Two men were waiting in the stone porch that sheltered the yard-door at Stonehanger. A third man crossed the yard with long, silent strides, and joined the two who were waiting. He took one of them by the arm.
"Over here—among the shrubs."
They moved away into the moonlight, and along under the shadow of a stone wall toward the wild tangle of the neglected garden. The man who had spoken carried himself with a grand air that was spoilt by a suggestion of swagger. He had restless eyes that threw rapid glances from side to side. The man whom he held by the elbow had white hair and a thin, sharp, eager face. The third fellow was a little tub of a Frenchman, frog-faced, blue-chinned, and very fat.
"Here, this path will do. Anthony Durrell, what shall you say if we are trapped?"
"What do you mean?"
"For God's sake, sir, keep that squeaky voice of yours down in your shoes! Pardon me, I am somewhat excited. There is a red-coat officer lying at his ease upon your couch. He had covered himself with a rug, but I got a glimpse of his red jacket. And Mademoiselle Nance is asleep before the fire."
The three men stood close together under the laurels and hollies, whispering with their heads close, and speaking sometimes in French and sometimes in English. The tall man seemed to take the lead.
"Pest on it, Durrell; I have a mind to go back and shoot the man through the window."
"No—no—I will not countenance——"
"There, there, am I a fool! The house may be full of red-coats. We have got to find that out. Your daughter expects you?"
"Yes."
"Well, then, you must go and knock as boldly as any corporal. Jerome and I can stay in the shadow by the porch. If the red-coat is alone, and means mischief, we can deal with him. If he has men with him, they will catch nothing but a respectable scholar returning after a journey to London. It is lucky I left the horses in the quarry."
Anthony Durrell fingered a prominent and bony chin.
"I think you are right, Chevalier."
"Tut, tut, it is plain as the moon. Jerome and I know where to bolt to in case of trouble. Go and embrace your most charming daughter."
Nance Durrell woke with a start, and her eyes met the eyes of Jasper Benham.
"I've been asleep!"
"There is some one knocking."
She was up instantly, and kindling a piece of stick at the fire she lit the lantern.
"It must be father."
Nance went out, and Benham heard her shooting back the bolts of the door. A man's cheery and exclamatory voice told of a home-coming.
"Why, child, here we are—at last."
"I am so glad you have come."
"All well, all well?"
"Yes. But we have had an adventure."
"What—what!"
"Let me take your cloak. Yes; a gentleman was shot at and wounded by horse-thieves—in the lane. I had to help him in here. He is in the parlour."
"Bless my soul!"
"Come in and see him."
Benham sat up, the rug falling from him, as Nance Durrell and her father entered the room. He saw a thin, narrow-shouldered man in black regarding him with weak and red-lidded eyes. Anthony Durrell had one of those narrow, hungry, aspiring faces, the face of a man whose desires would never be satisfied. He might have been a bookman, a fanatic, or a dreamer of dreams.
He came in smiling, and the smile spoilt the dignity of his face. It lifted the angles of the mouth too markedly, showed the gaps between the teeth, and was too reminiscent of a snarl.
"Good evening to you, sir."
Benham had risen. He had the watchful look one sees in the eyes of a young man who is brought into sudden contact with a personality that is new and strange.
"Miss Durrell has told you? Yes. I must say, sir, that I am vastly grateful——"
"Common courtesy, common kindness, Mr.——"
"Benham of Rush Heath."
"Mr. Benham. I hope you are not badly hurt."
He rubbed his hands, and smiled with a sympathy that seemed ill at ease.
"A broken arm, sir."
"Indeed! That's bad."
He looked fixedly at Benham, and then turned to Nance.
"I commend you, my dear child. I am glad that we have been able to be of service to Mr. Benham. What does the clock say? What, gone two! It seems to me that it will be kinder to leave Mr. Benham undisturbed. You can get me some supper in the kitchen, Nance. And then I think bed will be very welcome."
He stood a moment staring at the fire. The smile had died from his face and left it cold and preoccupied. When he turned once more toward Benham, the smile spread again over his face, unspontaneously, forced up from within.
"Mr. Benham, sir, I will not disturb you further. Make what use you please of this room. Shall we decide to meet again in the morning?"
He gave Jasper a stiff and constrained bow, and walked slowly from the room. Nance followed him, but turned at the door.
"Good night. Is there anything else you would like?"
"No; only to thank you again."
Her brown eyes smiled kindly at him as she closed the door.
"Nance, dear."
"Yes, father. David is in the kitchen."
"Ah, send him to bed, and get me some supper. I have left my bag in the porch. I had almost forgotten it."
"I'll fetch it for you."
"No, no; get me some milk heated. I feel rather chilled."
And he left her with irritable precipitation. Durrell had no more than a few hurried words with the two men who waited in the yard. He had closed the door behind him, and spoke in a half-whisper.
"No danger—I hope. It's a young man who was shot in the arm while chasing horse-thieves. I will send the girl to bed, and then come back for you."
"Who is the man?"
"A young Benham of Rush Heath."
"Psst—damnably awkward——!"
"I mustn't stay now."
"Yes, get back."
Half an hour passed before Nance took one of the brass candlesticks from the mantelpiece and went up to bed, yawning behind her hand. David Barfoot had been sent back to his room, and Anthony Durrell had Stonehanger House to himself.
The first thing he did was to take off his shoes, and go very cautiously along the passage leading from the kitchen to the hall. A faint line of light showed under the door of the room where Jasper Benham of Rush Heath sat on the couch, swinging his heels. Durrell went softly to the door and listened. The key was on the outside. He felt for it, and turned it with the utmost caution. Yet the lock gave a faint click as the catch shot home, and Durrell stood for three minutes, listening for any sound in the room within.
Durrell's ears satisfied him that all was quiet, though he would have felt far from satisfied had he been able to see through the panels of the door. Jasper had heard the click of the lock. He was sitting on the couch, and staring intently at the door. Presently he crossed the room, sliding his feet silently over the stones, and tried the door, only to find it locked.
"That's funny!" he said to himself; "it seems that the old fellow doesn't trust me. What has he to be anxious about?"
He turned and sat down in the chair in which Nance had fallen asleep.
Anthony Durrell had opened the porch door, and was whispering to the men in the porch.
"Go round to the kitchen entry. Don't make a noise. Nance has only just gone to her room."
They disappeared into the darkness, and Durrell felt his way back toward the kitchen, shutting the door that closed the passage from the hall. Entering the kitchen, he drew the heavy stuff curtains across the windows, and then let the two men in.
"Don't talk too loud. The old house is solid—but I don't want Nance to hear."
Jerome the Frenchman glanced greedily at the bread and cheese on the table, and drawing up a chair he pulled out a bottle of schnapps, and began to eat and drink. The taller man smiled, and laid his cloak and hat on a dresser. He stood six feet, held himself arrogantly, and looked down at Durrell out of a pair of hard, brown, closely set eyes. He was clean-shaven, and the skin of his face was harsh and red. His long, straight nose had a curiously drooping tip, and two deep, vertical furrows where it joined his forehead. The man had the air of an aristocrat, and the easy and contemptuous manner of one who has seen too much of life.
"Durrell, I don't like this interlude. What's the fellow's tale?"
"He says that he was chasing horse-thieves, and that one of them shot him down yonder in the lane. Nance found him and brought him in."
"A plague on the women! Pity is the devil! Where was he hit?"
"In the arm."
"Sure?"
"It was bound up with a scarf, De Rothan."
The Chevalier straightened himself, and gave a toss of the head.
"I tell you what I think, Durrell—the man's a spy. I know young Benham. He is just the man they would choose to play a bluff, downright part. They may have suspicions. Who tied up the arm?"
"Nance."
"The devil! There you are! What do you mean by having a pretty daughter! Even if this is no spying trick, the booby may give us trouble. David should have had the job. You never know what a pair of soft eyes and hands will do."
Durrell looked troubled.
"But, Chevalier——"
"Yes, yes; it is accursedly awkward whichever way we look."
Jerome, his mouth full of bread, threw a suggestion into the air.
"Shoot the dog."
De Rothan laughed, sat on the edge of the table, and reached for Jerome's bottle of schnapps.
"You are a wise fellow, Jerome, always loading up against emergencies. But you are a little too rough in your methods. Strategy does it. I shall have my eyes on Mr. Benham."
"A snap of the fingers for him, then," said the Frenchman with a grin.
Durrell brooded, staring at the fire.
"The boat will not come ashore till to-morrow after dark, and then only if we give the signal."
"Yes; you will have to pack us in the attics, and get that fellow out of the house."
"Early."
"And take a ramble to the quarry."
"Yes, yes; no doubt."
Durrell answered irritably, like a man oppressed by a crowd of cares.
"The girl must be asleep by now."
"Very well. Away to the rookery. Bring that bread and cheese along with you, Jerome. I have only talked as yet."
Durrell took the lantern and went out into the passage. He was away for about five minutes. Then they saw him standing in the doorway, beckoning.
The two men drew off their boots and gathered their belongings. They followed Anthony Durrell up the oak stairs to the attic story of Stonehanger House.