“Gerald!“Mr。Fentolinrepeated。
Thenitwasobviousthattherewassomethingbetweenthosetwo,somememoryorsomelivingthing,seldom,ifever,tobespokenof,andyetalwayspresent。Theboybegantotremble。
“You’realittleoverwrought,Gerald,“Mr。Fentolindeclared。
“Sitquietlyinmyeasy-chairforafewmoments。WaltuntilIhaveexaminedMr。Dunster’sbelongings。Ah!Meekinshasbeenprompt,indeed。“
Therewasastealthytapatthedoor。Meekinsenteredwiththesmalldressing-caseinhishand。Hebroughtitovertohismaster’schair。Mr。Fentolinpointedtothefloor。
“Openitthere,Meekins,“hedirected。“Ifancythatthepocket-bookyouarecarryingwillprovemoreinteresting。Wewilljustglancethroughthedressing-casefirst。Thankyou。Yes,youcanlaythethingsuponthefloor。AmanofSpartan-likelife,IshouldimagineMr。Dunster。Asparetoothbrush,though,Iamgladtosee。Pyjamasofmostunattractivepattern。Andwhatatasteinshirts!Nothingbutwearingapparelandsingularlylittleofthat,Ifancy。“
Thedressing-casewasempty,itscontentsuponthefloor。Mr。
Fentolinheldouthishandandtookthepocket-bookwhichMeekinshadbeencarrying。Itwasanordinarymoroccoaffair,similartothoseissuedbyAmericanbankinghousestoencloselettersofcredit。
Onesideofitwasfilledwithnotes。Mr。Fentolinwithdrewthemandglancedthemthrough。
“Dearme!“hemurmured。“Nowonderourfriendengagesspecialtrains!Hetravelslikeaprince,indeed。Twothousandpounds,ornearit,inthislittlecompartment。Andhere,Isee,aletter,asealedletterwithnoaddress。“
Hehelditoutinfrontofhim。Itwasalongcommercialenvelopeofordinarytype,andalthoughtheflapwassecuredwithablobofsealingwax,therewasnoparticularimpressionuponit。
“Wecanmatchthisenvelope,Ithink,“Mr。Fentolinsaidsoftly。
“Thesealwecancopy。Ithinkthat,forthesakeofothers,wemustdiscoverthecauseforthishurriedjourneyonthepartofMr。
JohnP。Dunster。“
Withhislong,delicateforefingerMr。Fentolinslittheenvelopeandwithdrewthesinglesheetofpaperwhichitcontained。Therewereadozenlinesofwrittenmatter,andwhatappearedtobeadozensignaturesappended。Mr。Fentolinreadit,atfirstwithordinaryinterest。Thenachangecame。Thelookofamandrawnoutofhimself,drawnoutofallknowledgeofhissurroundingsorhispresentstate,stoleintohisface。Literallyhebecametransfixed。Thedelicatefingersofhis,lefthandgrippedthesidesofhislittlecarriage。Hiseyesshoneasthoughthosefewwrittenlinesuponwhichtheywererivetedwereindeedsomemessagefromanunknown,anunimaginedworld。Yetnowordeverpassedhislips。Therecameatimewhenthetensionseemedalittlerelaxed。
Withfingerswhichstilltrembled,hefoldedupthesheetandreplaceditintheenvelope。Heguardeditwithbothhishandsandsatquitestill。NeitherGeraldnorhisservantmoved。Somehow,thesenseofMr。Fentolin’ssuppressedexcitementseemedtohavebecomecommunicatedtothem。Itwasalittletableau,brokenatlastbyMr。Fentolinhimself。
“Ishouldlike,“hesaid,turningtoGerald,“tobealone。ItmayinterestyoutoknowthatthisdocuwhichMr。Dunsterhasbroughtacrosstheseas,andwhichIholdinmyhands,isthemostamazingmessageofmoderntimes。“
Geraldrosetohisfeet。
“Whatareyougoingtodoaboutit?“heaskedabruptly。“Doyouwantanyoneinfromthetelegraphroom?“
Mr。Fentolinshookhisheadslowly。
“Atpresent,“heannounced,“Iamgoingtoreflect。Meekins,mychairtothenorthwindow-so。Iamgoingtosithere,“hewenton,“andIamgoingtolookacrossthesea_andreflect。Averyfortunatestorm,afterall,Ithink,whichkeptMr。JohnP。DunsterfromtheHarwichboatlastnight。Leaveme,Gerald,foratime。
Standbehindmychair,Meekins,andseethatnooneenters。“
Mr。Fentolinsatinhischair,hishandsstillgrippingthewonderfuldocument,hiseyestravellingovertheoceannowfleckedwithsunlight。Hiseyeswerefixeduponthehorizon。Helookedsteadilyeastward。
Mr。JohnP。Dunsteropenedhiseyesuponstrangesurroundings。Hefoundhimselflyinguponabeddeliciouslysoft,withlace-edgedsheetsandlavender-perfumedbedhangings。Throughthediscreetlyopenedupperwindowcameapleasantandozone-ladenbreeze。Thefurnitureintheroomwasmostlyofanold-fashionedtype,someofitofoak,curiouslycarved,andmostofitsurmountedwithacoatofarms。Theapartmentwasloftyandofalmostpalatialproportions。
Thewholeatmosphereoftheplacebreathedcomfortandrefinement。
Theonlythingofwhichhedidnotwhollyapprovewasthefaceofthenursewhorosesilentlytoherfeetathismurmuredquestion:
“WhereamI?“
Shefelthisforehead,alteredabandageforamoment,andtookhiswristbetweenherfingers。
“Youhavebeenill,“shesaid。“Therewasarailwayaccident。Youaretoliequitestillandnotsayaword。Iamgoingtofetchthedoctornow。Hewishedtoseeyoudirectlyyouspoke。“
Mr。Dunsterdozedagainforseveralmoments。Whenhereopenedhiseyes,amanwasstandingbyhisbedside,ashortmanwithablackbeardandgold-rimmedglasses。Mr。Dunster,inthisfirststageofhisconvalescence,wasperhapsdifficulttoplease,forhedidnotlikethelookofthedoctor,either。
“PleasetellmewhereIam?“hebegged。
“Youhavebeeninarailwayaccident,“thedoctortoldhim,“andyouwerebroughthereafterwards。“
“Inarailwayaccident,“Mr。Dunsterrepeated。“Ah,yes,Iremember!
ItookaspecialtoHarwich-Iremembernow。Whereismydressing-bag?“
“Itisherebythesideofyourbed。“
“Andmypocket-book?“
“Itisonyourdressing-table。“
“Haveanyofmythingsbeenlookedat?“
“Onlysofaraswasnecessarytodiscoveryouridentity,“thedoctorassuredhim。“Don’ttalktoomuch。Thenurseisbringingyousomebeeftea。“
“When,“Mr。Dunsterenquired,“shallIbeabletocontinuemyjourney?“
“Thatdependsuponmanythings,“thedoctorreplied。
Mr。Dunsterdrankhisbeefteaandfeltconsiderablystronger。Hisheadstillached,buthismemorywasreturning。
“Therewasayoungmaninthecarriagewithme,“heaskedpresently。
“Mr。GeraldsomethingorotherIthinkhesaidhisnamewas?“
“Fentolin,“thedoctorsaid。“Heisunhurt。Thisishisrelative’shousetowhichyouhavebeenbrought。“
Mr。Dunsterlayforatimewithknittedbrows。OncemorethenameofFentolinseemedsomehowfamiliartohim,seemedsomehowtobringwithittohismemoryanoteofwarning。Helookedaroundtheroomfretfully。Helookedintothenurse’sface,whichhedislikedexceedingly,andhelookedatthedoctor,whomhewasbeginningtodetest。
“Whosehouseexactlyisthis?“hedemanded。
“ThisisSt。David’sHall-thehomeofMr。MilesFentolin,“thedoctortoldhim。“Theyounggentlemanwithwhomyouweretravellingishisnephew。“
“CanIsendatelegram?“Mr。Dunsterasked,alittleabruptly。
“Withoutadoubt,“thedoctorreplied。“Mr。Fentolindesiredmetoaskyouiftherewasanyonewhomyouwouldliketoappriseofyoursafety。“
Againthemanuponthebedlayquitestill,withknittedbrows。
Therewassurelysomethingfamiliaraboutthatname。Wasithisfeveredfancyorwastherealsosomethingalittlesinister?
Thenurse,whohadglidedfromtheroom,camebackpresentlywithsometelegraphforms。Mr。Dunsterheldouthishandforthemandthenhesitated。
“Canyoutellmeanydate,Doctor,uponwhichIcanrelyuponleavinghere?“
“Youwillprobablybewellenoughtotravelonthethirddayfromnow,“thedoctorassuredhim。
“Thethirdday,“Mr。Dunstermuttered。“Verywell。“
Hewroteoutthreetelegramsandpassedthemover。
“One,“hesaid,“istoNewYork,onetoTheHague,andonetoLondon。
Therewasplentyofmoneyinmypocket。Perhapsyouwillfinditandpayforthese。“