Mr。Fentolinsatforamomentinhischairwithimmovableface。
Thenhepointedtothedoor，whichGeraldhadleftopenbehindhim。
“Closethatdoor，Gerald。“
Theboyobeyed。Mr。Fentolinwaiteduntilhehadturnedaroundagain。
“Comeandstandoverherebythesideofthetable，“hedirected。
Geraldcamewithouthesitation。Hestoodbeforehisunclewithfoldedarms。Therewassomethingelsebesidessullennessinhisfacethismorning，somethingwhichMr。Fentolinwasquicktorecognise。
“Idonotquiteunderstandthenatureofyourquestion，Gerald，“
Mr。Fentolinbegan。“Itisunlikeyou。Youdonotseemyourself。
Isthereanythinginparticularthematter？“
“Onlythis，“Geraldansweredfirmly。“Idon’tunderstandwhythisnavalfellowshouldcomehereandaskyoutocloseupyourwirelessbecausesecretshavebeenleakingout，andafewmomentsafterwardsyoushouldbepickingupamessageandtelephoningtoLondoninformationwhichwassurelymeanttobeprivate。That’sall。
I’vecometoaskyouaboutit。“
“Youheardthemessage，then？“
“Idid。“
“Youlistened-atthekeyhole？“
“Ilistenedoutside，“Geraldassenteddoggedly。“IamgladI
listened。Doyoumindansweringmyquestion？
“DoImind！“Mr。Fentolinrepeatedsoftly。“Really，Gerald，yourpoliteness，yourconsideration，yourgoodmanners，astoundme。I
ampositivelydeprivedofthepowerofspeech。“
“I’llwaitheretillitcomestoyouagain，then，“theboydeclaredbluntly。“I’vewaitedonyouhandandfoot，donedirtyworkforyou，putupwithyourill-humoursandyourtyranny，andnevergrumbled。Butthereisalimit！You’vemadeapoorsortofcreatureofme，buteventhewormturns，youknow。Whenitcomestogivingawaysecretsaboutthemovementsofournavyatatimewhenwearealmostatwar，Istrike。“
“Melodramatic，almostdramatic，but，alas！soinaccurate，“Mr。
Fentolinsighed。“Isthisafitoftheheroics，boy，orwhathascomeoveryou？Haveyoubyanychance-forgotten？“
Mr。Fentolin’svoiceseemedsuddenlytohavegrowninvolume。Hiseyesdilated，hehimselfseemedtohavegrowninsize。Geraldsteppedalittleback。Hewastrembling，buthisexpressionhadnotchanged。
“No，Ihaven’tforgotten。There’sagreatdebtwearedoingourbesttopay，butthere’ssuchathingasaskingtopmuch，there’ssuchathingasdrawingthecordstosnappingpoint。I’mspeakingforEstherandmotheraswellasmyself。Wehavebeenyourslaves；
inawayIsupposewearewillingtogoonbeingyourslaves。It’stheburdenthatFatehasplacedaroundournecks，andwe’llgothroughwithit。AllIwanttopointoutisthattherearelimits，anditseemstomethatweareupagainstthemnow。“
Mr。Fentolinnodded。Hehadtheairofamanwhowishestobereasonable。
“Youareveryyoung，myboy，“hesaid，“veryyoungindeed。Perhapsthatismyfaultfornothavingletyouseemoreoftheworld。Youhavegotsomeveryqueerideasintoyourhead。Alittletoomuchnovelreadinglately，eh？Imighttreatyoudifferently。Imightlaughatyouandsendyououtoftheroom。Iwon’t。I’lltellyouwhatyouask。I’llexplainwhatyoufindsomysterious。ThepersontowhomIhavebeenspeakingismystockbroker。“
“Yourstockbroker！“Geraldexclaimed。
Mr。Fentolinnodded。
“Mr。Bayliss，“hecontinued，“ofthefirmofBayliss，Hundercombe&Dunn，ThrogmortonCourt。Mr。Baylissisamanofkeenperceptions。Heunderstandsexactlytheeffectofcertainclassesofnewsuponthemarket。ThemessagewhichIhavejustsenttohimispracticallycommonproperty。ItwillbeintheDailyMailto-morrowmorning。TheonlythingisthatIhavesentittohimjustafewminutessoonerthananyoneelsecangetit。Thereisagooddealofvalueinthat，Gerald。IdonotmindtellingyouthatIhavemadealargefortunethroughstudyingthepoliticalsituationandsecuringadvanceinformationuponmattersofthissort。Thatfortunesomedaywillprobablybeyours。Itwillbeyouwhowillbenefit。Meanwhile，Iamenrichingmyselfanddoingnooneanyharm。“
“Buthowdoyouknow，“Geraldpersisted，“thatthismessagewouldeverhavefounditswaytothePress？Itwassimplyamessagefromonebattleshiptoanother。Itwasnotintendedtobepickeduponland。Thereisnootherinstallationbutoursthatcouldhavepickeditup。Besides，itwasincode。Iknowthatyouhavethecode，buttheothershaven’t。“
Mr。Fentolinyawnedslightly。
“Ingenious，mydearGerald，butinaccurate。Youdonotknowthatthemessagewasincode，andinanycaseitwasliabletobepickedupbyanysteamerwithinthecircle。Youreallydotreatme，myboy，ratherasthoughIwereaweird，mischief-makingpersonwithatalentforintrigueandcrimeofeverysort。Lookatyoursuspicionslastnight。IbelievethatyouandMr。HamelhadquitemadeupyourmindsthatImeantevilthingsforMr。JohnP。Dunster。Well，Ihadmychance。Yousawhimdepart。“
“Whatabouthispapers？“
“Iwilladmit，“Mr。Fentolinreplied，“thatIreadhispapers。Theywereofnogreatconsequence，however，andhehastakenthemawaywithhim。Mr。Dunster。asamatteroffact，turnedouttoberatheramare’s-nest。Now，come，sinceyouarehere，finisheverythingyouhavetosaytome。Iamnotangry。Iamwillingtolistenquitereasonably。“
Geraldshookhishead。
“Oh，Ican’t！“hedeclaredbitterly。“Youalwaysgetthebestofit。
I’llonlyaskyouonemorequestion。Areyouhavingthewirelesshauleddown？“
Mr。Fentolinpointedoutofthewindow。Geraldfollowedhisfinger。
Threemenwereatworkuponthetoweringspars。
“Yousee，“Mr。Fentolincontinuedtolerantly，“thatIamkeepingmywordtoLieutenantGodfrey。Youaresufferingfromalittletoomuchimagination，Iamafraid。Itisreallyquiteagoodfault。
By-the-by，howdoyougetonwithourfriendMr。Hamel？“
“Verywell，“theboyreplied。“Ihaven’tseenmuchofhim。“
“HeandEstheraretogetheragreatdeal，eh？“Mr。Fentolinaskedquickly。
“Theyseemtobequitefriendly。“
“Itisn’tMr。Hamel，byanychance，whohasbeenputtingtheseideasintoyourhead？“
“Noonehasbeenputtinganyideasintomyhead，“Geraldansweredhotly。“It’ssimplywhatI’veseenandoverheard。It’ssimplywhatIfeelaround，thewholeatmosphereoftheplace，thewholeatmosphereyouseemtocreatearoundyouwiththesebrutesSarsonandMeekins；andthosewhite-faced，smooth-tonguedMarconimenofyours，whocan’ttalkdecentEnglish；andthepost-officeman，whocan’tlookyouintheface；andMissPrice，wholooksasthoughshewereoneofthecreatures，too，ofyourtorturechamber。
That’sall。“
Mr。Fentolinwaiteduntilhehadfinished。Thenbewavedhimaway。
“Goandtakealongwalk，Gerald，“headvised。“Freshairiswhatyouneed，freshairandalittlevigorousexercise。RunalongnowandsendMissPricetome。“
GeraldovertookHameluponthestairs。
“Bythistime，“thelatterremarked，“IsupposethatourfriendMr。Dunsterisuponthesea。“
Geraldnoddedsilently。Theypassedalongthecorridor。ThedooroftheroomwhichMr。Dunsterhadoccupiedwasajar。Asthoughbycommonconsent，theybothstoppedandlookedin。Thewindowswereallwideopen，thebedfreshlymade。Thenursewasbusycollectingsomemedicinebottlesandfragmentsoflint。Shelookedattheminsurprise。
“Mr。Dunsterhasleft，sir，“shetoldthem。
“Wesawhimgo，“Geraldreplied。
“Ratheraquickrecovery，wasn’tit，nurse？“Hamelasked。
“Itwasn’tarecoveryatall，sir，“thewomandeclaredsharply。
“He’dnorighttohavebeentakenaway。It’smyopinionDoctorSarsonoughttobeashamedofhimselftohavepermittedit。“
“Theycouldn’texactlymakeaprisonoftheplace，couldthey？“
