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They were quite close together, and Hilda was talking persistently and gaily to the Vicomte d'Audierne. "The London police are here already," whispered Sidney; "shall I say anything about Vellacott?" "No," replied Mr. Bodery, after a moment's reflection. "I am going to ride over to Porton Abbey with them now." "Right," replied the editor, returning to the table with his plate.
Sidney accepted, but the gentleman from London refused quietly, and without explanation. It was he who spoke first. "Mr. Carew," he said, "can you tell me when this monastery was first instituted at Porton Abbey?" "Last autumn." The thin flaxen eyebrows went up very high, until they were lost to sight beneath the hat brim. "Did they ah deal with the local tradesmen?"
At this moment Hilda entered, and as soon as she had returned Signor Bruno's courteous salutation Molly turned towards her. "Hilda," she said, "we have never shown Christian Porton Abbey." "No," was the reply. "I have been reserving it for some afternoon when we do not feel very energetic. Unfortunately, we cannot get inside the Abbey now, though."
Signor Bruno, who was seated at the far end of the room with Mrs. Carew, rose as he heard the door opened, and advanced to meet Molly. "Porton Abbey," she said over her shoulder as she advanced into the room. "You must see Porton Abbey." The Italian shook hands with the new-comers and made a clever, laughing reference to Christian's politeness of the previous day.
At Porton, east of Truxillo, the same metamorphism which has changed the ridge of sandstone to a hard quartzite has also changed the ordinary bituminous coal into an anthracite, which is here vertical in position. The coals of Peru usually rise to more than 10,000 feet above the sea, and they are practically inaccessible.
Bare walls met the eyes of the searchers. Porton Abbey stood empty again after its brief return to life and warmth, and indeed it scarcely looked habitable. The few personal effects of the simple monks had been removed; the walls and stone floors were rigidly clean; the small chapel showed signs of recent repair. There was an altar-cloth, a crucifix, and two brass candlesticks.
"No," replied Sidney, "I think not. They received all their stores by train from London." "And you have never seen any of the monks?" "No, never." The fair-haired gentleman gave a little upward jerk of the head and smiled quietly for his own satisfaction. He did not speak again until the cavalcade reached Porton Abbey.
Hilda noticed that, instead of raising his voice, Christian spoke in the same tone, or even lower, as he said: "We want some details of the establishment at Porton Abbey, Signor Bruno." The old gentleman made a little grimace expressive of disgust, at the same time spreading out his hands as if to ward off something hurtful. "Ach!" he said, "do not ask me.
Farther on, Porton will not detain us very long, but Idmiston has a church that is a fine example of the style so well called Decorated. The tower, indeed, is Norman, but the clustered columns of the nave with their carved capitals and bases are beautiful specimens of fourteenth-century architecture. The Early English chancel has a triple east window and side lancets.
It is very doubtful whether the German field experiments were as largely provided for as those of the Allies. When we think of the French grounds at Versailles and Entressin, the British at Porton, the American grounds in France and in America, and the Italian organisations, there can hardly be any doubt that the total German facilities were much smaller.
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