“MyGod!“heexclaimed。“Here’smoretrouble!“
Geraldforamomentwasspeechless。Theyseemedtohavecomesuddenlyuponahugeplainofwaters,animmenselakereachingasarastheycouldseeoneitherside。Theroadbeforethemstretchedlikearibbonforthenextthreemiles。Hereandthereitdisappearedandreappearedagain。Inmanyplacesitwaslappedbylittlewaves。Everywherethehedgeswereeitheraltogetherorhalfunderwater。Inthedistancewasonefarmhouse,onlytheroofofwhichwasvisible,andfromwhichtheinhabitantswereclamberingintoaboat。Andbeyond,withscarcelyabreaksavefortherisingofonestrangely-shapedhill,wasthesea。Geraldpointedwithhisfinger。
“There’sSt。David’sHall,“hesaid,“ontheothersideofthehill。Theroadseemsallright。“
“Doesit!“thechauffeurgrunted。“It’sunderwatermorethanhalftheway,andHeavenknowshowdeepitisatthesides!I’mnotgoingtoriskmylifealongthere。IamgoingtotakethecarbacktoHolt。“
Hishandwasalreadyuponthereverselever,butGeraldgrippedit。
“Lookhere,“heprotested,“wehaven’tcomeallthiswaytoturnback。
Youdon’tlooklikeacoward。“
“Iamnotacoward,sir,“wasthequietanswer。“NeitheramIafool。Idon’tseeanyuseinriskingourlivesandmymaster’smotor-car,becauseyouwanttogethome。“
“Naturally,“Geraldansweredcalmly,“butrememberthis。Iamresponsibleforyourcar-notyou。Mr。Fentolinismyuncle。“
Thechauffeurnoddedshortly。
“You’reMr。GeraldFentolin,aren’tyou,sir?“heremarked。“I
thoughtIrecognisedyou。“
“Iam,“Geraldadmitted。“We’vehadaroughjourney,butitdoesn’tseemsensetoturnbacknow,doesit,withthehouseinsight?“
“That’sallverywell,sir,“thechauffeurobjecteddoubtfully,“butIdon’tbelievetheroad’sevenpassable,andthefloodsseemtometoberising。“
“Tryit,“theyoungmanbegged。“Lookhere,Idon’twanttobribeyou,oranythingofthatsort。Youknowyou’recomingoutofthiswell。It’saseriousmatterforme,andIshan’tbelikelytoforgetit。IwanttotakethisgentlemantoSt。David’sHallandnottoahospital。You’vebroughtmeheresofarlikeaman。Let’sgothroughwithit。Iftheworstcomestotheworst,wecanbothswim,Isuppose,andwearenotlikelytogetoutofourdepth。“
Thechauffeurmovedhisheadbackwards。
“Howabouthim?“
“Hemusttakehischance,“Geraldreplied。“He’sallrightwhereheis。Thecarwon’tupsetandthereareplentyofpeoplewho’llseeifwegetintotrouble。Come,let’smakeadashforit。“
Thechauffeurthrustinhisclutchandsettledhimselfdown。Theyglidedoffalongthatwindingstretchofroad。Toitsveryedge,oneithersideofthem,soclosethattheycouldalmosttouchit,camethewater,waterwhichstretchedasfarastheycouldsee,swaying,waveless,sinister-looking。EvenGerald,afterhisfirstimpulseofwonder,kepthiseyesavertedandfixedupontheroadahead。Soontheyreachedaplacewherethewatermetinfront。
Therewereonlytherowsofwhitepalingsoneithersidetoguidethem。Thechauffeurmutteredtohimselfashechangedtohisfirstspeed。
“Iftheenginegetsstopped,“hesaid,“Idon’tknowhowweshallgetoutofthis。“
Theyemergedontheotherside。Forsometimetheyhadaclearrun。
Thensuddenlythedriverclappedonhisbrakes。
“MyGod!“hecried。“Wecan’tgetthroughthat!“
Infrontofthemformorethanahundredyardsthewaterseemedsuddenlytohaveflowedacrosstheroad。Stillamiledistant,perchedonaridgeofthatstrangely-placedhill,wastheirdestination。
“Itcan’tbedone,sir!“themangroaned。“Thereisn’tacareverbuiltcouldgetthroughthat。See,it’snearlyuptothetopofthoseposts。Imustputherinthereverseandgetback,evenifwehavetowaitonthehigherpartoftheroadforaboat。“
Heglancedbehind,andasecondcrybrokefromhislips。Geraldstoodupinhisplace。Alreadytheroadwhichhadbeenclearafewminutesbeforewashidden。Thewaterwaswashingalmostoverthetopsofthewhitepostsbehindthem。Littlewaveswerebreakingagainstthesummitoftheraisedbank。
“We’recutoff!“thechauffeurexclaimed。“’WhatafoolIwastotrythis!There’sthetidecominginaswell!“
Geraldsatdowninhisplace。
“Lookhere,“hesaid,“wecan’tgoback,whetherwewanttoornot。
It’smuchworsebehindtherethanitisinfront。There’sonlyonechance。Goforitstraightaheadinyourfirstspeed。Itmaynotstoptheengine。Inanycase,itwillbeworsepresently。There’snousefunkingit。Iftheworsthappens,wecansitinthecar。
Thewaterwon’tbeaboveourheadsandtherearesomeboatsabout。
Blowyourhornwellfirst,incasethere’sanyonewithinhearing,andthengoforit。“
Thechauffeurobeyed。Theyhissedandsplutteredintothewater。
Soonalltraceoftheroadwascompletelylost。Theysteeredonlybythetopsofthewhiteposts。
“It’sgettingdeeper,“themandeclared。“It’swithinaninchortwoofthebonnetnow。Holdon。“
Awavebrokealmostoverthembuttheenginecontinueditsbeat。
“Ifwestopnow,“hegasped,“we’redone!“
Theenginebegantoknock。
“Stickatit,“Geraldcried,risinginhisplacealittle。“Look,there’sonlyonepostlowerthanthelastonethatwepassed。Theygethigherallthetime,ahead。Youcanalmostseetheroadinfrontthere。Now,inwithyourgearagain,andstickatit。“
Anotherwavebroke,thistimecompletelyoverthem。Theylistenedwithstrainedears-theenginecontinuedtobeat。Theystillmovedslowly。Thentherewasashock。Thewheelhadstrucksomethingintheroad-agreatstoneorrock。Thechauffeurthrustthecaroutofgear。Theenginestillbeat。Geraldleapedfromthecar。Thewaterwasoverhisknees。Hecrossedinfrontofthebonnetandstoopeddown。
“I’vegotit!“heexclaimed,tugginghard。“It’sastone。“
Hemovedit,rolleditononeside,andpushedatthewheelofthecarashiscompanionputinthespeed。Theystartedagain。Hejumpedbackhisplace。
“We’vedoneit,allright!“hecried。“Don’tyousee?It’sgettinglowerallthetime。“
Thechauffeurhadlosthisnerve。Hischeekswerepale,histeethwerechattering。Theengine,however,wasstillbeating。Graduallythepressureofthewatergrewless。Infrontofthemtheycaughtaglimpseoftheroad。Theydrewupatthetopofalittlebridgeoveroneofthedikes。Geraldutteredabriefexclamationoftriumph。
“We’resafe!“healmostsobbed。“There’stheroad,straightaheadandroundtotheright。There’snomorewateranywherenear。“
Theyhadleftthemainpartofthefloodbehindthem。Therewerestillgreatpoolsinthesideoftheroad,andhugemassesofseaweedhadbeencarriedupandwerelyingintheirtrack。Therewasnomorewater,however。Ateverymomenttheydrewnearertothestrangely-shapedhillwithitscrownoftrees。
“Thehouseisontheotherside,“Geraldpointedout。“Wecangothroughthelodgegatesatthebackhere。Theascentisn’tsosteep。“
Theyturnedsharplytotheright,alonganotherstretchofstraightroadsetwithwhiteposts,endingbeforearedbricklodgeandaclosedgate。Theyblewthehornandagardenercameout。Hegazedattheminamazement。
“It’sallright,“Geraldcried。“Letusthroughquickly,Foulds。
We’veagentlemaninbehindwho’sill。“
Themanswungopenthegatewitharespectfulsalute。Theymadetheirwayupawindingdriveofconsiderablelength,andatlasttheycametoabroad,openspacealmostlikeaplatform。Ontheirleftwerethemarshes,andbeyond,thesea。AlongtheirrightstretchedthelongfrontofanElizabethanmansion。Theydrewupinfrontofthehaildoor。Theircominghadbeenobserved,andservantswerealreadywaiting。Geraldsprangtotheground。
“There’sagentlemaninbehindwho’sill,“heexplainedtothebutler。“Hehasmetwithanaccidentontheway。Threeorfourofyouhadbettercarryhimuptoabedroom-anyonethatisready。
Andyou,George,“headded,turningtoaboy,“getintothecarandshowthismanthewayroundtothegarage,andthentakehimtotheservants’hall。“
Severaloftheservantshastenedtodohisbidding,andGeralddidhisbesttoanswertheeagerbutrespectfulstreamofquestions。
Andthen,justastheywereintheactofliftingthestillunconsciousmanontothefloorofthehall,cameaqueersound-ashrill,reverberatingwhistle。Theyalllookedupthestairs。
“Themasterisawake,“Henderson,thebutler,remarked,droppinghisvoicealittle。
Geraldnodded。
“Iwillgotohimatonce,“hesaid。