Hamelwasalittlestartled。Hewithdrewthepipfromhismouthandlookedather。
“Why,ofcourse,“heremarked。“I’dforgotten。Thereisnoplaceforyoutostayhere。“
“Ishallgobacktomybrother’s。“shesaid。
Hamelputsomemoneyuponthetable。
“Pleasegetanythingthatisnecessary,“hedirected。“Ishallleaveyoutodothehousekeepingforafewdays。“
“Shallyoubestayingherelong,sir?“sheasked。
“Iamnotsure,“hereplied。
“Idonotsuppose,“shesaid,“thatyouwillstayforverylong。
Ishallgetonlythethingsthatyourequirefromdaytoday。Goodnight,sir。
Shelefttheroom。Hamellookedafterherforamomentwithafrown。
Insomeindescribableway,thewomanhalfimpressed,halfirritatedhim。Shehadalwaystheairofkeepingsomethinginthebackground。
Hefollowedheroutontothelittleridgeofbeach,afewminutesaftershehadleft。Themistwasstilldriftingabout。Onlyafewyardsawaythesearolledin,fillingtheairwithdullthunder。
Themarshlandwashalfobscured。St。David’sHallwasinvisible,butlikestrangely-hunglanternsinanemptyspacehesawthelineoflightsfromthegreathousegleamthroughtheobscurity。Therewasnosoundsavethesoundofthesea。Heshiveredslightly。Itwaslikeanemptyland,this。
Then,movedbysomeinstinctofcuriosity,hemadehiswayroundtothecloseddooroftheboat-house,onlytofindit,ashehadexpected,locked。HeshookLtslightly,withoutresult。Thenhestrolledroundtotheback,enteredhisownlittleabodebythekitchen,andtriedtheotherdoorwhichledintotheboat-house。
Itwasnotonlylocked,butastaplehadbeenputin,anditwasfastenedwithapadlockofcuriousdesignwhichhedidnotremembertohaveseentherebefore。Again,halfunconsciously,helistened,andagainhefoundthesilenceoppressive。Hewentbacktohisroom,broughtoutsomeofthebookswhichithadbeenhisintentiontostudy,andsatandreadoverthefire。
Atteno’clockhewenttobed。Ashethrewopenhiswindowbeforeundressing,itseemedtohimthathecouldcatchthesoundofvoicesfromthesea。Helistenedintently。Agreypallhungeverywhere。
Totheleft,withstrangeindistinctness,almostlikesomethinghumanstrugglingtoassertitself,camethefitfulflashfromthelightattheentrancetothetidalway。Oncemorehestrainedhisears。Thistimetherewasnodoubtaboutit。Heheardthesoundoffishermen’svoices。Heheardoneofthemsaydistinctly:
“Hardaport,Davelad!That’sFentolin’slight。Keepheroutabit。
Steady,lad!“
Throughariftinthemist,hecaughtaglimpseofthebrownsailofafishing-boat,dangerouslyneartheland。Hewatcheditalteritscourseslightlyandpasson。Thenagaintherewassilence。Heundressedslowlyandwenttobed。
Lateronhewokewithastartandsatupinbed,listeningintently,listeningforheknewnotwhat。Exceptforthebackwardscreamofthepebbles,draggeddowneveryfewsecondsbytherecedingwaves,anunbrokensilenceseemedtoprevail。Hestruckamatchandlookedathiswatch。Itwasexactlythreeo’clock。Hegotoutofbed。Hewasamaninperfecthealth,ignorantofthemeaningofnerves,amanofprovedcourage。Yethewasconsciousthathispulseswerebeatingwithabsurdrapidity。Anewfeelingseemedtopossesshim。
Hecouldalmosthavedeclaredthathewasafraid。Whatsoundhadawakenedhim?Hehadnoidea,yetheseemedtohaveadistinctandabsoluteconvictionthatithadbeenarealsoundandnodream。
Hedrewasidethecurtainsandlookedoutofthewindow。Themistnowseemedtohavebecomealmostafog,tohaveclosedinuponseaandland。Therewasnothingwhatevertobeseen。Ashestoodthereforamoment,listening,hisfacebecamemoistwiththedriftingvapour。Suddenlyuponthebeachhesawwhatatfirstheimaginedmustbeanopticalillusion-alongshaftoflight,invisibleinitselfexceptthatitseemedtoslightlychangethedensityofthemist。Hethrewonanovercoatoverhispyjamas,thrustonhisslippers,andtakinguphisownelectrictorch,hastilydescendedthestairs。Heopenedthefrontdoorandsteppedoutontothebeach。Hestoodintheveryplacewherethelighthadseemedtobe,andlookedinland。Therewasnosignofanyhumanperson,notasoundexceptthefallingoftheseauponthepebblybeach。Heraisedhisvoiceandcalledout。Somehoworother,speechseemedtobearelief。
“Hullo!“
Therewasnoresponse。Hetriedagain。
“Isanyonethere?“
Stillnoanswer。Hewatchedtheveiledlightfromtheharbourappearanddisappear。Itthrewnoshadowofilluminationuponthespottowhichhehadgazedfromhiswindow。OnewindowatSt。
David’sHallwasilluminated。Therestoftheplacewaswrappednowindarkness。Hewalkeduptotheboat-house。Thedoorwasstilllocked。Therewasnosignthatanyonehadbeenthere。
Reluctantlyatlasthere-enteredtheTowerandmadehiswayup-stairs。
“ConfoundthatfellowKinsley!“hemuttered,ashethrewoffhisovercoat。“Allhissillysuggestionsandmelodramaticideashavegivenmeafitofnerves。Iamgoingtobed,andIamgoingtosleep。Thatcouldn’thavebeenalightIsawatall。Icouldn’thaveheardanything。Iamgoingtosleep。“
Hamelawoketofindhisroomfilledwithsunshineandasoftwindblowinginthroughtheopenwindow。Therewasapleasantodourofcoffeefloatingupfromthekitchen。Helookedathiswatch-itwaspasteighto’clock。Theseawasglitteringandbespangledwithsunlight。Hefoundamonghisscantybelongingsabathingsuit,and,wrappedinhisovercoat,hurrieddown-stairs。
“Breakfastinhalfanhour,Mrs。Cox,“hecalledout。
Shestoodatthedoor,watchinghimashesteppedacrossthepebblesandplungedin。Forafewmomentsheswam。Thenheturnedoveronhisback。ThesunlightwasgleamingfromeverywindowofSt。David’sHall。Heevenfanciedthatupontheterracehecouldseeawhite-cladfigurelookingtowardshim。Heturnedoverandswamoncemore。FromherplaceinthedoorwayMrs。Coxcalledouttohim。
“MindtheDaggerRocks,sir!“
Hewavedhishand。Thesplendidexhilarationofthesaltwaterseemedtogivehimunlimitedcourage。Hedived,butthewoman’scryoffearsoonrecalledhim。Presentlyheswamtoshoreandhurriedupthebeach。Mrs。Cox,withasighofrelief,disappearedintothekitchen。
“Thoserocksonyournervesagain,Mrs。Cox?“heasked,good-humouredly,ashetookhisplaceatthebreakfasttableaquarterofanhourlater。
“It’sonlyuswholivehere,sir,“sheanswered,“whoknowhowterribletheyare。Theresone-itcomesuplikemyhand-alongspike。Aboatoncestruckuponthat,andit’sasthoughit’dbeensawnthroughthemiddle。“
“Imusthavealookatthemsomeday,“hedeclared。“Iamgoingtoworkthismorning,Mrs。Cox。Lunchatoneo’clock。“
Hetookrugsandestablishedhimselfwithapileofbooksatthebackofagrassyknoll,shelteredfromthewind,withtheseaalmostathisfeet。Hesharpenedhispencilandnumberedthepageofhisnotebook。ThenhelookeduptowardstheHallgardenandfoundhimselfdreaming。Thesunshinewasdelicious,andagentleoptimismseemedtostealoverhim。
“Iamafool!“hemurmuredtohimself。“Iamcatchingsomepartofthesepeople’sfolly。Mr。Fentolinisonlyanordinary,crotchetyinvalidwithqueertastes。Onthebigthingsheisprobablylikeothermen。Ishallgotohimthismorning。
Asea-gullscreamedoverhishead。Little,brownsailedfishing-boatscameglidingdowntheharbourway。Apleasant,sensuousjoyfulnessseemedpartofthespiritoftheday。Hamelstretchedhimselfoutuponthedrysand。
“Workbehanged!“heexclaimed。
Asoftvoiceansweredhimalmostinhisear,avoicewhichwasbecomingveryfamiliar。
“Amostadmirablesentiment,myyoungfriend,whichyouseemtobedoingyourbesttoliveupto。Notalinewritten,Isee。“
Hesatupuponhisrug。Mr。Fentolin,inhislittlecarriage,wastherebyhisside。BehindwasthefaithfulMeekins,withaneaselunderhisarm。
“Itrustthatyourfirstnightinyournewabodehasbeenapleasantone?“Mr。Fentolinasked。
“Isleptquitewell,thanks,“Hamelreplied。“Gladtoseeyou’regoingtopaint。“
Mr。Fentolinshookhisheadgloomily。
“Itis,alas!“hedeclared,“oneofmyweaknesses。Icanworkonlyinsolitude。IcamedownonthechancethatthefineweathermighthavetemptedyouovertotheGolfClub。Asitis,Ishallreturn。“
“Iamawfullysorry,“Hamelsaid。“Can’tIgooutofsightsomewhere?“
Mr。Fentolinsighed。
“Iwillnotaskyourpardonformyabsurdhumours,“hecontinued,alittlesadly。“Theirexistence,however,Icannotdeny。I