Geralddidnotspeakforseveralmoments。Hiseyeswerestillfixeduponthebackofthedisappearingcar。ThenheturnedtowardsHamel。
“Thereisn’tmuch,“hesaidsoftly,“thatMr。Fentolindoesn’tknow。
Ifthatdetectivewasreallyonhiswayhere,therewasn’tanychanceofkeepingMr。Dunstertohimself。Yousee,thewholestoryiscommonproperty。Andyet,there’ssomethingabouttheaffairthatbothersme。“
“Andme,“Hameladmitted,watchingthecaruntilitbecameaspeckinthedistance。
“Hewasfairlywellcornered,“Geraldconcluded,astheymadetheirwaybacktothedining-room,“butitisn’tlikehimtoletgoofanythingsoeasily。“
“Soyou’veseenthelastofourguest,“Mr。Fentolinremarked,asamelandGeraldre-enteredthedining-room。“Aqueerfellow-almostanewtypetome。Doggedandindustrious,Ishouldthink。Hehadn’ttheleastrighttotravel,youknow,andIthinksolongaswehadtakenthetroubletotelephonetoNorwich,hemighthavewaitedtoseethephysician。Sarsonwasveryangryaboutit,butwhatcanyoudowiththesefellowswhoareneverill?Theyscarcelyknowwhatphysicaldisabilitymeans。Well,Mr。Hamel,andhowareyougointoamuseyourselfto-day?“
“IhadthoughtofcommencingsomereadingIbroughtwithme,“Hamelreplied,“butMissEstherhaschallengedmetoanothergameofgolf。“
“Excellent!“Mr。Fentolindeclared。“Itisverykindofyouindeed,Mr。Hamel。Itisalwaysamatterofregretformethatsocietyinthesepartsissorestricted。Mynephewandniecehavelittleopportunityforenjoyingthemselves。PlaygolfwithMr。Hamel,byallmeans,mydearchild,“hecontinued,turningtohisniece。“Makethemostofthisgloriousspringweather。Andwhataboutyou,Gerald?
Whatareyoudoingto-day?“
“Ihaven’tmadeupmymindyet,sir,“theboyreplied。
Mr。Fentolinsighed。
“Alwaysthatlackofinitiative,“heremarked。“Alackofinitiativeisoneofyourworstfaults,Iamafraid,dearGerald。“
Theboylookedupquickly。Foramomentitseemedasthoughhewereabouttomakeafiercereply。HemetMr。Fentolin’ssteadygaze,however,andthewordsdiedawayuponhislips。
“Iratherthought,“hesaid,“ofgoingintoNorwich,ifyoucouldspareme。CaptainHolthasaskedmetolunchattheBarracks。“
Mr。Fentolinshookhisheadgently。
“Itismostunfortunate,“hedeclared。“Ihaveacommissionforyoulaterintheday。“
Geraldcontinuedhisbreakfastinsilence。Hebentoverhisplatesothathisfacewasalmostinvisible。Mr。Fentolinwaspeelingapeach。Aservantenteredtheroom。
“LieutenantGodfrey,sir,“heannounced。
Theyalllookedup。Atrim,clean-shaven,hard-featuredyoungmaninnavaluniformwasstandinguponthethreshold。HebowedtoEsther。
“Verysorrytointrude,sir,atthishourofthemorning,“hesaidbriskly。“LieutenantGodfrey,myname。IamflaglieutenantoftheBritannia。Youcan’tseeher,butshe’snotfiftymilesoffatthisminute。IlandedatSheringhamthismorning,hiredacarandmadethebestofmywayhere。MessagefromtheAdmiral,sir。“
Mr。Fentolinsmiledgenially。
“Wearedelightedtoseeyou,LieutenantGodfrey,“hesaid。“Havesomebreakfast。“
“Youareverygood,sir,“theofficeranswered。“Businessfirst。
I’llbreakfastafterwards,withpleasure,ifImay。TheAdmiral’scompliments,andhewouldtakeitasafavourifyouwouldhauldownyourwirelessforafewdays。“
“Haddownmywireless,“Mr。Fentolinrepeatedslowly。
“Wearedoingalotofmanoeuvringwithinrangeofyou,andlikelytodoabitmore,“theyoungmanexplained。“Youarecatchingupourmessagesallthetime。Ofcourse,weknowthey’requitesafewithyou,butthingsgetabout。Asyoursisonlyaprivateinstallation,we’dlikeyou,ifyoudon’tmind,sir,toshutupshopforafewdays。“
Mr。Fentolinseemedpuzzled。
“But,mydearsir,“heprotested,“wearenotatwar,arewe?“
“Notyet,“theyoungofficerreplied,“butGodknowswhenweshallbe!Weareundersealedorders,anyway,andwedon’twantanyriskofourplansleakingout。That’swhywewantyourwirelessdisconnected。“
“Youneedsaynomore,“Mr。Fentolinassuredhim。“Thematterisalreadyarranged。Esther,letmepresentLieutenantGodfrey-myniece,MissFentolin;Mr。GeraldFentolin,mynephew;Mr。Hamel,aguest。SeethatLieutenantGodfreyhassomebreakfast,Gerald。I
willgomyselfandseemyMarconioperator。“
“Awfullygoodofyou,sir,“theyoungmandeclared,“andIamsureweareverysorrytotroubleyou。Inaweekortwo’stimeyoucangointobusinessagainasmuchasyoulike。It’sonlywhilewearefiddlingaroundherethattheAdmiral’sjumpyaboutthings。
Maymymanhaveacupofcoffee,sir?I’dliketobeonthewaybackinaquarterofanhour。“
Mr。Fentolinhaltedhischairbythesideofthebell,andrangit。
“Praymakeuseofmyhouseasyourown,sir,“hesaidgravely。
“Fromwhatyouleaveunsaid,Igatherthatthingsaremoreseriousthanthepaperswouldhaveusbelieve。Underthosecircumstances,Ineednotassureyouthatanyhelpwecanrenderisentirelyyours。“
Mr。Fentolinlefttheroom。LieutenantGodfreywasalreadyattackinghisbreakfast。Geraldleanedtowardshimeagerly。
“Istherereallygoingtobewar?“hedemanded。
“AskthosechapsatTheHague,“LieutenantGodfreyanswered。
“Doingtheirbesttofreezeusout,orsomething。AllIknowis,ifthere’sgoingtobefighting,wearereadyforthem。By-the-by,whathaveyougotwirelesstelegraphyforhere,anyway?“
“It’safadofmyuncle’s,“Geraldreplied。“Sincehisaccidentheamuseshimselfinallsortsofqueerways。“
LieutenantGodfreynodded。
“Poorfellow!“hesaid。“Iheardhewasacripple,orsomethingofthesort。Forgivemyasking,but-youpeopleareEnglish,aren’tyou?“
“Rather!“Geraldanswered。“TheFentolinshavelivedhereforhundredsofyears。Whydoyouaskthat?“
LieutenantGodfreyhesitated。Helooked,forthemoment,scarcelyathisease。
“Oh,Idon’tknow,“hereplied。“TheoldmanwasveryanxiousI
shouldfindout。Yousee,alotofinformationseemstohavegotoverontheotherside,andwecouldn’tthinkwhereithadleakedout,exceptthroughyourwireless。However,thatisn’tlikely,ofcourse,unlessyou’vegotoneofthesebeastlyGermansinyourreceiving-room。NowifIcanborrowacigarette,acigar,orapipeoftobacco-anymortalthingtosmoke-I’llbeoff,ifImay。
Theoldmanturnedmeoutatanunearthlyhourthismorning,andinSheringhamalltheshopswereclosed。Steadyon,youngfellow,“helaughed,asGeraldfilledhispocketswithcigarettes。“Well,here’sgoodmorningtoyou,MissFentolin。Goodmorning,sir。HowlongoughtittotakemetogettoSheringham?“
“Aboutfortyminutes,“Geraldtoldhim,“ifyourcar’sanygoodatall。“
“Itisn’tmuch,“wasthesomewhatdubiousreply。“However,we’llshovealong。YouintheService?“heenquired,astheywalkeddownthehalltogether。
“HopeIshallbebeforelong,“Geraldanswered。I’mgoingintothearmy,though。“
“Havetohurryup,won’tyou?“
Geraldsighed。
“It’salittledifficultforme。Here’syourcar。Goodlucktoyou!“
“MyexcusestoMr。Fentolin,“LieutenantGodfreyshouted,“andmanythanks。“
Hejumpedintotheautomobileandwassoononhiswayback。Geraldwatchedhimuntilhewasnearlyoutofsight。Ontheknoll,twoofthewirelessoperatorswerealreadyatwork。Mr。Fentolinsatinhischairbelow,watching。Thebluesparkswereflashing。Amessagewasjustbeingdelivered。PresentlyMr。Fentolinturnedhischair,andwithMeekinsbyhisside,madehiswaybacktothehouse。Hepassedalongtheballandintohisstudy。Gerald,whowasonhiswaytothedining-room,heardtheringofthetelephonebellandthecallforthetrunkspecialline。Hehesitatedforamoment。Thenhemadehiswayslowlydowntowardsthestudyandstoodoutsidethedoor,listening。InamomentheheardMr。Fentolin’sclearvoice,verylowyetverypenetrating。
“TheMediterraneanFleetwillbeforty-sevenhoursbeforeitcomestogether,“wasthemessageheheard。“TheChannelFleetwillmanoeuvreoffSheerness,waitingforit。TheNorthSeaFleetisseventeenunitsundernominalstrength。“
Geraldturnedthehandleofthedoorslowlyandentered。Mr。
Fentolinwasjustreplacingthereceiveronitsstand。Helookedupathisnephew,andhiseyebrowscametogether。
“Whatdoyoumeanbythis?“hedemanded。“Don’tyouknowthatI
allownooneinherewhenIamtelephoningontheprivatewire?“
Geraldclosedthedoorbehindhimandsummonedupallhiscourage。
“ItisbecauseIhaveheardwhatyouweresayingoverthetelephonethatIamhere,“hedeclared。“Iwanttoknowtowhomyouweresendingthatmessagewhichyouhaveinterceptedoutside。“