My triumph was short-lived.
“I guess Hanbury’s only two hands—and those were fast. How did you make the kitchen out of that flat?”
The thrust was so unexpected that I could only stare.
“Speak up, you young fool,” said Rose Noble. “I saw the way he was tied.”
I swallowed desperately. Lest Mansel should mean to use it, I dared not reveal the fact that the table sank through the floor.
“Out of the window,” I said, “when the servants attacked. I went into the kitchen for shelter and found him there.”
“Why didn’t Mansel go with you?”
“He hadn’t time,” said I. “The light was back on the windows before he could follow me down.”
“You knew the servants were there. Why didn’t you go to the porch and let them in?”
“I tried to,” said I. “But I didn’t dare show a light and I couldn’t undo the bolts.”
“But you did in the end,” said Rose Noble, rubbing his nose. “That’s why that attack was a washout. You whistled ’em down from the roof and handed them in. Are you sure you got out by the window?”
A sudden belief that the man was playing with me sent the blood to my head. In a trice I had lost my temper and found my tongue.
“Have it your own way,” said I. “It won’t be for long. I may have played the hand badly, but I’ve made the odd trick. You’re the wrong side of the door, and we can afford to wait. That doctor comes out of Lass, and, if he’s not back by sundown, I fancy his friends and relations will wonder why.”
Now, if this was all Greek to Punter, it was so much gall to his chief. Servants within or without, so long as Mansel sat still, he could not act, and, unless he acted quickly, the chance would pass. The stranger within the gates had set the sandglass up, and the grains which had lain so long idle had now begun to run. And nothing on earth could stop them. Happen what might, before many hours were over tongues would be wagging and eyes would be turning to Gath. Before any steps were taken, if Rose Noble valued his freedom, he would be wise to be gone.
But, if I had stung him, the monster gave no sign.
“Yes,” he said slowly, “I guess I shall have it my way.”
The words were softly spoken, but his tone was so dark and so sinister that I found them more disturbing than any explosion of wrath. Indeed, his whole demeanour seemed to have changed: the red heat of passion was gone, and, in its stead, a coldness which was not human possessed this terrible man. And, if that did not show me, the next ten minutes declared why men endured his service and went in fear of his name.
He never once used an oath or two words where one would serve, and, if a sign could take the place of an order, he made a sign. He never hesitated or gave any sort of reason for the commands he gave; himself he did nothing and seemed to be oblivious of what was done, yet, when Bunch was about to gag me, he had knocked me down before I knew myself that my hand had instinctively moved towards my knife. No Pharaoh could have been more imperious, no beast so vigilant, nothing but a statue could have stood so still and cold. What was far more, the man compelled belief. That I had duped him was forgotten: if he said “Shut that door,” I knew that to leave it open would have been a fatal mistake: he gave the impression of providing for what was coming to pass: from his orders alone you could foretell the future, till looking ahead seemed as simple as looking back. Little wonder that Bunch and Punter hung on his lips. …
Casemate was found and heartily soused with water in a hope of bringing him to, but Mansel had struck too well, and after a little they left him to fare as best he could. I was gagged and my wrists were tightly bound. Food and wine were packed in a battered bag and, without passing through the porch, we left by a lower window and gained the spur.
This was of course, the window by which Hanbury had been brought in. The middle bar could be lifted, so that a man could pass. The contrivance was simple, but none from without could have reached the plate, like a damper, which locked the bar into place.
With never a look behind him, Rose Noble passed up the spur and into the drive. Once out of sight of the castle, he turned to the right and, plunging into the thicket, swung back towards the castle, till he came to a little hollow, sunk in the midst of bushes and overspread with the branches of the surrounding trees.
We were now on the fringe of the wood, and I could see the castle between the leaves: the drive was ten paces away and the spur but three, but, while we commanded both, a man must have stumbled upon us before he knew we were there.
Rose Noble pushed back his hat and lit a cigar.
Then—
“Watch,” he said shortly and flung himself down on the turf.
Without a word, Bunch wriggled into the foliage, until he could see the spur, while Punter opened the bag and began to eat. Of me they took no notice, and, since it seemed idle to stand, I sat myself down. This miserably enough, for my bodily state was wretched and my heart was heavy as lead. If ever a man “meant business,” Rose Noble was he, and there was death in the hollow for whoever came up to the drive. Carson was
