“Presentiments,“hescoffed,“aretheexcusesofcowards。Don’tbeafraid,Florence。RememberalwaysthatIlookahead。DoyouthinkthatIcouldstayherecontentedwithwhatyoucallmycompensations-myart,thestudyofbeautifulthings,thecalmepicureanismofthesedateandsimplelife?YouknowverywellthatIcouldnotdothat。Thecravingforotherthingsisinmyheartandblood。TheexcitementwhichIcannothaveinoneway,Imustfindinanother,andIthinkthatbeforemanynightshavepassed,Ishalllieonmypillowandhearthegunsroar,hearthefootstepsofthegreatarmiesoftheworldmovingintobattle。ItisforthatIlive,Florence。“
Shetookupherknittingagain。Hereyeswerefixeduponthesky-line。Twicesheopenedherlips,buttwicenowordscame。
“Youunderstand?“hewhispered。“Youbegintounderstand,don’tyou?“
Shelookedathimonlyforamomentandbackatherwork。
“Isupposeso,“shesighed。
InthemiddleofthatnightHamelsatupinbed,awakenedwithasuddenstartbysomesound,onlythefaintestechoofwhichremainedinhisconsciousness。Hisnervesweretinglingwithasenseofexcitement。Hesatupinbedandlistened。Suddenlyitcameagain-along,lowmoanofpain,stifledattheendasthoughrepressedbysomeoutsideagency。Heleapedfromhisbed,hurriedonafewclothes,andsteppedoutontothelanding。Thecryhadseemedtohimtocomefromthefurtherendofthelongcorridor-inthedirection,indeed,oftheroomwhereMr。Dunsterlay。Hemadehiswaythere,walkingontiptoe,althoughhisfeetfellnoiselesslyuponthethickcarpet。Asinglelightwasburningfromabracketinthewall,insufficienttoilluminatetheemptyspaces,butenoughtokeephimfromstumbling。Thecorridortowardsthesouthendgraduallywidened,terminatinginasplendidhighwindowwithstainedglass,abroadseat,andatable。Ontheright,theendroomwasMr。Dunster’sapartment,andontheleftaflightofstairsledtothefloorabove。Hamelstoodquitestill,listening。
Therewasalightintheroom,ashecouldseefromunderthedoor,buttherewasnosoundofanyonemoving。Hamellistenedintently,everysensestrained。Thenthesoundofastaircreakingbehinddivertedhisattention。Helookedquicklyaround。Geraldwasdescending。Theboy’sfacewaswhite,andhiseyeswerefilledwithfear。Hamelsteppedsoftlybackfromthedoorandmethimatthefootofthestairs。
“Didyouhearthatcry?“hewhispered。
Geraldnodded。
“Itwokemeup。Whatdoyousupposeitwas?“Hamelshookhishead。
“Someoneinpain,“hereplied。“Idon’tunderstandit。Itcamefromthisroom。“
“Youknowwhosleepsthere?“Geraldaskedhoarsely。
Hamelnodded。
“Amanwithconcussionofthebraindoesn’tcryoutlikethat。
Besides,didyouheartheendofit?Itsoundedasthoughsomeonewerechokinghim。Hush!“
Theyhadspokenonlyinbatedbreath,butthedooroftheroombeforewhichtheywerestandingwassuddenlyopened。Meekinsstoodthere,fullydressed,hisdark,heavyfacefullofsomberwarning。
Hestartedalittleashesawthetwowhisperingtogether。Geraldaddressedhimalmostapologetically。
“Webothheardthesamesound,Meekins。Isanyoneill?Itsoundedlikesomeoneinpain。“
Themanhesitated。ThenfrombehindhisshouldercameMr。
Fentolin’sstill,softvoice。Therewasalittleclick,andMeekins,asthoughobeyinganunseengesture,steppedback。Mr。Fentolinglidedontothethreshold。Hewasstilldressed。Hepropelledhischairafewyardsdownthecorridorandbeckonedthemtoapproach。
“Iamsosorry,“hesaidsoftly,“thatyoushouldhavebeendisturbed,Mr。Hamel。Wehavebeenalittleanxiousaboutourmysteriousguest。DoctorSarsonfetchedmeanhourago。Hediscoveredthatitwasnecessarytoperformaveryslightoperation,merelytheextractionofasplinterofwood。Itisallovernow,andIthinkthathewilldoverywell。“
Notwithstandingthisveryplausibleexplanation,Hamelwasconsciousoftheremainsofanuneasinesswhichhescarcelyknewhowtoputintowords。
“Itwasamostdistressingcry,“heobserveddoubtfully,“acryoffearaswellasofpain。“
“Poorfellow!“Mr。Fentolinremarkedcompassionately。“Iamafraidthatforamomentortwohemusthavesufferedacutely。DoctorSarsonisveryclever,however,andthereisnodoubtthatwhathedidwasforthebest。Hisopinionisthatbyto-morrowmorningtherewillbeamarvellouschange。Goodnight,Mr。Hamel。Iamquitesurethatyouwillnotbedisturbedagain。“
Hamelneitherfeltnorshowedanydispositiontodepart。
“Mr。Fentolin,“hesaid,“IhopethatyouwillnotthinkthatIamofficiousorinanywayabusingyourhospitality,butIcannothelpsuggestingthatasDr。Sarsonispurelyyourhouseholdphysician,therelativesofthismanDunstermightbebettersatisfiedifsomesecondopinionwerecalledin。MightIsuggestthatyoutelephonetoNorwichforasurgeon?“
Mr。Fentolinshowednosignsofdispleasure。Hewassilentforamoment,asthoughconsideringthematter。
“Iamnotatallsure,Mr。Hamel,thatyouarenotright,“headmittedfrankly。“Ibelievethatthecaseisquiteasimpleone,butontheotherhanditwouldperhapsbemoresatisfactorytohaveanoutsideopinion。IfMr。Dunsterisnotconsciousinthemorning,wewilltelephonetotheNorwichInfirmary。“
“Ithinkitwouldbeadvisable,“Hamelagreed。
“Goodnight!“Mr。Fentolinsaidoncemore。Iamsorrythatyourresthasbeendisturbed。“
Hamel,however,stillrefusedtotakethehint。Hiseyeswerefixeduponthatcloseddoor。
“Mr。Fentolin,“heasked,“haveyouanyobjectiontomyseeingMr。
Dunster?“
Therewasamoment’sintensesilence。AsuddenlighthadburnedinMr。Fentolin’seyes。Hisfingersgrippedthesideofhischair。
Yetwhenhespoketherewerenosignsofangerinhistone。Itwasamarvellouseffortofself-control。
“Thereisnoreason,Mr。Hamel,“hesaid,“whyyourcuriosityshouldnotbegratified。Knocksoftlyatthedoor,Gerald。“
Theboyobeyed。InamomentortwoDoctorSarsonappearedonthethreshold。
“Ourguest,Mr。Hamel,“Mr。Fentolinexplainedinawhisper,“hasbeenawakenedbythispoorfellow’scry。Hewouldliketoseehimforamoment。“
DoctorSarsonopenedthedoor。Theyallpassedinontiptoe。ThedoctorledthewaytowardsthebeduponwhichMr。Dunsterwaslying,quitestill。Hisheadwasbandaged,andhiseyesclosed。Hisfacewasghastly。Geraldgaveventtoalittlemutteredexclamation。
Mr。Fentolinturnedtohim。quickly。
“Gerald!“
Theboystoodstill,trembling,speechless。Mr。Fentolin’seyeswereriveteduponhim。Thedoctorwasstanding,stillanddark,amotionlessimage。
“Isheasleep?“Hamelasked。
“Heisundertheinfluenceofamildanaesthetic,“DoctorSarsonexplained。“Heisdoingverywell。Hiscaseisquitesimple。Byto-morrowmorninghewillbeabletositupandwalkaboutifhewishesto。“
Hamellookedsteadilyatthefigureuponthebed。Mr。Dunster’sbreathingwasregular,andhiseyeswereclosed,buthiscolourwasghastly。
“Hedoesn’tlooklikegettingupforagoodmanydaystocome,“
Hamelobserved。
Thedoctorledthewaytowardsthedoor。
“Themanhasafineconstitution,“hesaid。“Ifeelsurethatifyouwishyouwillbeabletotalktohimto-morrow。“
Theyseparatedoutsideinthepassage。Mr。Fentolinbadehisguestasomewhatrestrainedgoodnight,andGeraldmountedthestaircasetohisroom。Hamel,however,hadscarcelyreachedhisdoorbeforeGeraldreappeared。Hehaddescendedthestair-caseattheotherendofthecorridor。Hestoodforamomentlookingdownthepassage。
Thedoorswereallclosed。Eventhelighthadbeenextinguished。
“MayIcomeinforamoment,please?“hewhispered。
Hamelnodded。
“Withpleasure!Comeinandhaveacigaretteifyouwill。Ishan’tfeellikesleepforsometime。“
Theyenteredtheroom,andGeraldthrewhimselfintoaneasy-chairnearthewindow。Hamelwheeledupanotherchairandproducedaboxofcigarettes。
“Queerthingyourdroppingacrossthatfellowinthewayyoudid,“
heremarked。“Justshowshowonemaydisappearfromtheworldaltogether,andnoonebeabitthewiser。“
Theboywassittingwithfoldedarms。Hisexpressionwasoneofdeepgloom。
“IonlywishI’dneverbroughthimhere,“hemuttered。“Ioughttohaveknownbetter。“
Hamelraisedhiseyebrows。“Isn’theaswelloffhereasanywhereelse?“
“Doyouthinkthatheis?“Geralddemanded,lookingacrossatHamel。
Therewasabriefsilence。
“Wecanscarcelydoyouruncletheinjustice,“Hamelremarked,“ofimaginingthathecanpossiblyhaveanyreasonoranydesiretodealwiththatmanexceptasaguest。“
“Doyoureallybelievethat?“Geraldasked。
Hamelrosetohisfeet。
“Lookhere,youngman,“hesaid,“thisisgettingserious。YouandIareatcross-purposes。Ifyoulike,youshallhavethetruthfromme。“
“Goon。“
“IwaswarnedaboutyourunclebeforeIcamedownintothispartoftheworld,“Hamelcontinuedquietly。“Iwastoldthatheisadangerousconspirator,amanwhosticksatnothingtogainhisends,apersonaltogetheroutofplaceinthesedays。Itsoundsmelodramatic,butIhaditstraightfromafriend。SinceIhavebeenhere,Ihavehadatelegram-youbroughtittomeyourself-askingforinformationaboutthismanDunster。ItwasIwhowiredtoLondonthathewashere。ItwasthroughmethatScotlandYardcommunicatedwiththepolicestationatWells,throughmethatamanistobesentdownfromLondon。Ididn’tcomehereasaspy-don’tthinkthat;Iwascominghere,anyhow。Ontheotherhand,Ibelievethatyouruncleisplayingadangerousgame。IamgoingtohaveMr。JohnP。DunsterputinchargeofaNorwichphysicianto-morrow。“