“Isthereanythingmore,“thedoctorasked,“thatcanbedoneforyourcomfort?“
“Nothingatpresent,“Mr。Dunsterreplied。“Myheadachesnow,butIthinkthatIshallwanttoleavebeforethreedaysareup。Areyouthedoctorintheneighbourhood?“
Sarsonshookhishead。
“IamphysiciantoMr。Fentolin’shousehold,“heansweredquietly。
“Ilivehere。Mr。Fentolinishimselfsomewhatofaninvalidandrequiresconstantmedicalattention。“
Mr。Dunstercontemplatedthespeakersteadfastly。
“Youwillforgiveme,“hesaid。“IamanAmericanandIamusedtoplainspeech。Iamquiteunusedtobeingattendedbystrangedoctors。Iunderstandthatyouarenotingeneralpracticenow。
MightIaskifyouarefullyqualified?“
“IamanM。D。ofLondon,“thedoctorreplied。“Youcanmakeyourselfquiteeasyastomyqualifications。ItwouldnotsuitMr。Fentolin’spurposetoentrusthimselftothecareofanyonewithoutareputation。“
Helefttheroom,andMr。Dunsterclosedhiseyes。Hisslumbers,however,werenotaltogetherpeacefulones。Allthetimethereseemedtobeahammeringinsidehishead,andfromsomewherebackinhisobscuredmemorythenameofFentolinseemedtobecontinuallyassertingitself。Fromsomewhereorother,theamazingsensewhichsometimesgiveswarningofdangertomenofadventure,seemedtohaveopeneditsfeelers。Herestedbecausehewasexhausted,buteveninhissleephewasillatease。
Thedoctor,withthetelegramsinhishand,madehiswaydownasplendidstaircase,pastthelongpicturegallerywheremasterpiecesofVanDyckandRubensfrownedandleereddownuponhim;descendedthefinalstretchofbroadoakstairs,crossedthehail,andenteredhismaster’srooms。Mr。Fentolinwassittingbeforetheopenwindow,aneaselinfrontofhim,apaletteinhislefthand,paintingwithdeft,swifttouches。
“Ah!“heexclaimed,withoutlookingaround,“itismyfriendthedoctor,myfriendSarson,M。D。ofLondon,L。R。C。P。andalltherestofit。Hebringswithhimtheodourofthesickroom。Foramomentortwo,justforamoment,dearfriend,donotdisturbme。
Donotbringanyalienthoughtsintomybrain。Iamabsorbed,yousee-absorbed。Itisastrangeproblemofcolour,this。“
Hewassilentforseveralmoments,glancingrepeatedlyoutofthewindowandbacktohiscanvas,paintingallthetimewithswiftanddelicateprecision。
“Meekins,whostandsbehindmychair,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,“evenMeekinsisentranced。Hehasasoul,myfriendSarson,althoughyoumightnotthinkit。He,too,seessometimesthecolourintheskies,theglitteruponthesands,theclear,sweetpurityofthoselongstretchesofvirginwater。Meekins,Ibelieve,hasasoul,onlyhelikesbettertoseethesethingsgrowunderhismaster’stouchthantowanderaboutandsolvetheirriddlesforhimself。“
Themanremainedperfectlyimmovable。Notafeaturetwitched。Yetitwasafactthat,althoughhestoodwhereMr。Fentolincouldnotpossiblyobservehim,heneverremovedhisgazefromthecanvas。
“Yousee,mymedicalfriend,thattherehasbeenagreattideinthenight,followingupontheflood?Evenoursmalllandmarksareshifted。Soon,inmylittlecarriage,IshallridedowntotheTower。Ishallsitthere,andIshallwatchthesea。Ithinkthatthisevening,withtheturnofthetide,thespraymayreacheventomywindowsthere。Ishallpaintagain。Thereisalwayssomethingfreshinthesea,youknow-alwayssomethingfreshinthesea。Likeahumanface-angryorpleased,sullenorjoyful。
Somepeopleliketopainttheseaatitscalmestandmostbeautiful。
Somepeopleliketoseehappyfacesaroundthem。Itisnoteveryonewhoappreciatestheotherthings。Itisnotquitelikethatwithme,eh,Sarson?“
Hishandfelltohisside。Momentarilyhehadfinishedhiswork。
Heturnedaroundandeyedthedoctor,whostoodintaciturnsilence。
“Answer。Answerme,“heinsisted。
Thedoctor’sgloomyfaceseemeddarkerstill。
“Youhavespokenthetruth,Mr。Fentolin,“headmitted。“Youarenotoneofthevulgarherdwholovetoconsortwithpleasureandhappiness。Youareoneofthosewhounderstandthebeautyofunhappiness-inothers,“headded,withfaintemphasis。
Mr。Fentolinsmiled。HisfacebecamealmostlikethefaceofoneofthoseangelsofthegreatItalianmaster。
“Howwellyouknowme!“hemurmured。“Myhumbleeffort,Doctor-howdoyoulikeit?“
Thedoctorbentoverthecanvas。
“Iknownothingaboutart,“hesaid,alittleroughly。“Yourworkseemstomeclever-alittlegrotesque,perhaps;alittlestrainingafterthehard,plainthingswhichthreaten。Nothingoftheidealistinyourwork,Mr。Fentolin。“
Mr。Fentolinstudiedthecanvashimselfforamoment。
“Acleverman,Sarson,“heremarkedcoolly,“butnocourtier。Nevermind,myworkpleasesme。Itgivesmeapassingsensationofhappiness。Now,whataboutourpatient?“
“Herecovers,“thedoctorpronounced。“Frommyshortexamination,Ishouldsaythathehadtheconstitutionofanox。Ihavetoldhimthathewillbeupinthreedays。Asamatteroffact,hewillbeable,ifhewantsto,towalkoutofthehouseto-morrow。“
Mr。Fentolinshookhishead。
“Wecannotsparehimquitesosoon,“hedeclared。“Wemustavailourselvesofthiswonderfulchanceaffordedusbymybrilliantyoungnephew。Wemustkeephimwithusforalittletime。Whatisitthatyouhaveinyourhands,Doctor?Telegrams,Ithink。Letmelookatthem。“
Thedoctorheldthemout。Mr。Fentolintookthemeagerlybetweenhisthin,delicatefingers。Suddenlyhisfacedarkened,andbecamelikethefaceofaspoiltandangrychild。
“Cipher!“heexclaimedfuriously。“Acipherwhichheknowssowellastorememberit,too!Nevermind,itwillbeeasytodecode。Itwillamusemeduringtheafternoon。Verygood,Sarson。Iwilltakechargeofthese。“
“Youdonotwishanythingdispatched?“
“Nothingatpresent,“Mr。Fentolinsighed。“Itwillbewell,I
think,forthepoormantoremainundisturbedbyanycommunicationsfromhisfriends。Isherestlessatall?“
“Hewantstogetonwithhisjourney。“
“Weshallsee,“Mr。Fentolinremarked。“Nowfeelmypulse,Sarson。
HowamIthismorning?“
Thedoctorheldthethinwristforamomentbetweenhisfingers,andletitgo。
“Inperfecthealth,asusual,“heannouncedgrimly。
“Ah,butyoucannotbesure!“Mr。Fentolinprotested。“Mytongue,ifyouplease。“
Heputitout。
“Excellent!“
“Wemustmakequitecertain,“Mr。Fentolincontinued。“Therearesomanypeoplewhowouldmissme。Myplaceintheworldwouldnotbeeasilyfiled。Undomywaistcoat,Sarson。Feelmyheart,please。
Feelcarefully。Icanseetheendofyourstethoscopeinyourpocket。Don’tscampit。Ifanciedthismorning,whenIwaslyingherealone,thattherewassomethingalmostlikeapalpitation-aquickerbeat。Beverycareful,Sarson。Now。“
Thedoctormadehisexaminationwithimpassiveface。Thenhesteppedback。
“Thereisnochangeinyourcondition,Mr。Fentolin,“heannounced。
“Thepalpitationyouspokeofisamistake。Youareinperfecthealth。“
Mr。Fentolinsighedgently。
“Then,“hesaid,“IwillnowamusemyselfbyagentleridedowntotheTower。Youareentirelysatisfied,Sarson?Youarekeepingnothingbackfromme?“
Thedoctorlookedathimwithgrim,impassiveface。“Thereisnothingtokeepback,“hedeclared。“Youhavetheconstitutionofacowboy。Thereisnoreasonwhyyoushouldnotliveforanotherthirtyyears。
Mr。Fentolinsighed,asthoughaweightbadbeenremovedfromhisheart。
“Iwillnow,“hedecided,reachingforwardforthehandleofhiscarriage,“godowntotheTower。Itisjustpossiblethatafewdays’seclusionmightbegoodforourguest。“
Thedoctorturnedsilentlyaway。Therewasnoonetheretoseehisexpressionashewalkedtowardsthedoor。