“Ihaveafriend,“Hamelanswered,“whowillseetothat。“
“Ifyouarerelyinguponthelaw,“shesaid,“Ithinkyouwillfindthatthelawcannottouchhim。Mr。Dunsterwasbroughttothehouseinaperfectlynaturalmanner。Hewascertainlyinjured,andinjuredinarailwayaccident。DoctorSarsonisafullyqualifiedsurgeon,andhewilldeclarethatMr。Dunsterwasunfittotravel。
Ifnecessary,theywillhavedestroyed`theman’sintelligence。Ifyouthinkthatyouhavehimbroken,letmewarnyouthatyoumaybedisappointed。Letme,ifImay,giveyouonewordofadvice。“
“Pleasedo,“Hamelbegged。
Shelookedathimcoldly。Hertonewasstillfreefromanysortofemotion。
“Youhavetakenupsomesortofpositionhere,“shecontinued,“asafriendofMrs。SeymourFentolin,afriendofthefamily。Don’tletthemcomebackundertheyoke。Youknowthesecretoftheirbondage?“
“Iknowit,“headmitted。
“Theyhavebeenhisslavesbecausetheirabsoluteobediencetohiswillwasoneoftheconditionsofhissecrecy。Hehasdrawnthecordstootight。Betterletthetruthbeknown,ifneedsbe,thanhavetheirthreelivesbroken。Don’tletthemgobackunderhisgovernance。Forme,Icannottell。Ifhecomesback,ashewillcomeback,Imaybecomehisslaveagain,butletthembreakaway。
Listen-thatisMrs。Fentolin。“
Shelefthim。Hamelfollowedheroutintothehail。Estherandhermotherwerealreadyatthefootofthestairs。Hedrewthemintothestudy。Esthergavehimherhands,butshewastremblingineverylimb。
“Iamterrified!“shewhispered。“EverymomentIthinkIcanheartheclickofthatawfulcarriage。Hewillcomeback;Iamsurehewillcomeback!“
“Hemay,“Hamelansweredsturdily,“butnevertomakeyoupeoplehisslavesagain。Youhavedoneenough。Youhaveearnedyourfreedom。“
“Iagree,“Mrs。Fentolinsaidfirmly。“Wehavegoneonfromsacrificetosacrifice,untilithasbecomeahabitwithustoconsiderhimthemasterofourbodiesandoursouls。To-day,Esther,wehavereachedthebreakingpoint。Notevenforthesakeofthatmessagefromtheothersideofthegrave,noteventopreservehishonourandhismemory,canwedomore。“
Hamelhelduphisfinger。HeopenedtheFrenchwindows,andtheyfollowedhimoutontotheterrace。Thegreydawnhadbrokennowoverthesea。Thereweregleamsoffitfulsunshineonthemarshes。
Somedistanceawayalargemotor-carwascomingrapidlyalongtheroad。
Mr。JohnP。Dunster,lyingflatuponhislittlebed,watchedwithdilatedeyesthedisappearanceoftheladder。Thenhelaughed。Itwasaqueersound-broken,spasmodic,devoidofanyoftheordinaryelementsofhumor-andyetitwasalaugh。Mr。Fentolinturnedhisheadtowardshisprisonerandnoddedthoughtfully。
“Whataconstitution,myfriend!“heexclaimed,withoutanytraceofdisturbanceinhisvoice。“Andwhatasenseofhumour!Strangethatatriflingcircumstancelikethisshouldaffectit。Meekins,burnsomemoreofthepowder。Theatmospheredownheremaybesalubrious,butIamunaccustomedtoit。“
“Perhaps,“Mr。Dunstersaidinahollowtone,youwillhavesomeopportunitynowofdiscoveringwithmewhatitislike。“
“That,too,isjustpossible,“Mr。Fentolinadmitted,blowingoutalittlevolumeofsmokefromacigarettewhichhehadjustlit,“butoneneverknows。Wehavefriends,andourposition,although,Imustadmit,alittleridiculous,iseasilyremedied。Buthowthatmischief-makingMr。Hamelcouldhavefoundhiswayintotheboat-housedoes,Imustconfess,perplexme。“
“Hemusthavebeenhangingaroundandfollowedusinwhenwecame,“
Meekinsmuttered。“Somehow,IfanciedIfeltsomeonenear。“
“Ouryoungfriend,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,has,withoutdoubt,anobviousturnofmind。HewillsendforhisacquaintanceintheForeignOffice;theywillhauloutMr。Dunsterhere,andhewillhaveabelatedopportunityofdeliveringhismessageatTheHague。“
“Youaren’tgoingtomurdermefirst,then?“Mr。Dunstergrunted。
Mr。Fentolinsmiledathimbenignly。
“Mydearandvaluedguest,“heprotested,“whysoforbiddinganidea?Letmeassureyoufromthebottomofmyheartthatanybodilyharmtoyouisthemostunlikelythingintheworld。Yousee,thoughyoumightnotthinkit,“hewenton,“Ilovelife。ThatiswhyIkeepadoctoralwaysbymyside。ThatiswhyIinsistuponhismakingacompletestudyofmyconstitutionandtreatingmeineveryrespectasthoughIwereindeedaninvalid。Iamreallyonlyfifty-nineyearsold。ItismyintentiontoliveuntilIameighty-nine。Anoffenceagainstthelawofthenatureyouindicatemightinterferemateriallywithmyintentions。“
Mr。Dunsterstruggledforamomentforbreath。
“Lookhere,“hesaid,“that’sallright,butdoyousupposeyouwon’tbepunishedforwhatyou’vedonetome?YoulaidadeliberateplottobringmetoSt。David’sHall;you’vekeptmelockedup,dosedmewithdrugs,broughtmedownhereatthedeadofnight,keptmeaprisonerinadungeon。Doyouthinkyoucandothatfornothing?Doyouthinkyouwon’thavetosufferforit?“
Mr。Fentolinsmiled。
“MydearMr。Dunster,“heremindedhim,youwereinarailwayaccident,youknow;thereisnopossibledoubtaboutthat。Andthewoundinyourheadisstillthere,inaverydangerousplace。Menwhohavebeeninrailwayaccidents,andwhohaveagapingwoundveryclosetotheirbrain,aresubjecttodelusions。IhavesimplydonemybesttoplaytheGoodSamaritan。Yourclothesandpapersarealluntouched。Ifmyeminentphysicianhadpronouncedyoureadytotravelaweekago,youwouldcertainlyhavebeenallowedtodepartaweekago。Anyinterferenceinyourmovementshasbeenentirelyintheinterestsofyourhealth。“
Mr。Dunstertriedtositupbutfoundhimselfunable。
“Soyouthinktheywon’tbelievemystory,eh?“hemuttered。“Well,weshallsee。“
Mr。Fentolinthoughtfullycontemplatedtheburningendofhiscigaretteforamoment。
“IfIbelieved,“hesaid,“thattherewasanychanceofyourstatementsbeingaccepted,IamafraidIshouldbecompelled,inallourinterests,toaskDoctorSarsontopursuejustastepfurtherthatexperimentintotheanatomyofyourbrainwithwhichhehasalreadytrifled。“
Mr。Dunster’sfacewassuddenlyghastly。Hisreserveofstrengthseemedtoebbaway。Thememoryofsomehorriblemomentseemedtoholdhiminitsclutches。
“ForGod’ssake,leavemealone!“hemoaned。“Letmegetaway,that’sall;letmecrawlaway!“
“Ah!“Mr。Fentolinmurmured。“Thatsoundsmuchmorereasonable。
Whenyoutalklikethat,myfriend。Ifeelindeedthatthereishopeforyou。Letusabandonthissubjectforthepresent。Haveyousolvedthepuzzleyet?“heaskedMeekins。
Meekinswasstandingbelowtheclosedtrap-door。Hehadalreadydraggedupawoodencaseunderneathandwaspilingitwithvariousarticlesoffurniture。
“Notyet,sir,“hereplied。“WhenIhavemadethissteadier,I
amjustgoingtoseewhatpressureIcanbringtobearonthetrap-door。“
“Iheardtheboltsgo,“DoctorSarsonremarkeduneasily。
“Inthatcase,“Mr。Fentolindeclared,“itwillindeedbeaninterestingtestofourfriendMeekins’boastedstrength。Meekinsholdshisplace-averydesirableplace,too-chieflyfortworeasons:firsthisdiscretionandsecondlyhismuscles。Hehasneverbeforehadarealopportunityoftestingthelatter。Weshallsee。“
DoctorSarsoncameslowlyandgravelytothebedside。Helookeddownuponhispatient。Mr。Dunstershivered。
“Iamnotsure,sir,“hesaidverysoftly,“thatMr。Dunster,inhispresentstateofmind,isaverysafepersontobeallowedhisfreedom。Itistruethatwehavekepthimhereforhisownsake,becauseofhisfitsofmentalwandering。Ourstatements,however,maybedoubted。Anapparentreturntosanityonhispartmaylendcolourtohisaccusations,especiallyifpermanent。Perhapsitwouldbeaswelltopursuethatinvestigationashadefurther。A
touchmoretotheleftandIdonotthinkthatMr。Dunsterwillremembermuchinthisworldlikelytoaffectus。“
Mr。Dunster’sfacewaslikemarble。Therewerebeadsofperspirationuponhisforehead,hiseyeswerefilledwithreminiscenthorror。Mr。
Fentolinbentoverhimwithgenuineinterest。
“Whatapicturehewouldmake!“hemurmured。“Whatadrama!Doyouknow,Iamhalfinclinedtoagreewithyou,Sarson。Theonlytroubleisthatyouhavenotyourinstrumentshere。“
“Icouldimprovisesomethingthatwoulddothetrick,“thedoctorsaidthoughtfully。“Itreallyisn’tacomplicatedaffair。Itseemstomethathisstorymaygaincredencefromtheveryfactofourbeingdiscoveredinthisextraordinaryplace。Tohavemovedhimherewasamistake,sir。“
“Perhapsso,“Mr。Fentolinadmitted,withasigh。“ItwasouryoungfriendMr。Hamelwhowasresponsibleforit。Ifanciedhimarrivingwithasearchwarrantatanymoment。Wewillbearinmindyoursuggestionforafewminutes。LetuswatchMeekins。Thispromisestobeinteresting。“
Bydintofpilingtogetherallthefurnitureintheplace,themanwasnowabletoreachthetrap-door。Hepresseduponitvigorouslywithoutevenbendingthewood。Mr。Fentolinsmiledpleasantly。
“Meekins,“hesaid,“lookatme。“