CAPTAIN ALEC RAISES HIS VOICE
Beaumaroy led the way into the parlour, Captain Alec following. "Well, I
thought your old friend didn't care to see strangers," he said,
continuing the conversation.
"He was tired and fretful to-night, so I got him to bed, and gave him a
soothing draught--one that our friend Dr. Arkroyd sent him. He went off
like a lamb, poor old boy. If we don't talk too loud we shan't disturb
him."
"I can tell you what I have to tell in a few minutes."
"Don't hurry." Beaumaroy was bringing the refreshment he had offered
from the sideboard. "I'm feeling lonely to-night, so I"--he
smiled--"yielded to the impulse to ask you to come in, Naylor. However,
let's have the story by all means."
The surprise--it might almost have been taken for alarm--which he had
shown at the first sight of Alec, seemed to have given place to a gentle
and amiable weariness, which persisted through the recital of the
Captain's experiences--how his errand of courtesy, or gallantry, had led
to his being on the road across the heath so late at night, and of what
he had seen there.
"You copped them properly!" Beaumaroy remarked at the end, with a lazy
smile. "One does learn a trick or two in France. You couldn't see their
faces, I suppose?"
"No; too dark. I didn't dare show a light, though I had one. Besides,
their backs were towards me. One looked tall and thin, the other short
and stumpy. But I should never be able to swear to either."
"And they went off in different directions, you say?"
"Yes, the tall one towards Sprotsfield, the short one back towards
Inkston."
"Oh, the short stumpy one it was who turned back to Inkston?" Beaumaroy
had seated himself on a low three-legged stool, opposite to the big
chair where Alec sat, and was smoking his pipe, his hands clasped round
his knees. "It doesn't seem to me to come to much, though I'm much
obliged to you all the same. The short one's probably a local, the other
a stranger, and the local was probably seeing his friend part of the way
home, and incidentally showing him one of the sights of the
neighbourhood. There are stories about this old den, you know--ancient
traditions. It's said to be haunted, and what not."
"Funnily enough, we had the story to-night at dinner, at our house."
"Had you now?" Beaumaroy looked up quickly. "What, all about----?"
"Captain Duggle, and the Devil, and the grave, and all that."
"Who told you the story?"
"Old Mr. Penrose. Do you know him? Lives in High Street, near the
Irechesters."
"I think I know him by sight. So he entertained you with that old yarn,
did he? And that same old yarn probably accounts for the nocturnal
examination which you saw going on. It was a little excitement for you,
to reward you for your politeness to Miss Walford!"
Alec flushed, but answered frankly: "I needed no reward for that." His
feelings got the better of him; he was very full of feelings that night,
and wanted to be sympathized with. "Beaumaroy, do you know that girl's
story?" Beaumaroy shook his head--and listened to it. Captain Alec ended
on his old note: "To think of the scoundrel using the King's uniform
like that!"
"Rotten! But--er--don't raise your voice." He pointed to the ceiling,
smiling, and went on--without further comment on Cynthia's
ill-usage--"I suppose you intend to stick to the army, Naylor?"
"Yes, certainly I do."
"I'm discharged. After I came out of hospital they gave me sick
leave--and constantly renewed it; and when the armistice came they gave
me my discharge. They put it down to my wound, of course, but--well, I
gathered the impression that I was considered no great loss." He had
finished his pipe, and was now smiling reflectively.
Captain Alec did not smile. Indeed he looked rather pained; he was
remembering General Punnit's story: military inefficiency--even military
imperfection--was for him no smiling matter. Beaumaroy did not appear to
notice his disapproving gravity.
"So I was at a loose end. I had sold up my business in Spain--I was
there six or seven years, just as Captain--Captain----? Oh, Cranster,
yes!--was in Bogota--when I joined up, and had no particular reason for
going back there--and, incidentally, no money to go back with. So I took
on this job, which came to me quite accidentally. I went into a
Piccadilly bar one evening, and found my old man there, rather excited
and declaiming a good deal of rot; seemed to have the war a bit on his
brain. They started in to guy him, and I think one or two meant to
hustle him, and perhaps take his money off him. I took his part, and
there was a bit of a shindy. In the end I saw him home to his
lodgings--he had a room in London for the night--and--to cut a long
story short--we palled up, and he asked me to come and live with him. So
here I am, and with me my Sancho Panza, the worthy ex-Sergeant Hooper.
Perhaps I may be forgiven for impliedly comparing myself to Don Quixote,
since that gentleman, besides his other characteristics, is generally
agreed to have been mad."
"Your Sancho Panza's no beauty," remarked the Captain drily.
"And no saint either. Kicked out of the Service, and done time. That
between ourselves."
"Then why the devil do you have the fellow about?"
"Beggars mustn't be choosers. Besides, I've a _penchant_ for failures."
That was what General Punnit had said! Alec Naylor grew impatient.
"That's the very spirit we have to fight against!" he exclaimed, rather
hotly.
"Forgive me, but--please--don't raise your voice."
Alec lowered his voice--for a moment anyhow--but the central article of
his creed was assailed, and he grew vehement. "It's fatal; it's at the
root of all our troubles. Allow for failures in individuals, and you
produce failure all round. It's tenderness to defaulters that wrecks
discipline. I would have strict justice, but no mercy--not a shadow of
it!"
"But you said that day, at your place, that the war had made you
tender-hearted."
"Yes, I did--and it's true. Is it hard-hearted to refuse to let a
slacker cost good men their lives? Much better take his, if it's got to
be one or the other."
"A cogent argument. But, my dear Naylor, I wish you wouldn't raise your
voice."
"Damn my voice!" said Alec, most vexatiously interrupted just as he had
got into his stride. "You say things that I can't and won't let pass,
and----"
"I really wouldn't have asked you in, if I'd thought you'd raise your
voice."
Alec recollected himself. "My dear fellow, a thousand pardons! I forgot!
The old gentleman----?"
"Exactly. But I'm afraid the mischief's done. Listen!" Again he pointed
to the ceiling, but his eyes set on Captain Alec with a queer, rueful,
humorous expression. "I was an ass to ask you in. But I'm no good at
it--that's the fact. I'm always giving the show away!" he grumbled, half
to himself, but not inaudibly.
Alec stared at him for a moment in puzzle, but the next instant his
attention was diverted. Another voice besides his was raised; the sound
of it came through the ceiling from the room above; the words were not
audible; the volubility of the utterance in itself went far to prevent
them from being distinguishable; but the high, vibrant, metallic tones
rang through the house. It was a rush of noise--sharp grating
noise--without a meaning. The effect was weird, very uncomfortable. Alec
Naylor knit his brows, and once gave a little shiver, as he listened.
Beaumaroy sat quite still, the expression in his eyes unaltered--or, if
it altered at all, it grew softer, as though with pity or affection.
"Good God, Beaumaroy, are you keeping a lunatic in this house?" He might
raise his voice as loud as he pleased now, it was drowned by that other.
"I'm not keeping him, he's keeping me. And, anyhow, his medical adviser
tells me there is no reason to suppose that my old friend is not _compos
mentis_."
"Irechester says that?"
"Mr. Saffron's medical attendant is Dr. Arkroyd."
As he spoke, the noise from above suddenly ceased. Since neither of the
men in the parlour spoke, there ensued a minute of what seemed intense
silence; it was such a change.
Then came a still small sound--a creaking of wood--from overhead.
"I think you'd better go, Naylor, if you don't mind. After a--a
performance of that kind he generally comes and tells me about it. And
he may be--I don't know at all for certain--annoyed to find you here."
Alec Naylor got up from the big chair, but it was not to take his
departure.
"I want to see him, Beaumaroy," he said brusquely and rather
authoritatively.
Beaumaroy raised his brows. "I won't take you to his room, or let you go
there, if I can help it. But if he comes down--well, you can stay and
see him. It may get me into a scrape, but that doesn't matter much."
"My point of view is----"
"My dear fellow, I know your point of view perfectly. It is that you are
personally responsible for the universe--apparently just because you
wear a uniform."
No other sound had come from above or from the stairs, but the door now
opened suddenly, and Mr. Saffron stood on the threshold. He wore
slippers, a pair of checked trousers, and his bedroom jacket of pale
blue; in addition, the grey shawl, which he wore on his walks, was again
swathed closely round him. Only his right arm was free from it; in his
hand was a silver bedroom candlestick. From his pale face and under his
snowy hair his blue eyes gleamed brightly. As Alec first caught sight of
him, he was smiling happily, and he called out triumphantly: "That was a
good one! That went well, Hector!"
Then he saw Alec's tall figure by the fire. He grew grave, closed the
door carefully, and advanced to the table, on which he set down the
candlestick. After a momentary look at Alec, he turned his gaze
inquiringly towards Beaumaroy.
"I'm afraid we're keeping it up rather late, sir," said the latter in a
tone of respectful yet easy apology, "but I took an airing on the road
after you went to bed, and there I found my friend here on his way home;
and since it was Christmas----"
Mr. Saffron bowed his head in acquiescence; he showed no sign of anger.
"Present your friend to me, Hector," he requested--or ordered--gravely.
"Captain Naylor, sir. Distinguished Service Order; Duffshire Fusiliers."
The Captain was in uniform and, during his talk with Beaumaroy, had not
thought of taking off his cap. Thus he came to the salute instinctively.
The old man bowed with reserved dignity; in spite of his queer get-up he
bore himself well; the tall handsome Captain did not seem to efface or
outclass him.
"Captain Naylor has distinguished himself highly in the war, sir,"
Beaumaroy continued.
"I am very glad to make the acquaintance of any officer who has
distinguished himself in the service of his country." Then his tone
became easier and more familiar. "Don't let me disturb you, gentlemen.
My business with you, Hector, will wait. I have finished my work, and
can rest with a clear conscience."
"Couldn't we persuade you to stay a few minutes with us, and join us in
a whisky-and-soda?"
"Yes, by all means, Hector. But no whisky. Give me a glass of my own
wine; I see a bottle on the sideboard."
He came round the table and sat down in the big chair. "Pray seat
yourself, Captain," he said, waving his hand towards the stool which
Beaumaroy had lately occupied.
The Captain obeyed the gesture, but his huge frame looked awkward on the
low seat; he felt aware of it, then aware of the cap on his head; he
snatched it off hastily and twiddled it between his fingers. Mr.
Saffron, high up in the great chair, sitting erect, seemed now actually
to dominate the scene--Beaumaroy standing by, with an arm on the back of
the chair, holding a tall glass, full of the golden wine, ready to Mr.
Saffron's command; the old man reached up his thin right hand, took it,
and sipped with evident pleasure.
Alec Naylor was embarrassed; he sat in silence. But Beaumaroy seemed
quite at his ease. He began with a statement which was, in its literal
form, no falsehood; but that was about all that could be said for it on
the score of veracity. "Before you came in, sir, we were just speaking
of uniforms. Do you remember seeing our blue Air Force uniform when we
were in town last week? I remember that you expressed approval of it."
In any case the topic was very successful. Mr. Saffron embraced it with
eagerness; with much animation he discussed the merits, whether
practical or decorative, of various uniforms--field-grey, khaki,
horizon-blue, Air Force blue, and a dozen others worn by various armies,
corps, and services. Alec was something of an enthusiast in this line
too; he soon forgot his embarrassment, and joined in the conversation
freely, though with a due respect to the obvious thoroughness of Mr.
Saffron's information. Watching the pair with an amused smile, Beaumaroy
contented himself with putting in, here and there, what may be called a
conjunctive observation--just enough to give the topic a new start.
After a quarter of an hour of this pleasant conversation, for such all
three seemed to find it, Mr. Saffron finished his wine, handed the glass
to Beaumaroy, and took a cordial leave of Alec Naylor. "It's time for me
to be in bed, but don't hurry away, Captain. You won't disturb me, I'm a
good sleeper. Good-bye. I shan't want you any more to-night, Hector."
Beaumaroy handed him his candle again, and held the door open for him as
he went out.
Alec Naylor clapped his cap back on his head. "I'm off too," he said
abruptly.
"Well, you insisted on seeing him, and you've seen him. What about it
now?" asked Beaumaroy.
Alec eyed him with a puzzled, baffled suspicion. "You switched him on to
that subject on purpose, and by means of something uncommon like a lie."
"A little artifice! I knew it would interest you, and it's quite one of
his hobbies. I don't know much about his past life, but I think he must
have had something to do with military tailoring. A designer at the War
Office, perhaps." Beaumaroy gave a low laugh, rather mocking and
malicious. "Still, that doesn't prove a man mad, does it? Perhaps it
ought to, but in general opinion it doesn't, any more than reciting
poems in bed does."
"Do you mean to tell me that he was reciting poetry when----?"
"Well, it couldn't have sounded worse if he had been, could it?"
Now he was openly laughing at the Captain's angry bewilderment. He knew
that Alec Naylor did not believe a word of what he was saying, or
suggesting; but yet Alec could not pass his guard, nor wing a shaft
between the joints of his harness. If he got into difficulties through
heedlessness, at least he made a good shot at getting out of them again
by his dexterity. Only, of course, suspicion remains suspicion, even
though it be, for the moment, baffled. And it could not be denied that
suspicions were piling up--Captain Alec; Irechester; even, on one little
point, Doctor Mary! And possibly those two fellows outside--one of them
short and stumpy--had their suspicions too, though these might be
directed to another point. He gave one of his little shrugs as he
followed the silent Captain to the garden gate.
"Good night. Thanks again. And I hope we shall meet soon," he said
cheerily.
Alec gave him a brief "Good night" and a particularly formal military
salute.