Themanturnedandfacedhismaster。Hisaspectofdoggedcivilityhadneverbeenmoreapparent。
“Nowlisten,“Mr。Fentolinwenton。“Iwanttoremindyouofcertainthings,Meekins。Weareamongfriendshere-nosecrecy,youunderstand,oranythingofthatsort。Youneednotbeafraid!
Youknowhowyoucametome?YourememberthatlittleaffairofAnnaJayesinHartlepool?“
Thefaceofthemanwasfilledwithterror。Hebegantotremblewherehestood。Mr。Fentolinplayedforamomentwithhiscollar,asthoughhefoundittight。
“Suchachanceitwas,mydearMeekins,“Mr。Fentolincontinuedcheerfully,“whichbroughtmethatlittlescrapofknowledgeconcerningyou。Ithasboughtmethroughalltheseyearsagooddealoffaithfulservice。Iamnotungrateful,believeme。I
intendtoretainyouformybody-servantandtokeepmylipssealed,foragreatmanyyearstocome。NowrememberwhatIhavesaid。
Whenweleavethisplace,thatlittleepisodewillstealbackintoafarcornerofmymind。Ishall,inshort,forgetit。Ifwearecaughthereandinconveniencefollows,well,Icannotsay。Doyourbest,Meekins。Doalittlebetterthanyourbest。Youhavethereputationofbeingastrongman。Letusseeyoujustifyit。“
Themantookalongbreathandreturnedtohistask。Hisshouldersandarmswereuponthedoor。Hebegantostrain。Hegrewredintheface;theveinsacrosshisforeheadstoodout,blue,liketightly-drawnstring。Hiscomplexionbecamepurple。Throughhisopenmouthhisbreathcameinshortpants。Witheverymuscleofhisbodyandneckhestrainedandstrained。Thewoodworkgavealittle,butitneverevencracked。Withasobhesuddenlyalmostcollapsed。Mr。Fentolinlookedathim,frowning。
“Verygood-verygood,Meekins,“hesaid,“butnotquitegoodenough。Youareatrifleoutofpractice,perhaps。Takeyourbreath,taketime。Rememberthatyouhaveanotberchance。Iamnotangrywithyou,Meekins。Iknowtherearemanyenterprisesuponwhichonedoesnotsucceedthefirsttime。Getyourbreath;
thereisnohurry。Nexttimeyoutry,seethatyousucceed。Itisveryimportant,Meekins,foryouaswellasforus,thatyousucceed。“
Themanturneddoggedlybacktohistask。Theeyesofthethreemenwatchedhim-Mr。Dunsteronthebed;DoctorSarson,paleandgloomy,withsomethingoffearinhisdarkeyes;andMr。Fentolinhimself,whoseexpressionseemedtobeoneofpurelybenevolentandencouraginginterest。Oncemorethefaceofthemanbecamealmostunrecognisable。Therewasagreatcrack,thetrap-doorhadshifted。
Meekins,withalittlecry,reeledandsankbackwards。Mr。Fentolinclappedhishandslightly。
“Really,Meekins,“hedeclared,“IdonotknowwhenIhaveenjoyedanyperformancesomuch。IfeelasifIwerebackinthedaysoftheRomangladiators。Icanseethatyoumeantosucceed。Youwillsucceed。Youdonotmeantoendyourdaysamidobjectionablesurroundings。“
Withtheairofamantemporarilymad,Meekinswentbacktohistask。
Hewassobbingtohimselfnow。Hisclotheshadburstawayfromhim。
Suddenlytherewasacrash,thehingesofthetrap-doorhadparted。
Withthebloodstreamingfromawoundinhisforehead,Meekinsstaggeredbacktohisfeet。Mr。Fentolinnodded。
“Excellent!“hepronounced。“Reallyexcellent。WithalittleassistancefromourfriendMeekins,you,Iamsure,Sarson,willnowbeabletoclimbupandletdownthesteps。“
DoctorSarsonstoodbyMr。Fentolin’schair,andtogethertheylookedupthroughthefragmentsofthetrap-door。Meekinswasstillbreathingheavily。Suddenlytheyheardthesoundofasharpreport,asofadoorabovebeingslammed。
“Someonewasintheboat-housewhenIbrokethetrap-door,“Meekinsmuttered。“Iheardthemmovingabout。“
Mr。Fentolinfrowned。
“Thenletushurry,“hesaid。“Sarson,whataboutyourpatient?“
Mr。Dunsterwaslyinguponhisside,watchingthem。Thedoctorwentovertothebedsideandfelthispulseandhead。
“Hewilldofortwelvehours,“hepronounced。“Ifyouthinkthatotherlittleoperation-“
HebrokeoffandlookedatMr。Fentolinmeaningly。Themanonthebedshrankback,hiseyeslitwithhorror。Mr。Fentolinsmiledpleasantly。
“Ifear,“hesaid,“thatwemustnotstayforthatjustnow。A
littlelateron,perhaps,ifitbecomesnecessary。Letusfirstattendtothebusinessonhand。“
Meekinsoncemoreclamberedontothelittleheapoffurniture。
Thedoctorstoodbyhissideforamoment。Then,withaneffort,hewashoistedupuntilhecouldcatchholdoftheflooroftheouthouse。Meekinsgaveonepush,andhedisappeared。
“Anyoneupthere?“Mr。Fentolinenquired,ashadeofanxietyinhistone。
“Noone,“thedoctorreported。
“Hasanythingbeendisturbed?“
DoctorSarsonwassomelittletimebeforehereplied。
“Yes,“hesaid,“someoneseemstohavebeenrummagingabout。“
“Senddownthestepsquickly,“Mr。Fentolinordered。“Iambeginningtofindtheatmospherehereunpleasant。“
Therewasabriefsilence。Thentheyheardthesoundoftheladderbeingdraggedacrossthefloor,andamomentortwolateritwascarefullyloweredandplacedinposition。Mr。Fentolinpassedtheropethroughthefrontofhiscarriageandwasdrawnup。FromhisbedMr。Dunsterwatchedthemgo。Itwashardtotellwhetherhewasrelievedordisappointed。
“Whohasbeeninhere?“Mr。Fentolindemanded,ashelookedaroundtheplace。
Therewasnoreply。Agreytwilightwasstrugglingnowthroughthehigh,dust-coveredwindows。Meekins,whohadgoneontowardsthedoor,suddenlycalledout:
“Someonehastakenawaythekey!Thedoorislockedontheotherside!“
Mr。Fentolin’sfrownwasmalignevenforhim。
“Ourdearfriend,Mr。Hamel,Isuppose,“hemuttered。“Anotherlittledebtweshallowehim!Trytheotherdoor。“
Meekinsmovedtowardsthepartition。Suddenlyhepaused。Mr。
Fentolin’shandwasoutstretched;he,too,waslistening。Abovethelowthunderoftheseacameanothersound,asoundwhichatthatmomenttheynoneofthemprobablyunderstood。Therewasthesteadycrashingoffeetuponthepebbles,alowmurmurofvoices。
Mr。Fentolinforthefirsttimeshowedsymptomsoffear。
“Trytheotherdoorquickly,“hedirected。
Meekinscameback,shakinghishead。Outside,thenoiseseemedtobeincreasing。Thedoorwassuddenlythrownopen。HannahCoxstoodoutsideinherplainblackdress,herhairwind-tossed,hereyesaflame。Sheheldthekeyinherfingers,andshelookedinuponthem。Herlipsseemedtomove,butshesaidnothing。
“Mygoodwoman,“Mr。Fentolinexclaimed,frowning,“areyouthepersonwhoremovedthatkey?“
Shelaidherhanduponhischair。Shetooknonoticeoftheothertwo。
“Come,“shesaid,“thereissomethinghereIwantyoutolistento。
Come!“
Mr。Fentolin,arrivedoutsideonthestonefrontoftheboat-house,pointedthewheelofhischairtowardstheHall。HannahCox,whokeptbyhisside,however,drewitgentlytowardsthebeach。
“Downhere,“shedirectedsoftly。“Bringyourchairdowntheplank-way,closetothewater’sedge。“
“Mygoodwoman,“Mr。Fentolinexclaimedfuriously,“Iamnotinthehumourforthissortofthing!Lockup,Sarson,atonce;Iaminahurrytogetback。“
“Butyouwillcomejustthislittleway,“shecontinued,speakingwithoutanychangeoftone。“Yousee,theothersarewaiting,too。
Ihavebeendowntothevillageandfetchedthemup。“
Mr。Fentolinfollowedheroutstretchedfingerandgaveasuddenstart。Standingattheedgeoftheseawereadozenortwentyfishermen。Theywereallmutteringtogetherandlookingatthetopoftheboat-house。Asherealisedthedirectionoftheirgaze,Mr。
Fentolin’sfaceunderwentastrangetransformation。Heseemedtoshrinkinhischair。Hewasghastlypaleeventothelips。Slowlyheturnedhishead。Fromaplaceintheroofoftheboat-houseatallsupporthadappeared。Onthetopwasaswingingglobe。
“Whathaveyoutodowiththat?“heaskedinalowtone。
“Ifoundit,“sheanswered。“Ifeltthatitwasthere。Ihavebroughtthemupwithmetoseeit。Ithinkthattheywanttoaskyousomequestions。Butfirst,comeandlisten。“