Mr。Fentolinsatforamomentinhischairwithimmovableface。
Thenhepointedtothedoor,whichGeraldhadleftopenbehindhim。
“Closethatdoor,Gerald。“
Theboyobeyed。Mr。Fentolinwaiteduntilhehadturnedaroundagain。
“Comeandstandoverherebythesideofthetable,“hedirected。
Geraldcamewithouthesitation。Hestoodbeforehisunclewithfoldedarms。Therewassomethingelsebesidessullennessinhisfacethismorning,somethingwhichMr。Fentolinwasquicktorecognise。
“Idonotquiteunderstandthenatureofyourquestion,Gerald,“
Mr。Fentolinbegan。“Itisunlikeyou。Youdonotseemyourself。
Isthereanythinginparticularthematter?“
“Onlythis,“Geraldansweredfirmly。“Idon’tunderstandwhythisnavalfellowshouldcomehereandaskyoutocloseupyourwirelessbecausesecretshavebeenleakingout,andafewmomentsafterwardsyoushouldbepickingupamessageandtelephoningtoLondoninformationwhichwassurelymeanttobeprivate。That’sall。
I’vecometoaskyouaboutit。“
“Youheardthemessage,then?“
“Idid。“
“Youlistened-atthekeyhole?“
“Ilistenedoutside,“Geraldassenteddoggedly。“IamgladI
listened。Doyoumindansweringmyquestion?
“DoImind!“Mr。Fentolinrepeatedsoftly。“Really,Gerald,yourpoliteness,yourconsideration,yourgoodmanners,astoundme。I
ampositivelydeprivedofthepowerofspeech。“
“I’llwaitheretillitcomestoyouagain,then,“theboydeclaredbluntly。“I’vewaitedonyouhandandfoot,donedirtyworkforyou,putupwithyourill-humoursandyourtyranny,andnevergrumbled。Butthereisalimit!You’vemadeapoorsortofcreatureofme,buteventhewormturns,youknow。Whenitcomestogivingawaysecretsaboutthemovementsofournavyatatimewhenwearealmostatwar,Istrike。“
“Melodramatic,almostdramatic,but,alas!soinaccurate,“Mr。
Fentolinsighed。“Isthisafitoftheheroics,boy,orwhathascomeoveryou?Haveyoubyanychance-forgotten?“
Mr。Fentolin’svoiceseemedsuddenlytohavegrowninvolume。Hiseyesdilated,hehimselfseemedtohavegrowninsize。Geraldsteppedalittleback。Hewastrembling,buthisexpressionhadnotchanged。
“No,Ihaven’tforgotten。There’sagreatdebtwearedoingourbesttopay,butthere’ssuchathingasaskingtopmuch,there’ssuchathingasdrawingthecordstosnappingpoint。I’mspeakingforEstherandmotheraswellasmyself。Wehavebeenyourslaves;
inawayIsupposewearewillingtogoonbeingyourslaves。It’stheburdenthatFatehasplacedaroundournecks,andwe’llgothroughwithit。AllIwanttopointoutisthattherearelimits,anditseemstomethatweareupagainstthemnow。“
Mr。Fentolinnodded。Hehadtheairofamanwhowishestobereasonable。
“Youareveryyoung,myboy,“hesaid,“veryyoungindeed。Perhapsthatismyfaultfornothavingletyouseemoreoftheworld。Youhavegotsomeveryqueerideasintoyourhead。Alittletoomuchnovelreadinglately,eh?Imighttreatyoudifferently。Imightlaughatyouandsendyououtoftheroom。Iwon’t。I’lltellyouwhatyouask。I’llexplainwhatyoufindsomysterious。ThepersontowhomIhavebeenspeakingismystockbroker。“
“Yourstockbroker!“Geraldexclaimed。
Mr。Fentolinnodded。
“Mr。Bayliss,“hecontinued,“ofthefirmofBayliss,Hundercombe&Dunn,ThrogmortonCourt。Mr。Baylissisamanofkeenperceptions。Heunderstandsexactlytheeffectofcertainclassesofnewsuponthemarket。ThemessagewhichIhavejustsenttohimispracticallycommonproperty。ItwillbeintheDailyMailto-morrowmorning。TheonlythingisthatIhavesentittohimjustafewminutessoonerthananyoneelsecangetit。Thereisagooddealofvalueinthat,Gerald。IdonotmindtellingyouthatIhavemadealargefortunethroughstudyingthepoliticalsituationandsecuringadvanceinformationuponmattersofthissort。Thatfortunesomedaywillprobablybeyours。Itwillbeyouwhowillbenefit。Meanwhile,Iamenrichingmyselfanddoingnooneanyharm。“
“Buthowdoyouknow,“Geraldpersisted,“thatthismessagewouldeverhavefounditswaytothePress?Itwassimplyamessagefromonebattleshiptoanother。Itwasnotintendedtobepickeduponland。Thereisnootherinstallationbutoursthatcouldhavepickeditup。Besides,itwasincode。Iknowthatyouhavethecode,buttheothershaven’t。“
Mr。Fentolinyawnedslightly。
“Ingenious,mydearGerald,butinaccurate。Youdonotknowthatthemessagewasincode,andinanycaseitwasliabletobepickedupbyanysteamerwithinthecircle。Youreallydotreatme,myboy,ratherasthoughIwereaweird,mischief-makingpersonwithatalentforintrigueandcrimeofeverysort。Lookatyoursuspicionslastnight。IbelievethatyouandMr。HamelhadquitemadeupyourmindsthatImeantevilthingsforMr。JohnP。Dunster。Well,Ihadmychance。Yousawhimdepart。“
“Whatabouthispapers?“
“Iwilladmit,“Mr。Fentolinreplied,“thatIreadhispapers。Theywereofnogreatconsequence,however,andhehastakenthemawaywithhim。Mr。Dunster。asamatteroffact,turnedouttoberatheramare’s-nest。Now,come,sinceyouarehere,finisheverythingyouhavetosaytome。Iamnotangry。Iamwillingtolistenquitereasonably。“
Geraldshookhishead。
“Oh,Ican’t!“hedeclaredbitterly。“Youalwaysgetthebestofit。
I’llonlyaskyouonemorequestion。Areyouhavingthewirelesshauleddown?“
Mr。Fentolinpointedoutofthewindow。Geraldfollowedhisfinger。
Threemenwereatworkuponthetoweringspars。
“Yousee,“Mr。Fentolincontinuedtolerantly,“thatIamkeepingmywordtoLieutenantGodfrey。Youaresufferingfromalittletoomuchimagination,Iamafraid。Itisreallyquiteagoodfault。
By-the-by,howdoyougetonwithourfriendMr。Hamel?“
“Verywell,“theboyreplied。“Ihaven’tseenmuchofhim。“
“HeandEstheraretogetheragreatdeal,eh?“Mr。Fentolinaskedquickly。
“Theyseemtobequitefriendly。“
“Itisn’tMr。Hamel,byanychance,whohasbeenputtingtheseideasintoyourhead?“
“Noonehasbeenputtinganyideasintomyhead,“Geraldansweredhotly。“It’ssimplywhatI’veseenandoverheard。It’ssimplywhatIfeelaround,thewholeatmosphereoftheplace,thewholeatmosphereyouseemtocreatearoundyouwiththesebrutesSarsonandMeekins;andthosewhite-faced,smooth-tonguedMarconimenofyours,whocan’ttalkdecentEnglish;andthepost-officeman,whocan’tlookyouintheface;andMissPrice,wholooksasthoughshewereoneofthecreatures,too,ofyourtorturechamber。
That’sall。“
Mr。Fentolinwaiteduntilhehadfinished。Thenbewavedhimaway。
“Goandtakealongwalk,Gerald,“headvised。“Freshairiswhatyouneed,freshairandalittlevigorousexercise。RunalongnowandsendMissPricetome。“
GeraldovertookHameluponthestairs。
“Bythistime,“thelatterremarked,“IsupposethatourfriendMr。Dunsterisuponthesea。“
Geraldnoddedsilently。Theypassedalongthecorridor。ThedooroftheroomwhichMr。Dunsterhadoccupiedwasajar。Asthoughbycommonconsent,theybothstoppedandlookedin。Thewindowswereallwideopen,thebedfreshlymade。Thenursewasbusycollectingsomemedicinebottlesandfragmentsoflint。Shelookedattheminsurprise。
“Mr。Dunsterhasleft,sir,“shetoldthem。
“Wesawhimgo,“Geraldreplied。
“Ratheraquickrecovery,wasn’tit,nurse?“Hamelasked。
“Itwasn’tarecoveryatall,sir,“thewomandeclaredsharply。
“He’dnorighttohavebeentakenaway。It’smyopinionDoctorSarsonoughttobeashamedofhimselftohavepermittedit。“
“Theycouldn’texactlymakeaprisonoftheplace,couldthey?“