoudoitthatthisisajudgmentthat’scomeuponus,why,somuchthebetter。Weareevil-doers,allofus,thoughthemaslikestheeasywaysgenerallymanagetoforgetit。“
Themanretreatedsilently。Thewomansatdownuponastoolandwaited。Geraldsatoppositetoher,thebattereddressing-caseuponhisknees。Betweenthemwasstretchedthebodyoftheunconsciousman。
“Areyouusedtoprayer,youngsir?“thewomanasked。
Geraldshookhishead,andthewomandidnotpursuethesubject。
Onlyoncehereyeswerehalfclosedandherwordsdriftedacrosstheroom。
“TheLordhavemercyonthisman,asinner!“
“Myadvicetoyou,sir,istochuckit!“
Geraldturnedtowardsthechauffeurbywhosesidehewasseatedalittlestiffly,forhislimbswerenumbedwiththecoldandexhaustion。Themorninghadbrokenwithagreyanduncertainlight。
Avaporousveilofmistseemedtohavetakentheplaceofthedarkness。Evenfromthetopofthehillwherethecarhadcometoastandstill,therewaslittletobeseen。
“Wemusthavecomefortymilesalready,“thechauffeurcontinued,“whatwithgoingoutofourwayallthetimebecauseofthebrokenbridges。I’mprettywellfrozenthrough,andasforhim,“headded,jerkinghisthumbacrosshisshoulder,“itseemstomeyou’retakingabitofarisk。“
“Thedoctorsaidhewouldremaininexactlythesameconditionfortwenty-fourhours,“Geralddeclared。
“Yes,buthedidn’tsayanythingaboutshakinghimupoverfortymilesofroughroad,“theotherprotested。“You’llexcuseme,sir,“
hecontinued,inaslightlychangedtone;“itisn’tmybusiness,ofcourse,butI’mfairlydone。Itdon’tseemreasonabletostickatitlikethis。There’sHoltvillagenotamileaway,andacomfortableinnandafirewaiting。Ithoughtthatwasasfarasyouwantedtocome。Wemightlieupthereforafewhours,atanyrate。“
Hispassengerslippeddownfromhisplace,and,liftingtherug,peeredintothetonneauofthecar,overwhichtheyhadtiedahood。
Toallappearance,theconditionofthemanwholaytherewasunchanged。Therewasaslightlyaddedbluenessaboutthelpsbuthisbreathingwasstillperceptible。Itseemedevenalittlestronger。Geraldresumedhisseat。
“Itisn’tworthwhiletostayatHolt,“hesaidquietly。“Wearescarcelysevenmilesfromhomenow。Sitstillforafewminutesandgetyourwind。“
“Onlysevenmiles,“thechauffeurrepeatedmorecheerfully。“That’ssomething,anyway。“
“Andalldownhill。“
“Towardsthesea,then?“
“Straighttothesea,“Geraldtoldhim。“TheplacewearemakingforisSt。David’sHall,nearSalthouse。“
Thechauffeurseemedalittlestartled。
“’Why,that’sSquireFentolin’shouse!“
Geraldnodded。
“Thatiswherewearegoing。Youfollowthisroadalmoststraightahead。“
Thechauffeurslippedintheclutch。
“Oh,Iknowthewaynow,sir,rightenough!“heexclaimed。“There’sSalthousemarshtocross,though。Idon’tknowaboutthat。“
“Weshallmanagethatallright,“Geralddeclared。“’We’vemorelightnow,too。“
Theybothlookedaround。Duringthelastfewminutesthelatemorningseemedtohaveforceditswaythroughtheclouds。Theyhadadim,phantasmagoricviewofthestrickencountry:awateryplain,withhereandtheregreatpatchesoffields,submergedtothehedges,andhousesstandingoutamidstthewasteofwatersliketoydwellings。Therewerewholeplantationsofuprootedtrees。
Closetotheroad,ontheirleft,wasarooflesshouse,andafamilyofchildrencryingunderneathatarpaulinshelter。Astheycrepton,thewindcametothemwithabrackishflavour,saltwiththesea。Thechauffeurwasgazingaheaddoubtfully。
“Idon’tlikethelookofthemarsh,“hegrumbled。“Can’tseetheroadatall。However,heregoes。“
“Anotherhalf-hour,“Geraldassuredhimencouragingly,“andweshallbeatSt。David’sHall。Youcanhaveasmuchrestasyoulikethen。“
Theywerefacingthewindnow,andconversationbecameimpossible。
Twicetheyhadtopullupsharpandmakeaconsiderabledetour,onceonaccountofafallentreewhichblockedtheroad,andanothertimebecauseoftheyawninggapwhereabridgehadfallenaway。
Gerald,however,kneweveryinchofthecountrytheywereinandwasabletogivethenecessarydirections。Theybegantomeetfarmwagonsnow,fullofpeoplewhohadbeendrivenfromtheirhomes。
Warningsandinformationastothestateoftheroadswereshoutedtothemcontinually。Presentlytheycametothelaststeepdescent,andemergedfromthedevastatedfragmentofawoodalmostontothesealevel。Thechauffeurclappedonhisbrakesandstoppedshort。