“Mr。GeraldFentolin,“Mr。Dunsterremarkeddrily。
“Precisely,“Mr。Fentolindeclared。“Well,Iadmitfranklythetruthofwhatyousay。Your-shallwesaycapture,wasbywayofbeingagiganticfluke。Mynephew’sinstructionssimplyweretotraveldownbythetraintoHarwichwithyou,toendeavourtomakeyouracquaintance,tofollowyouontoyourdestination,and,ifanychancetodosooccurred,torelieveyouofyourpocket-book。
That,however,Ineverventuredtoexpect。Whatreallyhappenedwas,asyouhaveyourselfsuggested,almostinthenatureofamiracle。Mynephewshowedhimselftobepossessedofgiftswhichwerearevelationtome。Henotonlysucceededintravellingwithyoubythespecialtrain,butafteritswreckhewascleverenoughtobringyouhere,insteadofdeliveringyouovertothemerciesofavillagedoctor。Ireallycannotfindwordstoexpressmyappreciationofmynephew’sconduct。“
“Icould,“Mr。Dunstermuttered,“veryeasily!“
Mr。Fentolinsighedgently。
“Perhapsourpointsofviewmightdiffer。“
“Wehavespentaveryagreeablefewminutesinexplanations,“Mr。
Dunstercontinued。“WoulditbeaskingtoomuchifInowsuggestthatweremovethebuttonsfromourfoils?“
“Whynot?“Mr。Fentolinassentedsmoothly。“Yourfirstquestiontoyourself,underthesecircumstances,wouldnaturallybe:’WhatdoesMr。Fentolinwantwithme?’Iwillanswerthatquestionforyou。AllthatIask-itisreallyverylittle-isthewordagreedupon。“
Mr。Dunsterheldhiscigaralittlewayoffandlookedsteadfastlyathishostforamoment。Soyouhaveinterpretedmycipher?“
Mr。Fentolinspreadoutthepalmsofhishandsinadelicategesture。
“MydearMr。Dunster,“hesaid,“oneofthesimplest,Ithink,thatwaseverstrungtogether。Iamsomewhatofanauthorityuponciphers。“
“Igather,“Mr。Dunsterwenton,althoughhiscigarwasburningitselfout,“thatyouhavebrokenthesealofmydispatches?“
Mr。Fentolinclosedhiseyesasthoughhehadheardadiscord。
“Nothingsoclumsyasthat,Ihope,“hemurmuredgently。“Iwillnotinsultapersonofyourexperienceandintelligencebyenumeratingthevariouswaysinwhichthesealofadispatchmaybeliquefied。ItisquitetruethatIhavereadwithmuchpleasuretheletterwhichyouarecarryingfromacertaingroupofverydistinguishedmentoacertainpersonnowinTheHague。Theletter,however,isreplacedinitsenvelope;thesealisstillthere。Youneedhavenofearswhateverconcerningit。AllthatIrequireisthatonewordfromyou。“
“AndifIgiveyouthatoneword?“Mr。Dunsterasked。
“Ifyougiveitme,asIthinkyouwill,“Mr。Fentolinrepliedsuavely,“Ishallthentelegraphtomyagent,orratherIshouldsaytoadearfriendofminewholivesatTheHague,andthatsinglewordwillbecabledbyhimfromTheHaguetoNewYork。“
“Andinthatcase,“Mr。Dunsterenquired,“whatwouldbecomeofme?“
“Youwouldgiveusthegreatpleasureofyourcompanyhereforaverybriefvisit,“Mr。Fentolinanswered。“Weshould,Icanassureyou,doourverybesttoentertainyou。“
“AndthedispatchwhichIamcarryingtoTheHague?“
“Wouldremainherewithyou。“
Mr。Dunsterknockedtheashfromhiscigar。Withoutbeingamanofgreatparts,hewasashrewdperson,possessedofanabundantstockofcommonsense。Heappliedhimself,forafewmoments,toaconsiderationofthisaffair,withoutarrivingatanysatisfactoryconclusion。
“Come,Mr。Fentolin,“hesaidatlast,“youmustreallyforgiveme,butIcan’tseewhatyou’redrivingat。YouareanEnglishman,areyounot?“
“IamanEnglishman,“Mr。Fentolinconfessed“orrather,“headded,withghastlyhumour,“IamhalfanEnglishman。“
“Youare,Iamsure,“Mr。Dunstercontinued,“apersonofintelligence,awell-readperson,apersonofperceptions。Surelyyoucanseeandappreciatethedangerwithwhichyourcountryisthreatened?“
“Withregardtopoliticalaffairs,“Mr。Fentolinadmitted,“I
considermyselfunusuallywellposted-infact,thestudyofthediplomaticmethodsofthevariousgreatPowersisratherahobbyofmine。“
“Yet,“Mr。Dunsterpersisted,“youdonotwishthisletterdeliveredtothatlittleconferenceinTheHague,whichyoumustbeawareisnowsittingpracticallytodeterminethefateofyournation?“
“Idonotwish,“Mr。Fentolinreplied,“Idonotintend,thatthatlettershallbedelivered。Whydoyouworryaboutmypointofview?
Imayhaveadozenreasons。Imaybelievethatitwillbegoodformycountrytosufferalittlechastisement。“
“Oryoumay,“Mr。Dunstersuggested,glancingkeenlyathishost,“bethepaidagentofsomeforeignPower。“
Mr。Fentolinshookhishead。
“Mymeans,“hepointedout,“shouldplacemeabovesuchsuspicion。
Myincome,Ireallybelieve,israthermorethanfiftythousandpoundsayear。Ishouldnotenterintotheseadventures,whichnaturallyarenotentirelydissociatedfromacertainamountofrisk,forthepurposesoffinancialgain。“
Mr。Dunsterwasstillmystified。
“Grantedthatyoudosofrompureloveofadventure,“hedeclared,“Istillcannotseewhyyoushouldrangeyourselfonthesideofyourcountry’senemies。
“Intime,“Mr。Fentolinobserved,“eventhatmaybecomecleartoyou。Atpresent,well-justthatword,ifyouplease?“
Mr。Dunstershookhishead。
“No,“hedecided,“Idonotthinkso。Icannotmakeupmymindtotellyouthatword。“
Mr。Fentolingavenosignofannoyanceorevendisappointment。Hesimplysighed。Hiseyeswerefullofagentlesympathy,hisfaceindicatedacertainamountofconcern。
“Youdistressme,“hedeclared。“Perhapsitismyfault。Ihavenotmademyselfsufficientlyclear。Theknowledgeofthatwordisanecessitytome。WithoutitIcannotcompletemyplans。WithoutitIverymuchfear,dearMr。Dunster,thatyoursojournamongusmaybelongerthanyouhaveanyideaof。“
Mr。Dunsterlaughedalittlederisively。
“We’vepassedthosedays,“heremarked。“I’vedonemybesttoenterintothehumourofthissituation,buttherearelimits。Youcan’tkeepprisonersinEnglishcountryhouses,nowadays。Thereareadozenwaysofcommunicatingwiththeoutsideworld,andwhenthat’soncedone,itseemstomethatthepositionofSquireFentolinofSt。David’sHallmightbealittlepeculiar。“
Mr。Fentolinsmiled,veryslightly,stillveryblandly。
“Alas,mystalwartfriend,Ifearthatyouarebynatureanoptimist!
Iamnotabettingman,butIampreparedtobetyouahundredpoundstoonethatyouhavemadeyourlastcommunicationwiththeoutsideworlduntilIsaytheword。“
Mr。Dunsterwasobviouslyplentifullysuppliedwitheithercourageorbravado,forheonlylaughed。
“Thenyouhadbettermakeupyourmindatonce,Mr。Fentolin,howsoonthatwordistobespoken,oryoumayloseyourmoney,“heremarked。
Mr。Fentolinsatveryquietlyinhischair。
“Youmean,then,“heasked,“thatyoudonotintendtohumourmeinthislittlematter?“
“Idonotintend,“Mr。Dunsterassuredhim,“topartwiththatwordtoyouortoanyoneelseinthetheworld。Whenmymessagehasbeenpresentedtothepersontowhomithasbeenaddressed,whenmytrustisdischarged,thenandthenonlyshallIsendthatcablegram。
Thatmomentcanonlyarriveattheendofmyjourney。“
Mr。Fentolinleanednowalittleforwardinhischair。Hisfacewasstillsmoothandexpressionless,buttherewasaqueersortofmeaninginhiswords。
“Theendofyourjourney,“hesaidgrimly,“maybenearerthanyouthink。“
“IfIamnotheardofinTheHagueto-morrowatthelatest,“Mr。
Dunsterpointedout,“rememberthatbeforemanymorehourshavepassed,Ishallbesearchedfor,eventothefarcornersoftheearth。“
“Letmeassureyou,“Mr。Fentolinpromisedserenely,“thatthoughyourfriendssearchforyouupintheskiesordowninthebowelsoftheearth,theywillnotfindyou。Myhiding-placesarenotasotherpeople’s。“
Mr。Dunsterbeatlightlywithhissquare,bluntforefingeruponthetablewhichstoodbyhisside。
“That’snotthesortoftalkIunderstand,“hedeclaredcurtly。
“Letusunderstandoneanother,ifwecan。Whatistohappentome,ifIrefusetogiveyouthatword?“