“Mr。Fentolinisinastrangehumour,“shewenton,amomentlater,aftershehadstruckthefinalchordsofhersong。“Therearethingsgoingonarounduswhichnoonecanunderstand。Ithinkthatoneofhisschemeshasmiscarried;hehasgonetoofar。Hesuspectsyou;Icannottellyouwhyorhow。Ifonlyyouwouldgoaway!“
“WhataboutEsther?“heaskedquietly。
“Youmustleaveher,“shecried,withalittlecatchinherthroat。
“Geraldhasbrokenaway。EstherandImustcarrystilltheburden。“
Shemotionedhimtogo。Hetouchedherfingersforamoment。
“Mrs,Fentolin,“hesaid,“Ihavebeenagoodmanyyearsmakingupmymind。NowthatIhavedoneso,IdonotthinkthatanyonewillkeepEstherfromme。“
Shelookedathimalittlepitifully,alittlewistfully。Then,withashrugoftheshoulders,sheturnedroundtothepianoandrecommencedtoplay。Hameltookhiscoatandhatfromaservantwhowaswaitinginthehailandpassedoutintothenight。
HewalkedbrisklyuntilhereachedtheTower。Thewindhadrisen,buttherewasstillenoughlighttohelphimonhisway。Thelittlebuildingwasincompletedarkness。Heopenedthedoorandsteppedintothesitting-room,litthelamp,and,holdingitoverhishead,wentdownthepassageandintothekitchen。Thenhegaveastart。Thelampnearlyslippedfromhisfingers。Kneelingonthestonefloor,inverymuchthesameattitudeashehadfoundherearlierintheday,HannahCoxwascrouchingpatientlybythedoorwhichledintotheboathouse,herfaceexpressionless,herearturnedtowardsthecrack。Shewasstilllistening。
Hamelsetdownthelampuponthetable。Heglancedatthelittleclockuponthedresser;itwasaquarterpastten。Thewomanhadobservedhisentrance,althoughitseemedinnowaytohavediscomposedher。
“Doyouknowthetime,Mrs。Cox?“heasked。“Yououghttohavebeenhomehoursago。Whatareyoudoingthere?“
Sherosetoherfeet。Herexpressionwasoneofdoggedbutpatienthumility。
“Istartedforhomebeforenineo’clock,sir,“shetoldhim,“butitwasworsethaneverto-night。AllthewayalongbytheseaI
seemedtoheartheirvoices,soIcameback。Icamebacktolisten。
Ihavebeenlisteningforanhour。“
Hamellookedatherwithafrownuponhisforehead。
“Mrs。Cox,“hesaid,“IwishIcouldunderstandwhatitisthatyouhaveinyourmind。Thosearenotrealvoicesthatyouhear;youcannotbelievethat?“
“Notrealvoices,“sherepeated,withouttheslightestexpressioninhertone。
“Ofcoursenot!Andtellmewhatconnectionyoufindbetweenthesefanciesofyoursandthatroom?Whydoyoucomeandlistenhere?
“Idonotknow,“sheansweredpatiently。
“Youmusthavesomereason,“hepersisted。
“Ihavenoreason,“sheassuredhim,“onlysomedayIshallseebehindthesedoors。Afterwards,Ishallhearthevoicesnomore。“
Shewasbusytyingashawlaroundherhead。Hamelwatchedher,stillpuzzled。Hecouldnotgetridoftheideathattherewassomemethodbehindhermadness。
“Tellme-Ihavefoundyoulisteningherebefore。Haveyoueverheardanythingsuspicious?“
“Ihaveheardnothingyet,“sheadmitted,“nothingthatcounts。“
“Come,“hecontinued,“couldn’tweclearthismatterupsensibly?
Doyoubelievethatthereisanybodyinthere?Doyoubelievetheplaceisbeingusedinanywayforawrongpurpose?Ifso,wewillinsistuponhavingthekeysfromMr。Fentolin。Hecannetrefuse。
Theplaceismine。
“Mr。Fentolinwouldnotgiveyouthekeys,sir,“shereplied。“Ifhedid,itwouldbeuseless。“
“Wouldyoulikemetobreakthedoorin?“Hamelasked。
“Youcouldnotdoit,sir,“shetoldhim,“notyounoranybodyelse。
Thedooristhickerthanmyfist,ofsolidoak。ItwasamechanicfromNewYorkwhofittedthelocks。Ihavehearditsaidinthevillage-BillHamas,thecarpenter,declaresthattherearedoubledoors。Theworkmenwhowereemployedherewerehousedinatentuponthebeachandsenthomethedaytheyfinishedtheirjob。Theywereneverallowedinthevillage。Theywereforeigners,mostofthem。Theycamefromnobodyknowswhere,andwhentheyhadfinishedtheydisappeared。Whywasthat,sir?WhatisthereinsidewhichMr。Fentolinneedstoguardsocarefully?“
“Mr。Fentolinhasinventedsomething,“Hamelexplained。“Hekeepsthemodelinthere。Inventorsareveryjealousoftheirwork。“
Shelookeddownuponthefloorforamoment。
“Ishallbehereatseveno’clockinthemorning,sir。Iwillgiveyouyourbreakfastattheusualtime。“
Hamelopenedthedoorforher。
“Goodnight,Mrs。Cox,“hesaid。“Wouldyoulikemetowalkalittlewaywithyou?It’salonelypathtothevillage,andthedikesarefull。“
“Thankyou,no,sir,“shereplied。“It’salonelyway,rightenough,butitisn’tlonelinessthatfrightensme。Iamlessafraidoutwiththewindsandthedarknessthanunderthisroof。IfIlosemywayandwanderallnightuponthemarsh,I’llbesaferouttherethanyou,sir。
Shepassedaway,andHamelwatchedherdisappearintothedarkness。
Thenhedraggedoutabowloftobaccoandfilledapipe。Althoughhewashalfashamedofhimself,hestrolledbackoncemoreintothekitchen,and,drawingupastool,hesatdownjustwherehehaddiscoveredHannahCox,satstillandlistened。Nosoundofanysortreachedhim。Hesattherefortenminutes。Thenhescrambledtohisfeet。
“Sheismad,ofcourse!“hemuttered。
Hemixedhimselfawhiskyandsoda,relithispipe,whichhadgoneout,anddrewupaneasy-chairtothefirewhichshehadlefthiminthesitting-room。Thewindhadincreasedinviolence,andthepanesofhiswindowrattledcontinually。Heyawnedandtriedtofancythathewassleepy。Itwasuseless。Hewascompelledtoadmitthetruth-thathisnerveswereallonedge。Inasensehewasafraid。Thethoughtofbedrepelledhim。Hehadnotasingleimpulsetowardsrepose。Outside,thewindallthetimewasgatheringforce。Morethanoncehiswindowwassplashedwiththespraycarriedonbythewindwhichfollowedthetide。Hesatquitestillandtriedtothinkcalmly,triedtopiecetogetherinhismindthesequenceofeventswhichhadbroughthimtothispartoftheworldandwhichhadledtohisremainingwherehewas,anundesiredhanger-onatthethresholdofMilesFentolin。Hehadthefeelingthatto-nighthehadburnedhisboats。Therewasnolongeranypretenceoffriendlinesspossiblebetweenhimandthisstrangecreature。Mr。Fentolinsuspectedhim,realisedthathehimselfwassuspected。Butofwhat?Hamelmovedinhischairrestlessly。
Sometimesthatgatheringcloudofsuspicionseemedtohimgrotesque。
Ofwhatrealharmcouldhebecapable,thislittleautocratwhofromhischairseemedtoexercisesuchamaligninfluenceuponeveryonewithwhomhewasbroughtintocontact?Hamelsighed。Theriddlewasinsoluble。Withasuddenrushofwarmerandmorejoyousfeelings,heletthesubjectslipawayfromhim。Heclosedhiseyesanddreamedforawhile。Therewasanewworldbeforehim,joyswhichonlysoshortatimeagohehadfanciedhadpassedhimby。
Hesatupinhischairwithastart。Thefirehadbecomemerelyahandfulofgreyashes,hislimbswerenumbandstiff。Thelampwasflickeringout。Hehadbeendozing,howlonghehadnoidea。
Somethinghadawakenedhimabruptly。Therewasacolddraughtblowingthroughtheroom。Heturnedhishead,hishandsstillgrippingthesidesofhischair。Hisheartgavealeap。Theouterdoorwasafewinchesopen,wasbeingheldopenbysomeinvisibleforce。Therewassomeonethere,someoneonthepointofenteringstealthily。Evenashewatched,thecrackbecamealittlewider。Hesatwithhiseyesriveteduponthatopeningspace。Theunseenhandwasstillatwork。Everyinstantheexpectedtoseeafacethrustforward。Thesensationofabsolutephysicalfearbywhichhewasoppressedwasarevelationtohim。
Hefoundhimselfwishingalmostfeverishlythathewasarmed。Thephysicalstrengthinwhichhehadtrustedseemedtohimatthatinstantavaluelessandimpotentthing。Therewasasplashofsprayorraindropsagainstthewindowandthroughthecrackinthedoor。Thelampchimneyhissedandsplutteredandfinallythelightwentout。Theroomwasinsuddendarkness。Hamelsprangthentohisfeet。Silencehadbecomeanintolerablething。Hefelttheclosepresenceofanotherhumanbeingcreepinginuponhim。
“Who’sthere?“hecried。“Who’sthere,Isay?“
Therewasnodirectanswer,onlythedoorwaspushedalittlefurtheropen。Hehadsteppedclosetoitnow。Thesweepofthewindwasuponhisface,althoughintheblackdarknesshecouldseenothing。Andthenasuddenrecollectionflashedinuponhim。
>Fromhistrouserspockethesnatchedalittleelectrictorch。Inaninstanthisthumbhadpressedthebutton。Heturnedituponthedoor。Theshiveringwhitehandwhichhelditopenwasplainlyinview。Itwasthehandofawoman!Hesteppedswiftlyforward。
Adarkfigurealmostfellintohisarms。
“Mrs,Fentolin!“heexclaimed,aghast。
Anhystericalcry,chokedandsubdued,brokefromherlips。Hehalfcarried,halfledhertohiseasy-chair。Suddenlysteadiedbythepresenceofthisunlooked-foremergency,heclosedtheoutsidedoorandrelitthelampwithfirmfingers。Thenheturnedtofaceher,andhisamazementatthisstrangevisitbecameconsternation。
Shewasstillinherdinner-gownofblacksatin,butitwassoakedthroughwiththerainandhungaboutherlikeablackshroud。Shehadlostoneshoe,andtherewasagreatholeinhersilkstocking。
Herhairwasalldisarranged;oneofitsnumerousswitcheswashangingdownoverherear。Therougeuponhercheekshadrundownontoherneck。Shesatthere,lookingathimoutofherholloweyeslikesometrappedanimal。Shewasshakingwithfear。Itwasfear,notfaintness,whichkepthersilent。
“Tellme,please,whatisthematter?“heinsisted,speakingasindifferentlyashecould。“Tellmeatoncewhathashappened?“
Shepointedtothedoor。