Wemustwatchforthatlight。Wemustwatch-“
Thewords,whisperedhoarselyinto。hisear,suddenlydiedaway。
Evenastheystoodthere,farawayfromtheotherlights,anotheroneshonesuddenlyoutinthespottowardswhichshehadpointed,andcontinuedtoburnsteadily。Hefeltthewomanwhowasclingingtohisarmbecomesuddenlyadeadweight。
“Shewasright!“Mrs。Pentolinmoaned。“Heiscomingdownto-night!
Heispreparingtoleavenow;perhapshehasalreadystarted!Whatshallwedo?Whatshallwedo?“
Hamelwasconsciousofagatheringsenseofexcitement。He,too,lookedatthesignalwhichwasflashingoutitsmessagetowardsthem。
Thenhegrippedhiscompanion’sarmandalmostcarriedherbackintothesitting-room。
“Lookhere,“hesaidfirmly,“youcandonothingfurther。Youhavedoneyourpartanddoneitwell。Staywhereyouareandwait。Therestbelongstome。“
“Butwhatcanyoudo?“shedemanded,hervoiceshakingwithfear。
“Meekinswillcomewithhim,andDoctorSarson,unlessheisherealready。Whatcanyoudoagainstthem?Meekinscanbreakanyordinaryman’sback,andMr。Fentolinwillhavearevolver。“
Hamelthrewanotherlogontothefireanddrewherchairclosertoit。
“Nevermindabouthedeclaredcheerfully。“Mr。Fentolinistooclevertoattemptviolence,exceptasalastresource。HeknowsthatIhavefriendsinLondonwhowouldneedsomeexplanationofmydisappearance。Stayhereandwait。“
Sherecognisedthenoteofauthorityinhistone,andshebowedherhead。Thenshelookedupathim;shewasachangedwoman。
“PerhapsIhavedoneilltodragyouintoourtroubles,Mr。Hamel,“
shesaid,“andyet,Ibelieveinyou。IbelievethatyoureallycareforEsther。Ifyoucanhelpusnow,itwillbeforyourhappiness,too。Youareaman。Godblessyou!“
HamelgropedhiswayroundthesideoftheTowerandtookupapositionattheextremecornerofthelandwardsideofthebuilding,withinayardofthecloseddoors。Thelightfaroutupontheleftwasstillgleamingbrightly,buttwooftheothersinalinewithithaddisappeared。Heflattenedhimselfagainstthewallandwaited,listeningintently,hiseyesstrainingthroughthedarkness。
Yettheywerealmostuponhimbeforehehadtheslightestindicationoftheirpresence。Asinglegleamoflightinthepath,comeandgonelikeaflash,thegleamofanelectrictorchdirectedmomentarilytowardstheroad,washisfirstindicationthattheywerenear。Amomentortwolaterheheardthestrangeclick,clickofthelittleengineattachedtoMr。Fentolin’schair。Hamelsethisteethandsteppedafewinchesfurtherback。Thedarknesswassointensethattheywereactuallywithinayardorsoofhimbeforehecouldevendimlydiscerntheirshapes。Therewerethreeofthem-Mr。Fentolininhischair,DoctorSarson,andMeekins。Theypausedforamomentwhilethelatterproducedakey。Hameldistinctlyheardaslow,softwhisperfromDoctorSarson。
“ShallIgoroundtothefrontandseethatheisinbed?“
“Noneed,“Mr。Fentolinrepliedcalmly。“Itisnearlyfouro’clock。
Betternottoriskthesoundofyourfootstepsuponthepebbles。
Now!“
Thedoorswungnoiselesslyopen。ThedarknesswassocompletethateventhoughHamelcouldhavetouchedthemwithanoutstretchedhand,theirshapeswereinvisible。Hamel,whohadformednodefiniteplans,hadnotimetohesitate。Asthelastonedisappearedthroughthedoor,he,too,slippedin。Heturnedabruptlytotheleftand,holdinghisbreath,stoodagainstthewall。Thedoorclosedbehindthem。Thegleamoftheelectriclightflashedacrossthestonefloorandrestedforamomentuponatrapdoor,whichMeekinshadalreadystoopedtolift。Itfellbacknoiselesslyuponrubberstuds,andMeekinsimmediatelyslippedthroughitaladder,oneithersideofwhichwasagroovedstretchofboard,evidentlyfashionedtoallowMr。Fentolin’scarriagetopassdown。Hamelheldhisbreath。
Themomentforhimwascritical。Ifthelightflashedonceinhisdirection,hemustbediscovered。BothMeekinsandDoctorSarson,however,wereintentuponthetaskofsteeringMr。Fentolin’slittlecarriagedownbelow。Theyplacedthewheelsinthetwogrooves,andMeekinssecuredthecarriagewitharopewhichheletrunthroughhisfingers。Assoonasthelittlevehiclehadapparentlyreachedthebottom,heturned,thrusttheelectrictorchinhispocket,andsteppedlightlydowntheladder。DoctorSarsonfollowedhisexample。Theydisappearedinperfectsilenceandleftthedooropen。Presentlyagleamoflightcametravellingup,fromwhichHamelknewthattheyhadlitalampbelow。Verysoftlyhecreptacrossthefloor,threwhimselfuponhisstomachandpeereddown。Belowhimwasaroom,orratheracellar,partsofwhichseemedtohavebeencutoutofthesolidrock。Immediatelyunderneathwasaplainironbedstead,onwhichwaslyingstretchedthefigureofaman。InthosefirstfewmomentsHamelfailedaltogethertorecogniseMr。Dunster。Hewasthinandwhite,andheseemedtohaveshrunken;hisface,withitscoarsegrowthofbeard,seemedlikethefaceofanoldman。Yettheeyeswereopen,eyesdullandheavyasthoughwithpain。Sofarnowordhadbeenspoken,butatthatmomentMr。Fentolinbrokethesilence。
“Mydearguest,“hesaid,“Ibringyouourmostsincereapologies。
Ithasgoneverymuchagainstthegrain,Icanassureyou,tohaveneglectedyouforsolongatime。Itisentirelythefaultoftheverytroublesomeyoungmanwhooccupiestheotherportionofthisbuilding。Inthedaytimehispresencemakesitexceedinglydifficultforustoofferyouthoselittleattentionswhichyoumightnaturallyexpect。“
Themanuponthebedneithermovednorchangedhispositioninanyway。Nordidhespeak。Allpowerofinitiativeseemedtohavedesertedhim。Helayquitestill,hiseyesfixeduponMr。Fentolin。
“Therecomesatime,“thelattercontinued,“wheneveryoneofusisconfrontedwithwhatmightbedescribedasthecrisisofourlives。Yourshascome,myguest,atpreciselythismoment。Itis,ifmywatchtellsmethetruth,fiveandtwentyminutestofour。
ItisthelastdayofApril。Theyearyouknow。Youhaveexactlyoneminutetodecidewhetheryouwillliveashorttimelonger,orwhetheryouwillonthislastdayofApril,andbefore-say,aquartertofour,makethatlittlejourneythenatureofwhichyouandIhavediscussedmorethanonce。“
Stillthemanuponthebedmadenomovementnoranyreply。Mr。
FentolinsighedandbeckonedtoDoctorSarson。
“Iamafraid,“hewhispered,“thatthatwonderfuldrugofyours,Doctor,hasbeenevenalittletoofar-reachinginitsresults。Ithaskeptourfriendsoquietthathehaslosteventhepowerofspeech,perhapseventhedesiretospeak。Alittlerestorative,Ithink-justafewdrops。“
DoctorSarsonnoddedsilently。Hedrewfromhispocketalittlephialandpouredintoawine-glasswhichstoodonatablebythesideofthebed,halfadozendropsofsomeruby-colouredliquid,towhichheaddedatablespoonfulofwater。Thenheleanedoncemoreoverthebedandpouredthecontentsoftheglassbetweenthelipsofthesemi-consciousman。
“Givehimtwominutes,“hesaidcalmly。“Hewillbeabletospeakthen。“
Mr。Fentolinnoddedandleanedbackinhischair。Heglancedaroundtheroomalittlecritically。Therewasathickcarpetuponthefloor,asofapiledwithcushionsinonecorner,andseveralotherarticlesoffurniture。Thewalls,however,wereuncoveredandwerestainedwithdamp。Agreatpinkfungusstoodoutwithinafewinchesofthebed,agrimmixtureofexquisitecolouringandloathsomeimperfections。Theatmospherewasfetid。Meekinssuddenlystruckamatchandlitsomegrainsofpowderinasaucer。Acuriousodourofincensestolethroughtheplace。Mr。Fentolinnoddedappreciatively。
“Thatisbetter,“hedeclared。“Really,theatmospherehereispositivelyunpleasant。Iamashamedtothinkthatourguesthashadtoputupwithitsolong。Andyet,“hewenton,“Ithinkwemustcallithisownfault。Itrustthathewillnolongerbeobstinate。“
Theeffectoftherestorativebegantoshowitself。Themanonthebedmovedrestlessly。Hiseyeswerenolongeraltogetherexpressionless。HewasstaringatMr。Fentolinasonelooksatsomehorriblevision。Mr。Fentolinsmiledpleasantly。
“Nowyouarelookingmorelikeyouroldself,mydearMr。Dunster,“
heremarked。“Idon’tthinkthatIneedrepeatwhatIsaidwhenI
firstcame,needI?Youhavejusttoutterthatoneword,andyourlittlevisittouswillbeatanend。“
Themanlookedaroundatallofthem。Heraisedhimselfalittleonhiselbow。Forthefirsttime,Hamel,crouchingabove,recognisedanylikenesstoMr。JohnP。Dunster。
“I’llseeyouinhellfirst!“
Mr。Fentolin’sfacemomentarilydarkened。Hemovedalittlenearertothemanuponthebed。
“Dunster,“hesaid,“Iamingrimearnest。Nevermindarguments。
NevermindwhyIamontheotherside。TheyarerestlessaboutyouinAmerica。UnlessIcancablethatwordto-morrowmorning,they’llcommunicatedirectwithTheHague,andIshallhavehadmytroublefornothing。Itisnotmycustomtoputupwithfailure。Therefore,letmetellyouthatnosingleoneofmythreatshasbeenexaggerated。Mypatiencehasreacheditsbreakingpoint。Givemethatword,orbeforefouro’clockstrikes,youwillfindyourselfinanewchamber,amongthecorpsesofthosemisguidedfishermen,marinersofancientdays,andafewothers。It’sonlyamatteroffiftyyardsouttothegreatseapitbelowtheDaggerRocks-I’vespokentoyouaboutitbefore,haven’tI?SosurelyasIspeaktoyouofitatthismomentMr。Fentolin’sspeechcametoanabrupttermination。AconvulsivemovementofMeekins’,anexpressionofblankamazementonthepartofDoctorSarson,hadsuddenlycheckedthewordsuponhislips。Heturnedhisheadquicklyinthedirectiontowardswhichtheyhadbeengazing,towardswhichinfact,atthatmoment,Meekins,withalowcry,hadmadeafruitlessspring。Theladderdownwhichtheyhaddescendedwasslowlydisappearing。Meekins,withajump,missedthelastrungbyonlyafewinches。Someunseenhandwasdrawingitup。Alreadythelastfewfeetwerevanishinginmid-air。Mr。
Fentolinsatquitequietandstill。Helookedthroughthetrap-doorandsawHamel。