“Mostingeniousand,Imustconfess,mostsuccessful,myyoungfriend!“heexclaimedpleasantly。“Whenyouhavemadetheladderquitesecure,perhapsyouwillbesogoodastodiscussthislittlematterwithus?“
Therewasnoimmediatereply。Theeyesofallfourmenwereturnednowuponthatemptyspacethroughwhichtheladderhadfinallydisappeared。Mr。Fentolin’sfingersdisappearedwithinthepocketofhiscoat。Somethingverybrightwasglisteninginhishandwhenhewithdrewit。
“Comeandparleywithus,Mr。Hamel,“hebegged。“Youwillnotfindusunreasonable。“
Hamel’svoicecamebackinreply,butHamelhimselfkeptwellawayfromtheopening。
“Theconditions,“hesaid,“areunpropitious。Alittletimeforreflectionwilldoyounoharm。“
Thetrap-doorsweresuddenlyclosed。Mr。Fentolin’sface,ashelookedup,becamediabolic。
“Wearetrapped!“hemuttered;“caughtlikeratsinahole!“
AgleamofdaywasintheskyasHamel,withMrs。Fentolinbyhisside,passedalongthepathwhichledfromtheTowertoSt。David’sHall。Lightswerestillburningfromitswindows;theoutlineofthebuildingitselfwasfaintlydefinedagainstthesky。Behindhim,acrossthesea,wasthatonestraightlineofgreymergingintosilver。Therainhadceasedandthewindhaddropped。Oneithersideofthemstretchedthebrimmingcreeks。
“Canwegetintothehousewithoutwakinganyone?“heasked。
“Quiteeasily,“sheassuredhim。“Thefrontdoorisneverbarred。“
Shewalkedbyhisside,swiftlyandwithsurprisingvigour。Inthestill,greylight,herfacewasmoreghastlythanever,buttherewasanewfirmnessabouthermouth,anewdecisioninhertone。
TheyreachedtheHallwithoutfurtherspeech,andsheledthewaytoasmalldoorontheeasternside,throughwhichtheyenterednoiselesslyandpassedalongalittlepassageoutintothehall。
Acoupleoflightswerestillburning。Theplaceseemedfullofshadows。
“Whatareyougoingtodonow?“shewhispered。
“IwanttoringupLondononthetelephone,“hereplied。“Iknowthatthereisadetectiveeitherintheneighbourhoodoronhiswayhere,butIshalltellmyfriendthathehadbettercomedownhimself。“
Shenodded。
“IamgoingtoreleaseEsther,“shesaid。“Sheislockedinherroom。Thetelephoneisinthestudy。Iwillcomedowntheretoyou。“
Shepassedsilentlyupthebroadstaircase。Hamelgropedhiswayacrossthehailintothelibrary。Heturnedonthesmallelectricreading-lampanddrewupachairtothesideofthetelephone。Evenasheliftedthereceivertohisear,helookedaroundhimhalfapprehensively。ItseemedasthougheverymomenthewouldheartheclickofMr。Fentolin’schair。
HegottheexchangeatNorwichwithoutdifficulty,andafewminuteslaterasleepyreplycamefromthenumberhehadrungupinLondon。
ItwasKinsley’sservantwhoanswered。
“IwanttospeaktoMr。Kinsleyatonceuponmostimportantbusiness,“Hamelannounced。
“Verysorry,sir,“themanreplled。“Mr。Kinsleylefttownlastnightforthecountry。“
“Wherehashegone?“Hameldemandedquickly。“Youcantellme。
YouknowwhoIam;IamMr。Hamel。“
“IntoNorfolksomewhere,sir。Hewentwithseveralothergentlemen。“
“IsthatBullen?“Hamelasked。
Themanadmittedthefact。
“CanyoutellmeifanyofthepeoplewithwhomMr。KinsleyleftLondonwereconnectedwiththepolice?“heinquired。
Themanhesitated。
“Ibelieveso,sir,“headmitted。“Thegentlemenstartedinamotor-carandweregoingtodriveallnight。“
Hamellaiddownthereceiver。Atanyrate,hewouldnotbeleftlongwiththisresponsibilityuponhim。Hewalkedoutintothehall。
Thehousewasstillwrappedindeepsilence。Then,fromsomewhereabovehim,comingdownthestairs,heheardtherustleofawoman’sgown。Helookedup,andsawMissPrice,fullydressed,comingslowlytowardshim。Sheheldupherfingerandledthewaybackintothelibrary。Shewasdressedasneatlyasever,buttherewasaqueerlightinhereyes。
“IhaveseenMrs。SeymourFentolin,“shesaid。“ShetellsmethatyouhaveleftMr。FentolinandtheothersinthesubterraneanroomoftheTower。“
Hamelnodded。
“TheyhaveDunsterdownthere,“hetoldher。“Ifollowedthemin;
itseemedthebestthingtodo。IhaveafriendfromLondonwhoisonhiswaydownherenowwithsomedetectiveofficers,toenquireintothematterofDunster’sdisappearance。“
“Areyougoingtoleavethemwheretheyareuntilthesepeoplearrive?“sheasked。
“Ithinkso,“hereplied,afteramoment’shesitation。“Idon’tseemtohavehadtimetoconsiderevenwhattodo。Theopportunitycame,andIembracedit。Theretheyare,andtheywon’tdaretodoanyfurtherharmtoDunsternow。Mrs。Fentolinwasdowninmyroom,andIthoughtitbesttobringherbackfirstbeforeIevenparleyedwiththemagain。
“Youmustbecareful,“sheadvisedslowly。ThemanDunsterhasbeendrugged,hehaslostsomeofhiswill;hemayhavelostsomeofhismentalbalance。Mr。Fentolinisclever。Hewillfindadozenwaystowriggleoutofanychargethatcanbebroughtagainsthim。Youknowwhathehasreallydone?“
“Icanguess。“
“HehaskeptbackadocumentsignedbythetwelvemeninAmericawhocontrolthewholeofWallStreet,whocontrolpracticallythemoneymarketsoftheworld。ThatdocumentisawarningtoGermanythattheywillhavenowaragainstEngland。OwingtoMr。Fentolin,ithasnotbeendelivered,andtheConferenceissittingnow。Warmaybedeclaredatanymoment。“
“Butasamatterofcommonsense,“Hamelasked,“whydoesMr。
Fentolindesirewar?“
“YoudonotunderstandMr。Fentolin,“shetoldhimquietly。“Heisnotlikeothermen。Therearesomewholivealmostentirelyforthesakeofmakingothershappy,whofindjoyinseeingpeoplecontentandsatisfied。Mr。Fentolinisthereverseofthis。Hehasbutonecravinginlife:toseepaininothers。Toseeahumanbeingsufferistohimadebauchofhappiness。Awarwhichlaidthiscountrywastewouldfillhimwithadelightwhichyoucouldneverunderstand。Therearenonormalhumanbeingslikethis。Itisadiseaseintheman,adiseasewhichcameuponhimafterhisaccident。“
“Yetyouhaveallbeenhisslaves,“Hamelsaidcuriously。
“Wehaveallbeenhisslaves,“sheadmitted,“fordifferentreasons。
Beforehisaccidentcame,Mr。Fentolinwasmymasterandtheonlymanintheworldforme。Afterhisaccident,Ithinkmyfeelingsforhim,ifanything,grewstronger。Ibecamehisslave。Isoldmyconscience,myself-respect,everythinginlifeworthhaving,tobringasmiletohislips,tohelphimthroughasinglemomentofhismisery。Andjustlatelythereactionhascome。Hehasplayedwithmejustashewouldsitandpullthelegsoutofaspidertowatchitsagony。Ihavebeenoneofhisfavouriteamusements。Andevennow,ifhecameintothisroomIthinkthatIshouldbehelpless。Ishouldprobablyfallathisfeetandprayforforgiveness。“
Hamellookedatherwonderingly。
“Ihavecomedowntowarnyou,“shewenton。“Itispossiblethatthisisthebeginningoftheend,thathiswonderfulfortunewilldeserthim,thathisstarhasgonedown。Butrememberthathehasthebrainsandcourageofgenius。Youthinkthatyouhavehiminatrap。Don’tbesurprised,whenyougoback,tofindthathehasturnedthetablesuponyou。“
“Impossible!“Hameldeclared。“Ilookedallroundtheplace。Thereisn’tawindoworopeninganywhere。Thetrap-doorisinthemiddleoftheceilinganditisfifteenfeetfromthefloor。Itshutswithaspring。“
“Itmaybeasyousay,“sheobserved。“Itmaybethatheissafe。
Remember,though,ifyougonearhim,thatheisdesperate。“
“DoyouknowwhereMissFentolinis?“heinterrupted。
“Sheiswithhermother,“thewomanreplied,impatiently。“Sheiscomingdown。Tellme,whatareyougoingtodowithMr。Fentolin?
Nothingelsematters。“