“OfcourseIdo，“Hamelinsisted。“I’monforanything。“
“Yousaythatyouareentirelyyourownmasterforthenextsixmonths？“
“OrasmuchlongerasIlike，“Hamelassented。“Noplansatall，exceptthatImightdriftroundtotheNorfolkcoastandlookupsomeoftheplaceswherethegovernorusedtopaint。There’saqueerlittlehouse-St。David’sTower，Ibelievetheycallit-whichreallybelongstome。Itwasgiventomyfather，orratherheboughtit，fromamanwhoIthinkmusthavebeensomerelativeofyourfriend。IfeelsurethenamewasFentolin。“
ReginaldKinsleysetdownhiswine-glass。
“IsyourSt。David’sToweranywherenearaplacecalledSalthouse？“
heaskedreflectively。
“That’sthenameofthevillage，“Hameladmitted。“Myfatherusedtospendquitealotoftimeinthoseparts，andpaintedatleastadozenpicturesdownthere。“
“Thisisacoincidence，“ReginaldKinsleydeclared，lightingacigarette。“Ithink，ifIwereyou，Dick，I’dgodownandclaimmyproperty。“
“Tiredofmealready？“Hamelasked，smiling。
ReginaldKinsleyknockedtheashfromhiscigarette。
“Itisn’tthat。Thefactis，thatjobIwasspeakingtoyouaboutwassimplythis。WewantsomeonetogodowntoSalthouse-notexactlyasaspy，youknow，butsomeonewhohashiswitsabouthim。
WeareallofusverycuriousaboutthismanFentolin。ThereareoendofrumourswhichIwon’tmentiontoyou，fortheymightonlyputyouoffthescent。Butthemanseemstobealwaysintriguing。
Itwouldn’tmattersomuchifhewereourfriend，orifheweresimplyafinancier，buttotellyouthetruth，wehavecausetosuspecthim。“
“Buthe’sanEnglishman，surely？“Hamelasked。“TheFentolinwhowasmyfather’sfriendwasjustaverywealthyNorfolksquire-oneofthebest，fromallIhaveheard。“
“MilesFentolinisanEnglishman，“Kinsleyadmitted。“Itistrue，too，thathecomesofaveryancientNorfolkfamily。Itdoesn’tdo，however，tobuildtoomuchuponthat。FromallIcanlearnofhim，heisasortofPuck，aprofessionalmischief-maker。Idon’tsupposethere’sanythinganoutsidercouldfindoutwhichwouldbereallyusefultous，butallthesame，ifIhadthetime，IshouldcertainlygodowntoNorfolkmyself。“
Theconversationdriftedawayforawhile。Mutualacquaintancesentered，therewereseveralintroductions，anditwasnotuntilthetwofoundthemselvestogetherinKinsley’sroomsforafewminutesbeforepartingthattheywerealoneagain。Hamelreturnedthenoncemoretothesubject。
“Reggie，“hesaid，“ifyouthinkitwouldbeoftheslightestuse，I’llgodowntoSalthouseto-morrow。Iamratherkeenongoingthere，anyway。Iamabsolutelyfedupwithlifeherealready。“
“It’sjustwhatIwantyoutodo，“Kinsleysaid。“IamafraidFentolinisalittletoocleverforyoutogetontherightsideofhim，butifyoucouldonlygetanideaastowhathisgameisdownthere，itwouldbeagreathelp。Yousee，thefellowcan’thavegoneintoallthissortofthingblindfold。We’velostseveralveryusefulagentsabroadandtwofromNewYorkwho’vegoneintohispay。Theremustbeamethodinitsomewhere。Ifitreallyendswithhisfinancialoperations-why，allright。
That’sverylikelywhatit’llcometo，butweshouldliketoknow。
ThemeresthintwouldbeusefuL“
“I’lldomybest，“Hamelpromised。“Inanycase，itwillbejustthefewdays’holidayIwaslookingforwardto。“
Kinsleyhelpedhimselftowhiskyandsodaandturnedtowardshisfriend。
“Here’slucktoyou，Dick！Takecareofyourself。Allsortsofthingsmayhappen，youknow。OldmanFentolinmaytakeafancytoyouandtellyousecretsthatanystatesmaninEuropewouldbegladtohear。Hemaytellyouwhythisconferenceisbeingheldandwhattheresultwillbe。Youmaybethefirsttohearofourcomingfall。Well，here’stoyou，anyway！Dropmealine，ifyou’veanythingtoreport。“
“Cheero！“Hamelanswered，ashesetdownhisemptytumbler。
“AstonishinghowkeenIfeelaboutthislittleadventure。I’mperfectlysickofthehumdrumlifeIhavebeenleadingthelastweek，andyoudosortoftakeonebacktotheArabianNights，youknow，Reggie。Iamneverquitesurewhethertotakeyouseriouslyornot。“
Kinsleysmiledasheheldhisfriend’sbandforamoment。
“Dick，“hesaidearnestly，“ifonlyyou’dbelieveit，theadventuresintheArabianNightswereasnothingcomparedwiththepresent-daydramaofforeignpolitics。Yousee，we’velearnedtoconcealthingsnowadays-tosmooththemover，toplaythepartofordinarycitizenstotheworldwhilewetugattheunderhandleversinoursecretmoments。Goodnight！Goodluck！“
RichardHame1，althoughhecertainlyhadnottheappearanceofapersonafflictedwithnerves，gaveaslightstart。Forthelasthalf-hour，duringwhichtimethetrainhadmadenostop，hehadbeenaloneinhiscompartment。Yet，tohissurprise，hewassuddenlyawarethattheseatoppositetohimhadbeennoiselesslytakenbyagirlwhoseeyes，also，werefixedwithcuriousintentnessuponthebroadexpanseofmarshlandandsandsacrosswhichthetrainwasslowlymakingitsway。Hamelhadspentagreatmanyyearsabroad，andhisfirstimpulsewastospeakwiththeunexpectedstranger。HeforgotforamomentthathewasinEngland，travellinginafirst-classcarriage，andpointedwithhislefthandtowardsthesea。
“Queercountrythis，isn’tit？“heremarkedpleasantly。“Doyouknow，Ineverheardyoucomein。ItgavemequiteastartwhenI
foundthatIhadafellow-passenger。“
Shelookedathimwithacertainamountofstillsurprise，alookwhichhereturnedjustassteadfastly，becauseeveninthosefewsecondshewasconsciousofthatstrangeselectiveinterest，certainlyunaccountedforbyhisownimpressionsofherappearance。
Sheseemedtohim，atthatfirstglance，veryfarindeedfrombeinggood-looking，accordingtoanyofthestandardsbywhichhehadmeasuredgoodlooks。Shewasthin，toothinforhistaste，andshecarriedherselfwithanaloofnesstowhichhewasunaccustomed。
Hercheekswerequitepale，herhairofasoftshadeofbrown，hereyesgreyandsad。Shegavehimaltogetheranimpressionofcolourlessness，andhehadbeenlivinginalandwherecolourandvitalitymeantmuch。Herspeech，too，initsveryrestraint，fellstrangelyuponhisears。
“Ihavebeentravellinginanuncomfortablecompartment，“sheobserved。“Ihappenedtonotice，whenpassingalongthecorridor，thatyourswasempty。Inanycase，Iamgettingoutatthenextstation。“
“SoamI，“hereplied，stillcheerfully。“IsupposethenextstationisSt。David’s？“
Shemadenoanswer，butsofarasherexpressioncountedforanythingatall，shewasalittlesurprised。Hereyesconsideredhimforamoment。Hamelwastall，welloversixfeet，powerfullymade，withgoodfeatures，cleareyes，andcomplexionunusuallysunburnt。Heworeaflannelcollarofunfamiliarshape，andhisclothes，althoughtheywereneatenough，wereofapatternandcutobviouslydesignedtoaffordthemaximumofeaseandcomfortwiththeminimumregardtoappearance。Hewore，too，verythickboots，andhishandsgaveonetheimpressionthattheywereseldomgloved。
Hisvoicewaspleasant，andhehadtheeasyself-confidenceofapersonsureofhimselfintheworld。Sheputhimdownasacolonial-perhapsanAmerican-buthisrankinlifemystifiedher。
“Thisseemsthequeereststretchofcountry，“hewenton；“longspitsofsandjuttingrightoutintothesea，dikesandcreeks-milesandmilesofthem。Now，Iwonder，isitlowtideorhigh？
Low，Ishouldthink，becauseofthesea-shineonthesandthere。“
Sheglancedoutofthewindow。
“Thetide，“shetoldhim，“isalmostatitslowest。“
“Youliveinthisneighbourhood，perhaps？“heenquired。
“Ido，“sheassented。
“Sortofcountryonemightgetveryfondof，“heventured。
Sheglancedathimfromthedepthsofhergreyeyes。
“Doyouthinkso？“sherejoinedcoldly。“Formypart，Ihateit。“
Hewassurprisedattheunexpectedemphasisofhertone-thefirsttime，indeed，thatshehadshownanysignsofinterestintheconversation。
“KindofdullIsupposeyoufindit，“heremarkedpensively，lookingoutacrossthewasteoflavender-grownmarshes，sandhummockspiledwithseaweed，andafardistantlineofpebbledshore。“Andyet，I
don’tknow。Ihavelivedbytheseaagooddeal，andhowevermonotonousitmayseematfirst，there’salwaysplentyofchange，really。Tideandwinddosuchwonderfulwork。“
She，too，waslookingoutnowtowardsthesea。
