“MayIaskforyourexplanationoryourexcuse?““
“Youcancallitanexplanationoranexcuse,whicheveryoulike,“
Hamelrepliedsteadily,“butthefactisthatthislittlebuilding,whichsomeoneelseseemstohaveappropriated,ismine。IfIhadnotbeenagood-naturedperson,Ishouldbeengaged,atthepresentmoment,inturningoutitsfurnitureontothebeach。“
“Whatisyourname?“Mr。Fentolinaskedsuddenly。
“MynameisHamel-RichardHamel。“
Forseveralmomentstherewassilence。Mr。Fentolinwasstillleaningforwardinhisstrangelittlevehicle。Thecolourseemedtohaveleftevenhislips。Thehardglitterinhiseyeshadgivenplacetoanexpressionalmostlikefear。HelookedatRichardHamelasthoughheweresomestrangesea-monstercomeupfromunderneaththesands。
“RichardHamel,“herepeated。“DoyoumeanthatyouarethesonofHamel,theR。A。,whousedtobeinthesepartssooften?Hewasmybrother’sfriend。“
“Iamhisson。“
“ButhissonwaskilledintheSanFranciscoearthquake。Isawhisnameinallthelists。Itwascopiedintothelocalpapershere。“
Hamelknockedtheashesfromhispipe。
“Itakealotofkilling,“heobserved。“Iwasinthatearthquake,rightenough,andinthehospitalafterwards,butitwasamannamedHamelofPhiladelphiawhodied。“
Mr。Fentolinsatquitemotionlessforseveralmoments。Heseemed,ifpossible,tohaveshrunkenintosomethingsmallerstill。Afewyardsbehind,Meekinshadalightedfromhisbicycleandwasstandingwaiting。
“SoyouareRichardHamel,“Mr。Fentolinsaidatlastverysoftly。
“WelcomebacktoEngland,RichardHamel!Iknewyourfatherslightly,althoughwewereneververyfriendly。“
Hestretchedouthishandfromunderneaththecoverletofhislittlevehicle-ahandwithlong,whitefingers,slimandwhiteandshapelyasawoman’s。Asingleringwithadullgreenstonewasonhisfourthfinger。Hamelshookbandswithhimashewouldhaveshakenhandswithawoman。Afterwardsherubbedhisfingersslowlytogether。Therewassomethingaboutthetouchwhichworriedhim。
“Youhavebeenmakinguseofthislittleshanty,haven’tyou?“heaskedbluntly。
Mr。Fentolinnodded。Hewasapparentlybeginningtorecoverhimself。
“Youmustremember,“heexplainedsuavely,“thatitwasbuiltbymygrandfather,andthatwehavehadrightsoverthewholeoftheforeshoreherefromtimeimmemorial。Iknowquitewellthatmybrothergaveittoyourfather-orratherhesoldittohimforanominalsum。Imusttellyouthatitwasamostcomplicatedtransaction。Hehadthegreatestdifficultyingettinganylawyertodraftthedeedofsale。Thereweresomanyancientrightsandprivilegeswhichitwasimpossibletodealwith。Evennowtherearegravedoubtsastothevalidityofthetransaction。Whennothingwasheardofyou,andweallconcludedthatyouweredead,IventuredtotakebackwhatIhonestlybelievedtobemyown。Owing,“hecontinuedslowly,“tomyunfortunateaffliction,Iamobligedtodependforinterestinmylifeuponvarioushobbies。Thislittleplace,queerlyenough,hasbecomeoneofthem。Ihavefurnishedit,inaway;installedthetelephonetothehouse,connecteditwithmyelectricplant,andIcomedownherewhenIwanttobequitealone,andpaint。Iwatchthesea-suchaseasometimes,suchstorms,suchcolour!Younoticethatridgeofsandoutyonder?Itformsasortofnaturalbreakwater。Evenonthecalmestdayyoucantracethatwhitelineoffoam。“
“Itisastrangecoast,“Hameladmitted。
Mr。Fentolinpointedwithhisforefingernorthwards。
“Somewhereaboutthere,“heindicated,“istheentrancetothetidalriverwhichflowsuptothevillageofSt。David’syonder。
Yousee?“
Hisfingertraceditscourseuntilitcametoacertainpointnearthebeach,whereatallblackpillarstood,surmountedbyaglobe。
“Ihavehadalightfixedthereforthebenefitorthefishermen,“
hesaid,“alightwhichIworkfrommyowndynamo。Betweenwherewearesittingnowandthere-onlyalittlewayouttosea-isajaggedclusterofcruelrocks。Youcanseethemifyoucaretoswimoutincalmweather。Fishermenwhotriedtocomeinbynightwereoftentrappedthereand,inaroughsea,drowned。ThatiswhyI
hadthatpillaroflightbuilt。Onstormynightsitshowstheexactentrancetothewatercauseway。“
“Verykindofyouindeed,“Hamelremarked,“verybenevolent。“
Mr。Fentolinsighed。
“Sofewpeoplehaveanyrealfeelingforsailors,“hecontinued。
“Thefishermenaroundherearecertainlyratheracasualclass。Doyouknowthatthereisscarcelyoneofthemwhocanswim?Thereisn’toneofthemwhoisn’ttoolazytolearneventhesimpleststroke。Mybrotherusedtosay-dearGerald-thatitservedthemrightiftheyweredrowned。Ihaveneverbeenabletofeellikethat,Mr。Hamel。Lifeissuchawonderfulthing。Onenight,“hewenton,droppinghisvoiceandleaningalittleforwardinhiscarriage-“itwasjustbefore,orwasitjustafterIhadfixedthatlight-Iwasdownhereonedarkwinternight。Therewasagreatnorthwindandahugesearunning。Itwasasblackaspitch,butIheardaboatmakingforSt。David’scausewaystrikeonthoserocksjusthiddeninfrontthere。Iheardthosefishermenshriekastheywentunder。Iheardtheirshoutsforhelp,Iheardtheirdeathcries。Veryterrible,Mr。Hamel!Veryterrible!“
Hamellookedatthespeakercuriously。Mr。Fentolinseemedabsorbedinhissubject。Hehadspokenwithrelish,asonewholovesthethingshespeaksabout。Quiteunaccountably,Hamelfoundhimselfshivering。
“Itwastheirmother,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,leaningagainalittleforwardinhischair,“theirmotherwhomIsawpassalongthebeachjustnow-awidow,too,poorthing。Shecomeshereoften-amorbidtaste。Shespoketoyou,Ithink?“
“Shespoketomestrangely,“Hameladmitted。“Shegavemetheimpressionofawomanwhosebrainhadbeenturnedwithgrief。“
“Tootrue,“Mr。Fentolinsighed。“Thepoorcreature!Iofferedherasmallpension,butshewouldhavenoneofit。Asuperiorwomaninherwayonce,fillednowwithqueerfancies,“hewenton,eyeingHamelsteadily,-“theverystrangestfancies。Shespendsherlifeprowlingabouthere。Nooneinthevillageevenknowshowshelives。
Didshespeakofme,by-the-by?“
“Shespokeofyouasbeingaverykind-heartedman。“
Mr。Fentolinsighed。
“Thepoorcreature!Well,well,letusreverttotheobjectofyourcominghere。Doyoureallywishtooccupythislittleshanty,Mr。Hamel?“
“Thatwasmyidea,“Hamelconfessed。“IonlycamebackfromMexicolastmonth,andIverysoongotfedupwithlifeintown。Iamgoingabroadagainnextyear。Tillthen,Iamratheratalooseend。Myfatherwasalwaysverykeenindeedaboutthisplace,andveryanxiousthatIshouldcomeandstayhereforalittletime,soImadeupmymindtorundown。I’vegotsomethingswaitingatNorwich。IthoughtImighthireawomantolookaftermeandspendafewweekshere。Theytellmethattheearlyspringisalmostthebesttimeforthiscoast。“
Mr。Fentolinnoddedslowly。Hemoistenedhislipsforamoment。
Onemighthaveimaginedthathewasanxious。
“Mr。Hamel,“hesaidsoftly,“youarequiteright。Itisthebesttimetovisitthiscoast。Butwhymakeahermitofyourself?Youareafamilyfriend。ComeandstaywithusattheHallforaslongasyoulike。Itwillgivemetheutmostpleasuretowelcomeyouthere,“hewentonearnestly,“andasforthislittleplace,ofwhatuseisittoyou?Letmebuyitfromyou。Youareamanoftheworld,Icansee。Youmayberich,yetmoneyhasadefinitevalue。
Tomeithasnone。Thatlittleplace,asitstands,isprobablyworth-sayahundredpounds。Yourfathergave,ifIrememberrightly,afivepoundnoteforit。Iwillgiveyouathousandforitsoonerthanbedisturbed。“
Hamelfrownedslightly。
“Icouldnotpossiblythink,“hesaid,“ofsellingwhatwaspracticallyagifttomyfather。Youarewelcometooccupytheplaceduringmyabsenceinanywayyouwish。Ontheotherhand,I
donotthinkthatIcaretopartwithitaltogether,andIshouldreallyliketospendjustadayorsohere。Iamusedtoroughingitunderallsortsofconditions-muchmoreusedtoroughingitthanIamtostayingatcountryhouses。“
Mr。Fentolinleanedalittleoutofhiscarriage。Hereachedtheyoungerman’sshoulderwithhishand。
“Ah!Mr。Hamel,“hepleaded,“don’tmakeupyourmindtoosuddenly。
AmIalittlespoilt,Iwonder?Well,youseewhatsortofacreatureIam。IhavetogothroughlifeasbestImay,andpeoplearekindtome。ItisveryseldomIamcrossed。Itisquiteastonishinghowoftenpeopleletmehavemyownway。Donotmakeupyourmindtoosuddenly。Ihaveanieceandanephewwhomyoumustmeet。Therearesometreasures,too,atSt。David’sHall。