第6章
“MyGod！“heexclaimed。“Here’smoretrouble！“
Geraldforamomentwasspeechless。Theyseemedtohavecomesuddenlyuponahugeplainofwaters，animmenselakereachingasarastheycouldseeoneitherside。Theroadbeforethemstretchedlikearibbonforthenextthreemiles。Hereandthereitdisappearedandreappearedagain。Inmanyplacesitwaslappedbylittlewaves。Everywherethehedgeswereeitheraltogetherorhalfunderwater。Inthedistancewasonefarmhouse，onlytheroofofwhichwasvisible，andfromwhichtheinhabitantswereclamberingintoaboat。Andbeyond，withscarcelyabreaksavefortherisingofonestrangely-shapedhill，wasthesea。Geraldpointedwithhisfinger。
“There’sSt。David’sHall，“hesaid，“ontheothersideofthehill。Theroadseemsallright。“
“Doesit！“thechauffeurgrunted。“It’sunderwatermorethanhalftheway，andHeavenknowshowdeepitisatthesides！I’mnotgoingtoriskmylifealongthere。IamgoingtotakethecarbacktoHolt。“
Hishandwasalreadyuponthereverselever，butGeraldgrippedit。
“Lookhere，“heprotested，“wehaven’tcomeallthiswaytoturnback。
Youdon’tlooklikeacoward。“
“Iamnotacoward，sir，“wasthequietanswer。“NeitheramIafool。Idon’tseeanyuseinriskingourlivesandmymaster’smotor-car，becauseyouwanttogethome。“
“Naturally，“Geraldansweredcalmly，“butrememberthis。Iamresponsibleforyourcar-notyou。Mr。Fentolinismyuncle。“
Thechauffeurnoddedshortly。
“You’reMr。GeraldFentolin，aren’tyou，sir？“heremarked。“I
thoughtIrecognisedyou。“
“Iam，“Geraldadmitted。“We’vehadaroughjourney，butitdoesn’tseemsensetoturnbacknow，doesit，withthehouseinsight？“
“That’sallverywell，sir，“thechauffeurobjecteddoubtfully，“butIdon’tbelievetheroad’sevenpassable，andthefloodsseemtometoberising。“
“Tryit，“theyoungmanbegged。“Lookhere，Idon’twanttobribeyou，oranythingofthatsort。Youknowyou’recomingoutofthiswell。It’saseriousmatterforme，andIshan’tbelikelytoforgetit。IwanttotakethisgentlemantoSt。David’sHallandnottoahospital。You’vebroughtmeheresofarlikeaman。Let’sgothroughwithit。Iftheworstcomestotheworst，wecanbothswim，Isuppose，andwearenotlikelytogetoutofourdepth。“
Thechauffeurmovedhisheadbackwards。
“Howabouthim？“
“Hemusttakehischance，“Geraldreplied。“He’sallrightwhereheis。Thecarwon’tupsetandthereareplentyofpeoplewho’llseeifwegetintotrouble。Come，let’smakeadashforit。“
Thechauffeurthrustinhisclutchandsettledhimselfdown。Theyglidedoffalongthatwindingstretchofroad。Toitsveryedge，oneithersideofthem，soclosethattheycouldalmosttouchit，camethewater，waterwhichstretchedasfarastheycouldsee，swaying，waveless，sinister-looking。EvenGerald，afterhisfirstimpulseofwonder，kepthiseyesavertedandfixedupontheroadahead。Soontheyreachedaplacewherethewatermetinfront。
Therewereonlytherowsofwhitepalingsoneithersidetoguidethem。Thechauffeurmutteredtohimselfashechangedtohisfirstspeed。
“Iftheenginegetsstopped，“hesaid，“Idon’tknowhowweshallgetoutofthis。“
Theyemergedontheotherside。Forsometimetheyhadaclearrun。
Thensuddenlythedriverclappedonhisbrakes。
“MyGod！“hecried。“Wecan’tgetthroughthat！“
Infrontofthemformorethanahundredyardsthewaterseemedsuddenlytohaveflowedacrosstheroad。Stillamiledistant，perchedonaridgeofthatstrangely-placedhill，wastheirdestination。
“Itcan’tbedone，sir！“themangroaned。“Thereisn’tacareverbuiltcouldgetthroughthat。See，it’snearlyuptothetopofthoseposts。Imustputherinthereverseandgetback，evenifwehavetowaitonthehigherpartoftheroadforaboat。“
Heglancedbehind，andasecondcrybrokefromhislips。Geraldstoodupinhisplace。Alreadytheroadwhichhadbeenclearafewminutesbeforewashidden。Thewaterwaswashingalmostoverthetopsofthewhitepostsbehindthem。Littlewaveswerebreakingagainstthesummitoftheraisedbank。
“We’recutoff！“thechauffeurexclaimed。“’WhatafoolIwastotrythis！There’sthetidecominginaswell！“
Geraldsatdowninhisplace。
“Lookhere，“hesaid，“wecan’tgoback，whetherwewanttoornot。
It’smuchworsebehindtherethanitisinfront。There’sonlyonechance。Goforitstraightaheadinyourfirstspeed。Itmaynotstoptheengine。Inanycase，itwillbeworsepresently。There’snousefunkingit。Iftheworsthappens，wecansitinthecar。
Thewaterwon’tbeaboveourheadsandtherearesomeboatsabout。
Blowyourhornwellfirst，incasethere’sanyonewithinhearing，andthengoforit。“
Thechauffeurobeyed。Theyhissedandsplutteredintothewater。
Soonalltraceoftheroadwascompletelylost。Theysteeredonlybythetopsofthewhiteposts。
“It’sgettingdeeper，“themandeclared。“It’swithinaninchortwoofthebonnetnow。Holdon。“
Awavebrokealmostoverthembuttheenginecontinueditsbeat。
“Ifwestopnow，“hegasped，“we’redone！“
Theenginebegantoknock。
“Stickatit，“Geraldcried，risinginhisplacealittle。“Look，there’sonlyonepostlowerthanthelastonethatwepassed。Theygethigherallthetime，ahead。Youcanalmostseetheroadinfrontthere。Now，inwithyourgearagain，andstickatit。“
Anotherwavebroke，thistimecompletelyoverthem。Theylistenedwithstrainedears-theenginecontinuedtobeat。Theystillmovedslowly。Thentherewasashock。Thewheelhadstrucksomethingintheroad-agreatstoneorrock。Thechauffeurthrustthecaroutofgear。Theenginestillbeat。Geraldleapedfromthecar。Thewaterwasoverhisknees。Hecrossedinfrontofthebonnetandstoopeddown。
“I’vegotit！“heexclaimed，tugginghard。“It’sastone。“
Hemovedit，rolleditononeside，andpushedatthewheelofthecarashiscompanionputinthespeed。Theystartedagain。Hejumpedbackhisplace。
“We’vedoneit，allright！“hecried。“Don’tyousee？It’sgettinglowerallthetime。“
Thechauffeurhadlosthisnerve。Hischeekswerepale，histeethwerechattering。Theengine，however，wasstillbeating。Graduallythepressureofthewatergrewless。Infrontofthemtheycaughtaglimpseoftheroad。Theydrewupatthetopofalittlebridgeoveroneofthedikes。Geraldutteredabriefexclamationoftriumph。
“We’resafe！“healmostsobbed。“There’stheroad，straightaheadandroundtotheright。There’snomorewateranywherenear。“
Theyhadleftthemainpartofthefloodbehindthem。Therewerestillgreatpoolsinthesideoftheroad，andhugemassesofseaweedhadbeencarriedupandwerelyingintheirtrack。Therewasnomorewater，however。Ateverymomenttheydrewnearertothestrangely-shapedhillwithitscrownoftrees。
“Thehouseisontheotherside，“Geraldpointedout。“Wecangothroughthelodgegatesatthebackhere。Theascentisn’tsosteep。“
Theyturnedsharplytotheright，alonganotherstretchofstraightroadsetwithwhiteposts，endingbeforearedbricklodgeandaclosedgate。Theyblewthehornandagardenercameout。Hegazedattheminamazement。
“It’sallright，“Geraldcried。“Letusthroughquickly，Foulds。
We’veagentlemaninbehindwho’sill。“
Themanswungopenthegatewitharespectfulsalute。Theymadetheirwayupawindingdriveofconsiderablelength，andatlasttheycametoabroad，openspacealmostlikeaplatform。Ontheirleftwerethemarshes，andbeyond，thesea。AlongtheirrightstretchedthelongfrontofanElizabethanmansion。Theydrewupinfrontofthehaildoor。Theircominghadbeenobserved，andservantswerealreadywaiting。Geraldsprangtotheground。
“There’sagentlemaninbehindwho’sill，“heexplainedtothebutler。“Hehasmetwithanaccidentontheway。Threeorfourofyouhadbettercarryhimuptoabedroom-anyonethatisready。
Andyou，George，“headded，turningtoaboy，“getintothecarandshowthismanthewayroundtothegarage，andthentakehimtotheservants’hall。“
Severaloftheservantshastenedtodohisbidding，andGeralddidhisbesttoanswertheeagerbutrespectfulstreamofquestions。
Andthen，justastheywereintheactofliftingthestillunconsciousmanontothefloorofthehall，cameaqueersound-ashrill，reverberatingwhistle。Theyalllookedupthestairs。
“Themasterisawake，“Henderson，thebutler，remarked，droppinghisvoicealittle。
Geraldnodded。
“Iwillgotohimatonce，“hesaid。