"Look there," he returned, nodding with his head, as though he had been
afraid to point.
I glanced in the direction indicated; and there, from the northern quarter
of the Sea-Wood, beheld a thin column of smoke rising steadily against the
now cloudless sky.
"Northmour," I said (we still continued to talk in whispers), "it is not
possible to endure this suspense. I prefer death fifty times over. Stay
you here to watch the pavilion; I will go forward and make sure, if I have
to walk right into their camp."
He looked once again all round him with puckered eyes, and then nodded
assentingly to my proposal.
My heart beat like a sledge hammer as I set out walking rapidly in the
direction of the smoke; and, though up to that moment I had felt chill and
shivering, I was suddenly conscious of a glow of heat all over my body.
The ground in this direction was very uneven; a hundred men might have
lain hidden in as many square yards about my path. But I who had not
practiced the business in vain, chose such routes as cut at the very root
of concealment, and, by keeping along the most convenient ridges,
commanded several hollows at a time. It was not long before I was rewarded
for my caution. Coming suddenly on to a mound somewhat more elevated than
the surrounding hummocks, I saw, not thirty yards away, a man bent almost
double, and running as fast as his attitude permitted, along the bottom of
a gully. I had dislodged one of the spies from his ambush. As soon as I
sighted him, I called loudly both in English and Italian; and he, seeing
concealment was no longer possible, straightened himself out, leaped from
the gully, and made off as straight as an arrow for the borders of the
wood. It was none of my business to pursue; I had learned what I
wanted--that we were beleaguered and watched in the pavilion; and I
returned at once, and walked as nearly as possible in my old footsteps, to
where Northmour awaited me beside the dispatch box. He was even paler than
when I had left him, and his voice shook a little.
"Could you see what he was like?" he asked.
"He kept his back turned," I replied.
"Let us get into the house, Frank. I don't think I'm a coward, but I can
stand no more of this," he whispered.
All was still and sunshiny about the pavilion, as we turned to reenter it;
even the gulls had flown in a wider circuit, and were seen flickering
along the beach and sand hills; and this loneliness terrified me more than
a regiment under arms. It was not until the door was barricaded that I
could draw a full inspiration and relieve the weight that lay upon my
bosom. Northmour and I exchanged a steady glance; and I suppose each made
his own reflections on the white and startled aspect of the other.
"You were right," I said. "All is over. Shake hands, old man, for the last
time."
"Yes," replied he, "I will shake hands; for, as sure as I am here, I bear
no malice. But, remember, if, by some impossible accident, we should give
the slip to these blackguards, I'll take the upper hand of you by fair or
foul."
"Oh," said I, "you weary me!"
He seemed hurt, and walked away in silence to the foot of the stairs,
where he paused.
"You do not understand," said he. "I am not a swindler, and I guard
myself; that is all. I may weary you or not, Mr. Cassilis, I do not care a
rush; I speak for my own satisfaction, and not for your amusement. You had
better go upstairs and court the girl; for my part, I stay here."
"And I stay with you," I returned. "Do you think I would steal a march,
even with your permission?"
"Frank," he said, smiling, "it's a pity you are an ass, for you have the
makings of a man. I think I must be _fey_ to-day; you cannot irritate me
even when you try. Do you know," he continued softly, "I think we are the
two most miserable men in England, you and I? we have got on to thirty
without wife or child, or so much as a shop to look after--poor, pitiful,
lost devils, both! And now we clash about a girl! As if there were not
several millions in the United Kingdom! Ah, Frank, Frank, the one who
loses his throw, be it you or me, he has my pity! It were better for
him--how does the Bible say?--that a millstone were hanged about his neck
and he were cast into the depth of the sea. Let us take a drink," he
concluded suddenly, but without any levity of tone.
I was touched by his words, and consented. He sat down on the table in the
dining-room, and held up the glass of sherry to his eye.
"If you beat me, Frank," he said, "I shall take to drink. What will you
do, if it goes the other way?"
"God knows," I returned.
"Well," said he, "here is a toast in the meantime: '_Italia irredenta_!'"
The remainder of the day was passed in the same dreadful tedium and
suspense. I laid the table for dinner, while Northmour and Clara prepared
the meal together in the kitchen. I could hear their talk as I went to and
fro, and was surprised to find it ran all the time upon myself. Northmour
again bracketed us together, and rallied Clara on a choice of husbands;
but he continued to speak of me with some feeling, and uttered nothing to
my prejudice unless he included himself in the condemnation. This awakened
a sense of gratitude in my heart, which combined with the immediateness of
our peril to fill my eyes with tears. After all, I thought--and perhaps
the thought was laughably vain--we were here three very noble human beings
to perish in defense of a thieving banker.
Before we sat down to table, I looked forth from an upstairs window. The
day was beginning to decline; the links were utterly deserted; the
dispatch box still lay untouched where we had left it hours before.
Mr. Huddlestone, in a long yellow dressing gown, took one end of the
table, Clara the other; while Northmour and I faced each other from the
sides. The lamp was brightly trimmed; the wine was good; the viands,
although mostly cold, excellent of their sort. We seemed to have agreed
tacitly; all reference to the impending catastrophe was carefully avoided;
and, considering our tragic circumstances, we made a merrier party than
could have been expected. From time to time, it is true, Northmour or I
would rise from table and make a round of the defenses; and, on each of
these occasions, Mr. Huddlestone was recalled to a sense of his tragic
predicament, glanced up with ghastly eyes, and bore for an instant on his
countenance the stamp of terror. But he hastened to empty his glass, wiped
his forehead with his handkerchief, and joined again in the conversation.
I was astonished at the wit and information he displayed. Mr.
Huddlestone's was certainly no ordinary character; he had read and
observed for himself; his gifts were sound; and, though I could never have
learned to love the man, I began to understand his success in business,
and the great respect in which he had been held before his failure. He
had, above all, the talent of society; and though I never heard him speak
but on this one and most unfavorable occasion, I set him down among the
most brilliant conversationalists I ever met.
He was relating with great gusto, and seemingly no feeling of shame, the
maneuvers of a scoundrelly commission merchant whom he had known and
studied in his youth, and we were all listening with an odd mixture of
mirth and embarrassment, when our little party was brought abruptly to an
end in the most startling manner.
A noise like that of a wet finger on the window pane interrupted Mr.
Huddlestone's tale; and in an instant we were all four as white as paper,
and sat tongue-tied and motionless round the table.
"A snail," I said at last; for I had heard that these animals make a noise
somewhat similar in character.
"Snail be d----d!" said Northmour. "Hush!"
The same sound was repeated twice at regular intervals; and then a
formidable voice shouted through the shutters the Italian word,
_"Traditore!"_
Mr. Huddlestone threw his head in the air; his eyelids quivered; next
moment he fell insensible below the table. Northmour and I had each run to
the armory and seized a gun. Clara was on her feet with her hand at her
throat.
So we stood waiting, for we thought the hour of attack was certainly come;
but second passed after second, and all but the surf remained silent in
the neighborhood of the pavilion.
"Quick," said Northmour; "upstairs with him before they come."